The first clinical trial of a therapy bot that uses generative AI suggests it was as effective as human therapy for participants with depression, anxiety, or risk for developing eating disorders. Even so, it doesnt give a go-ahead to the dozens of companies hyping such technologies while operating in a regulatory gray area.A team led by psychiatric researchers and psychologists at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College built the tool, called Therabot, and the results were published on March 27 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Many tech companies have built AI tools for therapy, promising that people can talk with a bot more frequently and cheaply than they can with a trained therapistand that this approach is safe and effective.Many psychologists and psychiatrists have shared the vision, noting that fewer than half of people with a mental disorder receive therapy, and those who do might get only 45 minutes per week. Researchers have tried to build tech so that more people can access therapy, but they have been held back by two things.One, a therapy bot that says the wrong thing could result in real harm. Thats why many researchers have built bots using explicit programming: The software pulls from a finite bank of approved responses (as was the case with Eliza, a mock-psychotherapist computer program built in the 1960s). But this makes them less engaging to chat with, and people lose interest. The second issue is that the hallmarks of good therapeutic relationshipsshared goals and collaborationare hard to replicate in software.In 2019, as early large language models like OpenAIs GPT were taking shape, the researchers at Dartmouth thought generative AI might help overcome these hurdles. They set about building an AI model trained to give evidence-based responses. They first tried building it from general mental-health conversations pulled from internet forums. Then they turned to thousands of hours of transcripts of real sessions with psychotherapists.We got a lot of hmm-hmms, go ons, and then Your problems stem from your relationship with your mother, said Michael Heinz, a research psychiatrist at Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Health and first author of the study, in an interview. Really tropes of what psychotherapy would be, rather than actually what wed want.Dissatisfied, they set to work assembling their own custom data sets based on evidence-based practices, which is what ultimately went into the model. Many AI therapy bots on the market, in contrast, might be just slight variations of foundation models like Metas Llama, trained mostly on internet conversations. That poses a problem, especially for topics like disordered eating.If you were to say that you want to lose weight, Heinz says, they will readily support you in doing that, even if you will often have a low weight to start with. A human therapist wouldnt do that.To test the bot, the researchers ran an eight-week clinical trial with 210 participants who had symptoms of depression or generalized anxiety disorder or were at high risk for eating disorders. About half had access to Therabot, and a control group did not. Participants responded to prompts from the AI and initiated conversations, averaging about 10 messages per day.Participants with depression experienced a 51% reduction in symptoms, the best result in the study. Those with anxiety experienced a 31% reduction, and those at risk for eating disorders saw a 19% reduction in concerns about body image and weight. These measurements are based on self-reporting through surveys, a method thats not perfect but remains one of the best tools researchers have.These results, Heinz says, are about what one finds in randomized control trials of psychotherapy with 16 hours of human-provided treatment, but the Therabot trial accomplished it in about half the time. Ive been working in digital therapeutics for a long time, and Ive never seen levels of engagement that are prolonged and sustained at this level, he says.Jean-Christophe Blisle-Pipon, an assistant professor of health ethics at Simon Fraser University who has written about AI therapy bots but was not involved in the research, says the results are impressive but notes that just like any other clinical trial, this one doesnt necessarily represent how the treatment would act in the real world.We remain far from a greenlight for widespread clinical deployment, he wrote in an email.One issue is the supervision that wider deployment might require. During the beginning of the trial, Heinz says, he personally oversaw all the messages coming in from participants (who consented to the arrangement) to watch out for problematic responses from the bot. If therapy bots needed this oversight, they wouldnt be able to reach as many people.I asked Heinz if he thinks the results validate the burgeoning industry of AI therapy sites.Quite the opposite, he says, cautioning that most dont appear to train their models on evidence-based practices like cognitive behavioral therapy, and they likely dont employ a team of trained researchers to monitor interactions. I have a lot of concerns about the industry and how fast were moving without really kind of evaluating this, he adds.When AI sites advertise themselves as offering therapy in a legitimate, clinical context, Heinz says, it means they fall under the regulatory purview of the Food and Drug Administration. Thus far, the FDA has not gone after many of the sites. If it did, Heinz says, my suspicion is almost none of themprobably none of themthat are operating in this space would have the ability to actually get a claim clearancethat is, a ruling backing up their claims about the benefits provided.Blisle-Pipon points out that if these types of digital therapies are not approved and integrated into health-care and insurance systems, it will severely limit their reach. Instead, the people who would benefit from using them might seek emotional bonds and therapy from types of AI not designed for those purposes (indeed, new research from OpenAI suggests that interactions with its AI models have a very real impact on emotional well-being).It is highly likely that many individuals will continue to rely on more affordable, nontherapeutic chatbotssuch as ChatGPT or Character.AIfor everyday needs, ranging from generating recipe ideas to managing their mental health, he wrote.

Though Apple has yet to introduce a product with a folding display, the rumor mill believes the technology will make its way to the iPad and MacBook. Here's what to expect, and when to expect it.Apple's super-sized foldable iPad could arrive with a high price point, due to complex hinge and panel designs.Over the years, we've heard various claims surrounding Apple's foldable display ideas, most of which have to do with a supposed iPhone Fold that's said to be in the works. The iPhone will likely receive the technology first, so it only makes sense that the iPad and MacBook would follow suit.The idea itself is not far-fetched, with Apple's own patents indicating that the company was at least considering a foldable iPad-type device at one point. More recently, however, leakers and analysts alike have all chimed in with claims of technical specifications and supposed release dates, and they have a lot to say. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Apple has seeded a second release candidate for iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, with a full release of both expected the week of March 31.Apple has released the second release candidate beta of iOS 18.4.Apple initially introduced the first round of release candidates for macOS 15.4, iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, tvOS 18.4, watchOS 11.4, and visionOS 2.4 on March 24. Four days later, it has introduced a second RC build of iOS and iPadOS for testing.It's not uncommon for there to be multiple release candidate builds of software before it is released to the public. While a release candidate is supposed to have the same content as the final release, sometimes there is a missing or incorrect element that needs addressing urgently. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

TheBernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at The City College of New York has named former Governor Eliot Spitzer as its Honorary Chair. Spitzer is the son of the schools namesakes andat one point in the mid-2000shad been considered a leading Presidential candidate for the Democratic party before scandals ended his political career. He is currently working in the CRE industry and joins Jonathan Marvel, Claire Weisz, John Cetra, Nancy Ruddy, and others on Dean Marta Gutmans Advisory Council.The school's Place, Memory and Culture Incubator (PMCI) recently debuted its Generative Histories Harlem exhibition after receiving a foundational grant of $1.5 million from theMellon Foundationin 2023.

In a surprise reversal, the General Services Adminstation (GSA) now only has eight properties listed as being for sale following the shock announcement early in March that originally put 443 federal buildings on a list for potential sale.The GSA, which is currently being led by Acting Administrator and 'tech entrepreneur' Stephen Ehikian, has cited "decades of funding deficiencies" as the reasoning behind the proposed sell-off. Gone from the list are the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building and other Brutalist landmarks around Washington, D.C.Some outlets have pointed out that the new group is the same as the Biden Administration's proposal from late last year. The GSA also said this was in part due to the "overwhelming response" to the initial list and that the longstanding issues it had identified would be addressed "in an orderly fashion."

Be it movies, TV shows, books or games, the horror genre often tends to work best when it focuses on one or two central themes to build stories around. Some of the best works in the genre tend to double down on this, complete with recurring motifs that tend to circle back to the storys central themes. Even games like Silent Hill 2 explored the concept of guilt, while a franchise as campy as Resident Evil still managed to include interesting themes like that of family in the newer games. Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirrors primary theme revolves around inheriting the consequences of the sins of your ancestors.Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror puts you in the shoes of celebrated singer Eliza de Moor. The story largely revolves around Eliza exploring her past in an effort to find herself again. The setup is quite simple; one evening, during a performance, Eliza suddenly collapses. On waking up, she finds that she has no memory of who she is or what happened, and has been taken into the care of Dr. Stern a man claiming to be quite close with the de Moor family. In the early minutes of the game, Eliza and Dr. Stern come to an agreement about trying out an experimental treatment that promises to be extra spooky."The horror is ramped up very quickly once you actually reach Ravenhill"Most of Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror takes place in the quaint town of Ravenhill, which was once well regarded for its dollmaking industry. The horror is ramped up very quickly once you actually reach Ravenhill and try to get to the de Moor family mansion, which is referred to by the people of the town as the Dollhouse. Interestingly, there arent any characters that you interact with throughout your time exploring Ravenhill. The story is almost entirely told either through vivid hallucinations, or through notes you find strewn about in the town and the Dollhouse. Even Dr. Stern, who is supposed to be accompanying you on this journey down memory lane, decides to maintain his distance from you in order to make sure that the therapy works.In this way, Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror does a pretty decent job at setting up its atmosphere. Since youre always alone, the sense of isolation is incredibly thick. Interestingly, despite the lack of people in Ravenhill, the game does a good job in making you believe that there might be hope around the corner. Good usage of lighting through hanging lanterns and candles always gives you the impression that, maybe this house is safe and has someone I can talk to.Through Ravenhill, the game is able to tell an interesting story of the downfall of a small town. Largely told through environmental storytelling, like how certain houses might be in disarray while others are surprisingly clean, you get a pretty decent idea of what went down when the dolls inevitably rose up to fight against their masters. And ultimately, you start having to take down these dolls as well.Most of the gameplay in Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror feels reminiscent of Resident Evil 7. Youre largely going to be exploring through dense environments, meticulously looking for clues and items that might help you figure out a way forward. Along the way, youll find cryptic puzzles that you have to solve, like finding the right statues to shoot in the correct order. And every now and then, youll have to use the more lethal qualities of your weapon to take on deranged dolls that are trying to kill you.The puzzle design here isnt particularly noteworthy. Youre not going to get head-scratching riddles that leave you running around looking for answers for hours on end. Most of the puzzles were fairly straightforward, and even managed to be quite self-contained to specific areas. If, for example, you happen to find a lock that requires a combination of numbers, you wont have to go too far to find a letter that gives you the answer. The statue shooting example I used earlier was also confined to the same small area."Through Ravenhill, the game is able to tell an interesting story of the downfall of a small town"Aside from having to fight against mindless enemies with limited resources, you also get similarly-cryptic yet simplistic puzzles, and even a minor crafting system that allows you to get more ammo. And considering the enemy AI, even fighting against dolls evokes a feeling similar to playing the Resident Evil HD Remake with modern controls that let you simply run around enemies without having to directly deal with them. Even the health and inventory system UIs feel like they might be from early drafts of a Resident Evil game.The combat encounters in Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror dont come about too often, but just about every single time you do have to fight something, the game feels much worse for it. The combat feels incredibly clunky thanks to monotonous enemies and an excruciatingly-slow movement speed, and the amount of ammo you get from early on tends to erase quite a bit of the tension that you might otherwise expect from a combat-centric horror title. Just about every bit of atmosphere the game slowly builds up thanks to its creepy environments and story tends to get obliterated the moment you have to engage in combat, and the game would have overall been much stronger had it simply skipped having a combat system to begin with or you know, made it better.One of the big twists in Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror revolves around the use of mirrors. Every now and then, you will find mirrors that let you enter a different version of the area youre in. Sometimes, this version might just be a glimpse into the past. Other times, it might end up being a much more surreal experience. These mirrors are used as a way to move forward, often marking a significant point in the games story. Sadly, there isnt much more to these mirrors than just a sequence that occasionally happens. There arent any optional mirrors that you can find that might expand further on the plot, and they generally tend to stay on the linear path forward through the story."Just about every bit of atmosphere the game slowly builds up thanks to its creepy environments and story tends to get obliterated the moment you have to engage in combat"Another area where the game loses quite a bit of its steam is in its visuals. While I am a firm believer that solid art direction is much more important to a game looking good than raw visual fidelity, Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror definitely loses a lot of what it was going for from the very beginning. At the risk of veering into the realm of hyperbole, Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror might just be one of the most dull and drab looking titles out there. Even at its highest settings, just about every surface looks like a muddy mess because of low-resolution textures, and the few characters you do meet early in the game tend to look like they might be ripped right out of an early PS3 game.The only reason any of the thick atmosphere of the game is able to land is largely thanks to the clever use of lighting and the inherent creepiness of human-shaped dolls. The lighting is especially doing a lot of the heavy lifting here, and plays a big part in instilling any sense of fear that might arise from the very idea of turning around a corner.Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror is a bit of a disappointment. There are some interesting ideas in its story and the creepy dolls that you often have to deal with end up largely being window-dressing. While there are some frights to be had, largely thanks to the excellent lighting throughout, the general monotony brought on by the games clunky combat system, poorly-designed enemies, and excruciatingly-slow movement speed tend to make the very idea of playing the game a rather boring experience.This game was reviewed on PC.

The Last of Us debut on PC did not necessarily go the way Naughty Dog or Sony would have wanted, with a shockingly disastrous launch for The Last of Us Part 1 on the platform, though excitement is nonetheless high for The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered to make its way over to PC. It helps, of course, that the game itself is an unabashed masterpiece of stealth, horror, and storytelling, while the upcoming Season 2 premiere for the acclaimed HBO adaptation is also adding to the hype.Ahead of the games imminent PC release, Naughty Dog, along with Iron Galaxy Studios and Nixxes Software both of whom are providing development support for the upcoming port recently released new details on what players can expect from the games newest release. Details have as such emerged on The Last of Us Part 2 Remastereds PC-specific features, the tech it will boast under the hood, the new content it will bring to the table, and more. Here, were going to go over all of that and more.TECH AND VISUAL ENHANCEMENTSNaughty Dog is promising plenty of improvements and platform specific technical features with The Last of Us Part 2 Remastereds PC release. For starters, upscaling and frame generation will be available through support for DLSS 4 and AMDs FSR 3.1 and 4. And that wont be the end of technical and visual enhancements, of course. In addition to native 4K and 3D audio support, the game will also allow players to play with 21:9 ultra wide resolution and 32:9 super ultra wide resolution. Support for 48:9 resolution and triple monitor setups is also confirmed, for those who want to really go all out. Players can additionally also expect uncapped frame rates, frame rate cap options, and VSync support.MORE PC FEATURESWere not done yet with The Last of Us Part 2 Remastereds PC enhancements and tech upgrades, with plenty still left to talk about. As youd expect, graphics options will allow plenty of customizability, and players will be able to adjust ambient occlusion, texture quality, reflections quality, LOD distance range, shadow quality, and volumetric quality, and other things. Naughty Dog has explicitly said the port has been developed with features designed specifically for PC, so you wouldnt be blamed for having high expectations in this department.CONTROLSOn PC, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered will obviously be playable with a DualSense controller, which means you can expect support for the controllers adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, and other features, just like last years PS5 release. On top of that, as youd expect, full support is also confirmed for keyboard and mouse controls. Players can expect fully remappable controls, as well as primary and secondary binding options. Best of all, the game will also tout an adaptive mode that will let you combine controller and keyboard inputs.FURTHER IMPROVEMENTSBeyond the major tech features and enhancements that we have discussed so far, The Last of Us Part 2a PC port will have other, smaller (yet still welcome) improvements to speak of as well. Naughty Dog is promising a host of bug fixe, a handful of other quality of life improvements, and various improvements to offer as smooth a play experience as possible. Meanwhile, the developer also says the game will also be compatible with handheld gaming PCs, though Steam Deck verification hasnt yet been officially confirmed. That said, the ports surprisingly modest PC requirements (which we will get to in a bit) would certainly suggest that optimization for Valves device shouldnt be an issue.NEW NO RETURN CHARACTERSWhen The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, launched last year, it added a major new mode in the form of the roguelike No Return, which has become something of a fan favourite. Its no surprise, then, that with the games upcoming PC release, Naughty Dog is taking the opportunity to add new No Return content as well. Where its roster of characters is concerned, that will mean two new characters to play as, in the form of Bill and Marlene, both from the first game. Bill can use his smuggling skills by nabbing shotguns from dead drops and getting double rewards from regular drops, and hell also be stronger against melee attacks, though he wont have dodging abilities. Marlene, on the other hand, can use a custom assault rifle, new gambits, and more.NEW NO RETURN MAPSIn addition to new characters, with its PC port, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is also adding four new maps for players to check out, each a location from the single player campaign. Theres Overlook, which, well, overlooks the city of Seattle, and will have plenty of verticality. Theres the fan favourite location Hillcrest, a neighbourhood with several dilapidated buildings, overgrown streets, abundant hiding places, and plenty of room for carnage. Theres also an abandoned elementary school, as well as Neat, a particularly dangerous spot that Abby braves in the campaign.MINIMUM AND RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTSThe full system requirements for The Last of Us Part 2s PC version have also been revealed, and at least on the lower settings, theyre pretty modest, all things considered. On minimum settings, for instance, to run the game at 720p and 30 FPS, you will need either an i3-8100 or a Ryzen 3 1300X, along with either a GeForce GTX 1650 or a Radeon RX 5500XT. Meanwhile, on recommended settings, for 1080p and 60 FPS gameplay, youll need either an i5-8600 or a Ryzen 5 3600, alongside either a GeForce RTX 3060 or a Radeon RX 5700.HIGH AND VERY HIGH REQUIREMENTSFor those who want to play The Last of Us Part 2 on the higher settings on PC, higher setups will also be available. High requirements will run the game at 1440p and 60 frames, youll require either an i7-9700K or a Ryzen 7 3700X, along with either a GeForce RTX 3070 or a Radeon RX 6800. Meanwhile, Very High settings will also be available, running the game at 4K and 60 FPS, and will need either an i7-11700 or a Ryzen 7 5700X, along with either a GeForce RTX 4080 or a Radeon RX 7900XT. Across all settings, youll also need an SSD and a whopping 150 GB of free storage. Minimum, recommended, and high settings will also require 16 GB of RAM, while Very High settings will need 32 GB.PSN NOT REQUIREDSony has unfortunately axed itself in the foot with its last several PC releases by making PlayStation Network account linking mandatory, but thankfully, the company has started walking back on that controversial call. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered will still support the PlayStation overlay and Trophies on PC, but PSN account linking will be purely optional this time. Those who do link their accounts will get some in-game bonuses though- speaking of whichBONUS SKINPlayers who link their PSN accounts while playing the action adventure remaster on PC will get an exclusive skin based on Jordan A. Mun, the protagonist of Naughty Dogs upcoming sci-fi action adventure title, Intergalactic, which was revealed last December. Additionally, account linking will also net you with 50 bonus in-game points, which you can spend on No Return purchases.

A partial solar eclipse on June 10, 2021, rises at Lewes Beach in Delaware. NASA / Aubrey GemignaniIf youre in the right place at the right time, the sunrise will look extra spectacular on Saturday, as a partially eclipsed sun peeks over the horizon. Across parts of northeastern North America, the sun and moon will rise together, with the moon obscuring some of the star.This eclipse will have no period of darkness, known as totality. But for those who dont sleep through it, the event offers the chance for a truly rare sighting that may look like devil horns on the horizon.Heres what to know about the sunrise eclipse and how to catch a view of it, both in-person and online.What is a partial solar eclipse?What Is a Solar Eclipse?Watch on When the Earth, moon and sun come into close enough alignment for the moon to block out some of the suns light, sky watchers are treated to a solar eclipse. On Saturday, that alignment wont be perfectso the stars surface wont be fully covered. Instead, the new moon will appear to take a bite out of the sun in a partial eclipse, and the size of that bite will depend on your location.Since this eclipse has no phase of totality, there will be no safe moment to take off your eclipse glasses. Wear them at all times when viewing the sunregular sunglasses are not enough, NASA notes. And dont try to look at the eclipse through an unprotected camera, binoculars or telescope, even while wearing the solar glassesthose lenses will concentrate the suns rays and can cause eye damage through the glasses.Dont have eclipse glasses on hand? You can construct your own pinhole projector to indirectly view the event.Saturdays eclipse comes shortly after the total lunar eclipse that bathed the moon in a blood-red glow over North America on March 14. Thats because solar and lunar eclipses show up in pairstwo weeks apart. They also occur in seasons about every six months. Later this year, another duet of eclipses will grace the skies in September. But the solar eclipse this weekend will have a larger portion of the sun obscured.Where can you see the partial solar eclipse? The eclipse will move from west to east across parts of several continents and the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. NASA offers details on when each location will see the spectacle. NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio. Ernie Wright (USRA), Abbey A. Interrante (ADNET Systems, Inc.)From the United States, several areas of the northeast and mid-Atlantic will have some view of the spectacle. But the level of coverage varies dramatically: Sky watchers in Portland, Maine, will see 64 percent coverage, while those in Washington, D.C., will see 1 percent of the suns surface obscured, per NPRs Chandelis Duster. (Search for your city here.)Western Europe will glimpse a partial eclipse during mid-morning, local time, and parts of the Caribbean and West Africa will also fall in the moons outer shadow. After four hours of sweeping across the planet, the eclipses path will end over northern Siberia.For the best view, however, eclipse chasers will be heading to Canada. There, the eclipse will reach its maximum coveragea 93 percent eclipse in Nunavik, northern Quebec, on the eastern side of Hudson Bay. Halifax (83 percent), St. Johns (83 percent) and Montreal (47 percent) might also offer good views in eastern Canada, per NASA.Spots along the coast are a good bet, since the ocean offers a clean horizon to the east, where the sun will be rising. In general, the best views will be from a coastal location as far north as possible, as Jamie Carter writes for Live Science.What is a rare double sunrise, also known as solar horns?In a few locations along the eclipses path, viewers will get a rare glimpse of a phenomenon known as a double sunrise. This happens when the moon blocks part of the sun as it comes up, leaving an illuminated crescent at the bottom of the star, like a smile. The two points on each end of the grin will emerge over the horizon first, giving the appearance of devil horns.Though such a sight is uncommon, it also happened during a partial solar eclipse in Qatar in 2019, when a photographer captured the stunning moment on camera. Another appeared over North America in June 2021.This time, areas of Maine as well as parts of New Brunswick and Quebec, Canada, will have a chance to see the devil hornsgiven the right timing, an unobstructed view of the horizon and clear skies. From the U.S., viewers at Quoddy Head State Park in Lubec, Maine, could observe the double sunrise, and that site will see an 83 percent eclipse.How to watch an eclipse live streamIf you dont have any travel plans in place and wont be in the path of the moons shadow, you can watch the spectacle online from the comfort of your home.Saturday morning, Time and Date is offering a live stream beginning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time. It will jump around, geographically, showing views from sites across North America and Europe.LIVE: Partial Solar Eclipse - March 29, 2025Watch on The Royal Observatory Greenwich will also run a streamand this one is from London, where astronomer Greg Brown will share the science behind the event. You can tune into that feed beginning at 6 a.m. Eastern.Another perk of a live stream? The video should be available later, allowing sleepy sky watchers to tune in for spectacle at a more reasonable time of day.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Astronomers, Astronomy, Canada, Moon, Outer Space, Sky Watching Guide, solar eclipse, Solar System, Sun

An unidentified man found the armlet in a wetland last fall. Kalmar County Administrative BoardLast fall, a Swedish man spotted something in a marsh on Oland, Swedens second-largest island. At first, he thought the circular objectfound lying on the ground near a construction pitmight be a tool. But it turned out to be a Viking Age iron arm bracelet that could be more than 1,000 years old.After the anonymous man discovered the artifact, he contacted a local archaeologist, who advised him to bring it to the government of Kalmar, the southeastern county where Oland is located. He did so earlier this month. Experts analyzed the ring, comparing it to similar objects from the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm.The C-shaped artifact is decorated ornately. Rows of raised dots grace its length, and its ends are shaped into animal heads, according to a statement posted on Facebook. From the ornamentation, we were able to date it to the Swedish Viking Age, somewhere between 800 and 1050 C.E., Karl-Oskar Erlandsson, an archaeologist at the Kalmar County Administrative Board, tells the Viking Heralds Jonathan Bennett. The iron arm jewelry is decorated with dots and animal heads. Kalmar County Administrative BoardThe Vikings were a group of Scandinavian warriors who violently colonized coastal Europe between the 9th and 11th centuries. Viking men and women of all classes wore jewelry, including necklaces, brooches and arm rings (also known as armlets). Powerful men commonly gave armlets to their followers to both secure loyalty and demonstrate wealth. According to the statement, most surviving Viking armlets are crafted out of silver or bronze.What is unusual is that this one is made of iron, Erlandsson tells radio station P4 Kalmar, per a translation by Sweden Herald. Of the more than 1,000 arm rings in the Swedish History Museums collection, only three are made of iron.This doesnt mean that iron jewelry was uncommon during the Viking Age. Iron accessories may just be more difficult to find today, as the metal is particularly susceptible to corrosion. When its exposed to water and oxygen, iron rusts and degrades. Luckily, the soils and sediments of wetlands lack oxygen. The newly discovered rings marsh burial may therefore have helped preserve it through the centuries, per the statement.Swedish laws may also account for the lack of rediscovered iron Viking jewelry. Unlike with artifacts made of silver or gold, Swedes are under no obligation to contact authorities when [they] find an object made of iron, Erlandsson tells the Viking Herald.The island of Oland has a long anthropological history. Hunter-gatherers first settled there more than 6,000 years ago. The area is home to at least 15 Iron Age ring fortscircular, fortified settlements built up from the fourth century onward. Several Viking graves have been found on Oland.As for how the iron armlet got into the marsh, Erlandsson tells P4 Kalmar that it probably wasnt part of a grave, as the Vikings wouldnt have buried someone in a wetland. The marsh also rules out a Viking settlement as a source.It could be a sacrificial bog, that they have sacrificed to the gods or higher powers, Erlandsson says. So then there may be more objects in this wetland.If the armlets finder chooses to donate the artifact to the county, it will be preserved and further studied, according to the statement. Hoping the marsh is hiding more Viking objects, experts will soon search the area with metal detectors.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Archaeology, Artifacts, Cool Finds, European History, Jewelry, Sweden, Vikings

Savvy Games Group remains focused on investing in growth in games, esports and the Saudi Arabian ecosystem.Read More