Short Takes – 7-26-23

Lithium Batteries - Heat Advisory NOTICE. LinkedIn.com post. Pull quote: “This [lithium runaway] chain reaction creates extremely high temperatures. The associated hazards then are fire and explosion. In addition to the super high temperatures generated by a Thermal Runaway incident, the “smoke” emanating from a lithium-ion battery fire is actually a vapor cloud containing a cocktail of highly toxic acids, including hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen fluoride, and hydrogen chloride as well as gases such as methane and ethane and other toxic organic compounds such as benzene, styrene and acrolein.”

McCarthy walks balancing act one more time before long summer. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “McCarthy risks angering Trump and his allies if he does not schedule a vote on the [Trump impeachment expungement] resolutions; but if he does, they would almost certainly fail amid opposition from moderates.”

Advanced aircraft tracking will come live from space. ESA.int article. Pull quote: “The system, called “Eurialo”, will determine the exact position of a plane by geolocating its radio frequency signals. This will provide an independent assessment of the plane’s location to complement today’s surveillance systems, which often rely on self-reported positions of aircraft derived from the Global Navigation Satellite System.”

World’s heaviest commercial communications satellite will launch tonight. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: ““It is large," said Mark Wymer, a senior vice president at Hughes Network Systems. "The satellite from tip to tip is about 10 stories, so it’s a monster. It’s weighing in right around 9 tons, which is why we need the SpaceX Falcon Heavy to get it up into space. What drives a lot of the size and scale of that is we know that there’s this huge hunger for data, and we knew that we had to put a good bit of bandwidth up in the sky.””

The US government is taking a serious step toward space-based nuclear propulsion. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “NASA will take the lead on developing the nuclear engine, and DARPA will oversee a host of other issues, from the nuclear regulatory requirements to the mission's operations and all analyses of the vehicle's safety. The nuclear reactor will launch in "cold" mode for safety reasons and will not be turned on until it reaches a sufficiently high orbit.”

Agriculture appropriations bill in jeopardy amid GOP divisions. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “Moderate Republicans have been vocal in their opposition to the [anti-abortion pill] provision, warning that they will not support the bill unless it is stripped. That posture spells trouble for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.): with all Democrats expected to vote against the legislation, he can only afford to lose a handful of Republicans and still clear the measure.” Will not be considered until September.