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The coating flouts the typical trend of hotter objects radiating more lightHotter objects typically glow brighter than cooler ones, making them stand out in infrared images. But a newly designed coating bucks the rule that hotter equals brighter. For certain wavelengths of infrared light, the material’s brightness doesn’t change as it warms, researchers report December 17 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Made of samarium nickel oxide, the thin coating “hides temperature information of surfaces from infrared cameras,” and could therefore be used as a privacy shield, says applied physicist Mikhail Kats of the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

The LSU Tigers defeated the Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoff Championship game on Monday night and they have claimed their fourth national title in school history. And while the team and the school have been celebrating all week, they will take their partying from Baton Rouge, La. to Washington D.C. On Wednesday, it was confirmed by Newsweek that President Donald Trump will have the LSU Tigers as his guest at the White House on Friday as he honors the team for their championship win. One of the biggest questions for the ceremony is what will Trump feed the...

Iran’s supreme leader said President Donald Trump is a “clown” who only pretends to support the Iranian people, as he addressed Friday prayers In Tehran for the first time since 2012. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Trump will “push a poisonous dagger” into the nation’s back. He said the outpouring of grief at the funeral for Iran’s top general, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike earlier this month, shows that Iranians support the Islamic Republic.

Several US soldiers were treated for concussion following last week's Iranian missile attack on two bases in Iraq, US Central Command revealed late Thursday. Initially it was reported that were neither fatalities nor injuries, a claim backed up by US President Donald Trump. However, Captain Bill Urban admitted: "While no US service members were killed in the January 8 Iranian attack on Al Asad Air base, several were treated for concussion symptoms from the blast and are still being assessed." "As a standard procedure, all personnel in the vicinity of a blast are screened for traumatic brain injury, and if...

The Department of Homeland Security has requested assistance from the Pentagon to build 270 miles of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to combat drug smuggling, senior U.S. defense officials said. The DHS request arrived at the Department of Defense Wednesday and will take about two weeks to assess its feasibility, the officials said. The officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, would not provide any cost estimates.

Rep. Adam Schiff risks having to answer tough questions about his involvement with a White House whistleblower by serving as a prosecutor at President Trump’s trial in the Senate, where senators may be able to hit him with questions about the House case. As the trial got underway Thursday with the swearing-in of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., senators and other figures in the trial, Senate Republicans considered whether Mr. Schiff’s role as a House impeachment manager could put him in the hot seat without calling him as a witness. **SNIP** Mr. Schiff, chairman of the Permanent Select Committee...

I am pleased to announce that (a slightly remixed version of) my song "Joyous" is now being digitally distributed. (Click the link to see the music video.)

Democrats’ strategy for the Senate impeachment trial is apparently to turn it into a never-ending Senate investigation — even though that was supposed to be the House’s job. Start with the General Accounting Office opinion that Team Trump’s temporary hold on aid to Ukraine constitutes a violation of the law. Maybe — but the GAO is no kind of court or other legal authority. If this was a real issue, the House could’ve raised it long ago. “We forgot” is just an old Steve Martin joke. Then there’s the claim that assertions by Rudy Giuliani crony — well, ex-crony —...

They discovered Picasso's 'Head of a Young Woman', a 1906 painting valued at £22million, stowed away on the vessel by the ship's captain. Prosecutors argued Botin had been attempting to sell it abroad, in breach of rules over paintings of cultural significance to Spain. But Botin denied the charges and claimed he was simply taking it to Switzerland for safe-keeping.

A liberal commentator suggested on Thursday that Hunter Biden is "going to have to take one for the team" in order for Democrats to get their desired witnesses to participate in the newly-launched Senate impeachment trial of President Trump. Above the Law executive editor and The Nation contributor Elie Mystal appeared on the progressive outlet Democracy Now! where he discussed how former National Security Advisor John Bolton and OMB Director Mick Mulvaney should be offering their testimony since they both spoke "directly" to the president. However, Mystal acknowledged getting their testimonies will have to come at a cost.

Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., said Thursday evening she does not owe a CNN congressional reporter an apology for rebuffing his question and calling him a "liberal hack" -- after one of the network's veteran anchors said it would be appropriate to do so. McSally was walking toward a room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building when she encountered reporter Manu Raju. Raju asked McSally if she and other senators should "consider new evidence" in President Trump's impeachment trial. The senator responded by saying she would not entertain the question, calling Raju a "liberal hack." Later on CNN, journalists Jake Tapper...

An activist once lauded for his work to end sexual violence against minors admitted Thursday to having sex with an underage boy and possessing child pornography featuring prepubescent children. Joel Davis, 24 and a former Columbia University student, now faces up to life behind bars, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announced. Davis started the international group Youth to End Sexual Violence. “As he admitted today, Joel Davis arranged to meet a 15-year-old boy for sex and engaged in illegal sexual activity with the 15-year-old,” Berman said. “He also possessed child pornography that included children under the age of 12.”

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii Democrat, came prepared for an unexpected push-up contest after she was challenged to at a New Hampshire town hall. Gabbard, a combat veteran who served in Iraq and a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard, had previously shared videos of her workout routine on social media. "One of those memorable New Hampshire Primary moments: @TulsiGabbard challenged to a push-up contest at a Manchester Town Hall. She wins," Jean Mackin, an anchor at Manchester's WMUR, tweeted.

A massively obese ISIS “mufti” was pulled from his hiding place by elite Iraqi SWAT team members in a raid on Thursday. He is considered one of the biggest captures in recent months.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., appeared on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Thursday and literally laughed off the chances of even one Senate Republican voting to remove President Trump from office following the forthcoming impeachment trial. "Can you mention any scenario where the president loses Republicans, any Republicans in the Senate in this trial?" host Tucker Carlson asked. "I don't know, Tucker," Cotton responded, later joking: "We [may] have to listen to [House Intelligence Committee chairman] Adam Schiff and [House Judiciary Committee chairman] Jerry Nadler drone on for so long that we sue for mercy and say we'll do anything to make it...

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, released a statement on Thursday to clarify her stance on President Trump's upcoming impeachment trial and claimed her past comments have been taken out of context and misunderstood. "There has been a lot of mischaracterization and misunderstanding about my position on the process the Senate should follow for the impeachment trial," the statement began. "Rather than have my position relayed through the interpretation of others, I wanted to state it directly." Collins, who is considered a moderate, shared her views on how the process should play out and recommended that it mirror former President Bill Clinton's...

Mitch McConnell has stated to model trial rules after the Clinton impeachment rules. However, as it stand tonight according to Laura Ingraham, it will not include a provision for a motion to dismiss. What the hell is going on! Any thoughts?

January 17 2020 Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot Reading 1 1 Sm 8:4-7, 10-22a All the elders of Israel came in a body to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Now that you are old, and your sons do not follow your example, appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us.”Samuel was displeased when they asked for a king to judge them. He prayed to the LORD, however, who said in answer: “Grant the people’s every request. It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king.”Samuel delivered the message of...

Democrats and journalists were excited Thursday when the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a legal opinion that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had violated the Impoundment Control Act by withholding congressionally appropriated aid to Ukraine last summer. The non-binding opinion was disputed by the OMB, which released a memo last month arguing that the “programmatic” delay sought to fulfill, not oppose, congressional intent. The GAO decision, which had been requested by Democrat Senator Chris van Hollen of Maryland, disagreed, concluding that the delay had been for “policy reasons,” not “programmatic delay.” Speaker of the House Nancy...

The first asteroid that will fly close to Earth on Saturday has been identified by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies as 2020 AH1. This asteroid is currently moving at an average speed of almost 18,000 miles per hour...estimated that this asteroid is about 246 feet wide. Trailing behind 2020 AH1 is an asteroid known as 2009 BH2... this asteroid measures about 656 feet wide, making it the largest space rock in the group. 2009 BH2 is currently flying towards Earth at a velocity of 40,000 miles per hour. The last asteroid that will visit Earth’s vicinity on Saturday is...