Free Republic

A US Air Force flight en route to Antarctica was forced to return to New Zealand after receiving a warning of "potentially hazardous" space activity. The alert was confirmed by New Zealand authorities on Wednesday. New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued the warning after being informed by Russia’s State Air Traffic Management Corporation, which led to the decision to turn the flight back. The warning was disseminated through a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM). The flight, originally departing from Christchurch, New Zealand, is a part of the annual Winter Fly-in (WINFLY) operation, which connects Christchurch with Antarctic research facilities. Impact...

A fire broke out at Tesla Gigafactory Berlin’s recycling plant in the early hours of the morning, and now a local group that has been fighting the project is using the fire to call for stopping production. In the early hours of the morning, Tesla’s own fire brigade at Gigafactory Berlin called the local fire department of the municipality of Grünheide, where the factory is located, for help. According to a report from Märkische Oderzeitung, a local newspaper, a large pile of cardboard and wood caught on fire at the recycling facility located at the factory (translated from German): A...

SALMON, Idaho — In a state where pine and fir outnumber residents, the loss of several privately owned spruces should hardly excite attention, let alone spark a crusade emblematic of a new trend to protect trees on private land. But in the ski community of Ketchum, Idaho, a seasonal home for the rich and famous and the last resting place of writer Ernest Hemingway, a developer's plan to cut down three towering conifers on his property spurred the city to issue an emergency order last month outlawing the felling of mature trees. Resident Lara Babalis wanted additional assurances. She spent...