'Shocking': Bird-Flu Infected Cattle Dumped at California
Roadside. Newsweek.com article.
Pull quote: “Raudabaugh added, "There are so many cattle passing away from
avian influenza that the rendering trucks are backed up, which is why [the
cattle] had been left there for a period of time."” Bird flu had a
relatively low death rate in cows, apparently something has changed.
Photoswitch brings energy storage and a cool efficiency
boost to photovoltaics. ChemistryWorld.com article.
Pull quote: “They added the norbornadiene Most system to a standard commercial
silicon solar cell and found that the Most system decreased the heating of the
photovoltaic device under simulated sunlight by 8°C, thus increasing the
efficiency from 12.4% to 12.6%. Moth-Poulsen highlights that as the
efficiencies of these silicon solar cells are only around 12% in the first
place these increases are significant. Furthermore, the same photoswitching
that absorbs energy and keeps the solar cell cool, harvests and stores energy
too, giving the hybrid system a total efficiency of 14.9%. ‘The future vision
of this is that you can take a solar cell, photovoltaic, and then you could
retrofit the Most system,’ Moth Poulsen tells Chemistry World.”
Electronic Signatures, Forms and Storage for Drug and
Alcohol Testing Records. Federal Register PHMSA notice
of proposed rulemaking. Summary: “DOT is required by statute to amend its
regulations to authorize, to the extent practicable, the use of electronic
signatures or digital signatures executed to electronic forms instead of
traditional handwritten signatures executed on paper forms. This rulemaking
also responds to an April 2, 2020, petition for rulemaking from DISA Global
Solutions, Inc. (DISA), requesting that DOT regulations be amended to allow the
use of an electronic version of the alcohol testing form (ATF) for
DOT-authorized alcohol testing. The proposed regulatory amendments are expected
to provide additional flexibility and reduced costs for the industry while
maintaining the integrity and confidentiality requirements of the drug and
alcohol testing regulations. In addition, DOT proposes to amend the Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) regulation for conformity
and to make other miscellaneous technical changes and corrections.” Comments
due by December 16th, 2024.
Fatal Chemical Leak at Pemex Refinery Raises Safety
Concerns. ChemicalProcessing.com article.
Pull quote: “Metzger said chemical companies in the region do not have much
motivation to change. TCEQ, the state’s environmental agency has issued fines
for about 10% of clean-air law violations annually, he said. Also, when
penalties are imposed, they tend to be minimal, he added.” Hard to downplay
environmentalist’s concerns when the latest incident killed 2 employees.
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program.
Federal Register DOD final
rule. Summary: “With this final rule, DoD establishes the Cybersecurity
Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program in order to verify contractors have
implemented required security measures necessary to safeguard Federal Contract
Information (FCI) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). The mechanisms
discussed in this rule will allow the Department to confirm a defense
contractor or subcontractor has implemented the security requirements for a
specified CMMC level and is maintaining that status (meaning level and
assessment type) across the contract period of performance. This rule will be
updated as needed, using the appropriate rulemaking process, to address
evolving cybersecurity standards, requirements, threats, and other relevant
changes.”
UK sanctions Russian troops for deploying chemical
weapons in Ukraine. ChemistryWorld.com article.
Pull quote: “In an
announcement [link added] published on 8 October, the UK government said
Russian forces had openly admitted to using hazardous chemical weapons, with
widespread use of riot control agents and multiple reports of the use of the
choking agent chloropicrin – a highly irritating chemical discovered in the
1840s – on the battlefield.”
Trump ground game undercut by slow internet that crashes
app. TheGuardian.com article.
Pull quote: “But the Trump campaign and the Elon Musk-backed America Pac, which
is now doing an outsized portion of the Trump ground game, use a management app
called Campaign Sidekick that struggles in areas with slow internet and means
canvassers have to use an offline version [with numerous problems].” Trump’s slow
play of rural internet support has come back to bite his campaign.
Guidance: Framing Software Component Transparency:
Establishing a Common Software Bill of Materials (SBOM). CSB.gov release.
Pull quote: “Today, CISA published the Framing Software Component Transparency,
created by the Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) Tooling & Implementation
Working Group, one of the five SBOM community-driven workstreams facilitated by
CISA. CISA’s community-driven working groups publish documents and reports to
advance and refine SBOM and ultimately promote adoption. This resource serves
as the detailed foundation of SBOM, defining SBOM concepts and related terms
and offering an updated baseline of how software components are to be
represented. This document serves as a guide on the processes around SBOM
creation.”