Free Republic

Nearly a kilometer below the ice scientists have found a Yellowstone-like geothermal glow that could create life-rich subglacial lakes—and lubricate Antarctic ice loss.Temperatures on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet can plummet below –50 degrees Celsius in winter. But under the ice scientists have found intense geothermal heat seeping up from Earth’s interior. The heat production that they measured is nearly four times the global average—“higher than 99 percent of all the measurements made on continents around the world,” says Andrew Fisher, a hydrogeologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who worked on the project. This excessive heat could melt...

Is there a difference between using a "hotspot" and having your phone become a hotspot? Is there a difference between phones/carriers or just carriers. I had an AT&T HTC phone, my friend had an AT&T I-Phone and got coverage where I could not. I need to have an internet connection for may laptop at an upcoming event and am considering getting a hotspot. Please offer info/suggestions/etc. (Serious please) yeah right!

New radiation hotspots prompt Japan to extend monitoring The discovery of radiation hotspots well beyond the exclusion zone around the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant has forced the Japanese government to increase its monitoring from six to 22 prefectures in the east of the country. By Julian Ryall in Tokyo 7:38AM BST 25 Aug 2011 Elevated levels of radiation have been found 125 miles from the power plant, which was destroyed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. That is well beyond the 18-mile exclusion zone that has been imposed. Officials in the city of Tokamachi, in northwest Niigata Prefecture, detected...

Cell phone carriers have a secret: Although they sell us data plans on their 3G or 4G networks, the idea of us actually using data brings them out in a cold sweat. Put simply, they're struggling to find the bandwidth to cope. There are forecasts that in 2012 cellular data requirements will reach 4.56 million terabytes--double that of this year. It's down to networks designed for low-bandwidth voice calls. Some data provision was allowed in the original plans but the recent explosion in consumer smartphones was a bolt from the blue. Whereas mobile users were once happy to visit low-bandwidth...

Note: The following text is a quote: Former President Clinton Visits CIA July 27, 2009 Former President Bill Clinton visited the Central Intelligence Agency today to thank the men and women of CIA for their essential work in protecting the United States from foreign threats. Welcoming the former President back to CIA, Director Leon E. Panetta said: “President Clinton understood very well the role of intelligence and its vital importance in the post-Cold War era. He relied on this Agency for information and insight, as he and his team confronted an array of foreign challenges.” In remarks to hundreds of...

Disaster Training Conference Planned for Missionaries, NGOs and Aid Workers to Reach the World’s Hotspots BARTLESVILLE, OKLAHOMA (ANS) -- Ever wondered what it is like to spend time in a refugee camp? Now you can have that experience and gain valuable tools and knowledge on working in some of the world's hotspots, areas where there is war, disaster or persecution of Christian believers. Strategic World Impact (SWI), a faith-based mission organization located in northeastern Oklahoma will hold its 10th Disaster Assistance Response Training (DART) Conference from June 14 to June 19, 2009 at Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Space...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2007 – The security situation in eastern Baghdad is improving, the coalition commander for that region said today. (Video) Attacks against coalition forces and Iraqi civilians are down, said Army Col. John Castles, commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. “From where I’m sitting, things are starting to look pretty good,” he told Pentagon reporters via teleconference from Camp Taji, Iraq. “Overall throughout the area of operations, the security situation has been improving.” Castles’ unit is responsible for security operations in Baghdad’s Adhamiyah and Sadr City areas. Adhamiyah is a Sunni-dominated area in eastern...

World's pollution hotspots mapped Living on lead A US-based environmental charity has documented what it calls the 10 most polluted places on the planet. The Blacksmith Institute says three of the hotspots are in Russia, with the remainder dotted in various countries. Heavy metals such as lead are the main sources of pollution, with 10 million people affected across the locations. The institute surveyed scientists and environmental bodies across the world to compile its list, and is running clean-up projects in some of the sites. The charity has focused largely on locations where people are affected by the pollution. "A...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The new push by U.S. and Iraqi forces to reverse a rising tide of violence in Baghdad will target four violent "hotspots" in the city, the American general in charge of the plan said Saturday. Those parts of the city have experienced frequent kidnappings, suicide bombings and revenge killings by Shiites and Sunnis. Maj. Gen. James Thurman, commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, said the renewed push for stability began Aug. 7 in the Dora area of southwestern Baghdad, a notoriously violent part of the city. He said sweeps of Dora neighborhoods had captured 179 people...

New research by a Canadian university has brought previously unknown parts of the world's oceans into focus and is raising new concerns about the global decline of big species. The study, released yesterday by the journal Science, found that the ocean contains a small number of "hot spots" where marine life concentrates and where stocks are declining dramatically. But the finding has also opened a new window of hope because it points to a few key areas, in a vast, featureless ocean, where conservation efforts could be targeted for maximum effect. By looking at 50 years of international fishing data...

Click article link to see the article and explanation of how the images were obtained (also includes a true color image and a link to a high-resolution true-color image). At the very top of the high resolution image you can see the Visitor's Center where the VolcanoCam for Mt. St. Helens is located (literally at "the end of the road"). Direct link to the high-resolution IR image (only 1.5 MB, loads pretty easily): StHelens_TIR_MAS2004268_lrg.jpg

NAIROBI, Kenya - Scientists will begin investigating environmental "hot spots" in Iraq (news - web sites) as part of a long-term strategy to clean up the country after ten years of war and instability, the U.N. Environment Program said Tuesday. The U.N. agency has coordinated the training of Iraqi scientists in the latest laboratory and field testing techniques to collect information on suspected hazardous sites, officials said. The work will begin soon, a spokesman said. "We estimate that there are more than 300 sites in Iraq considered to be contaminated to various levels with a range of pollutants," said Klaus...