Top Photo: 2-year-old Boden and Buford, on the left.
One big fluffy dog is being hailed a hero after saving a young boy who wandered away from home and got lost in a REMOTE part of Arizona.
The 2-year-old boy, named Boden, disappeared from his home in Seligman wearing only a tank top and pajama pants. Seligman is about 100 miles south of Grand Canyon National Park. A huge search operation was launched and included more than 40 rescuers looking for Boden in some pretty tough terrain. A helicopter searching for the boy even spotted two mountain lions in the area!
Boden spent the night alone walking 7 miles through the remote wilderness and sleeping under a tree. He spent more than 16 hours alone in an area that is also home to the occasional bear, in addition to mountain lions.
Rancher Scotty Dunton found Boden the morning after the boy disappeared from home. Boden was walking along Dunton’s fence—right next to his four-legged friend, Buford.
When Dunton found the boy, he said Boden was in good shape but understandably upset.
“He went through some rough country, it’s all mountains and canyons and boulder piles, and it’s rough for adults, let alone for 2-year-old kids,” Dunton said. “He did a remarkable job to go 7 miles like he did.”
Dunton retraced Boden’s steps and found Buford had walked with him for at least a mile!
Buford, an Anatolian Pyrenees, normally spends his time patrolling the land and warding off coyotes on Dunton’s property. Anatolian Pyrenees are known for their size, easily weighing more than 100 pounds, as well as their loyalty to family and protective instincts.
Buford may be used to earning his kibble at Dunton’s house, but he certainly earned some extra treats saving Boden! Dunton said gifts for his dog have been rolling in since Buford helped rescue Boden—including toys, chew toys and snacks.
Speaking about his fluffy friend, Dunton said Buford “loves kids, and I imagine he wouldn’t leave him once he'd found him.”
Does a Distant Planet Show Signs of Life?
Astronomers say the most powerful space telescope might have detected signs of life on a distant planet.
The University of Cambridge-led team published its latest research in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on April 17. Earlier, the team used the James Webb Space Telescope to look at K2-18b, an EXOPLANET that’s 124 light years away from Earth. An exoplanet is a planet not in our solar system that orbits another star. A light year is the distance light travels in a year (about 5.88 trillion miles).
Based on that initial study back in 2021, when the $10 billion telescope was first put into use, the team found the data consistent with a watery world with an atmosphere. K2-18b is also in the habitable zone, where it’s just the right distance from its star to have liquid water.
This time, the team used a different instrument on the space telescope. Using powerful statistics to look at the new data, the astronomers are excited that two stinky, sulfur based compounds might be abundant in the atmosphere of K2-18b. Here on Earth, these two compounds are given off by tiny ocean life!
“Given everything we know about this planet, a Hycean world with an ocean that is teeming with life is the scenario that best fits the data we have,” explains lead study writer Dr. Nikku Madhusudhan from Cambridge.
But other astronomers doing a quick analysis of the new data aren’t so sure. They say there’s too much “noise,” unwanted or confusing data, to draw such strong inferences of life. Certainly, the space telescope needs to take another look or two at K2-18b!
