Scientists think they’ve found the oldest human footprints in the Americas. How old are they? About 23,000 years old.

The footprints were found at White Sands National Park in New Mexico in 2019. Rolling white dunes cover the spot today. But long ago, it was the shoreline of Lake Otero. This shallow lake dried up 10,000 years ago.

At least 16 people left their prints in the soft mud. Judging by the size, most were children and teens.

Two years ago, Vladimir Matusevitch took his family on a vacation. They went to the Rybachy Peninsula. It’s tucked up in the northwestern corner of Russia, right on the Arctic Ocean.

Walking along the shore, something yellow caught his eye. It was a rubber duck!

“Where did you come from?”  he wondered. “How did you get here? Did someone leave you behind?”

A clue

Then he noticed something else. The duck had the number “1417” written on it.

“You must be from a duck race,” he thought.

On September 20, Canada held a federal election. People across the country voted for the person and party they wanted to have represent them in Ottawa.