Free Republic

A fluorescent microscope image of the V-shaped mouse hippocampus, stained blue, with specific neurons encoding a learning event stained in red. The mouse hippocampus, in blue, with a sparse population of neurons encoding a specific learning event labeled red. (Havekes Lab/University of Groningen) ****************************************************************************** A name on the tip of your tongue. That fuzzy feeling when the fact you learned just yesterday has floated out of reach. Recalling memories and tidbits of information can be exasperating at the best of times, and even harder when you're sleep deprived. But what if there was a way to reverse that sleep-deprived amnesia...

A Florida traveler tried to bring a real snake on a plane, claiming the animal was an emotional support pet. The boa constrictor, named Bartholomew, was caught in someone’s carry-on luggage during security screening at the Tampa International Airport, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The 4-foot-long snake was found coiled up inside the bag in December along with other items for the trip, TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein told Travel + Leisure. “Snake on a plane? This is a @TSA X-ray of Bartholomew, a boa constrictor who was in a traveler's carry-on bag at @FlyTPA last month,” Farbstein tweeted. “Woman...

A Instagram user known as Kym Clark posted an unsettling video of a Burmese Python crossing the road in Everglades Park last Monday. Clark wrote the python was over 15-feet long In the video caption of her post.. A voice heard in the video states, "This is the biggest snake I have ever seen in my whole life."

Those sweet shellfish may be tempting, but eating oysters in Florida has been dangerous this year. Oysters have sickened people in the Sunshine State with three different types of illnesses, at least one of them deadly. Federal officials issued a warning recently for raw oysters harvested in Galveston Bay, Texas, and sold in Florida, along with seven other states. The oysters were potentially contaminated with norovirus and sold to restaurants and retailers. About 211 people were infected by the oysters and had diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain within 12 to 48 hours after eating them. Publix Supermarkets said it sold...

DUNNELLON, Fla. - A Florida man was arrested after detectives say he purposely poisoned pets in his neighborhood using antifreeze. Marion County investigators arrested 36-year-old Jeremy Stromwall on aggravated animal cruelty charges. On Dec. 2, deputies responded to the 20100 block of Southwest 84th Lane in Dunnellon after receiving a report that a cat had possibly been poisoned. The pet owner, John Scharf, told investigators his cat, named "Mr. Cat," began acting sick and was having seizures the previous night. He took Mr. Cat to Dunnellon Animal Hospital for treatment, where it passed away. According to the sheriff's office, further...

My house is on fire!!! I got the dogs out but nothing else!!! All Hrafi’s donations money was upstairs where it started OmG were gong to be homeless and broke and I don’t even have pants on just shorts. I’m in the car with Hrafi waiting for the car to throw heat. Oh Jesus help us!!!! :

A tiny Cavachon has been left with horrific injuries after its collar got caught when a carjacker tossed him out of his owner's Range Rover. The one-year-old pooch, whose name has not been released, was rushed to an animal hospital following the terrifying ordeal in Long Island. The thief crept up on his owner's flashy 2020 SUV - which sells for around $70,000 - while she was filling up at the BP gas station on Jericho Turnpike in Mineola.... ...The thief then sped away before trying to launch the dog out of the window, where his collar got caught and...

If someone claimed to have seen a two-legged fox running across the garden, you'd tell them to pull the other one. And Phil Carter did indeed assume it was a joke when his wife Jane said she'd seen a fox with two legs 'bolt upright like a human' on their lawn this Christmas.... ...'This animal showed no signs of being underfed. It can clearly hunt and eat. You just wouldn't believe how fast it is'...

Imagine the last thing you see before you die being a sentient plastic bag. Image credit: uwkwaj via iNaturalist, CC BY-NC 4.0 Nudibranchs quite literally come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, but most recently we’ve been losing it over the perplexing body plan of Melibe viridis, also known as the green melibe. Its elongated body is lined with sticky lobes that act a little like legs but also as decoys when under attack, and it’s easy to see how a predator could become confused when grappling with such a bizarre creature. The leading characteristic of green melibes is their...

A Saudi businessman signed a 120 million riyal ($32 million) deal in Riyadh to purchase 12 camels, marking one of the biggest camels' purchase deals in the Gulf. The event coincided with Cristiano Ronaldo joining of Saudi Al-Nassr team. The deal was signed in Dahana Desert, which is hosting the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival. The businessman, Abdullah Al-Nahdi, who is an investor in the pharmacies sector, purchased 12 camels that came first in the festival from their owner, businessman Mohammed bin Jakhdab Al-Qahtani. Organized by the Camel Club, King Abdulaziz Camel Festival kicked off in December and concludes in mid-January....

MIAMI — A South Florida man has been cited after his dog was dyed to look Pikachu from the "Pokémon" franchise during a Miami Heat game last week. "It's made NBA history because nobody's ever seen a Pikachu dog sitting next to an NBA player before," owner Erik Torres told NBC affiliate WTVJ. But the Pomeranian's fur color had already caught the attention of Miami-Dade County Animal Services during an inspection at Torres' Doral puppy store last month. "Pikachu was in the store," Miami-Dade County Animal Services Assistant Director Kathleen Labrada said. "There was a staff member holding the dog...

YouTubers 4funguys filmed themselves trespassing into animal enclosures at the Night Safari while drunk.Some people enjoy a drink or two while hanging out with their friends. But a group of American YouTubers' drunken antics at the Night Safari have made Singaporeans see red. The group, known as 4funguys on social media, uploaded a TikTok video of their wild night out on Oct 26. The clip resurfaced on the video-sharing platform last week. 4funguys — childhood friends known for "messing around" — have over a million subscribers on YouTube. In the TikTok video, the young men are seen purchasing bottles of...

Frontier Airlines will provide free flight vouchers to whoever adopts one of three kittens, who were named after airlines, from a Las Vegas-based animal shelter, the carrier says. The cats — named Frontier, Spirit and Delta — are recent arrivals at the Animal Foundation of Las Vegas, Nevada’s largest animal shelter. The vouchers have been delivered to the shelter, but won’t be distributed until the kittens are ready for adoption in about a month, an airline rep said. “The kittens are a bit young to be adopted out yet, according to what the organization has indicated, but should be ready...

A New Year resolution to go vegan comes with a higher risk of broken bones, mental illness and miscarriages within months, a top doctor has warned. Some 600,000 people in the UK already follow the diet, which excludes meats, dairy, eggs and all other animal products. And figures suggest that one in eight Britons aged 18 to 24 plan to take up the diet for January – the so-called Veganuary trend. But according to Dr Julian Owen, consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, veganism can lead to a potentially dangerous vitamin deficiency within months. This is...

Generally, the citizens of Snohomish, Washington, recognize the arrival of springtime when the snow has finally melted and the gorgeous flowers start to bloom. However, Allison Lamb gets to know it is springtime in a rather unique way and it is through an adorable group of noisy neighbors. When spring is arriving all the frogs commence to croak as if to inform everyone that the season of growth is here. Allison is the owner of the Snohomish Lavender Farm. According to her, the frogs that visit her farm are very active and plentiful. “I have some flowers that line my...

After a terrifying encounter, a brave Chicago chihuahua is recovering safely at home. A Chicago Police Department spokesperson tells PEOPLE that Jeanette Olivo, 61, was arrested Monday afternoon at around 3:20 p.m. on the 6600 block of W. Irving Park Rd in the Dunning neighborhood after allegedly stabbing the dog, who was being walked by his owner. Authorities allege she stabbed the dog, a 12-year-old chihuahua named Bebe, three times before it was treated immediately with life-saving surgery at Premier Veterinary Hospital, NBC 5 reported. Olivo was charged with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals and a...

Amidst seemingly constant news that more and more species are going extinct, it’s always exciting when experts discover new species, or rediscover an animal or plant from a species that hasn’t been spotted in decades (or even centuries). It can also be a thrill when someone spots an animal or plant from an incredibly rare species that humans have only seen a few times in the past. There are sure to be a number of new species in 2022, so every time one is spotted this year, we’ll keep updating this article. The small longhead darter fish In early January...

MADISON, Wis. — If you haven’t noticed already, one of the big items on your grocery list has become more expensive this year. In the year through November, not adjusted for seasonal swings, egg prices jumped 49%, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Brandon Scholz is the president of the Wisconsin Grocers Association. He highlighted multiple reasons why the price of a carton of eggs has skyrocketed. “We’ve hit that point where demand was just so high, there just weren’t enough eggs out there,” said Scholz. This year’s deadly Avian flu has been reducing poultry flocks, on...

SHE TOOK THE LONG WAY HOME. A mischievous black bear was deemed so disruptive to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park—stealing backpacks from hikers and nabbing food from picnic tables—that she was rehomed at a nature reserve in eastern Tennessee. But the bear decided she liked her previous home and its amenities just fine, and she made that known by trekking 1,000 miles through four states over six months, back to the national park. She was tracked near the picnic tables where she has been causing trouble in the first place. Read on to find out more about the bear's...

The remains of P-22, the famous mountain lion who roamed the Hollywood Hills for more than a decade, have been transported to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. What happens next, however, is unclear. Museum officials were joined by descendants from several Native American tribes who led a blessing ceremony Friday “welcome P-22 back to his homeland” from the San Diego Zoo where he was euthanized last weekend, the museum posted to Twitter. “Right now, we are in dialogue with Native communities, including multiple Chumash and Tongva Tribes, to help navigate this unprecedented situation,” NHM said. Southern California’s...