Free Republic 4th Qtr 2025 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $40,089
49%  
Woo hoo!! And now only $411 to reach 50%!! Thank you all very much!! God bless.

Science (General/Chat)

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • A Massive Fracture Just Opened on Mount Etna -- Scientists Are Alarmed [8:00]

    11/23/2025 11:36:37 AM PST · by SunkenCiv · 26 replies
    YouTube ^ | November 21, 2025 | Geology Watch
    A massive dry fracture has just opened on Mount Etna -- and scientists are now raising the alert level. This newly discovered fissure on the southeast wall is not releasing lava, but that doesn't make it safe. In fact, this type of "silent cracking" is often a sign of deep internal pressure, structural movement, or early-stage volcanic instability. In today's Geology Watch report, we break down the footage shared by Pio Andrea Peri and the latest update from INGV, which has now issued an F1 Alert Status -- indicating a high probability of lava fountains and increased volcanic activity at...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Images not Posted during the Government Shutdown - NGC 7380: The Wizard Nebula

    11/23/2025 10:48:21 AM PST · by MtnClimber · 6 replies
    NASA ^ | 8 Oct, 2025 | Images Credit & Copyright: Nevenka Blagovic Horvat & Miroslav Horvat
    Explanation: What powers are being wielded in the Wizard Nebula? Gravitation strong enough to form stars, and stellar winds and radiations powerful enough to create and dissolve towers of gas. Located only 8,000 light years away, the Wizard nebula, featured here, surrounds a developing open star cluster NGC 7380. Visually, the interplay of stars, gas, and dust has created a shape that appears to some like a fictional medieval sorcerer. The active star forming region spans about 100 light years, making it appear larger than the angular extent of the Moon. The Wizard Nebula can be located with a small...
  • Disgraced ex-news anchor Stephanie Hockridge sentenced in massive COVID fraud scheme — will be jailed with Ghislaine Maxwell

    11/22/2025 11:12:20 PM PST · by Libloather · 49 replies
    NY Post ^ | 11/23/25 | Anna Young
    Disgraced ex-TV anchor Stephanie Hockridge will spend the next ten years behind bars for her role in a multi-million-dollar COVID fraud scheme – serving her time in the same cushy lockup as notorious sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. The 42-year-old, a former Phoenix TV anchor turned entrepreneur, was sentenced in Texas federal court Friday and ordered to cough up nearly $64 million in restitution for the bogus Paycheck Protection Program loans she helped secure during the height of the pandemic, the Justice Department announced. Hockridge, found guilty in June of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, will report to prison on Dec....
  • Europe Before Latin [8:44]

    11/22/2025 10:40:53 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 6 replies
    YouTube ^ | November 21, 2025 | Garrett Ryan, Ph.D (as toldinstone)
    0:00 Introduction 0:33 Languages of Europe, 200 BC 2:50 Koine Greek 3:31 FlexiSpot 4:33 Expansion of Latin 5:25 Persistence of other languages 6:07 Europe without Latin 7:12 Latin-less Europe today Europe Before Latin | 8:44 toldinstone | 611K subscribers | 30,906 views | November 21, 2025
  • Elon Musk Revealed Root Cause 'COPV Failure' on Booster 18 V3 After Inspection! Weird Explosion [10:29]

    11/22/2025 7:10:17 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 15 replies
    YouTube ^ | November 22, 2025 | SpaceX Community
    [snip] On November 21st, Superheavy booster 18, the first next generation block 3 Superheavy, suffered a catastrophic structural rupture during ground testing at the Massiey's outpost. Intended to fly alongside ship 39 for Starship flight 12, the vehicle experienced an energetic failure in the opening phase of its proof campaign. The event immediately ended booster 18's qualification path and pushed flight 12 several months beyond SpaceX's original target. [/snip] Elon Musk Revealed Root Cause 'COPV Failure' on Booster 18 V3 After Inspection! Weird Explosion | 10:29 SpaceX Community | 69.2K subscribers | 5,114 views | November 22, 2025
  • The World’s First Thorium Molten Salt Reactor

    11/22/2025 4:15:02 PM PST · by DUMBGRUNT · 30 replies
    OILPRICE ^ | 21 Nov 2025 | Haley Zaremba
    In the same time period that the United States built the overdue and over-budget Plant Vogtle, China built 13 reactors of similar scale, and has 33 more on the way
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Dione and Rhea Ring Transit

    11/22/2025 1:52:29 PM PST · by MtnClimber · 3 replies
    NASA ^ | 22 Nov, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Christopher Go
    Explanation: Seen to the left of Saturn's banded planetary disk, small icy moons Dione and Rhea are caught passing in front of the gas giant's extensive ring system in this sharp telescopic snapshot. The remarkable image was recorded on November 20, when Saturn's rings were nearly edge-on when viewed from planet Earth. In fact, every 13 to 16 years the view from planet Earth aligns with Saturn's ring plane to produce a series of ring plane crossings. During a ring plane crossing, the interplanetary edge-on perspective makes the thin but otherwise bright rings seem to disappear. By November 23rd Saturn's...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Images not Posted during the Government Shutdown - SN Encore: A Second Supernova Seen Several Times

    11/22/2025 11:39:16 AM PST · by MtnClimber · 8 replies
    NASA ^ | 7 Oct, 2025 | Images Credit: Webb (main): NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Pierel (STScI) & A. Newman (Carnegie Inst. for
    Explanation: Now a second supernova in this same galaxy is repeating. The cause is the gravitational lens effect of a massive foreground cluster of galaxies (MACS J0138) -- it creates multiple images of a perfectly aligned background galaxy (MRG-M0138). What's particularly interesting is that this background galaxy has young stars that keep blowing up. And images of each supernova explosion keep coming to us multiple times through different paths through the cluster. The original lensed supernova set, shown in the rollover, is called Requiem and was first seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2016. This second lensed supernova set...
  • Late Bronze Age Votive Set Unearthed in Israel

    11/21/2025 10:27:42 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 5 replies
    Archaeology Magazine ^ | November 14, 2025 | editors / unattributed
    According to a Live Science report, an archaeological investigation conducted ahead of a road construction project in northern Israel, near the ancient city of Tel Meggido, has unearthed a teapot-shaped vessel with a ram's head as a spout and a few small bowls. The items were buried together some 3,300 years ago, possibly by the Canaanites. Researchers from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said that the vessel was likely used to pour a valuable liquid such as milk, oil, or wine into someone's mouth or a smaller vessel to be consumed, or poured out as a religious offering. Storage jars,...
  • The Spectacular Tombs of Mycenae [7:15]

    11/21/2025 4:15:07 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 5 replies
    YouTube ^ | November 21, 2025 | Scenic Routes to the Past (Garrett Ryan, Ph.D)
    The tholos tombs around the Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae are among the most spectacular sights in Greece. The Spectacular Tombs of Mycenae | 7:15 Scenic Routes to the Past | 47.7K subscribers | 2,222 views | November 21, 2025 0:00 Introduction 1:10 Grave Circle A 2:30 Grave Circle B 3:24 Tomb of Clytemnestra 4:20 Tomb of Aegisthus 4:49 Treasury of Atreus
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - 3I/ATLAS: A View from Planet Earth

    11/21/2025 12:14:03 PM PST · by MtnClimber · 19 replies
    NASA ^ | 21 Nov, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Rolando Ligustri
    Explanation: Now outbound after its perihelion or closest approach to the Sun on October 29, Comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third known interstellar object to pass through our fair Solar System. Its greenish coma and faint tails are seen against a background of stars in the constellation Virgo in this view from planet Earth, recorded with a small telescope on November 14. But this interstellar interloper is the subject of an on-going, unprecedented Solar System-wide observing campaign involving spacecraft and space telescopes from Earth orbit to the surface of Mars and beyond. And while the comet from another star-system has...
  • Rasmussen Survey: Millions Experienced COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects

    11/21/2025 10:43:08 AM PST · by SeekAndFind · 54 replies
    Rasmussen Reports ^ | 11/21/2025
    More than a third of Americans who were vaccinated against COVID-19 say they had side effects from the shot, and nearly half suspect the vaccines killed many patients,The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 68% of American Adults say they got a COVID-19 vaccination, and a majority (60%) of vaccinated adults report no side effects from the vaccine. However, 26% say they had minor side effects and 10% reported major side effects from the vaccine. Based on a U.S. adult population of 258 million, this would mean 63 million had at least some side effects from...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Images not Posted in the Government Shutdown - The Changing Ion Tail of Comet Lemmon

    11/21/2025 10:35:20 AM PST · by MtnClimber · 8 replies
    NASA ^ | 6 Oct, 2025 | Images Credit & Copyright: Victor Sabet & Julien De Winter
    Explanation: How does a comet tail change? It depends on the comet. The ion tail of Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) has been changing markedly, as detailed in the featured image sequenced over six days between September 25 and October 4 (left to right) from Texas, USA. On some days, the comet's ion tail was relatively more complex than other days. Reasons for tail changes include the rate of ejection of material from the comet's nucleus, the strength and complexity of the passing solar wind, and the rotation rate of the comet. Sometimes, over the course of a week, apparent differences...
  • At The New York Krazy Klimate Konference, 2025 Edition

    11/21/2025 6:09:39 AM PST · by MtnClimber · 6 replies
    Manhattan Contrarian ^ | 20 Nov, 2025 | Francis Menton
    Two years ago, in November 2023, my friend Roger Caiazza and I attended a conference put on by a local news source called City & State. They called their conference the “Clean Energy New York Summit: The Path to Sustainability.” I called it the Krazy Klimate Konference, and I wrote about it in a post on November 18, 2023 titled “At The New York Krazy Klimate Konference.” Last year both Roger and I skipped the Konference, and this year Roger again wisely decided to stay home in Syracuse. But I was morbidly curious as to how this crowd of climate...
  • CDC changes stance on vaccine link to autism claims

    11/20/2025 6:58:50 PM PST · by SeekAndFind · 15 replies
    Seeking Alpha ^ | 11/20/25 | Jonathan Block
    The CDC altered a webpage Wednesday dealing with autism and vaccines to state that the idea that vaccines don't cause autism "is not an evidence-based claim." The page notes that "studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism," adding that "Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities." The development was first reported by The New York Times.The site now contains information often cited by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including that the rise in autism diagnoses since the 1980s coincides with more childhood vaccines administered. "Though the cause of autism is likely...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - Alnitak, Alnilam, Mintaka

    11/20/2025 12:21:27 PM PST · by MtnClimber · 9 replies
    NASA ^ | 20 Nov, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Aygen Erkaslan
    Explanation: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka are the bright bluish stars from east to west (upper right to lower left) along the diagonal in this cosmic vista. Otherwise known as the Belt of Orion, these three blue supergiant stars are hotter and much more massive than the Sun. They lie from 700 to 2,000 light-years away, born of Orion's well-studied interstellar clouds. In fact, clouds of gas and dust adrift in this region have some surprisingly familiar shapes, including the dark Horsehead Nebula and Flame Nebula near Alnitak at the upper right. The famous Orion Nebula itself is off the right...
  • COP30 kicks off in Brazil, with all the anti-environment hypocrisy you can handle

    11/20/2025 12:07:11 PM PST · by MtnClimber · 8 replies
    American Thinker ^ | 20 Nov, 2025 | Jack Hellner
    But remember, the UN, politicians, and bureaucrats can control temperatures, sea levels, and storms if we just give up our quality of life and money. The green pushers never answer why all their previous dire forecasts have been wrong, but that doesn’t seem to slow them down: global bureaucrats and politicians are about to wrap up COP30, their 30th annual gabfest where they pretend they can control the climate forever. For this conference, they flew into Brazil in their private jets as they lectured us not to use oil. They tore down a massive swath of the rainforest so they...
  • Spot Uranus shining at its brightest this year — here's what to expect on Nov. 21

    11/20/2025 11:27:13 AM PST · by Red Badger · 26 replies
    Space.com ^ | November 20, 2025 | Anthony Wood
    The ice giant Uranus is pictured shining against the blackness of space. Its blue surface is marked by lighter clouds and an equatorial band, while a large pale cloud hovers over its polar region. A Hubble Space Telescope view of Uranus captured in February 2019 (Image credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), and M. Wong and A. Hsu (University of California, Berkeley)) ============================================================= November is the best month of 2025 to catch a glimpse of the distant ice giant Uranus as it shines at opposition, though you'll still need a telescope if you hope to...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Images not Posted in the Government Shutdown - A Long Storm System on Saturn

    11/20/2025 11:22:16 AM PST · by MtnClimber · 3 replies
    NASA ^ | 5 Oct, 2025 | Image Credit: NASA, JPL, ESA, Cassini Imaging Team, SSI
    Explanation: It was one of the largest and longest lived storms ever recorded in our Solar System. First seen in late 2010, the featured cloud formation in the northern hemisphere of Saturn started larger than the Earth and soon spread completely around the planet. The storm was tracked not only from Earth but from up close by the robotic Cassini spacecraft then orbiting Saturn. Pictured here in false colored infrared in February, orange colors indicate clouds deep in the atmosphere, while light colors highlight clouds higher up. The rings of Saturn are seen nearly edge-on as the thin blue horizontal...
  • ‘Climate Misinformation’: Think Wrongly, Pay Dearly

    11/20/2025 8:59:11 AM PST · by MtnClimber · 11 replies
    The European Conservative ^ | 18 Nov, 2025 | Hélène de Lauzun
    For the first time in France, a private television channel, CNews, has been convicted of ‘climate misinformation’. The debate on climate change is no longer a matter of conflicting arguments or scientific controversy; it is now an official doctrine that cannot be questioned or even discussed without breaking the law. Meanwhile, on public service television, falsehoods and inaccuracies on the same subject are repeated without any contradiction. This is a first in France: the news channel CNews, owned by conservative Catholic billionaire Vincent Bolloré, has just been ordered by the council of state to pay a fine of €20,000 for...