Free Republic

For decades, the names given to newly discovered planets have almost always failed to live up to the excitement these celestial finds represent. (Take for example forgettable monikers such as CFBDSIR2149, HD 189733b, 55 Cancri e, and Kepler-69c.) The organization that oversee's the naming of new planets, the International Astronomical Union (IAU), knows that these titles are the opposite of cool and catchy. And thankfully, something is being done about it — the IAU is moving away from leaving selective working groups to name planets and opening up the process to the public. Unsurprisingly, there are a few rules that...

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq, June 15, 2006 – The Iraqi deputy prime minister called on about 450 Iraqis being freed from the Abu Ghraib detention facility today to work for peace in Iraq, the Middle East and the world. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salim al-Zawbai speaks with detainees released from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison June 15. The Iraqi government plan aims at getting "low-risk" detainees back into the workforce and working toward a new Iraq. Photo by Jim Garamone  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Salim al-Zawbai spoke to the men before they were released from the facility. It is...

Clues lead to a shared past / Newly discovered 4th-century ceramics show Korean influence Kazuya Sekiguchi and Hiroshi Tanaka / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers The recent discovery of Sueki unglazed ceramics at an archaeological site in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, has experts rethinking the chronology of early exchanges between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. The discovery revealed that the production of Sueki wares began in Japan in the late fourth century, 20 to 30 years earlier than archaeologists had believed, indicating that people from the Korean Peninsula who produced the ceramics arrived in Japan around the same time. Horseback riding and...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2006 – A Russian-born, classically-trained pianist with a wide range of performing styles has been entertaining American troops overseas for years. Now she has a special reason to thank the troops who protect the United States. Born in Altai, Siberia, 27 year-old Oksana Kolesnikova received her American citizenship on Jan. 18. Via telephone from her home in Los Angeles today, she explained why she thinks going overseas to entertain the troops is one of the most important things she does. "I truly enjoy entertaining the troops -- because, for me, they're protecting my newly found homeland," she...

Newly found species goes missing again By Stephen Cauchi Science reporter February 10, 2005 The disputed Homo Floresiensis. Photo: Robert Pearce The remains of an extinct metre-high human species have become virtually as hidden as they were before their discovery last year rocked the world of palaeontology. One of Indonesia's leading palaeontologists is refusing to hand back the remains to the team that found them on the Indonesian island of Flores. As reported last year, Professor Teuku Jacob, of Gadjah Mada University, grabbed the remains of the seven creatures - dubbed "hobbits" - and locked them in his safe, refusing...

As Democratic hopeful John Kerry whines about the Swift Boat Veterans questioning his Vietnam “war service,” more revelations have surfaced which challenge the legitimacy of his first Purple Heart. The Senator claims that that medal was received because of enemy fire he took, but his own personal diary contradicts that assertion. While the Senator’s supporters tried unsuccessfully to portray President Bush as being “AWOL” during the Vietnam War, they won’t address the fact that Kerry tried to defer his military service at that time for 12 months. And what would Kerry and his friends say about the fact that his...

<p>A newly discovered microscopic creature from the deep sea can survive in heat of up to 266 degrees Fahrenheit, a new record for life on earth, University of Massachusetts researchers reported yesterday.</p> <p>The one-celled organism not only lived but grew successfully at 121 degrees centigrade, the temperature inside doctors' sterilization equipment, long believed to be hot enough to kill any life form.</p>