Free Republic

Myles Udland November 30, 2014 On Sunday night, gold was down more than 4% to as low as $1,143 an ounce after voters in Switzerland on Sunday rejected a measure that would have required the Swiss National Bank to increase its gold reserves from 8% to 20% of its holdings. The vote failed by a margin of 78%-22%. In addition the drop in gold, crude oil prices are resuming their tumble, and the price of other precious metals — silver and platinum — were also down sharply. Silver futures were down 12% early Sunday night and platinum futures were down...

In yet another move which may send shivers down the spines of law enforcement agencies around the world, while at the same time exciting techies and firearm advocates, Solid Concepts has revealed yet another 3D printed metal gun. Just under a year ago, the company, which has since been acquired by 3D printing giant Stratasys, revealed the world’s very first 3D printed metal handgun, the 1911. Although there had been a number of interesting plastic firearms 3D printed up until that time, this metal firearm was the first capable of shooting several rounds of ammunition flawlessly. In fact the original...

Sad news to report from the Korn family. Shane Gibson, who performed as a live member for Korn from 2007-2010, has passed away at the age of 35 from complications due to a blood clotting disorder... Gibson went on to play with SchwarZenatoR, stOrk and others ...

Musicians and fans of the metal music community often get a bad rap because of their dark, gruff and tattooed looks. The adorable set of photos published in Metal Cats by Alexandra Crockett sets out to change all that by getting accomplished metal musicians to pose with their feline friends and show off their softer sides. The people posing in these photos represent bands with names that are anything but cuddly – Napalm Death, Cattle Decapitation, Murder Construct, Skeletonwitch and Lightning Swords Of Death. But despite these fearsome band names and their black leather, spikes, tattoos and muscles, it’s clear...

Slayer guitarist and founding member Jeff Hanneman died earlier today of liver failure. He was 49. "Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home," the band's longtime publicist said in a statement. "Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure." Hanneman co-founded the thrash metal greats with Kerry King in 1981; their breakthrough came in 1986 with the brutalist album "Reign in Blood." Hanneman wrote or co-wrote the set's standout tracks, "Angel of Death" and "Raining Blood." Click here to play...

Hi - My wife has said she would like a metal detector for her birthday in late April. I know nothing about them and would like some help so I can get her a really good one. I am willing to spend a few hundred dollars for one if that is what it takes, but I want one that will do a good job locating objects and is good quality. Thanks in advance!

Computer systems at Iran’s nuclear facilities were attacked recently by a new worm that forced some workstations to randomly play the heavy metal rock song Thunderstruck, U.S. officials said. The computer attack followed several U.S.- and Israeli-origin virtual strikes on Iran’s illicit nuclear program that involved the insertion of malicious software into Iranian industrial control networks. Those attacks were carried out under the code names Stuxnet and Flame. The latest attack took place about a week ago and was discovered after an Iranian scientist revealed it in emails sent to a Finnish computer security expert asking for assistance in countering...

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – Valuable parts have been stolen from restrooms across the Denver metro area and then cashed in for money. Now investigators say they know who is responsible. Donald Allen Citron, 48, faces 18 charges, including burglary and theft. He’s accused of stealing toilet parts from several locations, including Southwest Plaza Mall, University of Denver, and Craig Hospital. Most of the crimes happened in just a few minutes, but police Citron is a plumber and all he needed was a wrench and a screw driver to steal pipes and the plumbing in toilets. The items he’s accused...

A mysterious metal ball reportedly fell from space , landing in a grasslands area of the African nation of Namibia. So far experts claim the object is not of alien origin. It has two bumps on each end, appears to be hollow and weights about 13 pounds. Namibia's National Forensic Science Institute Director Paul Ludik said the sphere is 3.6 feet around and is made out of a "sophisticated" alloy that is not unknown to modern science, although it has no identifying markings to link it with a country or a company. So far that's about all we're told. But...

PLYMOUTH, Mass. -- A piece of debris came crashing through the roof of a building in Plymouth. Investigators are not sure where the piece of debris came from or what it came from. However, they do know it came from far up because the force of the object falling tore a hole through the roof of a building. Luckily, the object fell into an empty room and no one was hurt. Andrew McWilliams, an employee at Michael’s Warehouse, was shocked when he opened a door in his office to see the debris on the floor. “And that was the first...

A new map of the moon has uncovered a trove of areas rich in titanium, which could one day be mined. Lava flows that turned into rocks on the moon are enriched with titanium in concentrations far higher than what is found on Earth. The precious material could be used to construct equipment for lunar and other spacecraft.< Detailed maps from a robotic NASA science satellite circling the moon show deposits as rich as about 18 percent, planetary geologist Jeffrey Gillis-Davis, with the University of Hawaii, told Discovery News. “Up to 3 percent is considered high on Earth,” he said....

With Labor Day coming up, I find myself again reflecting on the wisdom of our elected leaders, who, in years past, had the insight to offer a holy day of celebration in honor of the American Labor Movement and its Marxist underpinnings. But that’s not all I found myself doing this fine weekend. No, I was on the road for an extended drive in my fairly new, reliable as hell, non-union-built Toyota Tacoma, which came equipped with Sirius Satellite Radio reception. Our single local “conservative talk” station, in typical lame fashion, had again bumped Rush’s Weekend in Review for some...

I would trade a cow for these magic beans. Seriously. "Coffee Joulies" are a new invention that are stainless steel "beans" that keep your coffee at the perfect temperature for several hours. Hours. How do they work? Their Kickstarter page says: This material is designed to melt at 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and absorbs a lot of energy as it melts. This is how Joulies cool your coffee down three times faster than normal. Once it reaches this temperature, the special material begins to solidify again, releasing the energy it stored when it melted. This is how Joulies keep your coffee...

Ugh. Hong Kong's English daily South China Morning Post has a distinctly unsavory dispatch from the Chinese media this morning: Government scientists have released research that millions of acres of Chinese agricultural land and over 12 million tons of Chinese grain are contaminated by toxic metal pollution, according to this week's edition of the China Economic Weekly, a state-run magazine. Last week, a separate article reported that 10% of Chinese rice contained excess cadmium, a heavy metal known to cause cancer.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2010 – Final preparations are under way in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for the commissioning tomorrow of the Navy’s newest guided-missile destroyer, to be named honoring Marine Corps Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, who received the Medal of Honor posthumously for heroism in Iraq. Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James F. Amos is slated to deliver the keynote address during the ceremony at Port Everglades, and Debra Dunham will serve as sponsor of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer named for her late son. Navy Cmdr. M. Scott Sciretta, USS Jason Dunham’s first commanding officer, and his 276-member crew also...

Sharply raising the stakes in a dispute over Japan’s detention of a Chinese fishing trawler captain, the Chinese government has placed a trade embargo on all exports to Japan of a crucial category of minerals used in products like hybrid cars, wind turbines and guided missiles. Chinese customs officials are halting all shipments to Japan of so-called rare earth elements, industry officials said on Thursday morning. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao personally called for Japan’s release of the captain, who was detained after his vessel collided with two Japanese coast guard vessels about 40 minutes apart as he tried...

Uranium is a very unusual sector. For one, it's small. So small, that at one point in history top-producing nations like Canada and France tried to form a uranium cartel to control prices for the metal. The "uranium OPEC" failed. But production today is de facto controlled by a handful of companies. Consider this. The world's top ten uranium mines account for 59% of global production. (The top mine, Saskatchewan's McArthur River, alone puts out 15% of the world's supply.) This is very concentrated, compared to other sectors. In the copper sector, the top ten mines turn out just 30%...

Just when you thought a medical degree meant something, Ozzy Osbourne is now “Dr. Ozzy.” Crazy, that’s how it goes. The former pill-popping, pot-smoking, cognac-swilling ant snorter who was hit by a plane, treated for rabies, committed to a mental hospital and declared legally dead twice has a new gig - health columnist for the Times of London. What, Keith Richards wasn’t available? Writes Dr. Ozzy: “It makes perfect sense: I’ve seen literally thousands of doctors over my lifetime, and spent well over 1 million pounds on them, to the point where I sometimes think I know more about being...

Supplies of speciality metals like lithium, neodymium and indium could become restricted unless recycling rates improve. That's the message from the first two of six reports prepared to assess metal supply sustainability for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 'Scientists should anticipate the possibility that they may not have the whole periodic table to work with in future,' says Thomas Graedel, who led the Global Metal Flows Working Group that compiled the studies.  The report series won't deliver overall supply and demand projections until nearer to the 2012 Rio Earth Summit. Nevertheless Graedel, who is also director of Yale University's Center for Industrial Ecology...