Free Republic

Mosquito bites can be more than a nuisance this summer — they can make you sick. Florida has become a hotbed for mosquito-borne diseases, reporting hundreds of cases of dengue fever, chikungunya fever, and even West Nile virus. The state leads the nation in dengue cases this year with 270 reported. Increasingly, residents aren’t just acquiring the virus while traveling abroad — they are getting bitten right at home. Mosquito control experts note that peak dengue season runs from July through September. As many as 111 people as of early September have contracted locally acquired dengue in six Florida counties...

Vibrio vulnificus, also known as “flesh-eating” bacteria, has now killed four people in Florida this year, according to the state’s Department of Health. The potentially deadly bacterium is frequently linked to eating raw or undercooked shellfish, especially oysters. Swimming in warm, brackish saltwater with open wounds is another way people can contract the infection. While it remains unclear how the latest victim contracted the infection, the most recent death was a resident of Broward County who was between the ages of 75 and 79, according to the most recent Florida Department of Health data. 21 Vibrio vulnificus infections have been...

A California golden retriever apparently missed the memo on the whole guard dog thing. A 90-pound pooch named Nash had an unexpectedly friendly reaction when a stranger allegedly broke into his family’s San Diego home, repeatedly bringing the intruder toys and seemingly trying to turn the bizarre break-in into playtime, per NBC 7. The unusual encounter unfolded earlier this month in Sherman Heights, a neighborhood just east of downtown San Diego, while homeowner Dante Rowley and his family watched the surreal scene play out remotely through their home security app. The stranger allegedly got into Rowley’s home near 20th and...

A child was attacked by an alligator while swimming in restricted Florida waters on Labor Day. The victim was swimming in the Weeki Wachee Preserve, about 60 miles northwest of Tampa, according to a statement from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office. The alligator punctured the swimmer’s arm and leg, and the child was transported to the Bayonet Point Hospital for treatment of the non-fatal injuries. Officials note that the victim and a group of children became isolated on a sandbar and were rescued by Hernando County Fire Rescue. Following the incident, a licensed Florida wildlife trapper placed traps for the...

At Ground Zero, after the last living person was pulled out, the search dogs stopped eating. So the police did something nobody had written down in any manual.They climbed into the rubble, lay down, and pretended to be alive. More than 300 dogs worked the World Trade Center site. They came from every corner of the country, on trucks and in cargo holds, with handlers who had been trained to do one thing. Find people who are still breathing under the ground. That is what a search and rescue dog is built for. Not bodies. Life. They are trained on...

The research involved fitting a far north Queensland species, the giant burrowing cockroach (Macropanesthia rhinoceros), with lightweight electronics and cameras. They were also fitted with remotely activated auto-injection systems custom-made for the species. In proof-of-concept testing, the paraborgs achieved 95% success with close-range injection (positioned within 15cm of the target). The complete navigation-and-injection task succeeded in 72% of trials. PhD candidate Hai Nhan Le said accurate positioning of the paraborgs was one of the key engineering challenges. “The cyborg insect has to navigate to the target, position itself accurately and remain stable enough to perform the injection,” Le said. The...

VIDEO AT LINK: https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/2097743510174605726/video/1 LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT KNIFE!.................. BRITS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE KNIVES, OR GUNS.............

An Italian man is under investigation after authorities at Turin's Caselle airport discovered the head of an endangered crocodile concealed in his luggage. Officials from Italy's financial police squad in Turin said in a statement that the man was arriving from Miami by way of Istanbul. The financial police have been cooperating with customs officials for increased checks regarding trade in protected and endangered species, the statement said. Authorities found the head during a search of the passenger's luggage. Border authorities seized the head and placed the passenger under investigation for allegedly smuggling a specimen belonging to a protected species...

* Whale gut gunk got a luxury rebrand. * “Animalic” is doing some heavy lifting on that label. * Ambergris is whale doo-doo with excellent PR. ============================================================= That’s One Way to Smell Expensive At first glance, this highly coveted lump looks like something you’d step around on the sidewalk, not gleefully spray all over your body. VIDEO AT LINK........... In a TikTok from One Bold Chemist, this guy slices into it what’s described as “whale poop, worth over $10,000.” All of a sudden, the black gloves make sense. He’s talking about ambergris, a waxy material that forms inside sperm whales...

Anisakid parasite in chum salmon. (Togabi/Wikimedia Commons) A fatty tuna that is often used for sashimi or canning may be swimming with parasites more often than not. When scientists at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil analyzed 53 locally caught fish, they found nearly all were contaminated by worms. According to a brief communication published in Ocean and Coastal Research, the research team counted more than 1,600 little worms in total. Using powerful microscopy tools as aids, they found that the kidney and heart were the only organs free of parasites in every fish. Otherwise, the worms...

A San Diego sheriff’s K-9 was brutally stabbed in the face by a suspected burglar in Escondido Saturday. The Sheriff’s K-9 Unit team was assisting the Escondido Police Department with an ongoing burglary at a business just before 12:30 a.m. The suspect, 35-year-old Eric Rodriguez, held a large stick and threw objects at responding Escondido police officers. Cops tried to de-escalate the situation, but Rodriguez ignored all warnings and refused to comply, authorities said. Officers then deployed the sheriff’s K-9 — a six-year-old Belgian Malinois named Nike — to apprehend the suspect, but Rodriguez responded by mercilessly stabbing Nike several...

Scientists are weeks away from results that could either confirm or shatter one of history’s most enduring biblical mysteries.Noah needed incontrovertible proof. He got it. “And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.” (Genesis 8:11) Now, we need incontrovertible proof that his legendary Ark has been unearthed. >>>“Current data increases the likelihood that it is Noah’s ark with each passing day,” the archaeology professor told the Turkish news agency iHA.He is leading an international team...

The rare blue octopus that surprised scientists has returned to the Galápagos Islands. The specimen, about the size of a golf ball, will be preserved at the Charles Darwin Research Station, which houses an extensive collection representing the archipelago’s extraordinary biodiversity. An expedition collected the first specimen of this species, distinguished by its small tentacles, in 2015 at a depth of more than 1,700 meters (5,600 feet) in the northern part of the Ecuadorian archipelago, known for its endemic flora and fauna. Only three specimens have been observed to date, but the other two were recorded only on video. The...

An aggressive mystery animal is on the loose in New Hampshire, and authorities said it’s gone after multiple people in recent days. The Lebanon Police Department said it’s still unsure exactly what the animal is, but it has reportedly displayed “unusually aggressive behavior towards people,” and at least three unprovoked attacks have been reported since August 30. Lebanon police released video of the animal attacking two people as they got out of a U-Haul.

If you like snacking on cheddar or grating Parm over your pasta because they’re delicious, it might surprise you to learn that they also can help you reach your protein goals. Because they’re made from milk, all cheeses contain casein and whey proteins that make them a good source of protein.While they might not be as protein-dense as some dairy sources like Greek yogurt or other protein-containing foods like chicken and beef, “the protein sources in cheese provide all nine essential amino acids, making it a complete protein food,” says Giana DiMaria, a registered dietitian and instructor of medicine at...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) — Award-winning produce, baked goods, textiles and livestock weren't the only items on display at the Kentucky State Fair. Mayday Health, a reproductive health education nonprofit, took to the skies to promote mail access to abortion-inducing drugs. Leo Raisner, who founded Mayday Health and serves as executive director, said the organization goes where the crowds are, and the commonwealth's fair draws more than600,000 people a year. "Mayday shares information about abortion pills in states where clinics are banned or restricted," Raisner said. "We want everyone to know that safe, effective abortion medication exists." Raisner said there's a...

Grok AI Analyzed the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film — The Results Are Shocking For nearly six decades, the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film has resisted every attempt to explain it away. Now Grok AI has analyzed the legendary 1967 footage using movement, proportion, terrain, and mask-boundary tests. What the system found challenges the classic man-in-a-suit theory in ways that are difficult to ignore. And one frame in particular may be the most unsettling clue of all.

For more than a year, the National Park Service has been quietly working to fulfill an unprecedented directive from Trump officials: Parcel off a corner of Yosemite National Park to give to a private developer. National Park Service staff in California and Washington, D.C., are trying to arrange a land exchange between a Nevada-based company and the federal government, according to four people directly familiar with discussions, as well as agency documents reviewed by NOTUS. Since the spring of 2025, the Trump administration has been looking into ways it could cede a roughly quarter-mile strip of land inside Yosemite to...

It would probably be pretty alarming to learn that, in the early 1980s, scientists decided to drop off a bunch of gophers at the site of a volcanic eruption. But don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it sounds. In fact, according to a report from the University of California, this particular gopher-volcano encounter proved to be such a net positive that its effects are still being felt 43 years later. It starts with the eruption of Mount St. Helens in May of 1980. It was the most destructive volcanic event in American history, claiming 57 lives and causing staggering...

Two people were killed and nearly a dozen injured at a Mexican take on Spain’s famous running of the bulls festival — with terrifying footage capturing people getting tossed and gored by the rampaging animals. The people were run down Saturday on the streets of Huamantla, where 21 fighting bulls were released onto the streets amidst thrill-seekers trying their luck at dodging through the angry animals. Juan Manuel Filomeno Herrera, 29, was among the crowd, but was run down by a bull that fatally gored him through the chest and leg with its horns, according to the US Sun. Footage...