Free Republic

We often imagine our galaxy as a serene, spinning disk of stars, a celestial carousel of light against the black velvet of space. This comforting image, however, is an illusion. From our tiny vantage point, embedded within one of its spiral arms, we are only now learning that the Milky Way is a place of profound and dynamic movement, a living entity that breathes and shudders on a scale almost impossible to comprehend. The latest revelation, born from the unparalleled data of the European Space Agency’s Gaia space telescope, is not just a wobble or a tilt, but a colossal,...

It’s too good. It’s beyond comical. For the past week or so, liberal America has been apoplectic over President Trump’s new addition to the White House. He’s renovating the East Room so that a proper ballroom can be on the grounds, a venue that can accommodate at least 650 people. The president of the United States will forever have a place for official state dinners and other events—no more tents on the lawn. And yet, you’d think Trump ordered a slash-and-burn of the entire residence. Other presidents have done this—it’s not a big deal. The project is being funded by...

Anyone who has spent time around New York City has probably run into Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa. A tall, tough hombre with his trademark red beret, he probably knows every crack, crevice, and crack house in the city. Heck, he's probably on a first-name basis with half the city's cats, given the dozens of adoptees he has in his apartment. From his career slinging hamburgers in an all-night fast food restaurant in the bad old days of the Bronx-is-burning to his 24/7 radio career, he is the man who never sleeps in the city that never sleeps. His knowledge...

Volkswagen will continue to operate...despite cutoff of chips made in China... US and Chinese officials holding trade talks this weekend... US military drones are flying over Gaza... ...airports in Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania shut down tonight... Ontario Premier Doug Ford backing down from an advertising campaign... 17 people killed when a rubber boat carrying migrants capsized... Explosions in Kiev late tonight... Attacking Ukrainian drones taken down as they approached Moscow... A secret donor stepping forward...pay US military salaries... ...temporary pause issued by a federal appeals court against President Trump's deployment... United States imposing sanctions on the President of Colombia... Three...

BOZEMAN — A fatal multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 90 claimed the life of a 42-year-old Bozeman woman on Wednesday afternoon. According to a Montana Highway Patrol report, a 53-year-old Billings man, driving a Peterbilt truck in the eastbound lane, struck several vehicles that were slowing down due to a construction zone, near mile marker 311. The driver stated to troopers that he was checking his email at the time of the crash. The truck driver did not slow down in the construction zone and continued at highway speeds, striking the rear of a VW Golf, driven by the Bozeman woman...

[Catholic Caucus] Italian synodal document gets new vote after standoff in AprilA previous attempt to vote on the document was met with opposition from critics who said it was too vague on LGBT issues and women's ordination.The Italian synodal assembly is set to vote Saturday on a summary document of the country’s three-year synodal process, after the last attempt to bring the document to a vote in April ended in a standoff. The previous attempt at a vote was halted after progressive members of the assembly reportedly threatened to oppose the text, saying it did not adequately discuss the topics...

VIDEOS AT LINK........... The world's most expensive coffee comes from the rear end of a small mammal from South Asia known as an Asian common palm civet. To better understand what makes the brew so special, researchers from Central University of Kerala in India led a study into the chemistry behind the prized blend, confirming what many coffee connoisseurs suspected. In the wild, this small mammal (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) will eat coffee cherries of its own accord and poop out the undigested beans. Over a century ago, some daring – or perhaps even desperate – person discovered that these could be...

Game 1 Oct. 24 Rogers Centre Toronto Game 2 Oct 25 Rogers Centre Toronto Game 3 Oct 27 Dodger Stadium LA Game 4 Oct 28 Dodger Stadium LA Game 5 Oct 29 Dodger Stadium LA (if necessary) Game 6 Oct 31 Rogers Centre Toronto (if necessary) Game 7 Nov 1 Rogers Centre Toronto (if necessary)All games start just after 8pm Eastern

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: * Time travel is deterministic and locally free, a paper says—resolving an age-old paradox. * This follows research observing that the present is not changed by a time-traveling qubit. * It’s still not very nice to step on butterflies, though. ======================================================================= In a peer-reviewed paper, a scientist says he has mathematically proven the physical feasibility of a specific kind of time travel. The paper appears in Classical and Quantum Gravity. Germain Tobar and Fabio Costa, both of the University of Queensland at the time of the paper’s publication, worked together on...

Chery Automobile, a Chinese automaker, recently released a prototype solid-state battery that offers double the energy density of current EV batteries. Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story. * Solid-state batteries are the next quantum leap for EVs, unlocking more range, performance, and longevity. * Chery Automobile’s prototype battery module boasts a 600 Wh/Kg energy density—double the energy density of most current EV batteries. * Chery’s new battery is also puncture-resistant, significantly reducing the risk of fire should any of the cells be damaged. ============================================== Energy density is the latest hot pursuit for unlocking more range and performance...

Chinese researchers claim they have developed a heat-resistant coating for fighter jets to absorb radar waves, and to help the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) catch up with the United States in stealth technology. According to a paper published October 14 in Advanced Materials, Peking University and Harbin Engineering University scientists have created a lightweight, ultra-thin “metasurface” that combines flexibility, strength, and electromagnetic absorption. The coating, only 0.1 millimeter thick, can reportedly endure temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit) and maintain performance under high-speed airflow, conditions typical of supersonic flight, according to the South China Morning Post....

A “very significant” unpublished story by Jack Kerouac described as “a lost chapter of the On the Road saga” has been discovered after languishing in the files of an assassinated Mafia crime boss for at least 40 years.

VIDEOS AT LINK.................. Researchers in Canada have discovered a previously unknown bacteria capable of converting food waste into renewable natural gas which opens new opportunities for carbon-neutral fuel production. The find was made by a team of researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC), who discovered a methane-producing bacterium at one of the country’s biggest organic waste sites, the Surrey Biofuel Facility. Ryan Ziels, PhD, an associate professor in the university’s department of civil engineering and lead author of the study, revealed the team was investigating microbial energy production when they noticed something unexpected. The microbes that typically consume...

Friday on CNN’s “News Central,” former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she was not “concerned” about former President Joe Biden’s mental capacity during her tenure. Partial transcript as follows: BRIANNA KEILAR: According to my colleague Jake Tapper, who wrote a book with Alex Thompson, looking back on that, cabinet secretaries were telling them that Biden wasn’t up to the task of the proverbial 2 a.m. phone call. George Clooney said Biden didn’t even recognize him at the fundraiser that he was hosting. I mean, we’re talking 2023, 2024, why didn’t you see — why didn’t you have concerns?...

The Hollywood writer’s union is raising the alarm over the possible merger between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Skydance, saying that such a merger would be a “disaster,” but President Donald Trump says he is all for the plan. On Thursday, the Writers Guild of America put out a statement warning about the proposed merger, according to The Wrap. “Merger after merger in the media industry has harmed workers, diminished competition and free speech, and wasted hundreds of billions of dollars better invested in organic growth. Combining Warner Bros. with Paramount or another major studio or streamer would be a...

Maryland Governor Wes Moore strongly hinted today that he is ready to call a special session of the General Assembly to redraw the state congressional districts. That move would flip Maryland’s lone Republican seat in Congress, currently held by Representative Andy Harris, to a Democrat. At an appearance at a food pantry in Bowie today, 7News pushed the governor for an answer to redistricting. Yesterday, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) called for redistricting in a series of social media posts. “I hate gerrymandering. I hate it as a concept. I hate that it happens. But also you know what I hate?...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business; End to Sex Slavery; Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14) I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will not use any of the more than $5 billion in emergency funding it maintains to provide food assistance to needy families during the government shutdown, nor will it reimburse states that try to provide such benefits themselves, according to an agency memo obtained by Scripps News on Friday. Trump administration officials argue they’re unable to use the funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during a lapse in appropriations, and instead are holding onto them for true emergencies like “hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, that can come on quickly and without notice.” “SNAP contingency...

Brodie Kostecki walked away from a heavy crash that brought an early end to Saturday’s qualifying session at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500. The Dick Johnson Racing driver made head-on contact with the wall at the exit of the first chicane with just seconds remaining in Q2. That was the result of an already damaged front splitter folding under the front wheels midway through the complex. Kostecki’s impact with the tyre wall moved the concrete barriers behind it, sending photographers scattering. Four bystanders were reportedly hurt in the incident and are being transferred to hospital. Kostecki was uninjured in...

Genetic and archaeological evidence now points to Aboriginal Australians arriving around 50,000 years ago, later than once believed. Credit: Shutterstock =================================================================== A new study by a Utah anthropologist, based on genetic evidence, concludes that the colonizers of Sahul arrived later than the commonly held estimate of 65,000 years ago. Aboriginal Australian culture is recognized as the world’s longest continuous living tradition. Earlier studies estimated that the ancestors of today’s Indigenous Australians, known as the Sahul peoples, first reached the continent about 65,000 years ago. Yet new genetic research from the University of Utah, which examines traces of Neanderthal DNA in...