Free Republic

A lack of machine tools is constraining the United State's ability to ramp up ammunition transfers to Ukraine, the Army's top weapons buyer said March 3. The timeline for acquiring new machine tools “are often the long poles in the tent on getting capacity increased,” said Douglas Bush, assistant Army secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology. “These machines are the size of buildings. You don’t just go buy it from a parking lot somewhere.” U.S. and allied production of artillery ammunition has emerged as a key problem in supplying Ukraine, which burns through thousands of shells a...

I need help from my very enlightened freepers who have infinite knowledge and wisdom to help a woman out. I have a Harvest Right freeze dryer that needs a gasket and an oil/ water separator filter. I need to know the manufacturer and there is nothing on the pump to indicate who made it. Just the words Harvest Right. I called Harvest Right and they don't sell replacement parts and refused to tell me the make and model number. I can't afford a new pump and I'm very disappointed with the company. I can buy a whole new $3500 unit...

Oceanside Police Department told FOX 5 the woman was lying on the sand at Oceanside Harbor Beach around 10 a.m. A worker operating a tractor didn’t see the woman sleeping and ran her over, according to police. The woman, who appeared to be in her 40s, did not have identification on her. SkyFOX video showed crime scene tape and police officers surrounding the tractor. It was being used to move pipes as part of a dredging project.

Smart Ag introduced the concept of an autonomous tractor pulling a grain cart at the 2018 Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa. However, due to weather conditions and a few glitches here and there, it didn’t do much actual demonstrating a year ago. A new and improved version is ready to roll, and spokespeople say they intend to have it operating so 2019 Farm Progress Show visitors can see its potential in Decatur, Ill., Aug. 27-29. “We will be participating in the Ride ’n’ Drive display area at the show,” says Tim Norris, Eastern regional business director for Smart Ag....

An anonymous email making the cyberspace rounds is so upsetting that its author was correct to hide his name. The “Changes Are Coming” email details the demise of our post office, our newspapers, check writing systems, books and music as we know them along with the end of Cable TV and network systems as now constituted. But the harshest caveat bearing down on America is our demise due to deindustrialization. The email reports that “Tens of thousands of factories have left the U.S. in the past decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost. . .the U.S....

Shedding Light on the Protein Big Bang Theory March 13, 2009 — The precise three-dimensional structure of a typical protein molecule is so complex, its origin would seem hopeless by chance. What if evolutionary biologists were to discover a whole host of proteins literally exploded into existence at the beginning of complex life? We can find out what they would think by looking at an article on the “protein big bang” found on Astrobiology Magazine...

Japans closely watched machinery orders fell for the first time in five years in 2007, official data showed Friday, sparking fears that a US slowdown may pull Asias largest economy down. The data raised renewed concern about Japans economic recovery, which has been based on exports, and contributed to a 1.44 per cent fall on the Tokyo Stock Exchange despite a positive lead from Wall Street. The private sectors core machinery orders, which exclude particularly volatile demand from power companies and for ships, fell 4.0 per cent in 2007 from the previous year, with orders in December alone tumbling 3.2...

The walking forest machine is Plustech's best-known innovation. The goal of product development was to create a machine that has the best possible working stability and minimum impact on the terrain. The walking machine adapts automatically to the forest floor. Moving on six articulated legs, the harvester advances forward and backward, sideways and diagonally. It can also turn in place and step over obstacles. Depending on the irregularity of the terrain, the operator can adjust both the ground clearance of the machine and heigh of each step. The machine's nerve center is an intelligent computer system that controls all walking...

A London accountant has described how Pakistan's disgraced nuclear hero Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan visited the West African state of Mali on three occasions between 1998 and 2000. Abdul Ma'bood Siddiqui accompanied A.Q. Khan on three mystery trips  between 1998 and 2000. Their final destination was Timbuktu, a remote outpost in the desert that has always been a magnet for explorers and adventurers from around the world. The mystery behind the visits has deepened following recent revelations that Khan is also the owner of a small hotel in the town that he has named after Hendrina, his Dutch-born wife and...