Fossils may form in other ways. Fossils can be preserved almost completely. In this process, the organism doesnt change much. As seen below, tree sap may cover an organism. With time, the sap hardens. It turns to into amber. The original organism is preserved. This is very exciting for scientists. They are able to study the DNA of the organism that no longer lives on Earth. Some animals have been found frozen in ice. Others have been found in tar pits after falling in. Molds and casts are another way organisms can be fossilized. Have you ever walked in soft mud and left footprints? Once in a while, these traces of organisms can be preserved. In this case, nothing is left of the organism. A mold is an imprint of an organism that is preserved in rock. The organisms remains break down completely. There is nothing left of the original plant and animal. 

Question: "How can fossils be completely preserved?"

Answer: "Through mold, ice, or amber"

Response: yes


Johnnie had a set of small volumes of English verse, extensively annotated by his own hand, which Stoddard had brought to her early in their acquaintance, leaving it with her more as a gift than as a loan.  She kept these little books after all the others had gone back.  She had read and reread them--cullings from Chaucer, from Spenser, from the Elizabethan lyrists, the border balladry, fierce, tender, oh, so human--till she knew pages of them by heart, and their vocabulary influenced her own, their imagery tinged all her leisure thoughts.  It seemed to her, whenever she debated returning them, that she could not bear it.  She would get them out and sit with one of them open in her hands, not reading, but staring at the pages with unseeing eyes, passing her fingers over it, as one strokes a beloved hand, or turning through each book only to find the pencilled words in the margins.  She would be giving up part of herself when she took these back.  Yet it had to be done, and one miserable morning she made them all into a neat package, intending to carry them to the mill and place them on Stoddard's desk thus early, when nobody would be in the office.  Then the children came in; Deanie was half sick; and in the distress of getting the ailing child comfortably into her own bed, Johnnie forgot the books.  Taking them in at noon, she met Stoddard himself. 

Question: "What did Johnnie do with the books instead of returning them?"

Answer: "Caress them"

Response: yes


(CNN) -- Horror-meister, Stephen King calls George Pelecanos "perhaps the greatest living American crime writer." His stories are set in Pelecanos' hometown of Washington, D.C., but this is not the side of the U.S. capitol that you see portrayed on TV with white marble monuments, lawyers and lobbyists. Pelecanos is more interested in working families struggling to get by, the racial tensions in its ethnic neighborhoods and the low-lifes on the edges. His crime-writing peers call Pelecanos the "undisputed poet" of Washington's gritty side. The best-selling and award-winning author is out this week with his 17th and latest novel, "The Cut." It's the first in a new series featuring Iraq war veteran and private investigator Spero Lucas. When he's not working for a Washington defense attorney, Lucas recovers stolen property for a 40% cut. Now, a high-profile crime boss hires Lucas to find out who's been stealing from him, and it could turn out to be Lucas' biggest payday or an untimely end. While Pelecanos made his bones in the noir tradition, there's a definite "Western" feel to "The Cut." The new novel takes place in a morally gray and often violent world. It's peppered with pitch-perfect dialogue and captures the sights, sounds and taste of Washington in rich detail. In short, Pelecanos reads like the real deal. Pelecanos knows a thing or two about capturing the authenticity of urban America with an ethnically and socially diverse cast. In addition to his success as a novelist, Pelecanos is a producer and writer for HBO's New Orleans-set, "Treme." He was previously a producer and Emmy-nominated writer on the hit series "The Wire" and the miniseries "The Pacific." Read an excerpt from "The Cut" CNN recently spoke to Pelecanos about his new novel. The following is an edited transcript. CNN: Tell me more about your new character, Spero Lucas. 

Question: "In addition to writing novels, George Pelecanos has written for what TV shows?"

Answer: "Treme, The Wire, and The Pacific"

Response: yes


The Dutch Take Over: Intent on capturing a piece of the Portuguese trade in pepper and other spices, the Java-based Dutch Ailied with the Malays in 1633 to blockade Melaka. The trade blockade was to last eight years, and ended in a seven-month siege. The Portuguese surrendered in 1641, wracked by malaria and dysentery and denied their usual reinforcements from Goa. By then, the city had become a stagnant backwater. Unlike the Portuguese, the Dutch decided to do business with the Malays of Johor, who controlled the southern half of the peninsula together with Singapore and the neighboring Riau islands. A trade treaty gave the Dutch command of the spice trade but reserved Johor's rights in tin exports from Perak, Selangor, and Klang. Without ever retrieving the supremacy of the old Melaka sultanate, Johor had become the strongest Asian power in the region. For the Dutch, Johor provided a buffer against other Europeans. Meanwhile, fresh blood came in with the migration into the southern interior of hardy Minangkabau farmers from Sumatra, while tough Bugis warriors from the east Indonesian Celebes (Sulawesi) roved the length and breadth of the peninsula. The Minangkabau custom of freely electing their leaders provided the model for rulership elections in modern federal Malaysia. Their confederation of States became today's Negeri Sembilan ("Nine States"), with Seremban as its capital. The name Minangkabau itself means roughly "buffalo horns" and is reflected in the distinctive upward curving roof in museums and government offices built in the traditional Minangkabau style. The Bugis were energetic merchants and great sailors. With the Dutch concentrating once more on Java and the Moluccas in the 18th century, the Bugis took advantage of the vacuum by raiding Perak and Kedah, imposing their chieftains in Selangor and becoming the power behind the throne in Johor. The Bugis in Johor's administration provided much of the spirit in that State's independent stand in the 19th and 20th centuries. Throughout this period, the east coast states enjoyed a relatively tranquil prosperity, Terengganu notably thriving from its textile industry and trading in pepper and gold with the Thais, Cambodians, and Chinese. The British, under the private auspices of the East India Company (EIC), were beginning to poke their noses into North Borneo. 

Question: "The Java-based Dutch and the Malays expected their blockade against Melaka to last how long?"

Answer: "7 months"

Response:
no