Free Republic

No injuries are reported after a SpaceX rocket prototype detonated in Texas today (Aug. 22) after an anomaly was found in the rocket, the company said in a statement. The Falcon 9 Reusable (F9R) — a successor to the Grasshopper vertical take-off and landing rocket — was completing the latest in a series of ambitious tests that previously saw the prototype successfully testing new steerable fins. “Today’s test was particularly complex, pushing the limits of the vehicle further than any previous test,” SpaceX said in a statement (which you can read in full below the jump.) “As is our practice,...

NASA is planning to send rats to the International Space Station (ISS) for a longer duration of up to three months to better understand the long-term effects of micro-gravity on living organisms. While rodents have flown on space shuttle flights in the past, those missions have only lasted a week or two. The new mission, however, could range between 30 and 90 days, depending on the availability of spacecraft to ferry them on the round-trip, ‘Space.com’ reported. “This will allow animals to be studied for longer period of time on space station missions,” said Julie Robinson, NASA’s chief scientist for...

Researchers have carried out the biggest ever comparative study of stone tools dating to between 130,000 and 75,000 years ago found in the region between sub-Saharan Africa and Eurasia. They have discovered there are marked differences in the way stone tools were made, reflecting a diversity of cultural traditions. The study has also identified at least four distinct populations, each relatively isolated from each other with their own different cultural characteristics. The research paper also suggests that early populations took advantage of rivers and lakes that criss-crossed the Saharan desert. A climate model coupled with data about these ancient water...

Late 1960s: Economy Class Seating on a Pan-Am 747 The 1960's were barely done when Pan Am again set a standard the rest of the world was forced to follow. Pan American's Boeing B-747 Jumbo Jets brought down the cost of long distance air travel once again. Source: Pan Am Historical Foundation

A China Eastern Airlines Corp passenger plane that had started its night-time descent into a Wuhan airport was forced to abort its landing after air traffic controllers had dozed off ... the China Eastern flight crew made repeated attempts to contact the duty flight controllers at Wuhan Tianhe Airport - twice in English and once in Chinese. Those calls went unanswered. ... China Eastern has suffered other mishaps in recent weeks

Engine technology being developed for a British space plane could also find its way into hypersonic aircraft built by the U.S. military. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory is studying hypersonic vehicles that would use the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE), which the English company Reaction Engines Ltd. is working on to power the Skylon space plane, AFRL officials said. "AFRL is formulating plans to look at advanced vehicle concepts based on Reaction Engine's heat-exchanger technology and SABRE engine concept," officials with AFRL, which is based in Ohio, told Space.com via email last month. ... SABRE burns hydrogen and oxygen....

Transportation Security Administration workers will be getting training on how to recognize District of Columbia driver’s licenses and identification cards. […] The Washington Post reported earlier this year that a District teacher was questioned about the validity of her license while boarding a plane in Phoenix. Many similar stories later surfaced. …

Neanderthals may have caught, butchered and cooked wild pigeons long before modern humans became regular consumers of bird meat, a study revealed on Thursday. Close examination of 1,724 bones from rock doves, found in a cave in Gibraltar and dated to between 67,000 and 28,000 years ago, revealed cuts, human tooth marks and burns, said a paper in the journal Scientific Reports. This suggested the doves may have been butchered and then roasted, wrote the researchers—the first evidence of hominids eating birds. And the evidence suggested Neanderthals ate much like a latter-day Homo sapiens would tuck into a roast chicken,...

After years and years of hosting Thanksgiving for friends and family, I am on my own this year. My friends are either overseas or have moved out of the area, or have moved to live near their children, and my children are scattered. I have no family. So I am on my own. I am looking for ideas for something to do on Thanksgiving, some place to go. I am considering Montreal, Asheville, etc. I live in the Northeast, and would have about 2K to spend. I am not fond of large cities, would love to do something fun, and...

Two base jumpers, including an Australian, were killed in separate accidents in the French Alps on Sunday (local time) after parachuting off mountains in their wingsuits. Their deaths bring to four the number of people killed taking part in the extreme sport in France this month. ... On August 6, two base jumpers, one from Switzerland, the other from France, died in similar accidents in the Alps and French Pyrenees. ... Unlike skydiving, which involves leaping from an aircraft, base jumpers take off with a parachute from a fixed point, usually a cliff or a bridge. The sport carries high...

Archaeologists hoping to discover Roman and Iron Age finds at a Welsh hillfort were shocked to unearth pottery and arrowheads predating their predicted finds by 4,000 years at the home of a powerful Iron Age community, including flint tools and weapons from 3,600 BC. Caerau, an Iron Age residency on the outskirts of Cardiff, would have been a battleground more than 5,000 years ago according to the arrowheads, awls, scrapers and polished stone axe fragments found during the surprising excavation. “Quite frankly, we were amazed,” says Dr Dave Wyatt, the co-director of the dig, from Cardiff University... “But no-one realised...

Archaeologists suspect a “sacred way” could have led to a henge 6,000 years ago at Iwade Meadows, to the west of the Kent industrial town of Sittingbourne. Positioned on a north-west slope, the 30-metre diameter structure is one of several prehistoric monuments on a north-west slope above the Ridham fleet stream running through the centre of the site. ...says Dr Paul Wilkinson, of... SWAT Archaeology... “The monuments are in a location that would have formerly had extensive views to the Swale Estuary and the Island of Sheppey beyond. “The archaeological evidence suggests that the outer ditch may have originated in...

A site in southwestern France found to be rich in the bones of horses and other large herbivores has provided important insights into the hunting and scavenging habits of Neanderthals. A team of archaeologists from the French archaeological agency Inrap have unearthed hundreds of bones at the Middle Paleolithic site in Quincieux dating back 35,000 to 55,000 years. The work was started due to roadworks in the area, with the outstanding discovery prompting local authorities to extend the time available for excavations. The excavation of the prehistoric site, on a hill overlooking the old bed of the Saone River, revealed...

The Department of Antiquities has announced the completion of the 2014 excavation season of the Kourion Urban Space project (KUSP) under the direction of Dr. Thomas W. Davis of the Tandy Institute for Archaeology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. This year’s excavations uncovered the remains of more victims of the massive earthquake that destroyed Kourion in the fourth century AD. According to an official announcement, initial analysis indicates the remains consist of two adults, a juvenile, and an infant. The family was found huddled together; the infant was found under the right arm of one of...

The future of commercial aviation may be upon us and it could resemble something out of a Marvel movie. A windowless jet concept by the name of the ‘Ixion’ was unveiled at the National Business Aviation Associate Show by a company named Technicon. The Ixion was instantly a hit with the crowd and it quickly created a buzz around the showroom floor. What was so amazing about this vehicle? It lacked windows. Two of the most common fears in the world are claustrophobia and the fear of flying. So should we really be surprised that people have reservations about flying...

A Highly Reflective Bike for Safer Nighttime Rides The shimmery finish of Mission Bicycle Company's 'Lumen' promises to keep your ride brilliantly aglow By LOREN MOONEY Updated Aug. 15, 2014 FLASHY RIDE | Paint embedded with microscopic glass beads makes the Lumen bike highly reflective. F. Martin Ramin/The Wall Street Journal IT'S A CONUNDRUM every city bicyclist who pedals after sunset has grappled with: How to be seen by drivers in the dark of night? You can attach blinking lights and shiny stickers to your bike or backpack, or wear special reflective jackets. But these approaches have their flaws. Batteries...

Nagaraj rode his bike for 14,195km across 900 Indian cities in 135 daysIt’s easy to get stuck in the good expat life in Dubai, but Indian-born Arcot Nagaraj wanted more from life. Over a year ago, he stepped out of the bubble and quit his job to return home to fulfil his childhood dream of making it to the Guinness Book of World Records. With the title for the “longest journey by bicycle in a single country” under his sleeve now, he’s clearly on top of the world. Back in Dubai to start his new professional innings, Nagaraj tells Emirates24|7...

Indonesian police on Friday formally designated a Chicago-area couple prisoners in connection with the death of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, whose body was found in a bloodied suitcase on the resort island of Bali. No charges have been pressed over the murder of von Wiese-Mack, 62, whose battered body was found by a taxi driver outside the St. Regis luxury hotel in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Tuesday. Her daughter, Heather Mack, 19, and boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 21, were arrested on Wednesday and detained as suspects. Police provided CCTV footage showing the couple speaking to the taxi driver after dropping off the...

Your next commuter car could have two seats, three wheels and get 84 miles to the gallon. Elio Motors wants to revolutionize U.S. roads with its tiny car, which is the same length as a Honda Fit but half the weight. With a starting price of $6,800, it’s also less than half the cost. Phoenix-based Elio plans to start making the cars next fall at a former General Motors plant in Shreveport, Louisiana. […] Because it has three wheels—two in front and one in the rear—the Elio is actually classified as a motorcycle by the U.S. government. But Elio Motors...

Minnesota Liberians are trying to help relatives; groups have canceled mission tripsAs alarm grows over the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa, families in Minnesota’s large Liberian community are scrambling for plane tickets and visas to get relatives out of the stricken zone and at least two Twin Cities churches have canceled mission trips intended to deliver medical and other aid to Liberia. “We decided to err on the side of caution,” said Wynfred Russell, executive director of African Career, Education & Resource Inc. in Brooklyn Park and co-leader of a planned January trip of missionaries and public health volunteers....