Free Republic

Former President Obama says while change can't come soon enough for some Americans, for others it might be coming "too rapidly" to feel comfortable. "You end up having, on the one hand, change happening very rapidly, too rapidly for a big portion of the population," Obama said during a "CBS Mornings" interview alongside Bruce Springsteen on Monday. "For another portion of the population, it's like, 'You know, how long are we gonna keep having to defer this dream?'" he said. The ex-commander in chief and the "Born to Run" singer appeared for their first joint sit-down to promote their new...

Lasers could heat materials to temperatures hotter than the centre of the Sun in only 20 quadrillionths of a second, according to new research. Theoretical physicists from Imperial College London have devised an extremely rapid heating mechanism that they believe could heat certain materials to ten million degrees in much less than a million millionth of a second. The method, proposed here for the first time, could be relevant to new avenues of research in thermonuclear fusion energy, where scientists are seeking to replicate the Sun’s ability to produce clean energy. The heating would be about 100 times faster than...

The world's largest lakes, including Lake Tahoe, have been warming rapidly for 25 years as the global climate changes, NASA scientists report. And throughout the Northern Hemisphere, surface water temperatures of many lakes have been rising even faster than the warming air above them, according to observations by ultra-sensitive satellites. In a report just published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, Philipp Schneider and Simon Hook of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena say the warming rate of all the major lakes observed by the satellites has averaged nearly a full degree Fahrenheit per decade. For some lakes in the...

The ice is melting so fast in Greenland that the giant island is rising noticeably as the weight is lifted. In some spots, the land is rising 1 inch per year. A vast ice cap covers much of Greenland, in some places up to 1.2 miles (2 km) thick. The ice, in place for eons, presses down the land, making the elevation at any given point lower than it would be sans ice. Scientists have documented on Greenland and elsewhere that when longstanding ice melts away, the land rebounds. Even the European Alps are rising as glaciers melt. Now, scientists...

The swine flu virus is spreading rapidly throughout California, public health officials said today, citing physician reports of higher-than-normal flu illnesses for this time of year. More than 5% of patients coming into doctor's offices are presenting flu-like symptoms, which is much higher than the usual 2%, according to an estimate based on about 50 physicians across California who monitor flu activity for the state. "We are seeing a continued ramp-up of the virus activity," Dr. Mark Horton, California's public health officer, said at a news conference today. "That is very unusual for this time of year." Horton said he...

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) - Giant windmills are popping up on farms, scenic mountain ridges, prairie grass and now an Indian reservation, dramatically changing the nation's landscape and spinning a debate about where they belong. Wind power grew rapidly in 2005, becoming more competitive as natural gas prices jumped and crude oil prices reached record highs. Improved technology, a federal tax credit and pressure on utilities to use clean energy sources helped fuel the growth from coast to coast. Officials in Atlantic City, N.J., in December dedicated the nation's first coastal wind farm. And last week, General Electric Co. announced a...

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Summer temperatures in the Arctic have risen at an incredible rate over the past three years and large patches of what should be ice are now open water, a British polar explorer said on Monday. Ben Saunders, forced by the warm weather to abandon an attempt to ski solo from northern Russia across the North Pole to Canada, said he had been amazed at how much of the ice had melted. "It's obvious to me that things are changing a lot and changing very quickly," a sunburned Saunders told Reuters less than two days after being rescued...

SACRAMENTO — Faced with the possibility that he could lose his office, Gov. Gray Davis has rushed to fill vacancies that have languished for months and even years, giving seats on boards and commissions to large campaign donors and positioning members of his inner circle for prestigious judgeships. In recent months Davis has made 359 selections for posts ranging from positions on the UC Board of Regents and the California Parks and Recreation Commission to those on less visible boards dealing with police officer training and workplace regulation. Judicial nominations have also shot up. In the last 10 weeks, Davis...