Short Takes – 7-10-23

Resource constraints led to EPA’s failure to address critical vulnerabilities in air and radiation data. FCW.com article. Pull quote: “A scan of the agency's network revealed more than 20,000 instances of critical vulnerabilities that could potentially impact remote computers through denial of service attacks, memory corruption and remote code execution. The EPA also failed to provide adequate tracking and remediation efforts for eight critical vulnerabilities the Office of the Inspector General selected as part of its review.”

Attrition before breakthrough. SAMF.substack.com article. Pull quote: “Despite patient explanations that there was no fixed timetable, never an expectation that the offensive would be short and sharp, and how military history is full of examples of successful offensives that still took weeks and months, disappointment took hold. The sense that all was not well was soon picked up by commentators, often of a ‘realist’ persuasion, who have long argued that Ukraine cannot win this war on their preferred terms, and so must accept the need for a negotiated settlement.”

Harvard physicist says meteor fragments might be pieces of ‘technological gadget’ from outer space. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““If there is any big relic, we know where it should be located,” Loeb said. “We are thinking about the next expedition, where we will scan the ocean floor with sonar and potentially find the core of this object, and then it will be easy to tell whether it’s a rock or a technological gadget.””

Procurement: Chinese Shipyards Build Whatever Is Needed. StrategyPage.com article. Pull quote: “While Chinese shipbuilders concentrate on commercial ships, mainly cargo vessels and tankers, they also build warships specialized vessels, like icebreakers. Chinese warship construction continues at a rapid pace, building large numbers of destroyers and amphibious (LPS and LHD) assault ships. These ships are also world class in terms of technology and design. To accomplish this China has worked for over a decade building incrementally better models of these ships. Satellite photos of their shipyards plus activities of research facilities and capabilities indicate a serious effort to move ahead of Western navy technology during the 2020s. That means transition to all electric drive ships and sensors that match Western capabilities and are evolving rapidly enough to surpass them.”

Toyota’s newest breakthrough could be the ‘kiss of death’ for gas-powered cars — and could hit the market as early as 2027. News.Yahoo.com article. Pull quote: “Toyota’s new breakthrough could put EVs with solid-state batteries on the market by 2027, and they have mentioned zeroing in on a more affordable manufacturing process — leaning more on automated processing than human labor on an assembly line.”

Religious right gets blindsided by angry parents in a Southern California school district. Politico.com article. Pull quote: “The religious right saw an opening to jump into the parental rights movement amid intense backlash about pandemic-era school closures and mask mandates. But those policies have all but disappeared in schools, and it’s proving harder to sustain that level of outrage over teachings on race and gender. The effort to ban certain books and challenge curriculum has split Republicans and polled poorly with independent voters nationally.”

In-space manufacturing startup aces pharma experiment in orbit. ArsTechnical.com article. Pull quote: “Varda is planning a sequence of satellite missions. The spacecraft currently in orbit is the first of Varda’s Winnebago series, designed to bring pharmaceutical research specimens back to Earth for laboratory analysis and eventual commercial exploitation.”