Tracy Mumford

State investigators descended on the vast desert ranch once owned by Jeffrey Epstein.

While other locations Epstein owned have drawn a lot of scrutiny, like his island in the Caribbean, the ranch has largely flown under the radar.

Epstein owned it for more than two decades, dubbing it Zorro Ranch, and building a private runway, a helicopter pad, and one of the largest mansions in the state, all surrounded by barbed wire fencing and hidden security cameras.

Despite the fact that some of Epstein's victims said they were trafficked at the ranch, New Mexico officials have said there's never been a close look at any criminal activity that may have occurred there.

The state was looking into it,

but their inquiry was taken over by federal prosecutors in 2019, and that effort apparently fizzled out.

Now, state lawmakers are pushing for answers after unverified tips about the ranch surfaced in the Epstein files.

That includes one anonymous claim that Epstein concealed the deaths of two abused girls by ordering them to be buried in the hills outside the property.

Though a search is finally happening, authorities have warned that their efforts could be complicated by the fact that so much time has passed.

and that the property has changed hands.

The current owner has said he's cooperating fully with investigators.

He's a Dallas real estate magnate who has renamed the property since purchasing it and said he plans to turn it into a Christian retreat.

A startup based in California is looking for approval to launch an idea that seems straight out of a sci-fi movie.

The company Reflect Orbital has a big vision for sending mirrors into space to orbit the Earth and bounce sunlight down to the dark side of the planet when it's night.

The pitch goes that that reflected light could help power solar farms after sunset, illuminate city streets, or provide lighting for first responders in emergencies.

The CEO said they're trying to, quote, build something that could replace fossil fuels and really power everything.

They're looking at launching just one mirror to start as soon as this summer, and they're asking the FCC for permission to put their prototype into space.

The idea has kicked up a lot of criticism.

There's questions about how many mirrors you'd need to get a useful degree of sunlight.

And opponents say space mirrors could distract pilots, mess up astronomical observations, and interfere with circadian rhythms, the light and dark cycles that help people, animals, and plants know when to sleep, when to bloom, when to migrate, etc.