Free Republic

Enough with the sarcasm—seriously, what are the actual obstacles keeping fusion energy inside lab experiments? Staff inspect the interior of the chamber and diagnostic equipment at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. =================================================================================== Fusion is always “x years away,” or so goes the old joke. I tried (unsuccessfully) to find where this saying even came from. For what it’s worth, one researcher’s testimonial dates back to the 1960s, whereas another 1986 conference panel mentioned something similar. Both accounts say fusion power is 50 and between 25 and 30 years away, respectively, so that adds up to around...

Cheese is one of the world’s most beloved foods, enjoyed by millions of people across countless cultures and cuisines. Credit: Shutterstock Scientists have traced the changing microbial communities inside three artisan British cheeses, revealing how bacteria shape their flavor, texture, and potential benefits for gut health. Cheese can seem like a simple pleasure, but every bite is the result of a microscopic transformation. As milk becomes cheese, bacteria and fungi break down sugars, proteins, and fats, creating the flavors, aromas, and textures that make each variety distinct. New research suggests that some of these tiny cheesemakers may do more than...

Joe Biden will not endorse anyone in the race for California governor, despite candidate Xavier Becerra working as one of the top officials in the former president’s administration. The decision not to make an endorsement in the chaotic race is being seen by some as a glaring snub of former Health and Human Services Secretary, who has risen to the top of the Democratic crop in recent polling. Biden recently told former White House chief of staff Ron Klain that he would not endorse in the June 2 primary despite Becerra’s years of service under Biden, according to the New...

President Trump is putting one of America’s most unforgettable 9/11 heroes back in the national spotlight. President Trump announced that Welles Remy Crowther, the 24-year-old former Boston College lacrosse player who gave his life saving strangers inside the burning South Tower on September 11, 2001, will posthumously receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. Crowther is known to history as the Man in the Red Bandana. On that terrible morning, Crowther was working as an equities trader on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center’s South Tower when United Airlines Flight 175...

The story of the Protestant Reformation is a complicated and often confusing series of historical events to approach. With the geopolitical and social movements of the time, getting a clear timeline is a difficult task. Along with this, many of the big themes are difficult to comprehend as they deal with medieval metaphysics. For much of Reformation history, this is the hard truth though, in my opinion, we do get to see a plethora of fascinating groups. One of the most intriguing groups to emerge from the Reformation period were the Anabaptists. Why are They Special? Without getting into the...

A whistleblower who says she was demoted after exposing Minnesota’s $250 million COVID fraud wants Rep. Ilhan Omar forced to testify, she said this week, as The Post obtained an audio clip of one of the fraudsters crediting the embattled pol with the explosion in popularity of the feeding program, later revealed to be a massive scheme. Faye Bernstein, a Minnesota Department of Health Services employee, was one of the first whistleblowers of the rampant fraud, raising the alarm to higher-ups as early as 2019. “It’s hard to believe that when she was doing appearances from a restaurant we now...

Ghoulish Democratic bosses promoted a dead man as a candidate in southern Brooklyn while soliciting petition signatures to help get House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries back on the ballot, The Post has learned. Robert Gevertzman, a longtime community leader who died in March 2025 at the age of 76, shockingly cleared the petition-checking process, records show. He is now slated to be below Jeffries on the Democratic ticket and run unopposed in next month’s primary for a seat on the Kings County Democratic Committee. The Democratic dirty tricks didn’t end with raising the dead. Borough party leaders also deployed...

NASA's Mars Perseverance rover has stumbled across an unusual sight: a stack of rocks on the Martian surface. How did they end up this way? Did Perseverance knock them over? So many questions. What is it? Perseverance, or Percy for short, captured this bizarre image of rocks stacked on Mars on May 13(or Sol 1859, the rover's 1,859th day on the Red Planet). The image was captured with the rover's Mastcam-Z camera — a pair of two cameras located high up on the rover's mast, looking almost like a pair of eyes that the craft sees through. You may have...

Very interesting video about the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier that sank in 1942 at the Battle of Midway.

When it comes to policing New York’s sprawling Medicaid program, Attorney General Letitia James has some explaining to do. As AG, James runs the state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which is charged with prosecuting those who rip off the taxpayer-funded program or neglect and abuse its vulnerable patients. It ought to be a busy place, considering New York spends far more per capita on Medicaid than any other state. Yet on her watch the unit has been posting metrics that range from lackluster to surprisingly low, especially when measured against the scale of a $119 billion social program. **SNIP** As...

In Norway’s highest mountains, experts are scouring perilous terrain for pieces of the past, long stored in mint condition in ice patches. As temperatures rise across the world, glacial archaeologists must find the emerging artifacts before they degrade forever This arrow with a pressure-flaked arrowhead made from gray quartzite dates to the Late Stone Age or Bronze Age and was found on Norway’s ice. The pitch and the animal sinew used to fasten the arrowhead are still preserved, which is exceptionally rare. Espen Finstad, Innlandet County Municipality ============================================================================================ A brown leather loafer came into view on a patch of ice...

The reclusive and disgraced Eric Swalwell has paid a law firm more than $313,000 so far to fend off his sexual misconduct claims, according to a recent campaign finance disclosure. In his most recent disclosure spanning from April 19 to May 16, Swalwell’s campaign paid Sara Azari’s New York law firm in two separate payments of $250,000 and $23,251, totaling $273,251, for “campaign legal compliance.” The payments came after he had already given her $40,000 to defend him publicly. Swalwell, who dropped out of the gubernatorial race and resigned his seat in Congress due to the claims, has been quiet...

I got 9/10 - Newsroom-worthy That’s editor-level mastery. You clearly keep up with what's going on in the world. Or subscribe to all our newsletters. Either way — well done. That's the same as your average from previous quizzes. ============================================================= I didn't know the one about the 'RAP' star for some reason...........🙄

The Trump administration said Friday that people with temporary visas seeking to adjust their immigration status to obtain green cards must return to their home countries to “do so through consular processing,” in a major change from current practice. “From now on, an alien who is in the U.S. temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply, except in extraordinary circumstances,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Zach Kahler said in a statement. “When aliens apply from their home country, it reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into...

The mystery of how Egypt’s pyramids survived thousands of years of earthquakes may partly come down to smart engineering, according to a new study that examined how the Great Pyramid of Giza responds to seismic vibrations. Researchers found that the Pyramid of Khufu has a natural vibration frequency that differs sharply from the surrounding ground, helping reduce the risk of dangerous resonance during earthquakes. The study, led by Mohamed ELGabry and published in Scientific Reports, analyzed ambient seismic noise recorded inside the 4,600-year-old pyramid. Researchers said the findings may explain why the structure has survived centuries of earthquakes with little...

Ancient DNA extracted from human remains in Peru shows that long-distance migration along the Pacific coast began centuries before the Inca Empire expanded into the region. A study published in Nature Communications traces this movement to at least the 13th century, offering new insight into how coastal communities formed and connected long before any imperial force arrived. Jacob L. Bongers, an archaeologist at the University of Sydney and lead author of the study, analyzed genome-wide data from 21 individuals buried in the Chincha Valley of southern Peru. The results show that early inhabitants carried genetic ancestry from populations living about...

(WND)—Democrats in the U.S. House have killed a proposal for a Women’s Museum on the National Mall because it would be about … WOMEN! Applying their anti-science transgender agenda, that men can become women by saying they are women, they rejected the plan because an amendment would provide that the subjects in the museum be biological women. “The measure came up short in a vote of 204-216 after a handful of conservative GOP lawmakers joined Democrats in tanking the legislation that would secure a site for the forthcoming Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum on the grounds of the Mall,” explained...

A former Democratic megadonor blasted his party’s newly released election autopsy, arguing the party doesn't need a lengthy report to understand why voters rejected them. John Morgan, who has previously given over a million dollars to the Democratic Party, revealed he didn’t give "a penny" to the 2024 campaign once Vice President Kamala Harris took the helm. Speaking on "Jesse Watters Primetime," Morgan argued the DNC’s post-mortem report misses the mark, failing to address the party’s decision to embrace certain progressive social issues. "I don't know what they spent on this autopsy, but they could have given me nothing and...

President Donald Trump is championing the prospect of putting the kibosh on twice-annual clock changes by making daylight saving time permanent. A bill to make daylight saving time permanent has been folded into a larger measure that the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced in a 48-1 vote on Thursday. "Big Vote today (48-1!) in the Energy and Commerce Committee on a Bill including The Sunshine Protection Act, which will be making Daylight Saving Time Permanent! This is so important in that Hundreds of Millions of Dollars are spent every year by people, Cities, and States, being forced to change...

BUNIA, Congo (AP) — Authorities in northeastern Congo banned funeral wakes and gatherings of more 50 people Friday in an effort to curb a rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak in a region where medical workers have struggled with a lack of resources and pushback from angry residents. The World Health Organization said that the outbreak now poses a “very high” risk for Congo — up from a previous categorization of “high” — but that the risk of the disease spreading globally remains low. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said 82 cases and seven deaths have been confirmed in Congo, but that...