Free Republic 3rd Qtr 2026 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $31,350
38%  
Woo hoo!! And now only $240 to reach 39%!! Thank you all very much!! God bless.

Science (General/Chat)

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Pelican Nebula in Gas, Dust, and Stars

    09/07/2026 11:27:31 AM PDT · by MtnClimber · 7 replies
    NASA ^ | 7 Sep, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Killion
    Explanation: The Pelican Nebula is slowly being transformed. IC 5070 (an official designation) is divided from the larger North America Nebula by a molecular cloud filled with dark dust. The deep featured picture from Utah, USA incorporates 25 hours of exposure and brings out great details of this filamentary dust. The Pelican Nebula receives much study because it is a particularly active mix of star formation and evolving gas clouds. The light from young energetic stars is slowly transforming the cold gas to hot gas, with the advancing boundary between the two, known as an ionization front, visible in bright...
  • British police on the hunt for 70K pints of Guinness stout stolen in dead of night

    09/06/2026 9:21:44 PM PDT · by Libloather · 24 replies
    NY Post ^ | 9/06/26 | Zoe Hussain
    My goodness, my Guinness! A massive haul of 70,000 pints of Guinness was stolen in the dead of night — sending British police on a desperate hunt for the missing stout. The two trailer loads of beer, valued at $155,000, were snatched last Monday from an industrial park in Runcorn, near Liverpool, according to the Cheshire Constabulary. The Guinness, destined for pubs, was brazenly taken by two drivers who pulled up to the depot and hauled away the trailers carrying 800 barrels of the dark, creamy Irish beer. “It is famously said that ‘Guinness is good for you,’ but that...
  • Democrats hoping to appear ‘normal’ as they roll out their blue wave of weirdos ahead of critical midterms

    09/06/2026 8:28:57 PM PDT · by Libloather · 8 replies
    NY Post ^ | 9/06/26 | Miranda Devine
    When we return to work after the Labor Day weekend, the hope is that America will start paying attention to the stark choice offered at the midterm elections in November. There are just two months left until voters decide whether the Trump administration can continue the free enterprise agenda that is sparking an economic boom and keep reversing the woke cultural insanity that ruined so many lives — or whether the big-government socialists who call themselves Democrats will cripple all that progress and mire the country in another round of debilitating impeachment politics. While historical precedent and the pundit class...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Pluto in Enhanced Color

    09/06/2026 12:24:58 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 21 replies
    NASA ^ | 6 Sep, 2026 | Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins Univ./APL, Southwest Research Inst.
    Explanation: Pluto is more colorful than we can see. Color data and high-resolution images of our Solar System's most famous dwarf planet, taken by the robotic New Horizons spacecraft during its flyby in 2015 July, have been digitally combined to give an enhanced-color view of this ancient world sporting an unexpectedly young surface. The featured enhanced color image is not only esthetically pretty but scientifically useful, making surface regions of differing chemical composition visually distinct. For example, the light-colored heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio on the lower right is clearly shown here to be divisible into two regions that are geologically different,...
  • Archaeologists’ huge ‘Noah’s ark’ discovery

    09/06/2026 12:08:22 PM PDT · by Ezekiel · 58 replies
    news.com.au ^ | Sept 6, 2026 | Jamie Seidel
    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...
  • Abandoned LA mansion turns into party free-for-all — and wealthy neighbors are furious

    09/06/2026 4:44:49 AM PDT · by Libloather · 48 replies
    NY Post ^ | 9/05/26 | Titus Wu
    A million-dollar mansion perched along Los Angeles’ legendary Mulholland Drive has become anything but a dream home — with squatters and trespassers turning the unfinished property into a late-night party pad. The abandoned house at 7711 Mulholland boasts sweeping views of the city, but neighbors say its biggest attraction after dark is the empty property itself. “It’s just right under the Universal Overlook, and people come at night, use it to party,” said Ted, a local resident who lives near the property, told FOX11. “There’s graffiti all over it, beer cans, and everything.” Neighbors say the calls for help have...
  • Don’t blame climate change for the Himalayan flash flood

    09/05/2026 9:33:53 PM PDT · by SeekAndFind · 21 replies
    The Spectator ^ | 09/05/2026 | Matt Ridley
    The tragic and terrifying Himalayan flash flood was caused by a chunk of mountain collapsing into a narrow gorge, sending a tsunami of mud and rock that gathered mass as it shot down the steep Trisuli river valley. More than that is not yet clear. Did a breakaway hanging glacier take a rock face with it or was it the other way round? Was there time for the debris to dam the valley and form a lake that burst or did the 60-metre flood of mud come from ice, river water, rock and soil that accumulated in the valley as...
  • US-made F-4 Phantom crashes in fiery Greek airshow disaster, killing 2 pilots

    09/05/2026 7:30:00 PM PDT · by Libloather · 35 replies
    NY Post ^ | 9/05/26 | Jeanne Erickson
    A Hellenic Air Force F-4 Phantom plunged into the ground during an Athens Flying Week airshow Saturday — erupting into a massive fireball as horrified spectators watched, chilling video shows. Both pilots aboard the American-made, two-seat fighter were killed in the crash, according to two officials who spoke to Reuters. The shocking crash unfolded about two minutes into the jet’s display at Tanagra Air Base near Athens at around 3 p.m. local time, according to The Aviationist. Footage shows the F-4 roaring along at low altitude before banking into a turn and rapidly losing height. Seconds later, the fighter disappears...
  • US forces destroy 3 Iranian oil tankers near Kharg Island and Gulf of Oman: ‘You have 3 minutes’

    09/05/2026 1:09:51 PM PDT · by Libloather · 41 replies
    NY Post ^ | 9/05/26 | Gabrielle Fahmy
    The United States military destroyed three Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps crude oil tankers in the Persian Gulf Saturday – after Iran launched ballistic missiles at two US Navy vessels. Footage shows large tankers blown up in flames, as a thick plume of black smoke rise off the sea. A US military aircraft crew can be heard over radio warning an oil tanker near Kharg Island, before unleashing a barrage of missiles that lit the vessel in flames. “I’m preparing to fire. …You have three minutes to clear the crew,” the US is heard in a video filmed aboard a nearby...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Chasing the Moon's Shadow

    09/05/2026 12:08:06 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 7 replies
    NASA ^ | 5 Sep, 2026 | Image Credit: NASA
    Explanation: Chasing the shadow of a New Moon, NASA’s WB-57F high altitude research aircraft took to the skies off the coast of Iceland on August 12 to observe a total solar eclipse. At 50,000 feet the aircraft was piloted along the precisely determined path of totality to maximize its time in the Moon’s shadow. A suite of high-resolution cameras on board was able to record eclipse data from above the clouds, dust, and atmospheric water vapor that interfere with observations made closer to the ground. This view from the cockpit, taken from an inflight video, captures the solar corona emerging...
  • Mount Everest glaciers are under threat and melting — thanks to climbers relieving themselves (only 4.39 years left)

    09/05/2026 11:55:21 AM PDT · by Libloather · 77 replies
    NY Post ^ | 9/04/26 | Ben Cost
    Urine trouble, Mount Everest. After standing the test of time for 50 million years, the world’s tallest mountain is under threat from an unlikely source: our pee. Urine deposited on glaciers is enough to melt over 150 tons of ice and snow on Mount Everest every year, according to an a-thaw-calyptic study in the Regional Environmental Change scientific journal, as reported by the Independent. “Urine, with a temperature of around 37°C (human body temperature), causes the ice to melt,” wrote the study authors, who were sent by Nepal’s Survey Department to determine the impact of humans on Everest. The international...
  • Bride refuses to let flooded church dampen her big day — gets hitched in waist-high water (Bulacan)

    09/05/2026 9:12:49 AM PDT · by Libloather · 35 replies
    NY Post ^ | 9/04/26 | Daniel Cody
    Till depth do us part! An extremely gutsy bride had a truly “wet wedding” — wading down the aisle of an utterly inundated church before tying the knot in the Philippines on Tuesday. Newlyweds Gilbert Chico and Liean Liza Chico got hitched at St. John the Baptist in Hagonoy, Bulacan, despite heavy rainfall that completely saturated the province this week, causing waist-high water to swamp the sanctuary, according to Viral Press. “We had been looking forward to this day for so long, and we did not want the rain and flooding to stop us from getting married,” said the lovebirds....
  • The Tombs of Sidyma [6:48]

    09/05/2026 5:27:31 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 4 replies
    YouTube ^ | September 4, 2026 | Scenic Routes to the Past (Garrett Ryan, Ph.D)
    The ancient city of Sidyma, now on the Lycian Way, is ringed by an impressive Roman necropolis. Scenic Routes to the Past explores a collection of ancient Roman temple tombs, mausoleums, and sarcophagi scattered through fields near the ruins of Sidyma. Discover the architectural details of these historical burial sites, featuring intricate ceiling carvings, decorative stone motifs, and the remnants of grand structures set against the landscape of the Lycian Mountains. The Tombs of Sidyma | 6:48 Scenic Routes to the Past | 62K subscribers | 9,159 views | September 4, 2026
  • Dutch Van Kirk: Enola Gay Navigator Discusses Atomic Bomb Drop on Hiroshima [14:36]

    09/04/2026 9:35:13 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 27 replies
    YouTube ^ | August 6, 2025 | Witness to War
    Having been chosen as a navigator to deliver the atomic bomb, Dutch Van Kirk recalls the precautions that were taken to ensure his aircraft would not be harmed by the blast. Comparing the differences between the B-17 aircraft he flew in over Europe and the B-29 he flew in delivering the first atomic bomb to Hiroshima, Dutch gives a detailed account of his mission on August 6, 1945. Dutch Van Kirk: Enola Gay Navigator Discusses Atomic Bomb Drop on Hiroshima | 14:36 Witness to War | 526,511 views | August 6, 2025 Last Surviving Crew Member Has 'No Regrets' About...
  • Rare Blue Octopus Returns to Galápagos as a Newly Identified Species

    09/04/2026 6:08:18 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 13 replies
    Tico Times ^ | September 4, 2026
    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...
  • There Might Be a Genetic Reason for Your Sweet Tooth, According to New Research

    09/04/2026 5:56:13 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 14 replies
    Food & Wine ^ | August 30, 2026 | Andi Breitowich
    Preliminary research offers clues about what may shape your cravings for sweets.Key Pounts: New research indicates genetics may influence how strongly you perceive sweetness and how rewarding sweet foods feel, which can shape your food preferences and eating habits. A preliminary study of nearly 500,000 people found that those with a higher genetic predisposition to prefer sweets ate about 7 grams more of sweet foods each day. Dietitians suggest that choosing naturally sweet foods, pairing sweets with protein or fiber, and gradually reducing added sugar can help you manage a preference for sweets. The difference between happily skipping dessert and...
  • Iran down to 2 months of fuel supply as brutal US sanctions take their toll

    09/04/2026 4:28:15 PM PDT · by Libloather · 39 replies
    NY Post ^ | 9/04/26 | Chris Nesi
    Iran is facing a potential economic disaster as the besieged Islamic Republic’s fuel reserves have dwindled to a paltry two-month supply, following months of punishing US bombing campaigns and a fresh wave of crippling economic sanctions. The US unleashed a barrage of secondary sanctions in recent weeks to choke off Iran’s supply of cash, restricting the rogue nation’s access to international financing networks and even blockading its oil exports. This is preventing Iran from doing everything from buying goods to securing foreign currency, and even forcing it to import gasoline because its refinery infrastructure has been decimated and there’s no...
  • Airline passenger duct-taped, zip-tied after hurling racist, homophobic slurs in mid-air meltdown (Dallas)

    09/04/2026 4:19:51 PM PDT · by Libloather · 67 replies
    NY Post ^ | 9/04/26 | Daniel Cody
    An airline passenger was duct-taped and zip-tied by other travelers and crew after he hurled racist and homophobic slurs in an unhinged mid-flight meltdown — forcing the plane to divert on Thursday night, according to a report. The bigoted passenger was on American Airlines flight 618 from Dallas to Newark when he flew off the handle with a fire-and-brimstone-fueled diatribe at his seatmate around 10:15 p.m., prompting a black flight attendant and passengers to step in and restrain him. When the flight attendant intervened, the buffoon then hurled the n-word at him and spewed anti-gay slurs, according to TMZ. Footage...
  • Gen Z has lost this crucial driving skill that Boomers learned early – ‘It takes more brain power’ (manual shift)

    09/04/2026 2:24:01 PM PDT · by Libloather · 121 replies
    NY Post ^ | 9/04/26 | Reda Wigle
    Are drivers who never learn this skill getting the short end of the stick? Recent research shows that this once-ubiquitous ability is increasingly becoming a lost art. Only 18% of Americans know how to use a stick shift — with the number even lower among younger drivers. In a survey of US drivers, Extreme Terrain found more than a third of Gen Z drivers (35%) never learned to drive stick, compared with just 9% of baby boomers. Further, driving confidence is waning among younger drivers, with only half of those under 30 believing they could competently drive a manual. “People...
  • Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola

    09/04/2026 12:31:35 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 26 replies
    NASA ^ | 4 Sep, 2024 | Image Credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Image Processing: J. Miller & M. R
    Explanation: Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola, is the Hawaiian name given to this image of a pair of spiral galaxies locked in a mutual gravitational embrace. Some 200 million light-years distant toward the high flying constellation Pegasus their spectacular, galactic scale merger is captured in sharp detail in the image from the 8.1 meter Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, Hawai‘i. The galaxy pair, known as NGC 7253 and Arp 278, was chosen as a target, researched, and given a Hawaiian name by high school students in the joint Gemini Observatory and University of Hawaiʻi Project Hōkūlani internship...