Free Republic

Two of NASA's historic data-collecting missions — used by scientists and earthbound agriculturalists to track carbon dioxide and crop health — may be permanently grounded as the Trump administration looks to shrink the agency's spending. When they launched over a decade ago, the satellites known as the Orbiting Carbon Observatories (OCOs) revolutionized the collection of carbon data and greenhouse gas science. To put it simply, the OCOs changed how we understand our impact on the planet. Experts rely on the data for studies on greenhouse gases and severe weather and climate disasters, as well as other practical uses, including modeling...

Man uses machete to chop off hand in front of Diet building A man almost completely severed his left hand with a machete in front of the National Diet Building on Tuesday, apparently to protest policies toward North Korea, police said. The 54-year-old man approached the front gates of the building by car, stepped out, silently placed his left hand against the hood of his car and swung the 40 centimeter blade down across his left wrist, according to Tokyo police official Hideyuki Yoshioka. The man, who identified himself as a member of a right-wing organization, then mumbled a few...