Free Republic

Physicists have solved a key problem of robotic locomotion by revising the usual rules of interaction between simple component parts. In cycling through a sequence of shapes, an odd wheel propels itself up steep and bumpy terrain. In a physics lab in Amsterdam, there’s a wheel that can spontaneously roll uphill by wiggling. This “odd wheel” looks simple: just six small motors linked together by plastic arms and rubber bands to form a ring about 6 inches in diameter. When the motors are powered on, it starts writhing, executing complicated squashing and stretching motions and occasionally flinging itself into the...

North Carolina parent Brian Echevarria joins ‘The Faulkner Focus’ to discuss fighting back against critical race theory in schools. "Gabriela Lopez, Frisco Board of Ed: So if you fight for racial justice, this is the consequence. Don't be mistaken. White supremacists are enjoying this. And the support of the recall is aligned with this."

Israeli startup reinvents the wheel, by using it to contain car’s key components Relocating the motor, steering, suspension and brakes into vehicle’s wheels, REE creates a flat, light, versatile chassis to increase energy efficiency in electric cars By Shoshanna Solomon 9 July 2019, 5:11 pm 4 Edit Facebook Twitter linkedin email 782 shares An illustration of REE's flat chassis (Courtesy) Israeli startup REE has unveiled a “revolutionary” new design and look for electric vehicles, in which all of the classic components of the car — the motor, the steering system, the brakes and the suspension — are moved from under...

Whale Fin Inspires Safer Racing Wheels by Randy J. Guliuzza, P.E., M.D. * Road bicycle racers are exciting to watch as they race in tight packs at speeds between 30-40 miles per hour. Cycling is a risky sport, and numerous racers have been injured or killed as they contend with the challenges of hazardous road and environmental conditions like strong cross winds. Some new technology may help reduce the risk of cycling accidents. The engineers who design racing bikes look to achieve the fastest, yet safest, bicycles possible. One company, Zipp Speed Weaponry, spent four years developing new rims for...

The Heroin Task Force formed by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine has endorsed opening safe-consumption sites for addicts, which would be a first in the U.S. But some say getting homeless addicts off the streets requires an even bolder move.

The RESPONSE WE GOT FROM CITYHALL: We are very sensitive to the impact that the SHARE/WHEEL shelter closure is having in our community. However, the City does not have any additional funding for shelter operations. The City’s primary interest is ensuring that the beds we have contracted with SHARE to operate are brought back into operation so that those who are experiencing homelessness in our community are able to access shelter. This interest has been clearly expressed to the men and women of SHARE/WHEEL. Again, thank you for sharing your concerns with the City of Seattle. I also received a...

The following is an email to the city of Seattle and administration Too whom it may concern: My name is Brian Ball. I am an activist, small businessman and lobbyist from the New England Area. I am head of the New England Alliance for liberty And Free markets which is part of the free state movement. Recently I and several of my associates infiltrated the SHARE/WHEEL organization Last winter and one of my other associates spent last summer in 2015 at several of the indoor shelters and tent cities. We are not happy at all with how SHARE/WHEEL conducts itself...

The women in black are as misguided, left wing and limp-wristed (more ways then one) Than when they were founded in Israel in the 1960s. Originally called Women in black for justice against war, they were founded by Israeli and Palestinian women, many widows who believed that the solution for the middle east crisis was, well... hippie values like communism, appeasement and more communism. They're biased against the US and Israel in favor of the Arab militants in case you're wondering yeah... The group has grown to chapters all over the world including most major cities in the united...

This is part 1 of a series of episodes I am doing on the Seattle homeless crisis. It illustrates perfectly the problems with big government, the insanity of liberals and the great lengths these red diaper doper baby liberal degenerates will go to get a free lunch off the backs of those who earn their lunch by their own sweat and tears. This first episode is a prologue of sorts, at focus is the failure of Olympia and city hall in particular a taxpayer funded program, The committee to end homelessness in King county that has gotten little attention but...

If you think that the world's greatest inventions came from the fevered minds of solitary geniuses, think again. As you scan this list of the 10 inventions that changed the world, note how many of them perfected workable designs. 10. Plow Compared to some of the gleaming, electronic inventions that fill our lives today, the plow doesn't seem very exciting. It's a simple cutting tool used to carve a furrow into the soil, churning it up to expose nutrients and prepare it for planting. Yet the plow is probably the one invention that made all others possible. No one knows...

Wednesday, 'Wheel of Fortune' had a very inspirational contestant in Trent Girone. The 21-year-old Peoria, Ariz., resident is a self-described "Wheel of Fortune" fanatic, but more important, he's the first special needs contestant ever to compete on the show.Girone has had nine brain surgeries and has both Asperger's and Tourette's syndromes, but that didn't stop him from taking early control of the wheel by successfully guessing the first puzzle, "a smashing success." Girone ultimately didn't win the game -- he hit the dreaded Bankrupt slot -- but he won viewer hearts from coast-to-coast.  WATCH:

A contestant named Julian from Indiana University must be feeling pretty stupid right about now. And Hoosiers can't be feeling too proud. Julian had the chance to win $1 million Friday night, had the puzzle fully solved, and then lost because he pronounced Achilles like “A-chill-us.” Because of that mistake, the show decided not to give him the victory and instead, one of the other contestants who know the “mythological hero” got the chance to steal and did. (To win the full $1 million he would have had to overcome some other hurdles as well.) But alas, poor Julian' disastrous...

EAST LIBERTY (KDKA) – A routine bus ride for kids heading to school became anything but Tuesday morning. A wheel on a bus transporting students to Pittsburgh Obama Academy came loose on Route 28. {snip} http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/09/04/school-bus-loses-wheel-with-30-students-aboard/

Analysis WASHINGTON -- Public opinion about gay marriage has changed so rapidly that President Obama's historic embrace of it may pose as many political risks to Republicans as to the president and his fellow Democrats. The president's dramatic shift on the issue -- a watershed moment in U.S. politics, even if many people felt it was inevitable -- is the latest sign that Democratic hopes increasingly rest on younger, college-educated and largely urban voters, whose lifestyles are shaped by social mobility more than religious and community traditions. Many young adults find the notion of discriminating against gays and lesbians as...

Wheels are the archetype of a primitive, caveman-level technology. But in fact, they're so ingenious that it took until 3500 B.C. for someone to invent them. By that time -- it was the Bronze Age -- humans were already casting metal alloys, constructing canals and sailboats, and even designing complex musical instruments such as harps. The tricky thing about the wheel is not conceiving of a cylinder rolling on its edge. It's figuring out how to connect a stable, stationary platform to that cylinder. "The stroke of brilliance was the wheel-and-axle concept," said David Anthony, a professor of anthropology at...

Pat Sajak: Vanna White and I were drunk on "Wheel of Fortune"Reuters – Thu, Jan 26, 2012 7:50 PM EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak has said in a broadcast interview that he and fellow host Vanna White were drunk when they taped some early episodes of the show, but that he is too old for that now. **SNIP** Sajak explained that during the production of those "Wheel of Fortune" shows, he and co-host Vanna White would take two and a half-hour breaks while prizes were loaded onto the set in Burbank, California. So, they...

Great video example of government healthcare. See link...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The driver of a Ford Bronco that fatally struck a 12-year-old girl as she rode her bike home from her last day of school before summer vacation is in this country illegally, San Jose officials confirmed on Friday. Joe Castro, the man who has helped raised Breanna Slaughter-Eck, said he was very concerned about the revelation. "I'm worried that she just might flee now and walk away from all this," he told the San Jose Mercury News. However, San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis says that his department has alerted federal immigration authorities about the case....

Furious drivers turned the tables on clampers when they trapped them in a car park for three hours until they released eight cars which had been clamped. Residents on a complex of newly built flats woke up to find two men busily putting wheel clamps on any cars which did not have a parking permit. Angry drivers phoned family and friends to drive over and block the entrance to the car park - so the clampers were stuck inside. Vincent Martin 36, a taxi driver who lives in the exclusive complex in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, said: "I woke up at 8.30am...

Just a simple question to kick-around unless someone knows for sure? I'm watching the Nativity Scene the other day (Good movie, by the way) and I notice that the villagers around Mary, Joseph and family have pull carts with solid, wooden wheels. I guess I've always assumed this type of wheel came first as far as history goes... Then I started thinking about other movies like Gladiator, The 10 Commandments, various other "BC" movies and notice that they've got wooden, spoked wheels...Even though all of these movies took place much, much earlier in history than the Nativity Scene. The only...