Free Republic

DeepMind has helped put researchers hundreds of years ahead of schedule compared to the pace of traditional materials discovery methods. Inorganic crystals are a critical component of modern technologies. Their highly-ordered atomic structures provide them with unique chemical, electronic, magnetic, or optical properties that can be used in everything from batteries to solar panels, microchips to superconductors. Crafting novel inorganic crystals in a lab — whether to enhance an existing technology or power a new one — is fairly straightforward, in theory. A researcher sets up the conditions, runs the procedure, and lets their failures inform how to tweak the...

It’s a sad state of affairs when freedom’s best friend is no longer the U.S. Who knew that a president from Argentina would deliver a speech about freedom and capitalism? I ask “who knew” because we expect speeches like that from a U.S. president or some Western leader. I guess those were the days my friend. We are happy that President Milei did it. This is from Douglas Murray: While the gods of Davos have spent recent years warning against climate change and ‘populism,’ Milei has a different prognosis. He declared that the West is in danger ‘because those who...

Joe Biden approved the “Nancy Pelosi budget” to avert a government shutdown after 107 Republican members of the House of Representatives broke ranks to join Democrats without a border deal. ... On Thursday, the House of Representatives successfully passed a stopgap funding bill, averting a partial government shutdown that was set to take effect on Friday, Jan. 19th. The motion was carried with a tally of 314 to 108, with 107 Republicans joining Democrats to vote in favor of the resolution, while 106 Republicans opposed it. ... The Senate approved the bill earlier in the day by a significant margin...

Junk fees plague industries like hotels and airlines and end up costing consumers billions every year in add ons, “administrative fees” and other overpriced nonsense. The fees really come out of the woodwork at car dealerships, it seems. While it was enough of a problem for the federal government to take notice, things have changed in favor of dealers. First spotted by Motor1, the Federal Trade Commission paused a ban on dealer junk fees that were originally set to take effect this summer. The ban comes after the National Automobile Dealers Association protested the move by filing a petition. The...

For the first time in 23 years, none of America’s four largest automakers will air national Super Bowl ads – but foreign-owned companies like Kia and Volkswagen are picking up their slack. The “challenging U.S. automotive market” is a leading reason why. Slowing consumer demand and high interest rates are pressuring Ford, Toyota, GM and Chrysler parent company Stellantis into cutting back on their ad spend. Car commercials are a Super Bowl mainstay – Stellantis alone has only missed two in the past 15 years – but this year’s game will be the first since 2001 where none of the...

A group of House Republicans, led by Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, introduced legislation Thursday to defund the World Economic Forum (WEF). The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the bill, which is titled the Defund Davos Act. The legislation would specifically block the State Department, USAID, and any other federal agency from providing funding to the (WEF). The U.S. has spent millions on the WEF over the years, something Perry and other GOP lawmakers say needs to end. “Forcing American Taxpayers to fund annual ski trips for insular, global elitists is absurd – not to mention reprehensible,” Perry told...

Youtube

Brushing up on language and customs might be worth looking into when visiting a foreign country. An American TikToker named Angela, known by her social media handle RealPHDFoodie, found that out the hard way after a trek to France didn’t go well, despite her efforts to fit in with the community. In a recent TikTok video entitled ‘France made me cry,’ Angela travelled to Lyon, France, her first stop in an eight-city solo trek across Europe. A tearful, beret-wearing Angela said she didn’t recommend visiting Lyon if you don’t speak French. Despite her hat choice, Angela said she couldn’t fit...

In retrospect, perhaps Fani Willis should have kept her mouth shut. Yesterday, the embattled Fulton County DA filed a motion in the Wade v Wade divorce action asking to quash a subpoena for her testimony. Rather than just argue that her testimony would be irrelevant in a case where both spouses agree that the marriage was “irretrievably broken” — certainly an arguable position — Willis accused Jocelyn Wade of “obstruction” of her prosecution of Donald Trump et al. And then Willis went one step further in accusing Mrs. Wade of infidelity as the cause of the divorce. Big mistake. Big,...

Nikki Haley, the daughter of two non-citizens, is patently ineligible to serve as President or Vice President under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution The following analysis is a detailed response to critiques of an article I wrote earlier this month that garnered national attention, and was even Truthed by President Trump, shedding light on Nikki Haley’s ineligibility to serve as President or Vice President under the Constitution. My article was published originally on my Substack and American Greatness, and was titled “The Constitution Absolutely Prohibits Nikki Haley From Being President Or Vice President.” As A Threshold Matter, Nikki...

Archbishop Viganò: Today we celebrate the papacy amid a historic phase of ‘crisis and apostasy’During this crisis, we remember the prophecy of Leo XIII who warned that 'where the See of Blessed Peter and the Chair of Truth was established to enlighten the nations, there they have placed the throne of their abomination and impiety, so that by striking the Shepherd they might also scatter the flock.'The following is the full-text of a sermon by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò for the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter in Rome. CATHEDRA VERITATISSermon on the Feast of the Chair of Saint...

MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. Present-day events in the Baltic countries, including the ongoing deportation of Russians from Latvia, affect Russia’s security, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with heads of Russian municipalities. "The events that are taking place in Latvia and other Baltic countries now, when the Russian people are being thrown out, are very serious and directly affect the security of our country," he said. The Latvian authorities have sent repeated letters threatening to deport 985 Russians who failed to meet the requirement to obtain a residence permit in the country, the LTV TV channel reported with...

Quote of the Day "The laws of thermodynamics dictate that a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor, but new research has found that atmospheric moisture has not increased as expected over arid and semi-arid regions of the world as the climate has warmed." "The findings are particularly puzzling because climate models have been predicting that the atmosphere will become more moist, even over dry regions. If the atmosphere is drier than anticipated, arid and semi-arid regions may be even more vulnerable to future wildfires and extreme heat than projected." After about the third paragraph I was laughing the rest...

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ alleged lover and outside counsel Nathan Wade purchased plane tickets in her name, according to a Friday court filing obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Bank statements contained in a Friday filing by Wade’s wife, Joycelyn Wade, show Wade purchased tickets to Miami and San Francisco in Willis’ name. The statements back up allegations contained in a motion filed last week by one of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants that Wade used money earned from the “lucrative” contract Willis signed off on to take her on vacations. The motion alleged “Willis and Wade...

A tech company employee who went viral for filming her firing and sharing it on TikTok says her video has brought a flood of support. “I don’t regret sharing that,” ex-Cloudflare employee Brittany Pietsch told The Wall Street Journal. “I have received so many messages of people telling me, ‘I wish I would have stood up for myself the way you did.’ ” Pietsch, 27 years old, shot to social-media fame last week with a 9-minute video of herself repeatedly asking two Cloudflare representatives why she was being let go, and why her manager wasn’t on the call. “To be...

Peter Schickele, an American composer whose career as a writer of serious concert music was often eclipsed by that of his antic alter ego, the thoroughly debauched, terrifyingly prolific and mercifully fictional P.D.Q. Bach, died on Tuesday at his home in Bearsville, a hamlet outside Woodstock, N.Y. He was 88. His death was confirmed by his daughter, Karla Schickele, who said his health had declined after a series of infections last fall. His music was performed by the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Lark Quartet, the Minnesota Opera and other notable ensembles, as well as by the folk...

As the catastrophic effects of the climate crisis have become tangible, daily realities to billions of people around the globe, here in New Mexico people are choking on oil and gas pollution — and our legislators have to act. Over the past decade, fossil fuel extraction in our state has increased tenfold, making New Mexico the second-largest producer of crude oil and seventh-largest producer of fossil gas in the country. Not only has this worsened the suffering created by human-made climate change around the world and in New Mexico, it’s also caused an explosion in pollution that is making our...

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk has said he wants a 25 percent share in Tesla, and that otherwise he would prefer to build products outside of the company, regarding it as an AI and robotics firm rather than an auto company. As CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of Twitter/X, Mr. Musk currently holds a 13 percent share in Tesla, or approximately 411 million of the company’s 3.19 billion shares, according to its 2023 third quarter financial report. Mr. Musk said in a post on his social media platform: “I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in...

Elite thinking, as it’s termed, is under attack – and rightly so – for being out of step with the rest of the country. Below, we highlight some of the profound attitudinal differences between elites and average Americans: • In a time when most Americans have suffered a loss of real take-home pay, 74% of elites say they are financially better off today than in the past versus 20% of all Americans. • Nearly six in ten say there is too much individual freedom in America – double the rate of all Americans. • More than two-thirds (67%) favor rationing...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to local authorities in the nation's capital, a large mob of unhinged extremists has converged on the National Mall to politely state they would prefer it if 3,000 babies weren't being killed every day. "It's disturbing to be reminded that lunatics like this really exist," said Capitol Police Chief Donald Jones to reporters, who were huddling behind barricades for their safety. "It's a sobering reminder that pockets of extremism still thrive in remote corners of this country. We will remain vigilant to ensure these deranged people don't make any rash moves to stop the mass slaughter...