Free Republic

New research shows that a substantial proportion of children aren’t playing outdoors at all, even on the weekends...researchers focused on a subset of 2,568 children between the ages of 7 and 12, analyzing responses from surveys filled out by the children and their parents... All told, 34% of kids reported not playing outdoors during weekdays, and 20% reported not playing outdoors during weekends. And based on their parents’ responses, the more the children played outside, the better their social-emotional skills were on average. Children with these skills are more able to clearly express their emotions or build positive relationships with...

MARATHON, FLA. (WSVN) - Three people were arrested after authorities in the Florida Keys say they were found having sex while heavily intoxicated in a Winn-Dixie parking lot in the middle of the day. Deputies were called to the grocery store lot around 12 p.m. on Saturday, where they found all three individuals engaged in sexual acts, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. All were taken to jail.

Target is being raked across the coals following a botched Black Friday giveaway that was overhyped and underwhelming. The retailer attempted to lure shoppers into the store ahead of the biggest shopping day of the year by promising the first 100 people in line early Friday morning “a limited edition iridescent holiday tote filled with fun giveaways.” In addition, ten randomly selected people at each store could win grand prizes including a Laifen hair dryer, a Ninja slushie machine, Beats headphones, and a $100 Target gift card, among other items. People started posting on social media about being camped out...

VIDEO AT LINK................. POWER STRUGGLE: A lineman successfully coaxed a bear off a utility pole in Arizona after it risked being electrocuted. The animal eventually dropped from the pole and ran off unharmed. pic.twitter.com/0OVUVIuciq— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 1, 2025

A “state line” sign delineates the Michigan-Indiana border in Ray, an unincorporated community about 30 miles east of Sturgis split between the two states. (Bridge photo by Lauren Gibbons) ============================================================= * Michigan-Indiana border hasn’t been officially surveyed since the early 1800s, and most official markers have been lost to time * A commission created to fix the issue has stalled amid difficulties finding surveyors to tackle the full 110-mile project * State Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, R-Coldwater, hopes his Senate-passed bill will give commissioners the time and tools needed to finish the job ============================================================ Despite efforts in recent years to gain...

Cladosporium sphaerospermum, cultured at the Coimbra University Hospital Centre in Portugal. (Rui Tomé/Atlas of Mycology, used with permission) The Chernobyl exclusion zone may be off-limits to humans, but ever since the Unit Four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded nearly 40 years ago, other forms of life have not only moved in but survived, adapted, and appeared to thrive. Part of that may be the lack of humans… but for one organism, at least, the ionizing radiation lingering inside the reactor's surrounding structures may be an advantage. There, clinging to the interior walls of one of the most...

A century after its discovery, asteroid 433 Eros is back—gliding past Earth this weekend in a rare, mesmerizing show! The legendary asteroid 433 Eros, a rocky world that once transformed our understanding of near-Earth space, is making its long-awaited return. This weekend, skywatchers will get a rare chance to glimpse this celestial traveler as it makes a close approach to our planet. The event will be live-streamed globally, allowing enthusiasts to witness history in real time through virtualtelescope.eu. For astronomers and casual stargazers alike, it’s a rendezvous with one of the most storied objects in the solar system. A Historic...

A long-dormant supervolcano on the Nevada-Oregon border is now at the center of a trillion-dollar energy battle. Beneath its surface lies a lithium discovery so massive it could redraw the global battery map. © The U.S. May Be Sitting On A Lithium Treasure Beneath A Supervolcano. Credit: Shutterstock ==================================================================================== In the high desert along the Nevada–Oregon border, a quiet basin formed by an ancient supervolcano is rapidly becoming a global focal point. Hidden beneath the McDermitt Caldera lies what scientists now believe is the world’s largest known deposit of lithium, the element driving the battery revolution behind electric vehicles, smartphones,...

In a photo provided by the then Attorney General’s office, Brian Ognjan straightens the tie of David Tyll at Tyll’s wedding.The two went missing on a hunting trip in 1985 and were last seen at the former Linkers Lodge about 5 miles west of Mio. (Courtesy of Detroit Free Press) ============================================================== * Forty years ago, two metro Detroit friends vanished after heading Up North to hunt * They never returned, launching a decadeslong mystery that focused on a ‘feral crew of hard-drinking brawlers’ * Two brothers were eventually convicted but bodies were never found. Police fear they were fed to...

The Burtele Foot with its elements in the anatomical position. (Photo by Yohannes Haile-Selassie/ASU) In A Nutshell * Scientists matched a mysterious 3.4-million-year-old fossil foot discovered in Ethiopia to Australopithecus deyiremeda, a human ancestor that lived alongside Lucy’s species but retained tree-climbing abilities. * The discovery shows human evolution wasn’t a straight path from trees to ground. While Lucy’s species evolved rigid feet for walking, A. deyiremeda kept feet that could both walk and climb, plus ate different foods from forest environments. * A juvenile jaw with distinctive teeth from the same site as the foot provided the missing link....

Back in April of 2020, a British family who was stuck at home during the pandemic lockdown busied themselves with some yardwork at their home in Hampstead and ended up unearthing a cache of 69 gold coins from the Tudor period. The family, who have asked to remain anonymous, registered the remarkable find with the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme, but the discovery was not publicly announced at the time. The coins are all dated between the 1420s and 1530s, showing the images of the four English kings from that time period: Henry VI, Edward IV, Henry VII, and Henry...

If that snowstorm felt unusual for this time of the year, it was. Saturday was the snowiest November day ever recorded in Chicago, according to the National Weather Service. The storm dumped over 8 inches of snow on parts of the city. O’Hare International Airport got 8.4 inches as of Sunday morning, and Midway had 6 inches, forecasters said. But the storm isn’t over yet. The area’s winter weather advisory was extended from 6 a.m. to noon Sunday. “A band of snowfall is moving across Chicago, bringing a quick coating of snow again,” Weather Service meteorologist Zachary Yak said. “We...

Seoul police were called to a cafe on November 16, when a cheeky parrot was caught drinking from a patron's coffee cup. The bird, which is believed to be a Yellow-headed Amazon, is an endangered parrot native to Central America. How it made its way to a coffee shop in South Korea remains a mystery, but one thing is for sure: that bird needs its coffee. The police who responded to the call said that the parrot was very friendly, no doubt perked up by its afternoon caffeine. The parrot even allowed customers at the cafe to feed and pet...

After more than a century of munching on her favorite foods of romaine lettuce and cactus fruit, beloved Galapagos tortoise Gramma, the oldest resident of the San Diego Zoo, has died. Gramma was born in her native habitat and was estimated to be about 141 years old, zoo officials said. She died Nov. 20. It's not clear exactly when the tortoise arrived at the San Diego Zoo, but zoo officials said she came from the Bronx Zoo in either 1928 or 1931 as part of their first group of Galapagos tortoises. As the world changed around her, she delighted visitors...

The next time you notice a pigeon acting suspiciously, you may need to notify the authorities, as news broke this week that Russia had launched a flock of remote-controlled cyborg spy pigeons. Putin scientists unveil 'spy pigeons fitted with brain implants and cameras that can be controlled like drones' https://t.co/t1lUBm1zAf— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) November 27, 2025This confirms what many had long feared: the pigeons cannot be trusted. As reported by the Daily Mail: A state-linked Moscow neurotechnology firm boasts its operators can steer flocks of the flying pests across the sky at will. Researchers have launched field tests of so-called...

There are sunken treasures, and then there is the legendary shipwreck of the San Jose. Considered by many to be the ‘Holy Grail’ of shipwrecks, we have been reporting on the explorations of the massive treasure since November 2023: The San Jose Galleon, the ‘Biggest Sunken Treasure in History’, Hasn’t Been Salvaged Yet – But It’s Already Causing Dispute in Court. The remains of the Spanish galleon San José, estimated to be worth nearly $20 billion, has been located off the coast of Colombia. pic.twitter.com/Tsb02Cgu87— Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) December 16, 2023This week, it was reported that Colombian scientists have recovered...

Scientists say they have captured the first direct acoustic evidence of lightning on Mars — tiny crackling electrical discharges triggered by swirling dust devils and storms, picked up by a microphone on NASA’s Perseverance rover. A French-led team reported in the journal Nature that it found 55 episodes of what it calls “mini lightning” — brief, static-like sparks inches long — hidden in 28 hours of rover audio recorded over nearly four Earth years. The faint pops and crackles, barely audible amid howling wind and dust grains pinging the microphone, occurred almost exclusively during the Red Planet’s dustiest, windiest days....

Cigdem Boceck, 27, and her husband Servet, 38, fell ill just two days after travelling from Hamburg, Germany to the Turkish city of Istanbul with their two children Masal, three, and Kadir, six, on November 9. Two days later, they left their hotel shortly after midday and took a taxi to Ortakoy, where they ate midye, a popular street snack of stuffed mussels served cold with lemon, from a street vendor. After the midye they each ordered different dishes at a restaurant, including kokorec, a dish made from calf intestines and tavuk tantuni, a type of Turkish chicken wrap. They...

The Department of the Interior announced a series of changes Tuesday for America the Beautiful passes, which cover entry and amenity fees at over 2,000 federally managed areas, including the country’s national parks. Among the differences visitors can expect beginning in 2026 are new digital passes, original artwork featuring President Donald Trump and “America-first” prices that will see international visitors paying steeper fares. A mockup of the new design does away with the traditional images of scenic vistas or species like bighorn sheep and instead shows Trump beside a painted rendering of George Washington — a bold choice that has...

A shark killed a woman and seriously wounded a man taking an early morning swim with her at a national park beach on Australia’s east coast Thursday, police said. Experts say a shark rarely attacks more than one person. The attack occurred at Crowdy Bay National Park, which is known for beach camping, fishing spots and hiking tracks 224 miles north of Sydney. Beaches in the area and to the north of the attack were closed to swimmers indefinitely, Police Chief Insp. Timothy Bayly said. Emergency services were called to Kylies Beach following reports that two people in their mid-20s...