Free Republic

MADERA (CBS13) — A California Highway Patrol helicopter tracked down an escaped unicorn on Wednesday in Madera. Officers were called out when the less-than-mythological white pony with a fake horn escaped twice from a children’s birthday party. It was captured shortly after its first escape, but it darted out in the road again at around 5:30 p.m. Photo Courtesy: DJ Becker A nearby resident with another horse on her property helped officers approach and finally capture it. CHP officers were concerned the roughly 500-pound animal’s size would do serious damage to a vehicle that hit it, possibly resulting in the...

One of the great losses to Western Culture is the increasing refusal to accept that there is a Natural Law to which we may commonly refer. This is especially problematic in pluralistic and secularist societies like the post-Christian West where reference to the sacred text of Scripture is not considered authoritative by many.Hence, it has been the long practice of the Church, even before secularizing trends to base her witness to the truth not only on Scripture but also on Natural Law. The recourse to such a basis for discussion is now largely impossible for us, as most secularists have...

These weird creatures were found in an abandoned foundation pit in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.

EDGE Amphibians: World's Weirdest Creatures Just Got WeirderThe Chinese giant salamander can grow up to 1.8m in length and evolved independently from all other amphibians over one hundred million years before Tyrannosaurus rex. (Credit: Image courtesy of Zoological Society of London) ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2008) — A gigantic, ancient relative of the newt, a drawing-pin sized frog, a limbless, tentacled amphibian and a blind see-through salamander have all made it onto a list of the world’s weirdest and most endangered creatures. ZSL EDGE programme is highlighting some of the world’s most extraordinary creatures currently threatened with extinction. This year ZSL...

How Amber Becomes Death Trap For Watery Creatures ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2007) — Shiny amber jewelry and a mucky Florida swamp have given scientists a window into an ancient ecosystem that could be anywhere from 15 million to 130 million years old. Scientists at the University of Florida and the Museum of Natural History in Berlin made the landmark discovery that prehistoric aquatic critters such as beetles and small crustaceans unwittingly swim into resin flowing down into the water from pine-like trees. Their findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The resin with its entombed...

NEW YORK—While sailing the ocean near Haiti, Christopher Columbus in 1493 reported seeing three mermaids from a distance. The Genoese explorer was not impressed. Up close, the sea maidens were “not as pretty as they are depicted,” he wrote in his journal, “for somehow in the face they look like men.” Many scientists now think that what Columbus probably saw was a manatee, an aquatic mammal that resembles a flippered hippo. In a new exhibition opening at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) here this weekend, viewers can digitally superimpose the picture of a mermaid atop that of a...

Firefighters responding to a small basement fire Thursday morning were startled to find a 10-foot python, two cobras, tarantulas and an assortment of other creatures inside. "It was like out of a science fiction scene," said Lt. Ed Ireland, whose engine company responded to the Queens blaze. The fire, whose cause hadn't been determined, was reported at about 11:20 a.m. in the borough's Corona section. Once it was extinguished and the smoke cleared, Ireland noticed the python writhing near his feet. In cages and tanks, there also were two small alligators, frogs, turtles and tarantulas, he said. All the creatures...

Mysterious and seemingly monstrous beasts stalk the gloomy depths of the Atlantic Ocean, the so-called midnight zone where virtually no sunlight reaches. Temperatures are near freezing and the space between one creature and another can be vast. Scientists know very little about the species that inhabit this uninviting world more than a mile below the ocean's surface. For years it was believed that many of these fish nomadically wandered the ocean, munching on the organic debris that sinks from shallower waters. Now, a massive marine expedition has uncovered the secret sex lives of these fish, revealing that they may gather...

El Chupacabra? - Coleman man kills chicken slayer! By Sidney Levesque / Reporter-News Staff Writer August 25, 2005 COLEMAN - Was the strange creature recently killed in this West Texas town a bloodsucking monster called a chupacabra? Or a coyote with a bad case of mange? Whatever it is, it's causing a big stir in Coleman, a city of 5,100 or so people 52 miles south of Abilene. In fact, the last time an animal caused this much talk was five years ago, when a Dallas-area hunter shot and killed a monkey on a nearby ranch. ''That was no organ-grinder...

NEW YORK - In response to the portrayal of Muslims on Fox's "24," the network is offering its stations two public service announcements that show Muslims in a positive light. The PSAs were produced by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, with whom Fox representatives met Wednesday. The 30- and 60-second spots showcase a diverse group of individuals, who in turn share personal descriptions and identify themselves as American Muslims. Each PSA ends with the statement: "Muslims are part of the fabric of this great country and are working to build a better America." They were introduced by CAIR last summer...

Papers have been flapping with new headlines about the latest in a long line of alleged dinosaur ancestors of birds. This one is claimed to be a sensational dinosaur with feathers on its hind legs, thus four ‘wings’.1 This was named Microraptor gui—the name is derived from words meaning ‘little plunderer of Gu’ after the paleontologist Gu Zhiwei. Like so many of the alleged feathered dinosaurs, it comes from Liaoning province of northeastern China. It was about 3 feet (1 meter) long from its head to the tip of its long tail, but its body was only about the size...