Free Republic

Hurricane season began on June 1st and more often than not it is a month that doesn’t feature too much tropical storm activity, but back in early June 1966 it was a different story. On June 4th, the first tropical depression of the young season formed near Nicaragua. The tropical depression moved north into the already warm waters of the Western Caribbean and strengthened rapidly into Hurricane Alma as it made landfall on the western tip of Cuba. Typically, when tropical systems make landfall they weaken, but Alma only got stronger as it continued to make its way to the...

Distant Galaxy The image of the most distant galaxy, GHZ2/GLASS-z12. (NASA/ESA/CSA/T. Treu, UCLA/NAOJ/T. Bakx, Nagoya U) A galaxy whose light has traveled nearly 13.5 billion years to reach us has just been confirmed as the earliest galaxy found to date. By studying the oxygen content of the galaxy with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have precisely dated it to just 367 million years after the Big Bang, a time when the first lights in the Universe were still switching on and starting to propagate freely through space. The result confirms observations made by JWST, and offers new information...

Circumplanetary Disk Star AS 209 Scientists studying the young star AS 209 have detected gas in a circumplanetary disk for the first time, which suggests the star system may be harboring a very young Jupiter-mass planet. Science images from the research show (right) blob-like emissions of light coming from otherwise empty gaps in the highly-structured, seven-ring disk (left). Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), J. Bae (University of Florida) ALMA Makes First-Ever Detection of Gas in a Circumplanetary Disk Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study planet formation have made the first-ever detection of gas in a circumplanetary disk. What’s...

An illustration depicting GRB21106A. The event itself is seen as a white jet in the center of the frame, stemming from the merger seen as a pale blue lighted disk on the bottom left, and the shockwave afterglow is seen as a larger, semi-circular lit-up region toward the middle right. This artist's conception shows the merger between a neutron star and another star (disk, lower left) which caused an explosion resulting in GRB 211106A (white jet, middle), and left behind one of the most luminous afterglows on record (semispherical shock wave midright). ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), M. Weiss (NRAO/AUI/NSF) ************************************************************************************** Astronomers presented...

With an estimated cost of about $787 million, a public-private partnership on a tolled four-lane Interstate 49 extension from Alma to Fort Smith with a bridge over the Arkansas River has been deemed “not viable” by the Arkansas Department of Transportation. Results of the I-49 Alternative Delivery Study, approved by the Arkansas Highway Commission in 2016, were presented Wednesday at the Frontier Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Policy Board meeting. Andrew Brewer, assistant division engineer for ARDOT, said a tolled 14-mile extension was deemed “not viable” based on projected costs and revenue. “The bottom line is assuming an optimal toll rate of...

Astronomers have a problem on their hands: How can you make planets if you don’t have enough of the building blocks? Stars are born from colossal clouds of gas and dust and, in their earliest stages, are surrounded by a thin disk of material. Dust grains within this halo collide, sometimes sticking together. The clumps build up into planetary cores, which are big enough to gravitationally attract additional dust and gas, eventually forming planets. But many details about this process remain unknown, such as just how quickly planets arise from the disk, and how efficient they are in capturing material....

A future Interstate 49 and whether it will become Arkansas’ first toll road are being considered, with public meetings likely coming in early 2018, reports KFSM news station.The interstate section being considered would stretch from Barling to Alma over the Arkansas River. The Arkansas Department of Transportation has commissioned a study on charging tolls on the future highway section.The study is scheduled to be completed next fall, and public meetings are expected at the first of 2018 to get public input on the project, the station reports.Interstate 49 would eventually stretch from New Orleans to Canada. Portions of the highway...

One of Arkansas’ top priorities is finishing Interstate 49 in the western part of the state. A key component of that massive project, which is also massively expensive, is a 13.7-mile stretch near Fort Smith that includes a bridge over the Arkansas River to connect Interstate 40 with Interstate 49, which would then run from south Fort Smith to northwest Arkansas and up through the midsection of the nation. The project’s completion would connect with a 6.5-mile stretch of Interstate 549 that opened in 2015 and hooks up U.S. 71 with Highway 22 in south Fort Smith. The proposed 13.7-mile...

An angry monster lurks in the shoulder of the Hunter. We’re talking about the red giant star Betelgeuse, also known as Alpha Orionis in the constellation Orion. Recently, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) gave us an amazing view of Betelgeuse, one of the very few stars that is large enough to be resolved as anything more than a point of light. 650 light years distant, Betelgeuse is destined to live fast, and die young. The star is only eight million years old – young as stars go. Consider, for instance, our own Sun, which has been shining as a...

Just. Wow. An angry monster lurks in the shoulder of the Hunter. We’re talking about the red giant star Betelgeuse, also known as Alpha Orionis in the constellation Orion. Recently, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) gave us an amazing view of Betelgeuse, one of the very few stars that is large enough to be resolved as anything more than a point of light.

MILWAUKEE -- Democratic Party of Wisconsin conventioneers backed Hillary Clinton for the party’s presidential nomination next year, while Bernie Sanders finished a strong second, according to a WisPolitics.com straw poll. Meanwhile, Sen. Kathleen Vinehout of Alma was favored in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary straw poll. Clinton drew support from 252 of the 511 delegates, alternates and registered guests who voted in the straw poll. Sanders was backed by 208, while Vice President Joe Biden and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley tied for a distant third with 16 votes each.

Harry Reid’s alma matter is removing his name from a school building after citizens and alumni lobbied the school president and pledged more than $40,000 to the cause. Concerned citizens lobbied Southern Utah University president Scott Wyatt months ago for the change, but he has only now decided to remove the name out of respect for the Senate majority leader, Utah’s The Spectrum reports. “I didn’t want to offend him in any way,” he explained. Cedar City Councilman Paul Cozzens told The Specter he received $40,000 in pledges to remove the Nevada senator’s name in just five days. “These people...

Today is inauguration day for ALMA, the massive telescopic array that’s still under construction in Chile’s Atacama Desert. But just because it’s not finished doesn’t mean astronomers haven’t been using it. The $1.5 billion telescope has just peered into the deepest realms of the universe, revealing some of the most distant star-spawning galaxies ever discovered....

BULLETIN TROPICAL DEPRESSION ONE-E ADVISORY NUMBER 1 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL EP012008 800 PM PDT WED MAY 28 2008 ...TROPICAL DEPRESSION FORMS NEAR COSTA RICA...EXPECTED TO BRING HEAVY RAINS TO PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AMERICA... AT 8 PM PDT...0300 UTC...THE GOVERNMENT OF COSTA RICA HAS ISSUED A TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR THE PACIFIC COAST OF COSTA RICA. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO SPREAD ACROSS THE PACIFIC COAST OF NICARAGUA DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. FOR STORM...

Apr 25, 7:36 PM EDT Ark. Hispanic groups plan rallies, not boycott, for May 1 By DANIEL CONNOLLY Associated Press Writer LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Demonstrations in favor of giving illegal immigrants a chance at legal status are scheduled in De Queen, Little Rock and Springdale next Monday, three weeks after rallies in those cities attracted thousands of people. But some organizers in Arkansas say they won't support calls by national groups for immigrants to show their economic power Monday by not working or shopping. "We are not supporting or against that (boycott)," said Margarita Solorzano, one of the organizers...