Free Republic

One day inside probably won’t hugely affect your health—but it’s not great to constantly stay cooped up from morning until dark. The biggest issue is that entering hibernation mode means you don’t get any exposure to natural light. Sunlight tends to improve your mood, and it helps your body produce vitamin D, which has been shown to help regulate the immune system, reduce inflammation in the body, and more. Sunlight also helps keep your internal body clock on schedule; your circadian rhythm plays a major part in regulating your appetite, sleep schedule, and energy levels... Also, a study out of...

You can hear her say in the video, "I'm going to back up a little bit,' and we don't blame her!A swamp walk guide and resident photographer of Clyde Butcher's Big Cypress Gallery stood inches away from a 40-year-old alligator in the Everglades. Conny Randolph took the incredible video this weekend in the Ochopee wetlands of Big Cypress National Preserve, right off U.S. 41. You can hear her say in the video, "I'm going to back up a little bit,' and we don't blame her! Moments later, you can hear the alligator hiss. According to the gallery, the alligator she...

When the young are involved, whether it is humans or animals mothers usually let out the crazy side of themselves and do everything to protect their babies. The urge to save them is greater than the urge to save their own lives. Research has established a reason behind this act lies in the love hormone, Oxytocin during an experiment with rats. This hormone drives a mother to protect her young ones. It also plays a role in social interaction and breastfeeding. The results gave evidence that when mothers are protecting their young, it is oxytocin that triggered this defense mechanism....

There – a concealed hatch. Van Allen tugged it open with his fingers and descended into the ground, closing the hatch behind. Below, he flicked on lights at a switch. He hung up his coat. Push-button LED lights were stuck to the walls using tape. There was a portable gas stove down here, and now that Van Allen was in for the night, he lit it and emptied a can of soup into a pan. So. No giveaway litter. No lingering near the hatch during daylight hours. And no boasting, not at The Garden Gate, not while fulfilling handyman jobs...

Actress and climate activist Jane Fonda endorsed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the upcoming election. While participating in a climate rally in San Pedro, California, Fonda endorsed Sanders as the best "climate candidate" to address global warming, an issue she views as an "existential threat that could determine the future of human life on the planet." "We have to get a climate president in office, and there’s only one right now, and that’s Bernie Sanders," she said to USA Today prior to the rally. "So, I’m indirectly saying I believe you have to support the climate candidate.” At the rally,...

Migrants on the Turkish side of the border at the Pazarkule border crossing try to move forward as the Greek army fires water cannons at them. IMAGES

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the...

The emergence of the coronavirus as a world health epidemic and fears of it spreading have halted air and ground travel in some regions of the world and stalled it elsewhere, significantly reducing the amount of carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere. Pollution monitoring satellites from NASA and the European Space Agency have detected significant decreases of nitrogen dioxide over China since Jan. 1, following the outbreak of the virus -- evidence that the noxious gas being emitted by motor vehicles, power plants and industrial facilities has nearly come to a complete stop. And China isn't the only part...

Diver spotted shark off Riviera BeachHow did you say Happy Valentine's Day to your significant other this year? A heart-shaped box of chocolates? A dozen red roses? A romantic candlelit dinner? A day of pampering at the spa? A Viera man has most of us beat, at least on unique style points. Jim Cocci named a shark after his wife, Colleen, News 6 partner Florida Today reported. ThatÂ’s right. A great white shark, no less. Tuesday, Cocci and 10 other divers were on a group charter with WalkerÂ’s Dive Charters out of Riviera Beach. On their second dive of the...

Are we about to see an expansion of the authority or impact of the Endangered Species Act? If so, how will this occur? First let’s take a look at how we got where we are today. In the early history of our country, the states were sovereign over wildlife within their borders. As late as 1896 the Supreme Court held that states have the, “undoubted authority to control the taking and use of that which belonged to no one in particular but was common to all.” (Geer v. Connecticut). Since then we have witnessed the steady passing of this...

Videocamera captured the moment of atrocity commuted by the Greek Couast Guard. Video cameras captured the moment, as the forces of the Hellenic coast guard in the Aegean sea dragged back the rubber boat with a group of migrants on B board. In recent days, thousands of migrants wishing to reach Europe, headed overland to the border crossing in Edirne and across the sea to the Greek coast. On the of the coast guard Forces of Greece withdraw a rubber boat with a group of illegal migrants from the territorial waters of Greece. Migrants on boat were rescued by the...

It’s time for another new year, and many people have set their sights on resolutions—things to do differently and, presumably, better during the next trip around the sun. For a good many people, this means learning new homesteading skills to become more self-sufficient. That may lead to leaving the grid for some, but lots of folks these days are just looking to do more for themselves—whether by becoming full-on, self-sufficient homesteaders or simply gaining a little more control over their lives and finances by picking up some new skills. Are you among those people looking to gain some self-reliance this...

Thomas Knight with the enormous lake trout that broke New Hampshire's 62-year-old state record for the largest lake trout. (CNN)When Thomas Knight set out on the ice to go fishing for lake trout, he was determined to haul in a big one. He came prepared with an 11-inch sucker because big bait attracts big fish, he said. But what he reeled in was bigger than anything he could have imagined. Knight, of Meredith, New Hampshire, caught a lake trout last Tuesday that weighed in at 37.65 pounds, easily breaking the state record that was more than 60 years old. The...

It was shortly after the new year when Jim Holton, owner of Mountain Town Station, sent word of an unusual critter roaming around the grounds of his restaurants at 506 W. Broadway just west of downtown Mt. Pleasant. He reported seeing a white squirrel. A quick search of the grounds by Morning Sun staff turned up lots of snow and not much else during a chilly hour-long search. It became a mild winter obsession. Reports were made of the animal on different parts of the ground: near the garbage receptacles in the back, behind Water Works Salon, 502 W. Broadway,...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the...

Four years ago, Molly Seidel wasn’t just the next big thing. She was the top female distance runner in the NCAA with four national titles and the Olympic Trials on the horizon. But instead of signing a splashy contract with a shoe company, Seidel was sidelined with a sacral stress fracture and watched the U.S. Olympic Track Trials from the stands at Hayward Field, where her Notre Dame teammate Dani Aragon gave her a reality check. “You look like you’re dying,” Seidel remembers her friend saying. “You need to get help.” The truth was, the fastest woman in the NCAA...

The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial along with a mobile Education Center, is coming to Garland Thursday, Feb. 27, through Sunday, March 1. The exhibit will be on display at Audubon Park, 342 W. Oates Road, and will be open 24 hours a day and free to the public. The City of Garland is leading the effort that will bring the exhibit to the metroplex. The Wall That Heals honors the more than three million Americans who served in the U.S. Armed forces in the Vietnam War and it bears the names of...

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders will be hosting a rally in Los Angeles on Sunday (Mar. 1), and Public Enemy is set to perform. Comedian Sarah Silverman and beloved actor Dick Van Dyke will also take part in the event. The rally comes just two days before Super Tuesday (March 3), during which the greatest number of U.S. states (California included) will hold primary elections and caucuses. Sanders has already won the New Hampshire and Nevada primaries. Public Enemy's performance comes as no surprise, as in their decades-long career, the group has often focused on political commentary and African American...

For nearly two months, a pair of bald eagles in the San Bernardino National Forest have watched vigilantly over two eggs laid in early January, but officials say it’s looking like the eggs aren’t likely to hatch. The chicks should have been born around Valentine’s Day, but on Feb. 21 — more than 40 days after the eggs were laid — the U.S. Forest Service delivered the disappointing news. “It’s hard to say this,” the officials wrote on Facebook in announcing that the odds were against the eggs hatching. The chances “are diminishing each day,” they wrote. “The window of...

It’s Valentine’s Day and that means love, right? Sappy greeting cards. Heart-shaped candy. Professions of undying romance blah, blah, blah.Let’s talk about something that actually matters today: New Jersey people and all the things we love, love, love no matter what day of the year it is. One of the many punchlines thrown our way is that we’re a joyless bunch who are quicker to hate something than to embrace it as our own. Not true! Well, not always true, anyway. Here are 25 items, behaviors and misfortunes of others we Garden Staters love above all else. Enjoy your price-gauged...