Free Republic

A second experiment at the European facility that reported subatomic particles zooming faster than the speed of light -- stunning the world of physics -- has reached the same result, scientists said late Thursday. The "positive outcome of the [second] test makes us more confident in the result," said Fernando Ferroni, president of the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics, in a statement released late Thursday. Ferroni is one of 160 physicists involved in the international collaboration known as OPERA (Oscillation Project with Emulsion Tracking Apparatus) that performed the experiment. While the second experiment "has made an important test of consistency...

With the cooperation of politicians and grassroots organizations, Bolivia is set to pass the Law of Mother Earth which will grant nature the same rights and protections as humans. The piece of legislation, called la Ley de Derechos de la Madre Tierra, is intended to encourage a radical shift in conservation attitudes and actions, to enforce new control measures on industry, and to reduce environmental destruction. The law redefines natural resources as blessings and confers the same rights to nature as to human beings, including: the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes...

... As we have learned, these gases form an invisible barrier that, like a greenhouse's glass ceiling, keeps reflected heat of the sun from escaping our atmosphere. The denser that gaseous barrier grows, the hotter things get and the faster glaciers melt. As they flow off the land, we are warned, seas rise. Yet something else is lately worrying geologists: the likelihood that the Earth's crust, relieved of so much formidable weight of ice borne for many thousands of years, has begun to stretch and rebound.

MARTIN, Tenn. - Former vice president and Nobel Peach Prize winner Al Gore will receive an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Tennessee. The degree - an Honorary Doctor of Laws and Humane Letters in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology - will be given to Gore at the spring commencement exercises of the College of Arts and Sciences on May 14, where he will be the featured speaker. "Vice President Gore's career has been marked by visionary leadership, and his work has quite literally changed our planet for the better," UT Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek said in a statement....

The Atlanta Braves are sad to report the passing of longtime broadcaster and friend, Skip Caray. Caray died in his sleep earlier today at his Atlanta home. "Our baseball community has lost a legend today," said Braves President John Schuerholz. "The Braves family and Braves fans everywhere will sadly miss him. Our thoughts are with his wife Paula and his children." This season marked the 33rd year Caray had been calling games for the Atlanta Braves, a majority of which were for TBS, which gave Caray a national audience and fan base. Caray came to broadcasting naturally as the son...

June 28, 2007 Governor Riley Asks Citizens to Pray for Rain MONTGOMERY – Governor Bob Riley is encouraging Alabamians to pray for rain. The Governor has issued a proclamation declaring June 30 through July 7 as “Days of Prayer for Rain” in Alabama, and he is asking citizens to pray individually and in their houses of worship for rain. “Throughout our history, Alabamians have turned in prayer to God to humbly ask for His blessings and to hold us steady during times of difficulty. This drought is without question a time of great difficulty for our farmers and for communities...