Free Republic

Four special operations soldiers were aboard an Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed Wednesday night in a rugged area of Washington state. This is “currently a search mission” involving the “most professional and skilled addressing the situation,” Army representative Ruth Castro said, according to the Associated Press. The Army has not released any comment about the conditions of the soldiers. The MH-60 Black Hawk, assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, was on what the Army called a routine training flight at the time of the crash, according to The New York Times. The helicopter crashed at about 9...

This new species, named Zavacephale rinpoche, lived about 108 million years ago (Early Cretaceous period). Young Zavacephale duel for territory along a lakeshore 108 million years ago. Image: Masaya Hattori Arecent discovery in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert has provided the most complete and oldest fossil of an iconic dome-headed dinosaur to date. This new species, named Zavacephale rinpoche, lived about 108 million years ago (Early Cretaceous period). Palaeontologists from North Carolina State University announced the findings on September 17, describing it as a “once-in-a-lifetime discovery.” It belongs to the group pachycephalosaurs — dinosaurs known for their unique head adornments, including domes...

Orcas are behaving strangely, lately. Lately, there’s been a surge in incidents involving Orcas in the Oceans, from a pair of giant beasts killing 17 sharks in one day to a series of attacks on boats. Now, it’s reported that a pod of killer whales has ‘repeatedly rammed and sunk’ a small yacht filled with tourists out on the coast of Portugal. The targeted vessel was sailing off the coast of Fonte da Telha beach last Saturday, when the animals struck it. Daily Mail reported: “Footage shows several orcas chasing the boat before they start violently slamming against it, sending...

VIDEO AT LINK................ It’s been 30 years since the discovery of the first planet around another star like our Sun. With every new discovery, scientists move closer to answering whether there are other planets like Earth that could host life as we know it. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech The milestone highlights the accelerating rate of discoveries, just over three decades since the first exoplanets were found. The official number of exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — tracked by NASA has reached 6,000. Confirmed planets are added to the count on a rolling basis by scientists from around the world, so...

CONEJOS COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) - A massive search is underway for a pair of hunters who were reportedly last heard from on Thursday, while hunting in Conejos County. According to the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), on September 13, deputies responded to the Rio De Los Pinos Trailhead in an effort to make contact with two hunters, Andrew Porter, a 25-year-old man from Asheville, N.C., and Ian Stasko, a 25-year-old man from Salt Lake City, UT. The sheriff’s office said the pair was reported overdue while elk hunting in the San Juan Wilderness Area, west of Trujillo Meadows Reservoir, when...

Leopard tooth marks were found on this Homo habilis jawbone. Image credit: Vegara-Riquelme et al., Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2025) Around 2 million years ago, prehistoric humans in East Africa turned the tables on the carnivores that had previously terrorized them, learning not only to fend off these predators but also steal their kills, thus replacing them at the very top of the food chain. Generally, the ancient species Homo habilis is credited with making this trophic leap, yet new research suggests that this extinct hominin was actually hunted by leopards and may therefore have been...

Guinness World Records announced on September 10 that Croatian man Vitomir Maričić just beat the world record for holding your breath. Maričić held his breath for 29 minutes and 3 seconds. How is that even possible? Even as a kid, the best I could ever do was a little over a minute. Maričić is a member of the Adriatic free divers. Freedivers train their bodies to cope with reduced oxygen levels. They prepare by taking deep, oxygen-rich breaths and relaxing the mind to trigger the mammalian dive reflex, which slows down the heart rate, redirects blood to vital organs and...

This past weekend, three men competed in a women's bike race and one of them crushed all the competitors without remorse. Three males competed in a women's cycling championship yesterday, with one dominating the race and taking first place.When members of a women's rights group protested their participation, race officials attacked them.https://t.co/s8cWvCswkl— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) September 15, 2025Liam King (on the left) easily won the race. He dominated this race from the start. It wasn’t even really a race at all, he was just way out front the entire time. Mr. Wolfe did not have a good showing at all. Maybe...

USA Cycling has provided a statement to Fox News Digital addressing social media posts by transgender athlete Chelsea Wolfe, an alternate in BMX for the U.S. at the Tokyo Olympics, celebrating Charlie Kirk's assassination this week. "The views of current and former national team athletes are their own and do not reflect those of USA Cycling. Chelsea Wolfe has not been a member of the USA Cycling National Team or a member of USA Cycling since 2023," the statement read. Wolfe's social media statements, made via Instagram story, included a reshare of news of Kirk's assassination with an animated caption...

NASA has announced the discovery of what it believes to be ancient microbial life on the Martian surface. The new administrator for the space agency, Sean Duffy, said a sample collected by the Perseverance rover has been declared the 'clearest sign of life' ever found on the Red Planet. In a Wednesday news conference, NASA's Associate Administrator Nicky Fox said: 'This is the kind of signature that we would see that was made by something biological.' Specifically, researchers have been looking at unusual spots and seed-like shapes in ancient Martian rocks that might point to the existence of tiny life...

NASA may be preparing to deliver some monumental news about Mars after surprisingly calling for a rare news conference on Wednesday. Officials with the space agency said they plan to discuss a 'new finding' by the Perseverance rover, which has been on the Red Planet since 2021. The discovery involves a rock called 'Sapphire Canyon,' collected by the rover in July 2024 from an ancient river system in a Martian area called Neretva Vallis. Scientists are excited because this rock might contain 'biosignatures,' which are chemical clues that could hint at ancient microbial life on Mars. >>> While NASA has...

Jackson Denio almost needed a bigger boat when he hauled in a huge 174-pound Atlantic halibut off the New England coast that he hopes will shatter a world record. The 13-year-old Hampton boy’s colossal catch came on Labor Day while he and his cousin, Austin Leaver, 14, also of Hampton, were enjoying an overnight fishing trip 75 miles offshore. “I was insanely happy. I never thought I’d catch something like this,” Jackson said, as he recalled the memorable fishing trip that’s now left him and his family buried in halibut steaks. The adventure began around 7 p.m. on Sunday, Aug....

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon is challenging a signature accomplishment of Gov. JB Pritzker and getting involved in a case that could go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. She was confirmed by the Senate despite criticism from Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking member of the judiciary committee from Illinois. “I cannot and will not support a nominee whose record suggests she is more likely to attack civil rights than defend them,” Durbin said. He argued she was part of a “growing list of the president’s personal lawyers” nominated for senior Justice Department roles. Now Dhillon...

Three new species of snailfish show there's still plenty of mystery surrounding the deep sea. Not to be dramatic, but I would die for this snailfish. Photo courtesy of MBARI, © 2019 MBARI ====================================================================== In 2019, scientists spotted something strange thousands of meters below the ocean surface. There, they filmed a pink bumpy blob with cartoonishly big eyes and more pectoral fin-rays than you could shake a stick at. Now, they’ve been able to confirm that this was a new-to-science species. It’s a snailfish, and better yet, it’s one of three new-to-science species described in a new study. There are...

Photogrammetric reconstruction of the submarine USS F-1 on the seafloor west of San Diego, Calif. Credit: Zoe Daheron/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Deep-sea vehicles revealed detailed images of the USS F-1 submarine wreck. The expedition also honored lost sailors and trained future scientists. A recent deep-sea training and engineering mission off the coast of San Diego allowed researchers to capture unprecedented images of the U.S. Navy submarine USS F-1. The vessel sank on December 17, 1917, after a fatal accident that claimed the lives of 19 crew members. Thanks to interagency collaboration and state-of-the-art imaging tools, the century-old submarine’s resting place...

OREFIELD, Pa. (AP) — In a romance and adventure worthy of the big screen, a Pennsylvania couple is preserving the past and forging a future as the owners of the world’s oldest operating drive-in movie theater. Lauren McChesney got more than admission to a double feature when she handed her ticket to Matt McClanahan at a different drive-in he managed in 2018. They started dating a year later, and, in August, got engaged. In between, they purchased Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre, which was Pennsylvania’s first drive-in and only the nation’s second when it opened in 1934. The couple began brainstorming about...

As the country experiences record tourism in 2025, Greece is taking stronger measures to protect its natural and cultural treasures. With millions of visitors flocking to its beaches and islands, authorities have decided to crack down on practices that threaten fragile ecosystems and historic landmarks. Tourists who remove pebbles, shells, or other items from protected beaches will now face up to €1,000 in fines. These elements are a vital part of the ecosystem, helping prevent erosion and supporting local marine life. While collecting a few seashells as souvenirs might seem harmless, over time, the practice can significantly damage delicate coastal...

A live camera at Hawaiʻi’s Kīlauea volcano captured a rare sight this week — a swirling “volnado” forming next to a fountain of lava, the latest dramatic reminder of the mountain’s restless nature. The video released by the US Geological Survey (USGS) shows a column of ash sucked into a whirling vortex as molten rock bursts skyward. The spinning cloud resembled a tornado — but with volcanic heat fueling its rise. “We know you’ve heard of a volcano … but how about a volnado?” the USGS joked in a social media post that quickly spread across science and nature forums....

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and Harvard Scientist Avi Loeb are calling for NASA to monitor the Manhattan-sized interstellar object 3I/ATLAS as it passes the sun on Halloween Eve to ensure it does not drop off “mini probes” that could invade Earth. Luna (R-Fla.) and the Ivy league astrophysicist appeared together on a podcast and called for both the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Jupiter’s Juno probe to adjust their current courses and monitor the object that NASA has deemed a comet. “If we are visited by a technological object like 3I/ATLAS — it could either visit us or release some mini-probes...

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: * Fossilized footprints in Saudi Arabia show human traffic on the cusp of a subsequent ice age. * Like carbon dating, scientists use isotopes and context clues to calculate the approximate age of fossils. * These human prints were surrounded by animals but not hunted animals, indicating humans were just thirsty. ======================================================================== A uniquely preserved prehistoric mudhole could hold the oldest-ever human footprints on the Arabian Peninsula, scientists say. The seven footprints, found amidst a clutter of hundreds of prehistoric animal prints, are estimated to be 115,000 years old. Many fossil...