Free Republic

Cities, towns and vacation spots across the American South are 'drowning' under rapidly rising tides that could soon put them underwater. Ocean levels are at least six inches higher than they were a decade ago along a swathe of the country from Texas to North Carolina. An overall rising ocean is coupled with vicious tidal events that wreak havoc and kill locals, especially when they coincide with storms. The problem is already affecting thousands of Americans living along the coast, and millions more across the US will feel it in the coming decades. Climate change is steadily raising sea levels...

* An adult male named Rakus chewed a plant used by people in Southeast Asia to treat pain and inflammation, then applied it to an injury on his right cheek * Photographs show the animal’s wound closed within a month without any problems ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rakus, a Sumatran orangutan, is seen two months after he started treating himself with a medicinal plant at a protected rainforest area in Indonesia. Photo:Safruddin/Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour via Reuters AsiaSoutheast Asia Wild orangutan seen using medicinal plant to treat wound, scientists say An adult male named Rakus chewed a plant used by people...

The “Five Little Ducks” were met with a grizzly end. A zoo bear named Juniper shocked guests at a girl’s birthday party after devouring ducklings that had landed in its enclosure, as seen in a video with over 2 million views on TikTok. “A #natgeo trainwreck for my daughters’ birthday, thanks JUNIPER,” mother Rachelle captioned the clip of the impromptu feeding. She and her fellow revelers, which comprised both adults and children, had reportedly been celebrating her daughter’s birthday at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington. The bash took a turn when the party-goers stopped by the bear exhibit...

Money Mail can today reveal a timebomb looming in the second-hand market for electric vehicles (EVs). Our investigation found that many EVs could become almost impossible to resell because of their limited battery life. Experts said that the average EV battery guarantee lasts just eight years. After this time, the battery may lose power more quickly and so reduce mileage between charges. Many EVs will lose up to 12 per cent of their charge capacity by six years. Some may lose even more. Yet the cost of replacing an EV battery is astonishingly high, our research found. In some cases,...

Scientists have identified what could potentially be the “deepest known blue hole” in the world, extending so far down that the bottom has not yet been reached. Researchers described how the underwater abyss’s extensive depths could harbor a “biodiversity to be explored” in a recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. Indeed, new measurements taken during a December scuba-diving expedition indicate that the Taam Ja’ Blue Hole (TJBH), located in Chetumal Bay off the Yucatan Peninsula, extends at least 1,380 feet (420 meters) below sea level — nearly the height of Trump Tower in Chicago. That’s 480...

It sounds like a dream, but it's true in Antarctica, gold rains from the sky. Tucked in among the glaciers, fiery Mount Erebus is the southernmost active volcano on Earth, providing a bit of heat amid the frozen landscape. The frozen continent features 138 volcanoes, according to a 2017 study, with around nine of them reported as active. With a summit elevation of 12,448 feet (3,794 meters), Mount Erebus is the most well-known. Erebus is one of three volcanoes that form Ross Island, and it's said that it was erupting when it was discovered in 1841 during the voyage of...

An active volcano in Antarctica is shooting $6,000 in gold dust into the air every single day, NASA’s Earth Observatory revealed last week. The volcano on Mount Erebus spits pockets of gas containing 80 grams of crystallized gold daily, it said. Mount Erebus, is arguably Antarctica’s most famous volcano. It holds the titles of the tallest active volcano on the continent, with its summit reaching 12,448 feet (3,794 meters), and the southernmost active volcano on Earth. Named after the personification of darkness in Greek mythology, Mount Erebus was erupting when Captain Sir James Clark Ross first discovered it in 1841....

The 2024 tourist season has just begun in Yellowstone, and there are already plenty of incidents of people getting too close to wildlife, like in this recent file photo. On Monday, Yellowstone National Park annoucned the arrest of a man who not only allegedly harassed a herd of bison, he kicked one in the leg. (Reader photo: Ralee Plunkett) An Idaho man is accused of kicking a bison while drunk, becoming Yellowstone National Park’s first bison attack victim of the season, the park announced Monday. The incident took stupid human tricks to an entirely new level, the curator of the...

Eagle Pass: Local resident, Luis De La Torre, came across an alligator while fishing this morning at the Rio Grande. Previous sightings of alligators have been confirmed by Border Patrol. VIDEO AT LINK........................

This is the moment a Delta passenger has a huge meltdown at LAX - only to realize she's screaming at the wrong people. The woman, who has not been named, was filmed verbally abusing airline staff at the counter after she reportedly missed her flight. 'Get me the **** up on the next flight you *************' she is heard yelling, before demanding to speak to Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg. She repeatedly screamed: 'Call Pete Buttigieg right now to handle the TSA! 'Call that ************ right now! That useless ************' The woman then slammed her fist on the counter, sparking laughter...

On the cold dead surface of Mars, something remarkable happens each spring. The red planet becomes infested with giant black spiders. At least, that’s what it looks like. In reality, vast fields of dark, spider-like formations become etched into the Red Planet’s landscape. No, they are not alive, nor actually spiders, but instead a geological phenomenon that occurs nowhere else in the solar system. With the recent orbital passes of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), scientists are now closer than ever to understanding these mysterious features known as “araneiforms.” Araneiforms are...

Will Georgitis was attacked in South Carolina on April 15 while going for a dive in the Cooper River to look for fossils. A South Carolina diver is recovering after he miraculously survived a vicious alligator attack that left him pinned underwater. According to the Associated Press, Will Georgitis was attacked in South Carolina on April 15 after going for a scuba dive to look for fossils. He told The Post and Courier that after surfacing from his dive due to limited air, he spotted the alligator nearby in the Cooper River. "It made a beeline right at me," he...

<p>ANCHORAGE, Alaska—One of the two pilots of a vintage military plane that was delivering heating oil to a remote Alaska Native village reported a fire on board shortly before the aircraft crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both of them and leaving debris over a wide area, a federal transportation official said Wednesday.</p>

Chicago Bears have released some stunning AI-generated images of a new stadium that could be built on the city waterfront - but not all residents in The Windy City are impressed. The NFL team shared the pictures on Wednesday afternoon, before Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson led a press conference about the proposals. According to FOX32 Chicago, the stadium will cost around $3.2billion to build with the Bears paying for $2billion themselves. It would hold 65,000 people with a target opening of 2028. The stadium will not only host sporting events - music concerts will be held there as well and...

A flying car company made history this week by taking the world’s first car flight with a passenger in what could be the future of transportation. Legendary French electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre became the first to hitch such a ride, soaring twice through the Slovakian skies in KleinVision’s AirCar in front of captivated onlookers. “One second you speak to the driver, and next, you are up there in the air. An amazing experience,” Jarre, 75, told Sky News. Video released by the company shows the sleek, winged sportscar speeding down the runway on four wheels before suddenly, like something out...

April 24 (UPI) -- A wildlife rescuer in South Carolina came to the rescue of an alligator found to have been trapped in a drainage pipe for nearly six months. Matt Kraycar of K&K Wildlife Services said he was summoned by Port Royal Plantation security in Hilton Head when the gator was spotted trapped underneath a grate. Kraycar said the alligator apparently became stuck while swimming through the pipe in October and had been trapped ever since. "Well they can go into brumation, which is basically like hibernation for reptiles," Kraycar told WTOC-TV. "So as it gets cooler, they're going...

Southern Greece experienced orange skies as dust clouds from the Sahara Desert, carried by strong southerly winds, covered Athens, including landmarks like the Acropolis. This phenomenon gave the Greek capital a Martian-like appearance during the last hours of daylight on Tuesday, April 23rd 2024.

It's not hard to see how the sapphire tower gets its name. Image Credit: HannaTor/Shutterstock.com Sometimes in nature, there are events that we have to wait for. Some, like the upcoming American cicadapocaplypse might not be so popular – whereas, across the pond in Birmingham, UK, botanists are thrilled to reveal the blooming of their sapphire tower. The sapphire tower plant (Puya alpestri) from the Chilean Andes can take up to 10 years to flower. The plant is a member of the bromeliad family, distantly related to the pineapple. Normally found at high elevations of up to 2,200 meters (7,218...

Volunteers and Tybee Island officials have spent the past two days cleaning up their beach after wild spring-breakers trashed it over the weekend leaving mounds of litter ready to float into the ocean. On Saturday, more than 6,000 partiers crowded the small, 3-mile-long island for the annual Orange Crush event and inflicted an estimated $220,000 of costs on the community. The costs include damage and clean-up costs and can be billed to event promoters. During the boisterous party, which is part of a tradition created by students from Savannah State University more than 30 years ago, attendees left the idyllic...

I’m sitting here re-charging my RV battery bank. Just messing around seeing how this stuff works. One trend is RV manufacturers now furnish 12 volt DC powered refrigerators. Even the small units pull 10 amps, on hot days I can see 40 amps or so daily would be routine. Using a generator and the installed RV converter, it needs re-charging often, and while the performance is good, it is what it is. A propane powered refrigerator, on the other hand, will run for a month on a standard 20 pound barbecue tank. Out in the desert, water looms critical when...