Free Republic

A new study shows that the widely used antidepressant fluoxetine does more than boost serotonin levels: it changes how brain cells manage their energy and rebuild their connections, potentially helping the brain "loosen up" and adapt during depression treatment. Using cell type–specific transcriptome profiling, researchers found that after two weeks of treatment, a special class of brain cells, called parvalbumin interneurons, which help keep brain activity balanced, became less rigid in the prefrontal cortex. Their mitochondria showed reduced expression of genes linked to energy production, while genes related to plasticity were upregulated. At the same time, the protective perineuronal nets...

A combination of metformin, a common diabetes drug, and clemastine, an antihistamine, can help repair myelin—the protective coating around nerves, which gets damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS) causing symptoms like fatigue, pain, spasms and problems with walking. This is according to early findings from the phase two clinical trial, CCMR-Two. Previous evidence from animal studies showed that metformin enhances the effect of clemastine on myelin repair, but until now the two drugs had never been tested together in people. "I am increasingly sure that remyelination is part of the solution to stopping progressive disability in MS," said Dr. Nick Cunniffe....

A single course of low-dose radiation therapy may provide a safe and effective alternative treatment option for people with painful knee osteoarthritis according to a new randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The study showed patients with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis reported significant reductions in pain and improved physical function in the four months after receiving the low dose of radiation, which was just a small fraction of what's used to treat cancer. The study included a control group with simulated treatment. Low-dose radiation is regularly used for joint pain in European countries such as Germany and Spain. The doses were...

The U.S. doesn’t produce the minerals and metals needed for renewable energy, microchips or military technology. Authorities want to change that as quickly as possible.Major oil companies are drilling in East Texas again, but not for oil. This time, they're after lithium for batteries and other rare elements.Chevron and Halliburton announced East Texas projects this summer. Exxon has acreage across the border in Arkansas. Smackover Lithium, a joint venture of a Norwegian oil giant and a Canadian miner, announced in late September the discovery of the most lithium-rich fluids ever reported in North America, measured deep beneath its Texas claims...

One in three Americans now have more credit card debt than emergency savings, according to the latest survey by financial services company Bankrate.As Statista's Anna Flecks shows in the chart below, this is up ten percentage points from 2011, when the company first started polling the question.Meanwhile, around 53 percent of respondents said that their savings were currently exceeding their credit card debt.This is down two percentage points from the same time last year, but slightly up from 2011.Around one in ten Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck in 2025, not making any debt or saving up money.You will find more infographics...

Wikipedia, a popular online encyclopedia millions of people treat as an authoritative source of information, is systemically biased against conservative, religious, and other points of view, according to the site’s co-founder, Larry Sanger.Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia and former philosophy professor, among stacks of reference books at a library in Columbus, Ohio, on March 26, 2007. Kiichiro Sato/AP PhotoSanger, 57, who now heads the Knowledge Standards Foundation, believes Wikipedia can be salvaged either by a renewed emphasis on free speech within the organization or by a grassroots campaign to make diverse viewpoints heard.Failing that, Sanger said, government intervention may be...

Well, “No Kings” came and went. Inflatable animal costumes did a brisk business for one week. The old Boomers got a social space to act out their nostalgic re-visit to the Age of Aquarius. They resisted. . . something. (Mainly authority of any kind, a retarded adolescent fantasy.) And now it’s back to Rachel Maddow for further instructions. The Republic slogs on, albeit with a shut-down government. Did you forget about Ukraine? Yes, a war is still going on there and it’s a weeping lesion on Western Civ, possibly leading to fatal sepsis. US neocons set the stage in 2014...

Researchers found that combining a specialized diet with an approved medication interrupts the growth of high-risk neuroblastoma, a deadly pediatric cancer, by reprogramming tumor behavior. Neuroblastoma originates from primitive cells meant to form nerve tissues but that remain "undifferentiated," indicating cancer cells that haven't specialized, often suggesting a more aggressive and unfavorable prognosis. These tumors rely on a steady supply of chemicals called polyamines that are essential for rapid cell growth and tumor progression. A medicine called difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat children with high-risk neuroblastoma, as DFMO blocks polyamine production. However,...

Zohran Mamdani made news a few weeks ago when he announced that he planned to do away with the city's gifted and talented program for kids, at least the part of it that started in kindergarten. Not surprisingly, Mamdani's positions on education seem to align with the rest of his far-left views, which means that he's generally against sorting students by ability and doesn't like standardized tests that are used for admissions in the city's top schools. This is true even though Mamdani himself attended one of these eight schools, the elite Bronx High School of Science. What I hadn't...

As I reflect on this week's headlines, a familiar mix of cautious hope and unshakeable conviction, rooted in God's unchanging Word, stirs within me. For those of us who have traded an ideology of fear for the liberating truth of Christ, such moments resonate deeply. Having spent two decades immersed in national security, chasing shadows of radicalism as a devout Muslim, I now speak from a place of redemption. I've exchanged Sharia's legalism for grace's freedom, learning that true peace isn't found in diplomatic agreements but anchored in the sovereignty of a God who orchestrates history. The news from the...

Watching the “No Kings” protests, a friend commented: “Democracy dies when the other side wins. Another rule they wouldn’t want to have turned back on them.” That does seem to be the animating spirit not only of the various marches around the country, but of the entire anti-Trump resistance. President Donald Trump’s crime isn’t anything he’s said, or done, or even believed (which, all too often, anti-Trump protesters can’t cogently describe anyway). It’s that he won, and he represents the other team. As Batya Ungar-Sargon put it: “The ‘No Kings’ rally isn’t protesting Trump but rather the agenda the majority...

Make no mistake about it, when the Democrats shutdown the government, they figured it would be an easy public relations victory for them. In all fairness, that’s usually how it goes, because they have the entire mainstream media pushing their talking points. But the latest numbers from CNN’s chief polling analyst, Harry Enten, tell a far different, and deeply unsettling, story for Democrats. Enten highlighted what most in the media are loath to admit: Americans simply aren’t blaming President Donald Trump the way they once did.Harry Enten opened his analysis by stating, “Turns out shutdowns are different the second time...

New research has found that newborns exclusively fed colostrum, the breastmilk produced in the first 72 hours following birth, were five times less likely to develop a peanut allergy by 12–18 months, and 11 times less likely to develop multiple food allergies, such as egg or cow's milk, compared with infants who also received formula during that period. Utilizing data from 666 infants participating in ORIGINS—Australia's largest longitudinal birth cohort study which is tracking 10,000 Western Australian families from conception into early childhood—the researchers compared the risk of developing food allergies at 12–18 months of age between infants who were...

President-elect Rodrigo Paz says Bolivia's relationship with the United States "will be resumed" nearly two decades years after Evo Morales kicked out Washington's ambassador.

Researchers have demonstrated in a precision-based clinical trial that a magnesium supplement increases gut bacteria in humans that have been shown to synthesize vitamin D and inhibit colorectal cancer carcinogenesis. However, the effect was observed primarily in females—an outcome that the researchers surmised may be attributable to the role that estrogen plays in shifting magnesium from circulation into cellular uptake. Intestinal microbiome data and colonoscopy results were analyzed from participants who were randomized by whether they had the TRPM7 genotype, which plays a crucial role in regulating magnesium and calcium uptake. "Our previous study showed magnesium supplementation increased blood levels...

Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters will be blocked from buying tickets for next month's Europa Conference League clash with Aston Villa, the club has confirmed. In a lengthy statement, the Israeli club said it could no longer guarantee the safety of its supporters, citing the 'intervention of divisive figures', 'hate-filled falsehoods' and 'inflammatory rhetoric' surrounding the game. The fixture, set for November 6 at Villa Park, has already been mired in controversy after Birmingham's Safety Advisory Group - backed by West Midlands Police - made the decision to bar all away supporters, citing 'intelligence and previous incidents'. Police pointed to violent...

Mariners were winning...Then the home run...Blue Jays are winning now...

Scientists have released a new expert opinion. The article brings together more than 25 researchers from around the world, including clinicians and internationally recognized leaders in the biology of aging and metabolism, particularly in the study of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺). Their collective perspective underscores the global effort to understand how this tiny molecule, NAD⁺, could be key to healthier aging and protection against diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. NAD⁺ is often described as a cell's "fuel regulator." It helps our bodies produce energy, repair damaged DNA, and keep cells functioning properly. As we grow older, however, NAD⁺ levels...

Amoxicillin might strike you as a pretty standard and easy-to-obtain antibiotic—and it is, because of China. An analysis published Wednesday revealed that nearly 700 US medicines contain at least one chemical sourced exclusively from China. The New York Times explains that drug production is a multistep process that begins with the creation of foundational chemicals (Key Starting Materials, or KSMs, per the study), which are then used to make active ingredients, which are then combined to make the ultimate drug. The study, conducted by the nonprofit US Pharmacopeia, explains that the KSM part is the China-heavy one. The chemicals in...

Research has found a clear connection between chronic sickle cell disease pain and the bacteria present in the gastrointestinal tract. The researchers focused on Akkermansia muciniphila, a bacterium commonly found in the human gut but known to be less prevalent in individuals with sickle cell disease. In the study, the team alleviated chronic pain in mice engineered to have sickle cell disease by transplanting bacteria from the feces of healthy mice into the digestive tract of the sickle cell animals. "Our results are strong evidence that the contents of the microbiome in individuals with sickle cell might drive chronic pain,"...