Free Republic

When scientists injected spores of a weakened form of the bacterium Clostridium novyi directly into the soft-tissue tumors of dogs and that of a single human subject, the results were not only abscesses, fever and pain at the site--all inflammatory responses that showed the immune system had been drawn to the area. In a matter of hours, the bacterial spores quickly found their way into these tumors' necrotic cores and began replicating madly, in several cases killing the malignant tissue. In three of 16 dogs treated with the C. novyi, tumors disappeared altogether and the animals were cured. In three...

When mice with the human equivalent of Type 2 diabetes were injected with the protein FGF1, their blood sugar levels returned to normal over two days. Just one injection of the protein both regulated these levels and even helped reverse insulin insensitivity – the underlying cause of diabetes. Published in the journal Nature, the research on FGF1 could revolutionize diabetes treatment. In addition to being effective against diabetes, the protein has several advantages over current diabetes drugs. It does not result in dangerous side effects seen with other diabetes drugs, such as heart problems, weight gain, or hypoglycemia. Additionally, FGF1...

In the absence of a special prosecutor, the best opportunity for piercing the veil of secrecy and evasion that surrounds the IRS handling of groups perceived as enemies of the Obama administration lies in civil litigation. The National Organization for Marriage has just obtained a $50,000 settlement from the IRS for its criminal release of confidential donor information to an opposition group. ~snip~ The absence of any official judicial inquiry into the inner workings of the IRS processes is why it is so important to note that yesterday saw the beginning of the discovery phase in the lawsuit by Z-Street...

'Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient bathtub in a first-century mansion that could have belonged to one of the priests who was responsible for Jesus' death, while another expedition has found a town where Jesus is believed to have stayed following the feeding of the 5,000 miracle.'

A town dating back more than 2,000 years has been discovered on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee, in Israel's Ginosar valley. The ancient town may be Dalmanutha (also spelled Dalmanoutha), described in the Gospel of Mark as the place Jesus sailed to after miraculously feeding 4,000 people by multiplying a few fish and loaves of bread, said Ken Dark, of the University of Reading in the U.K., whose team discovered the town during a field survey.

'A copy of an unknown Robert the Bruce letter from the build-up to the Battle of Bannockburn has been discovered. The letter, sent in 1310, asks English King Edward II to stop persecuting the Scots. It shows Robert asserting his God-given authority as king of the Scots and addressing Edward as his equal. The script, thought to have been transcribed from the original, was discovered by chance by a professor of Scottish history at Glasgow University. Bruce's Scottish troops defeated the English army at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The new letter was found in a document which dates...

TIGHAR is able to share details of our search for a conclusive answer to the Earhart mystery thanks to the international agreement signed in Washington, DC on March 20, 2012. The Republic of Kiribati, the sovereign nation of which Nikumaroro is a part, has granted TIGHAR the exclusive right to conduct research, search, and recovery operations related to the Earhart disappearance within the national borders of Kiribati. No one is authorized to undertake Earhart related search, recovery of artifacts or research within the boundaries of Kiribati (including Nikumaroro) without authorization from both the government of Kiribati and TIGHAR.

Australians may need to rewrite their history textbooks. A new archaeological expedition may prove that the continent may have been discovered earlier than previously thought. Ian McIntosh, professor of anthropology at Indiana University, says he plans on visiting the location where five African coins were found in Australia’s Northern Territory in 1944 that have proven to be 1,000 years old, AAP reports. “Multiple theses have been put forward by noted scholars, and the major goal is to piece together more of the puzzle. Is a shipwreck involved? Are there more coins? All options are on the table, but only the...

GENEVA (AP) - Physicists said Thursday they are now confident they have discovered a crucial subatomic particle known as a Higgs boson - a major discovery that will go a long ways toward helping them explain why the universe is the way it is. They made the statement following study of the data gathered last year from the world's largest atom-smasher, which lies beneath the Swiss-French border outside Geneva. The European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, said that what they found last year was, indeed, a version of what is popularly referred to as the "God particle."

Russian scientists believe they have found a wholly new type of bacteria in the mysterious subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica, the RIA Novosti news agency reported on Thursday. The samples obtained from the underground lake in May 2012 contained a bacteria which bore no resemblance to existing types, said Sergei Bulat of the genetics laboratory at the Saint Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics. "After putting aside all possible elements of contamination, DNA was found that did not coincide with any of the well-known types in the global database," he said. "We are calling this life form unclassified and unidentified," he...

Brisbane company Linc Energy says independent studies have confirmed a major shale oil source in South Australia's far north, which officials have estimated could be worth $20 trillion. The company says US-consultants have carried out drilling and geological and seismic surveys around Coober Pedy. Linc Energy holds rights over more than 65,000 square kilometres of land in the Arckaringa Basin and started explorations in 2008. In a statement to the Stock Exchange, the company said reports from US-based consultants indicate underlying rock formations "are rich in oil and gas-prone kerogen". The company says up to 233 billion barrels of oil...

There will not be a third season of Discovery‘s docu reality series American Guns. The show, about a family of gun makers, has been drawing attention following Friday’s elementary school shooting in a Connecticut in which 26 people — including 20 first-grade children — were gunned down by a 20-year-old whose mom was a gun collector. There have been angry messages posted by viewers on the show’s Facebook page. American Guns has now been cancelled. Discovery sources indicate the decision was quietly made awhile ago, however it didn’t come to light until today. “American Guns concluded earlier this year,” a...

‘TED NUGENT’S GUN COUNTRY’ PREMIERING 10/10 AT 10PM “Nobody has more absolute fun with guns than my family. Like millions of American families, these utilitarian tools and works of art serve us well in all manner of good, clean, legal, safe fun, recreation and competition. Our American Dream is measured in ballistics.” –Ted Nugent USA --(Ammoland.com)- With more than 40 million albums sold, Ted Nugent is a rock and roll legend – but music is just one of his passions. He’s also a strong and vocal advocate for guns, hunting and all things America. In Discovery Channel’s all-new one-hour special...

Mitt Romney is getting a little help from a reality show star whose gig aligns perfectly with the candidate's prime directive. It's all about the jobs, or the lack thereof in the Age of Obama. Mike Rowe of "Dirty Jobs" fame will campaign with the GOP presidential hopeful starting tomorrow in the crucial state of Ohio. The Discovery Channel personality and Ford Motor Co. pitchman will offer his support Wednesday to Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at a public event in Bedford Heights. Romney's campaign announced the Rowe endorsement late Monday when confirming Romney's Cleveland-area itinerary for the final day...

A strange picture of odd, spherical rock formations on Mars from NASA's Opportunity rover has scientists scratching their heads over what exactly they're looking at. The new Mars photo by Opportunity shows a close-up of a rock outcrop called Kirkwood covered in blister-like bumps that mission scientists can't yet explain. At first blush, the formations appear similar to so-called Martian "blueberries" — iron-rich spherical formations first seen by Opportunity in 2004 — but they actually differ in several key ways, scientist said. "This is one of the most extraordinary pictures from the whole mission," said rover mission principal investigator Steve...

NAIRPOBI, Kenya — The world’s newest-known monkey is a shy creature with bright-blue buttocks that lives quietly in the remote rain forests of central Africa, according to the American researchers who discovered a new monkey species. Cercopithecus Lomamiensis, locally called the lesula, is barefaced and has a long nose and an aquamarine backside. It is well-known to hunters in the Lomami forest basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but researchers said the area has had little biological exploration and the species was unknown to those outside the region.

As long as mankind is a species of sentience and technology, as long as history is kept and read, the name of Neil A. Armstrong will be known. It will be Columbus and Magellan and Armstrong, each leapfrogging the other in the innate human impulse to explore, remembered as long as man remembers. Whether man walked out of Africa or was kicked out of Eden, he went where he’d never been, and his descendants did the same until the earth was peopled and the heavens were challenged. Some walked across the Bering Strait, others rowed through the nothingness of the...

National Geographic Explorer’s Hall in Washington D.C. has hosted some of the most prestigious exhibits in America. Previous exhibits have included the Chinese terracotta warriors, as well as the James Caird, the lifeboat Sir Ernest Shackleton miraculously sailed from Antarctica to South Georgia Island in 1916. Currently it is hosting a curious exhibit through February 2013 entitled “1001 Inventions: Discover the Golden Age of Muslim Civilization.” This high tech, slickly produced exhibit explicitly seeks to debunk the “myth” that the dark ages were dark. The exhibit purports to provide examples of innovations from Muslim civilization, and some of the...

The Vatican newspaper reported Tuesday that 29 previously unpublished homilies said to be the work of one of the most important and prolific early church fathers have been discovered in a German library. The 3rd Century theologian Origen of Alexandria is considered to have played a critical role in the development of Christian thought. Pope Benedict XVI, himself a theologian, dedicated two of his 2007 weekly church teaching sessions to the importance of Origen's life and work. Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said that despite Origen's importance, few of his original texts remain in part because he was condemned by the...

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, goes on Fox News' Happening Now to discuss the scheduled date for the Committee to consider a report holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for his failure to produce documents specified in the Committee's October 12, 2011, subpoena.