Free Republic

Deflating security: Biden sells federal helium reserve, threatens us industries… National security on the line as critical element supply diminishes. In a surprising turn of events, the U.S. government has auctioned off the Federal Helium Reserve, a subterranean treasure in Amarillo, Texas, responsible for supplying up to 30% of the nation’s helium needs. This critical element is indispensable in medical technologies, cryogenics, semiconductors, and even rocket propulsion systems.

The announced departure of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sibelius marks the end of a chapter of American history. Sibelius, aside from President Obama, has been the most prominent public face on the signature initiative of the Obama administration – the Affordable Health Care Act. The question before Americans today is whether we are concluding the first chapter of a dream come true or whether this may be the beginning of the end of a nightmare. I’m hoping Americans will wake up and see Obamacare for the nightmare it is. Victory dances are taking place in the “dream come true” camp that...

Man pulled over for being radioactive Last Wednesday, Mike Apatow was getting on to Interstate 84 in Newtown, CT, when police stopped him for no reason he could determine. When the cop told him that his car had set off his radioactivity detectors, it started making sense: Apatow was most certainly radioactive. Earlier in the day, Apatow had had a bit of radioactive material injected into his veins. He wasn't trying to turn himself into a superhero—just trying to keep himself alive. The off-duty firefighter had gone to a cardiology office to have a cardiac stress test, which tracks the...

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Maryland have created a new class of artificial proteins that can assemble themselves into a gel and encourage the growth of selected cell types. This biomaterial, which can be tailored to send different biological signals to cells, is expected to help scientists who are developing new ways to repair injured or diseased body parts. "We're trying to give an important new tool to tissue engineers to help them do their work more quickly and efficiently," said James L. Harden, whose lab team developed the new biomaterial. "We're the first to produce a self-assembling protein...

These are actual excerpts from ROE v. WADE"Section IX" "The appellee and certain amici argue that the fetus is a "person" within the language and meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. ..they outline at length and in great detail the well-known facts of fetal development. If this suggestion of personhood is ever established, the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [Fourteenth] Amendment. The appellant concluded as much on reargument. On the other hand, the appellee conceded on reargument that no case could be cited that holds that a...

Huge data sets examined interactively yet remotely   Sandia “Be There Now” hardware enhances long-distance collaborations   CYBERSPACE DOOR — Lyndon Pierson (left) and Perry Robertson examine their group’s video encoder and decoder. (Photo by Randy Montoya)Download 300dpi JPEG image, ‘Internet-Speed.jpg’, 1.6MB (Media are welcome to download/publish this image with related news stories.) ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A surgeon in New York who wants the opinion quickly of a specialist in Los Angeles probably would send medical MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] files as e-mail attachments or make them accessible in Internet drop zones. Unfortunately for patients on operating tables, extremely...