Free Republic

A detailed view of Halley's Comet in the Bayeux Tapestry. Image credit: Unknown author via Wikimedia Commons (public domain) ============================================================================ The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most famous textile works in the world, and for the first time in more than 900 years it has returned to England to be exhibited at the British Museum. The work of art depicts the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and the Norman conquest of England. It also depicts an important astronomical event, the return of Halley’s comet. Although not in the right place. First of all, despite...

Explanation: What do auroras look like from above? Behold! From the ground, auroras dance high above clouds, frequently causing spectacular displays. From space, they look a bit different. As the International Space Station (ISS) circles the Earth every 90 minutes, it sometimes sees auroras below that are active on the night side. A one-hour time-lapse video showing auroras from above was captured about two weeks ago from the orbiting ISS. The ISS -- and all objects in low Earth orbit -- will pass well above green auroras but just a bit above red glowing auroras. The auroras' electron and proton...

The boy was around 14 when he joined the Continental Army. He signed his enlistment papers with an “X,” suggesting that he’d never learned to write his name. During his three-and-a-half-year military career, he marched more than 1,000 miles. When he died at the Battle of Camden in South Carolina in 1780, he was buried in an unmarked grave and forgotten for nearly 250 years. Researchers excavated the boy’s remains in 2022. Now, they’ve discovered this young soldier’s identity: His name was Private John Pumphrey, and he was one of America’s oldest John Doe cases. “As far as we knew,...

The J-35A’s journey began with the FC-31 Gyrfalcon, a stealth aircraft prototype that first flew on October 31, 2012. Initially developed as a privately funded venture by SAC, the FC-31 aimed to attract potential export customers. However, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), especially the PLA Navy, soon took an interest in the project. This led to further development and modifications, resulting in the J-35A, which officially debuted ahead of the 2024 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition. The J-35A is the second Chinese fifth-generation fighter, following the Chengdu J-20. This makes China the only country other than the United States...

"A robotic spacecraft built in nine months by Arizona-based startup Katalyst Space Technologies is set to launch no earlier than Tuesday, June 30, from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands on a first-of-its-kind mission to grab NASA's sinking Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and push it back to a safe orbit — the first time any commercial vehicle has attempted to capture an operational government satellite that was never designed to be serviced. "

Explanation: What's happening to galaxy NGC 474? The multiple layers of emission appear strangely complex given the relatively featureless appearance of the elliptical galaxy in less deep images. The cause of the shells is a topic of research, but they are possibly tidal tails related to debris left over from absorbing numerous small galaxies in the past billion years. Alternatively, the shells may be like ripples in a pond, where the ongoing collision with the spiral galaxy just to the right of NGC 474 is causing density waves to ripple through the galactic giant. Regardless of the actual cause, the...

The finding, made by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, shows that genes are not always inherited only from parent to offspring. Some genes can move, and in this case, the researchers directly observed evidence that a jumping gene can pass between species, from predator to prey. Jumping genes are genetic parasites found in bacteria, plants, animals, and humans. They can be released inside cells as small RNA molecules from ribonucleic acid (RNA), then use specialized mechanisms to insert themselves into other parts of the genome. When they land in a new place, they can...

Named Rimrock Draw, the site - which was thought to have once been an ancient rock shelter - is now believed to date back a staggering 18,250 years. University of Oregon researchers working at the site unearthed two stone tools made from orange agate as well as extinct camel and bison teeth. By Radiocarbon dating the enamel from the teeth, it was possible to determine how old they were. "This early date aligns well with the oral histories of the tribal nations in the region, many of whom have stories about witnessing geological events like the Missoula floods, a series...

A massive bull bison tossed a tourist into the air, seriously injuring him, in a heart-pounding caught-on-camera attack at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Video shows the unidentified man being thrown 8 feet in the air like a ragdoll by the wild bison at the Bridge Bay Campground Friday, Cowboy State Daily reported. The tourist was walking with his grandson when the powerful herbivore attacked. Video shows the man running around a copse of pines to try to escape the bull, which was giving itself a dust bath moments earlier. The bison suddenly charged the two tourists, and then viciously...

An in-depth look at the construction of Rome's Pantheon and its famous concrete dome. Why hasn't the Pantheon's dome collapsed? | 13:33 toldinstone | 628K subscribers | 662,909 views | June 23, 2023Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:28 The purpose of the Pantheon 1:16 The design 1:58 Roman concrete 2:32 Quarries, contractors, and workforce 4:02 Foundations 4:44 Building the walls 5:41 Relieving arches and buttresses 6:35 Masterworks 8:08 Building the dome 9:51 The portico 10:54 Decoration 12:32 Insane Emperors, Sunken Cities, and Earthquake Machines

When you accept Christ, you are justified. However, part of the Christian life is repentance and leaving the old life behind, which is to my understanding sanctification. My question is, as you study the Bible and are trying to align your life with the Bible, does that mean you should change denominations periodically as you find the church you are part of having doctrines that are not in line with the Bible and find a new church that reflects where you are in your current state of growth?

Göbekli Tepe was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018, and it's not hard to see why. Image credit: Resul Muslu/Shutterstock.com ============================================================================ Did a cataclysmic comet impact 13,000 years ago spark the rise of civilization? That's the explosive claim behind a study of carvings at the world-famous site of Göbekli Tepe, which researchers say encode not just a catastrophic comet strike, but the world's oldest solar calendar. Located in southern Türkiye, Göbekli Tepe is a pre-pottery Neolithic complex that is estimated to be around 12,000 years old. Analyzing an intricately carved pillar at the site, the study authors propose...

Explanation: Unlike most entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog of deep sky objects, M24 is not a bright galaxy, star cluster, or nebula. It's a gap in nearby, obscuring interstellar dust clouds that allows a view of the distant stars in the Sagittarius spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy. Direct your gaze through this gap with binoculars or a small telescope and you are looking through a window over 300 light-years wide at stars some 10,000 light-years or more from Earth. Sometimes called the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, M24's luminous stars stretch across this gorgeous interstellar scene. Spanning over...

A European professional basketball player was fatally shot and two people wounded when gunfire erupted Friday night at a packed Harlem basketball tournament, cops and witnesses said. Kinu Rochford, a standout at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, was struck twice in the head at around 10:30 p.m. at the Kingdome Basketball Tournament in the Martin Luther King Jr. Towers on Lenox Avenue, police said. Rochford, 35, who was playing in the tournament, was shot while watching between games, according to cops. Witnesses said Rochford was struck the second time when he was already on the ground bleeding. Cops have...

Dear Readers, I know many of you have been hoping for more time. So was I. Today I write with news none of us wanted to receive. Jon Rappoport passed away peacefully on the evening of Wednesday, July 8, 2026. One week ago I wrote to let you know that Jon could no longer continue his daily publishing schedule. Two days ago I shared how I intend to steward his work. I now fulfill the final responsibility Jon personally entrusted to me. Several weeks before his passing, Jon recorded the message you are about to hear and asked me to...

This video explores the spectacular remains of the Roman mines at Las Médulas, Spain. The Roman Gold Mine that Ate Mountains | 9:09 toldinstone | 21,693 views | July 10, 2026

A former Barack Obama press secretary was fired from his chief communications role in Minneapolis after allegedly stealing cash and credit cards from city employees to fuel his habit for kratom — a natural drug used to treat opioid withdrawal. Adam Fetcher, 42, was canned from his role as Chief Communications Officer (CCO) for the City of Minneapolis after just a year on the job amid a police investigation into internal workplace theft and fraud, as well as claims of substance abuse, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. Fetcher, who made nearly $200,000 a year, is accused of stealing cash and...

Explanation: The Mare Orientale, Latin for Eastern Sea, is one of the most striking large scale lunar features. The youngest of the large lunar impact basins it's very difficult to see from an earthbound perspective. Still, captured on July 7 during a period of favorable tilt, or libration of the lunar nearside, the Eastern Sea can be found at the upper right in this sharp telescopic view. In the image, the large lunar mare is extremely foreshortened and stretches along the Moon's western edge. Formed by the impact of an asteroid over 3 billion years ago and nearly 1000 kilometers...

StormWall, which involves school-bus-size satellites and a whole lot of salt, could provide an ionic ‘air bag’ for the EarthIt’s the year 2040, and the Big One—a civilization-smashing solar storm of a scale not seen since the 19th century—is on a collision course with Earth.Far out in space, where geostationary satellites orbit, a half-dozen school-bus-size satellites crack open and start dumping barium, lithium or sodium. Within minutes, sunlight transforms this material into an ionized gas shield that slows the oncoming massive blob of plasma.Down on our planet’s surface, a would-be global catastrophe—potentially knocking out entire electrical grids—is reduced to a...

1:07 VIDEO AT LINK............ SpacEx has competition!...............