Free Republic

The rise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from fringe figure to the prospective head of U.S. health policy was fueled by skepticism and distrust of the medical establishment—views that went viral in the Covid-19 pandemic. People once dismissed for their disbelief in conventional medicine are now celebrating a new champion in Washington. Scientists, meanwhile, are trying to figure how they could have managed the pandemic without setting off a populist movement they say threatens longstanding public-health measures. Lingering resentment over pandemic restrictions helped Kennedy and his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign draw people from the left and the right, voters...

Is there anything after death? What is the meaning of life? Are we just a bag of atoms? The scientist Sabine Hossenfelder, born in Frankfurt (Germany) 48 years ago, is convinced that if there is a branch of science capable of finding answers to humanity’s existential questions, it is physics. Specialized in theoretical physics and quantum gravity, Hossenfelder combines her research work with science communication (she is the creator of the YouTube channel Science without the gobbledygook). Her latest book, Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions (published in English in 2022, and out in Spanish this year)...

Scientists finally re-analyzed the study and found that it was riddled with errors—but that didn’t matter then because it furthered the narrative. In America, an inordinate number of so-called “scientific” studies are subject to what’s called the “replication (or reproducibility) crisis.” If someone publishes a study that feeds into leftist shibboleths, no matter how poorly done the study is (small sampling, foolish assumptions, bad math, etc.), the results are widely trumpeted and become embedded in the popular consciousness. That the study cannot be replicated (run again from scratch) or reproduced (subject to a new analysis of the study’s data)—and often...

New research reveals that discrepancies between the locations where fossils are found and the areas where early humans are thought to have resided could affect our comprehension of human evolutionary history.A significant portion of the early human fossil record comes from a few key locations in Africa, where ideal geological conditions have preserved a wealth of fossils that scientists use to piece together the story of human evolution. One notable area is the eastern branch of the East African Rift System, which includes important fossil sites like Oldupai Gorge in Tanzania.Yet, the eastern branch of the rift system only accounts...

The same “pseudo science” being rejected by Europe — such as transing children — has been embraced in Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) Minnesota, State Rep. Harry Niska (R) revealed during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily. Niska spoke at large about the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the Walz administration’s rejection of including a separate part making it crystal clear that protections do not extend to adults sexually attracted to children — pedophiles, or as some academics like to call them, “minor-attracted persons.” “I would argue that the idea that pedophiles should be a protected class is as crazy as,...

Scientists have claimed that the consumption of the fungi psilocybin, also known as 'magic mushrooms,' influenced pre-human hominids' brains six million years ago.They analyzed dozens of studies involving psilocybin and consciousness, finding the fungi increased connectivity between networks in the frontal brain region associated with expressive language, decision-making and memory.These 'significant neurological and psychological effects' may have been the catalase ancient ancestors to interact with each other and the environment - spurring consciousness among our species.The idea that magic mushrooms sparked the pivotal point in humans has been touted by podcaster Joe Rogan, who has referenced the 'Stoned Ape Theory'...

The discovery of butchered bones belonging to a glyptodont, a giant relative of the armadillo, suggests that humans were living in Argentina 20,000 years ago. Ancient humans may have butchered and eaten a giant armadillo-like creature around 20,000 years ago in what is now Argentina, a new study finds. The discovery of the butchered bones supports a growing body of evidence that people spread throughout the Americas much earlier than previously assumed. During the Late Pleistocene epoch (129,000 to 11,700 years ago), ice sheets and glaciers covered much of the planet, particularly during the Last Glacial Maximum, a period around...

The impacts of human-caused climate change are so overwhelming they’re actually messing with time, according to new research. Polar ice melt caused by global warming is changing the speed of Earth’s rotation and increasing the length of each day, in a trend set to accelerate over this century as humans continue to pump out planet-heating pollution, according to the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The changes are small — a matter of milliseconds a day — but in our high-tech, hyperconnected world have an important impact on computing systems we have come to...

People also often try to simply change the topic of conversation. Image credit: zeljkodan/Shutterstock.com ================================================================== Eating too much meat is bad for you, bad for the environment, and fatal for the animals involved. Those are straight facts, indisputable and proven through years of study. But counterpoint: have you considered that vegans are annoying? If the comments section under just about any media promoting a vegetarian or vegan diet is anything to go by, the answer to that question is probably “yes”. And, in any case, what about all the poor plants, huh? You okay with murdering them, IFLScience? The blood...

Most people by now are familiar with the narrative that our planet faces a dire crisis due to rising temperatures.In January 2023, former Vice President Al Gore provided a graphic depiction during a World Economic Forum summit, informing attendees that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are “now trapping as much extra heat as would be released by 600,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs exploding every single day on the Earth.“That’s what’s boiling the oceans, creating these atmospheric rivers, and the rain bombs, and sucking the moisture out of the land, and creating the droughts, and melting the ice, and raising the sea level,...

“The existence of viruses as causative, contagious agents of disease has been debated since Louis Pasteur and Antoine Béchamp in the 1860’s. Fast forward to the present time and we find that no virus taken from a human has ever been isolated. In fact, no one has ever seen a virus of any kind. They are all imaginary. Today, all are created in silicone” asserts Kyle Young. Yet, the virus, no virus dichotomy has continued and those most concerned about the no virus view according to Kyle, “seems to be those who have awakened enough to understand the problems associated...

A new study from a liberal law school claims that global warming, also known as “climate change,” has a greater impact on LGBT couples than on normal couples. As reported by Fox News, the study from the UCLA School of Law claims that “same-sex couples are more likely to reside in communities with poorer infrastructure and less access to resources. They are, therefore, less prepared to respond and adapt to natural hazards and other climate disruptions.” The report, authored by analyst Lindsay Mahowald and senior fellow Ari Shaw, goes on to claim that the solution to this “problem” is for...

Scientific American has published a piece claiming that “misinformation,” such as the notion that there are only two sexes, is “being used against transgender people” and in order to target “gender-affirming medical care.”The article states that there are three types of “misinformation,” and they are “oversimplifying scientific knowledge, fabricating and misinterpreting research, and promoting false equivalences.”Three types of misinformation are being used against transgender people: oversimplifying scientific knowledge, fabricating and misinterpreting research, and promoting false equivalences. https://t.co/1AOp6Bk6A2 — Scientific American (@sciam) April 20, 2024The piece asserts that “Many of the arguments against trans rights center on the idea that transness...

Global warming has slightly slowed the Earth’s rotation — and it could affect how we measure time. A study published Wednesday found that the melting of polar ice — an accelerating trend driven primarily by human-caused climate change — has caused the Earth to spin less quickly than it would otherwise.

In case any of you are curious about Time-Reverse Wave Weapons, Microwave Technology, and other strange weaponry the old Soviet Union had (has) this is a phenomenal video that breaks those down. Included Earthquake inducing weaponry and early DEW's. Most people don't know about these. This is a fascinating video.

Before epilepsy was understood to be a neurological condition, people believed it was caused by the moon, or by phlegm in the brain. They condemned seizures as evidence of witchcraft or demonic possession, and killed or castrated sufferers to prevent them from passing tainted blood to a new generation. Today we know epilepsy is a disease. It’s accepted that a person who causes a fatal traffic accident while in the grip of a seizure should not be charged with murder. That’s good, says Stanford University neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky. That’s progress. But there's still a long way to go. After more...

This holographic concept could explain a mystery about black holes, but the math may not represent reality.As theoretical physics delves deeper into the fundamental nature of reality, we’re left to grapple with the questions it leaves us. For example, some physicists claim that our universe is merely an illusion, a product of quantum machinations happening in a lower-dimensional setting—in other words, a hologram. Black Holes May Be Evidence The trouble began with those bothersome boogeymen of the cosmos, black holes. On the surface (and careful readers will be rewarded later with the realization that this is a pun), black holes...

There is a little known, and less understood, mental affliction, which I will call transfixion. It is to the mind what setting is to concrete. When freshly mixed with water, concrete is malleable. Once it sets, however, it hardens irreversibly and can no longer be reshaped, or corrected, unless it is cut or broken. The transfixed mind is like that. Before you go leafing through your DSM (psychiatry’s diagnostic manual), don’t bother; transfixion is not there. It is, however, very real. One can observe it when attempting to reason with any committed leftist. The condition is common and has been...

Yahweh is embedded in the DNA of every creation. DNA Christian author Steve Russell is sharing an interesting fact about our DNA of every creation. Did you know that the name of God is embedded in our every cell? There’s a code in our DNA that literally means Yahweh. “You know how an artist will sign their work so that in the future, it’s easy to see what the source of the work was,” Steve said. “So, in the human cells, in every human cell, there’s DNA. It’s a code that’s written in acid. ATCG is the name of the...

After more than 40 years of studying humans and other primates, Stanford neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky has reached the conclusion that virtually all human behavior is as far beyond our conscious control as the division of cells or the beating of our hearts. (Of course, he had to.) Therefore, we mustn’t harshly judge such heretofore disdained folks as drunk drivers, serial criminals, Hamas terrorists, and those who bring 29 items to the “8 items or less” checkout lane. Sapolsky said: “The world is really screwed up and made much, much more unfair by the fact that we reward people and punish...