Free Republic

Researchers at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) are taking significant steps that can help boost production of oil and natural gas that can be recovered from unconventional formations. The method focuses on recovering these additional resources in shale and other tight reservoirs that have already produced hydrocarbons through hydraulic fracturing in primary recovery operations but still contain large amounts of oil and gas trapped within rocks. In unconventional formations, only a small percentage of hydrocarbons in place are typically extracted. While the new research could help ensure affordable, reliable, and secure energy for the United States. Primary recovery from...

Brazilian health authorities are monitoring two patients for possible Ebola infection in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, officials said, sparking further concern of the deadly virus outbreak in central Africa spreading abroad. A 37-year-old man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the outbreak has been concentrated, "exhibited symptoms such as fever, meeting the definition of a suspected case" of Ebola, the Sao Paulo state government said in a statement on Saturday. While initial tests did not detect the Ebola virus in the patient, he is being monitored and isolated as a precautionary measure at a specialized infectious...

Two ex-mayors, Gov. Kathy Hochul and NYPD Commish Jessica Tisch stood in solidary with the Big Apple’s Jewish community at the Israel Day Parade on Sunday, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani instead spent the day touting his 2029 re-election bid — and riding his bike. Former Mayors Eric Adams and Michael Bloomberg joined the unifying celebration along with thousands of New Yorkers on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, as did Hochul, the city’s top cop and a slew of other leaders and elected officials across the state. Bloomberg, a staunch Israel supporter who marched in the parade for all 12 years he...

Delaware Superior Court Judge Craig Karsnitz has ruled that companies in Delaware will be able to vote in elections just like people. This is especially wacky for Delaware. As per the US Census Bureau, the estimated human population of Delaware is just over 1 million. But there are over 2 million corporations headquartered in the state, which means there are far more companies in Delaware than there are people. According to Bloomberg Law, the ruling came up because the town of Fenwick Island was already letting corporations vote in its municipal elections (they own most of the property, after all)....

Not bored with snakes yet? I caught this Timber rattler during a Colorado River trip with my Dad in 1967. My cousin Maria Shriver is to my left. pic.twitter.com/ULMzv2hFJN— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 31, 2026The girl is Maria Shriver. I don't know who the nose picker in the back is!......... 🙄

A man cartoonishly named Loony Toon was sentenced to decades in prison for shooting at three Oregon police officers during a traffic stop. Loony John Franklin Kolb Toon, 43, will spend the next 20 years behind bars after he opened fire on police officers in Milwaukie, a Portland suburb, in June 2025, a judge ruled. Toon shot at the officers while speeding away from the traffic stop after officers discovered he had an active warrant. He then ditched his SUV and a female passenger and took off on foot at a local golf course. He was arrested three days later....

Explanation: Newborn stars are forming in the Eagle Nebula. They are gravitationally contracting in pillars of dense gas and dust. The intense radiation of these newly-formed bright stars is causing surrounding material to boil away. This image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in near infrared light, allows the viewer to see through much of the thick dust that makes the pillars opaque in visible light. The giant structures are light years in length and dubbed informally the Pillars of Creation. Associated with the open star cluster M16, the Eagle Nebula lies about 6,500 light years away. The Eagle Nebula...

More than 1,100 people were suspected of having contracted Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring Uganda, the head of the African Union's health agency said on Sunday in a commentary for the Financial Times. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director general Jean Kaseya said there were 263 confirmed cases in both countries as of Saturday, with 43 confirmed deaths. More than 1,100 suspected cases were still being investigated, he wrote in the editorial. On Thursday, the Africa CDC said there had been 246 suspected deaths from the virus. "We must move at the speed of...

If you were paranoid about digital tracking before, you might want to think twice about reading any further. New research out of Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology found that the types of Wi-Fi routers we all have in our homes come with a major privacy vulnerability that can be used to identify any human body that comes within their range. The study, flagged by Gizmodo, used machine learning systems to identify individuals with an accuracy rate of 99.5 percent. To do so, the researchers exploited a vulnerability in a process known as beamforming feedback information (BFI), which was introduced to...

CHICAGO — Valerie Jarrett has gone from friend, confidante and special senior advisor to Barack Obama during his two terms in office to CEO of the Obama Foundation. And with less than a month to go, she’s about to witness the birth of the Obama Presidential Center. The 19.3-acre campus in Chicago’s Jackson Park neighborhood is set to open to the public June 19. “It exceeds my wildest expectations. I think we’ve really done a great job. We worked with the community to help us on the design and the jobs and the feel,” she said. “I think people will...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Trump administration is pushing to unleash the power of artificial intelligence for the U.S. military while facing calls to put up guardrails around the rapidly developing technology from some companies — and even notes of caution from top leaders in uniform.Adm. Frank Bradley, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, told attendees of a recent annual special forces conference in Tampa, Florida, that troops “have to be very careful about how we come to (AI’s) employment and its inspiration into the delivery of lethality.”Bradley said he can see a future where AI determines what targets to...

President Trump posted several mock-up images of the “drone port” he hopes to build at the top of the proposed White House ballroom over the weekend — while taking a jab at the judge who is trying to delay construction. “The DronePort at the White House Ballroom will be, perhaps, the most sophisticated anywhere in the World!” Trump boasted on Truth Social. “It will safeguard our Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C., long into the future. “Judge Richard Leon should stop playing games with America’s Security! If anything happens, he will be held responsible for the Death and Destruction caused to our...

The hiring of Seahawks assistant G.M. Nolan Teasley as the Vikings’ new G.M. will carry a specific benefit for his former team. Per the league, Teasley qualifies as a diverse candidate under the NFL provision that gives the former team of a newly-hired G.M. or head coach a pair of third-round compensatory draft picks.

POTTSVILLE, Pa. -- A Schuylkill County school show put on by kindergartners was stopped short on Wednesday, following an altercation in the audience, officials say. Now police say two Pottsville men are facing charges. Parents took off from work and arrived Wednesday morning to watch their kindergarten students' end-of-the-year concert at John S. Clarke Elementary Center. "It's what every parent dreams to go and check out, see their cuteness. It was awesome," said Jay Rose, a parent of one of the kindergarteners performing that day. While the students took center stage during the school day, it was a handful of...

A transatlantic United Airlines flight from Newark to Palma de Mallorca made an emergency diversion back to New York on Saturday night because a Bluetooth speaker carried by a teen passenger on the flight had been named ‘BOMB.’ United flight UA-236 had departed nearly two hours late at around 6:08 pm on May 30 due to a technical issue with the Boeing 767 used for the service, but this turned out to be a minor drama compared to what was to come next. screenshot of flight radar 24 showing the diversion of UA236 on May 30 Courtesy Flight Radar 24....

At 96 years old, Clint Eastwood has had one of the most illustrious careers in Hollywood. Born in San Francisco on May 31, 1930, Eastwood first served in the army before he ventured into acting. He got his big break in 1959, starring as Rowdy Yates on CBS' Rawhide and his career took off from there. Throughout his 66-year-long career, Eastwood has starred in classics such as Escape from Alcatraz, Dirty Harry, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Bridges of Madison County and has directed a staggering 40 films, including American Sniper, Heartbreak Ridge, Flags of Our Fathers and more. Eastwood's...

Few biblical tales have stirred the imagination across cultures as powerfully as the legendary meeting between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Told in the First Book of Kings (10:1–13), the story describes a mysterious monarch who traveled from a distant land with caravans of gold, spices, and precious stones to test Solomon with riddles and witness his famed wisdom... Yet, despite the vividness of the episode, the identity and location of her kingdom remain one of the Bible’s enduring mysteries. The two most widely accepted views place Sheba either in southern Arabia (present-day Yemen) or in Ethiopia... Proponents...

Racial justice advocates descended on Capitol Hill to slam the Trump administration’s policies that they say are an “attack on the Black economy,” as Black Americans see rising unemployment and disproportionate impacts of America’s affordability crisis. “The state of the Black economy is under attack,” said U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who hosted a press conference on Wednesday with coalition groups, including the NAACP, Color of Change, the National Urban League, and The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. “We are plagued by an economic crisis that is a direct result of Trump’s reckless financial policies that are...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Patty Murray said she broke her ankle earlier this week after tripping while running down the stairs, but said she planned to return to the Capitol next week for votes and hearings. (snip) "Earlier this week, while running down the stairs in a rush, I tripped and ended up breaking my ankle—I wouldn’t recommend it. Next week, I’ll be back at the Capitol for votes and hearings and doing everything else I can to be a voice for Washington state in the Senate—I’ll just be swapping one of my tennis shoes for an ankle brace for...

If the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz is a game of chicken, it sounds as though the Iranians will either swerve first – or accelerate. One way or the other, though, the blockade appears to have succeeded in bringing the regime to its crisis point. As discussions around a potential deal (really a pre-deal) continue, the IRGC has begun to demand an end to the US Navy's complete siege on Iranian ports. That message has come from the top of the food chain today, including the Nepo Babytollah's supposed attaché: [X links at source article] The "direct action" threat...