Free Republic

In August of 2006, astronomers at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) democratically voted to reclassify Pluto as a dwarf planet — but 20 years later, with our greater knowledge and understanding of planetary systems, is it time to revisit the controversial decision? Should Pluto be called a planet again? For several years before the IAU vote, there had been agitators among the astronomical community lobbying for our solar system's nine worlds to become eight, and for Pluto's planetary status to be revoked. In 2000, Neil DeGrasse Tyson even went as far as to remove Pluto from the planets display at...

At least 30 people were killed in a massive landslide in Guinea on Sunday when a mountainous open-air landfill collapsed and buried nearby shacks, trapping numerous victims beneath a mass of garbage. The incident happened at Dar Es Salam, the largest waste dump in the West African country’s capital, Conakry, according to a report from The Associated Press. Guinea News reported that the weight of the waste caused a three-story building beneath it to cave in. Authorities said heavy rainfall also washed over the refuse overnight, creating hazardous conditions at the landfill, according to the AP Six people were seriously...

We admit it: It’s just delicious to see so many “commie cosplayers” exposed as frauds — and the hits keep coming. It turns out DSA-NYC co-chair Gustavo Gordillo not only has his parents paying for massive renovations of the $1.5 million home they bought for him and his brother in Bed-Stuy, he’s also using non-union labor for the work — and the local community board opposed the re-do plan as creating a structure out of whack with the block, with experts saying the planned “beach house” clashes with the historic district’s vibe. Then again, Gordillo got suspended from the IBEW...

Explanation: What would it look like to approach the grand planet Saturn? One doesn't have to just imagine -- the Cassini spacecraft did just this in 2004, recording thousands of images along the way, and hundreds of thousands more since entering orbit. Some of Cassini's early images have been digitally tweaked, cropped, and compiled into the featured inspiring video which is part of a larger IMAX movie project named In Saturn's Rings. In the concluding sequence, Saturn looms increasingly large on approach as cloudy Titan swoops below. With Saturn whirling around in the background, Cassini is next depicted flying over...

Hertfordshire: A sealed cave rediscovered by accident - carved with Christian symbols, pagan marks, and apotropaic signs. This hidden chamber has been linked to Knights Templar theories, Holy Grail legends, Reformation-era secret worship, and the life of a medieval wayside hermit. Inside the chamber are carvings of knights, crucifixion scenes, protective marks, and a figure many identify as the medieval king Richard I - all cut directly into the chalk. Some theories point to Templar connections and the Holy Grail, others to hidden worship during the Reformation or a solitary hermit carving his devotion into the walls. What's certain is...

Iran appears to be losing its grip on the Strait of Hormuz while traffic through the critical waterway has exploded by nearly 400% over the last two weeks — as ships increasingly use a US-backed corridor to cross. Nearly 200 ships navigated the strait last week, up from 150 the previous week and just 40 two weeks earlier, according to data from the UK Maritime Trade Operations Center. The surge brings total traffic along the passage route to about 20% of pre-war levels, through which roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil flowed in peacetime. Activity in Hormuz ground to...

A New Jersey real estate investor pleaded guilty earlier this week to participating in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme and fraudulently obtaining more than $1.8 million in COVID-19 relief loans, according to U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer. Officials said 39-year-old Arthur Spitzer, of Toms River, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of bank and wire fraud conspiracy and one count of money laundering in connection with the fraud schemes. According to prosecutors, who cited court documents and statements made in court, in June 2020, Spitzer conspired with Mendel Deutsch and Joshua Feldberger, who are both awaiting sentencing, to make it appear...

Escalating climate language: 25 years ago, 28°C was “pleasant”…today it is called “extremely dangerous”. The following video link compares two different forecasts for warm summer weather but are allegedly from a couple of decades apart. I can’t be sure of their authenticity, but the language tone differences between back then and today are definitely accurate! Today, the media make summertime in Germany appear as extremely dangerous! https://www.facebook.com/reel/3540458259445428 25 years ago… The first forecast by the German weather lady is from a couple of decades ago. Here’s what she reported: Tomorrow we’ll be getting wonderful summer weather! Temperatures will rise to...

IndyCar drivers revved their engines and tore up Pennsylvania Avenue Saturday as they prepared to meet in competition in the heart of the nation’s capital. Cars were roaring through the 1.7-mile track carved out of streets in downtown Washington, DC, as a tune up for Sunday’s race — on a track that runs by the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall and within sight of the Capitol building. President Trump, who signed an order calling for an Indy car race in DC, is set to drive the course in his armored limo “the Beast” on race day. He will also...

BEIJING — Chinese humanoid robots broke records set by humans, including beating Usain Bolt’s 100-meter sprint world record, on the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday. More than 2,000 humanoid robots were participating in the event, the organizer said. The five-day games, now in its second year, are a spectacle demonstrating China’s rapid progress in advanced robotics as the technology race with the U.S. heats up, with 51 events and more than 1,000 competitions taking place including running, table tennis and soccer. The games, which are taking place in the National Speed Skating...

A thousand years ago, almost nobody would have bet on Europe. China was richer, more advanced and more powerful. So how did a poor, divided backwater end up dominating the world? This is the strange story of Europe's unlikely rise, and the accidental advantage that may have changed history forever... Something Went Very Wrong With Human History | 17:26 Michael Button | Patterns of History | 21.5K subscribers | 53,344 views | August 16, 2026

The Phoenicians had almost no land, no vast armies and no great empire. Yet they shaped the ancient world in ways that still affect us today. So what did they understand that everyone else missed? The Phoenicians Knew Something They Shouldn't Have | 18:07 Michael Button | Patterns of History / Michael Button | 36,207 views | August 20, 2026

Venezuela's new petroleum minister sees her South American home not as a dilapidated former oil giant, but as an emerging energy economy ripe for U.S. and foreign investments in new oil and gas exploration, both onshore and offshore. Paula Henao, who took over as the hydrocarbons minister in March after the forced U.S. removal of former leader Nicolás Maduro, told an overflowing Houston energy audience on Wednesday that Venezuela is much more than just its famed heavy-grade crude oil. There are more than 916 exploration opportunities awaiting foreign investment, she said, including natural gas and other untapped oil basins. She...

Spent nuclear fuel could become easier to recycle with a high-speed chemical separation system being developed by Argonne National Laboratory, SHINE and Case Western Reserve University. The partners are working to adapt Argonne’s Packed Centrifugal Equipment for Radiochemical Separation, or PaCERS, for SHINE’s planned nuclear fuel recycling process. The technology uses rapid rotation to create centrifugal forces far stronger than normal gravity, helping separate radioactive materials more efficiently. Unlike conventional approaches that can require large amounts of solvent and multiple processing stages, PaCERS is designed as a high-throughput, lower-solvent system. The goal is to make the chemical separation steps involved...

Explanation: What does it feel like to zoom around a spinning supermassive black hole? The featured video is an animation showing a time-lapse of 4 years of observations of the star S301 orbiting Sagittarius A*, the 4-million-solar-mass black hole in the center of our Galaxy. S301 was discovered in 2023 with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer of the European Southern Observatory, located in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Astronomers recently found that S301 takes approximately 8.7 years to go around the black hole and reaches speeds of 25,000 km/s. It comes closer to the black hole than any other stars...

Navigating a world with peanut allergies can be… well, nuts. Even if you’re not the one who’s allergic. More than six million Americans have a food allergy, and peanuts are the third-most common allergen. And it doesn’t just impact those who can’t eat it: Because reactions can be deadly, peanut-free policies and other restrictions are common in places like schools and restaurants. But a Minnesota-based startup is developing a new “hypoallergenic” peanut that could bring the salty snack back to hospitals, planes, cafeterias and restaurants without causing allergic reactions. Nurtured Nuts CEO Bryant Williams sought to remove three of the...

Colorado state officials on Thursday morning released the results of spring 2023 K-12 achievement tests and the results are mixed -- suggesting that where students were developmentally when their learning was disrupted by the COVID pandemic may play a role in how well they're succeeding academically today. In the English Language Arts portion of the Colorado Measures of Academic Success for example, higher percentages of students in grades 5, 6 and 7 met or exceeded expectations than in 2022, but grades 3 and 4 saw drops or nominal gains. The CMAS tests students in grades 3-8, finding that across the...

Former first lady Jill Biden doubled down on the possibility of her husband, former President Joe Biden, being drugged ahead of the 2024 debate and was asked during a podcast Thursday whether doctors ruled out a stroke that night. Podcast host Jamie Kern Lima asked Biden if a stroke was ruled out by doctors the night of the debate. “Well, they did. They said, I mean, I didn’t say to them, when I was writing my book, I was reflecting, but I didn’t say, ‘God, did Joe have a stroke?’ I just said, ‘Is he OK? Is he OK?'” Biden...

MOST PEOPLE believe humans are different. The reason is that Homo sapiens has evolved to be conscious. Many animals feel pain and pleasure; some appear to be self-aware. But the human mind’s unique potential to exhibit a sense of self marks out every member of the species for special treatment. In his encyclical in May, Pope Leo upheld this insight by drawing a line between humanity and its growing army of bots. Artificial-intelligence systems, he said, do not undergo experiences or feel joy or pain. He is not alone. Many people feel that to confer personhood on AIs would be...

WASHINGTON — They’re a shady bunch. A California family that swindled $18 million in COVID-19 relief cash to splurge on various trappings — including a Harley-Davidson, diamonds and luxury homes — inspired a Senate crackdown on so-called “fraudster families.” Two of the family members, Richard Ayvazyan and his wife, Marietta Terabelian, cut off their ankle bracelets and ditched their three children via a goodbye note to flee the US after being convicted on fraud charges, before being caught in Montenegro. Years later, the saga inspired Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who has led the Senate DOGE Caucus, to push for legislation...