Short Takes – 9-29-22

Bird flu virus out of control warn farmers in East of England. BBC.com article. Pull quote: “"So even with the very best biosecurity in the world you can't necessarily prevent it. If there's a bit of bird poo on the concrete and you happen to walk it into your building, it's devastating." 

NASA’s DART spacecraft just smashed into an asteroid — on purpose. ScienceNews.org article. Pull quote: “DART’s impact is expected to shove Dimorphos into a closer, shorter orbit around Didymos. Telescopes on Earth can clock the timing of that orbit by watching how the amount of light from the double asteroid system changes as Dimorphos passes in front of and behind Didymos.”

I've been capturing video from this webcam in Fort Myers all day and I've put it into a Timelapse. Check out the storm surge rushing in! TWITTER post.

NATO warns of ‘united and determined response’ amid pipeline damage investigation. TheHill.com article. Attribution problems anyone? Pull quote: ““All currently available information indicates that this is the result of deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage,” wrote the council, representing the 30 countries affiliated with NATO.”

McConnell cozies up to Sinema ahead of next Congress. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “Having a good relationship with her will be key to getting bills passed with bipartisan support if Republicans win back the Senate majority on Election Day, GOP lawmakers say.”

Manchin push faces uncertain future after Senate flop. TheHill.com article. On CR obstacle out of the way. Pull quote: “Democrats on Tuesday pulled the package out of the stopgap measure amid opposition from both conservatives and progressives.”

Webb, Hubble Capture Detailed Views of DART Impact. NewsWise.com article. Pull quote: “Observing the impact across a wide array of wavelengths will reveal the distribution of particle sizes in the expanding dust cloud, helping to determine whether it threw off lots of big chunks or mostly fine dust. Combining this information, along with ground-based telescope observations, will help scientists to understand how effectively a kinetic impact can modify an asteroid’s orbit.”

New Infectious Threats Are Coming. The U.S. Probably Won’t Contain Them. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “The coronavirus was a sly, unexpected adversary. Monkeypox was a familiar foe, and tests, vaccines and treatments were already at hand. But the response to both threats sputtered and stumbled at every step.”

Guidance for the Clean Hydrogen Production Qualifications. Federal Register notice. Pull quote: “The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the notice of availability (NOA) and invites public comment on its Clean Hydrogen Production Standard (CHPS) Draft Guidance. The draft guidance contains the initial proposal for the CHPS, as required by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).” Comment deadline October 20^th, 2022.

On the Money — Congress one vote away from averting a shutdown. TheHill.com article. The problems have been worked out. Pull quote: " Senators voted 72-25 to advance the bill, sending the must-pass legislation to the House, where it is expected to pass swiftly before heading to President Biden’s desk for signature.”

The Nord Stream blasts are Putin’s warning shot to the West. Spectator.co.uk opinion piece. Pull quote: “With the expected annexations of the occupied regions, he [Putin] has less room to manoeuvre than before, as he hardly wants to go down in history as the tsar who surrendered 'Russian lands.' The Nord Stream blasts are a shot across our bows, and he must be hoping – almost certainly in vain – that it makes us change course.”