Short Takes – 10-4-23

A New Satellite Outshines Some of the Brightest Stars in the Sky. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “AST SpaceMobile made BlueWalker 3’s array so large in order to beam strong cellular coverage directly to phones on Earth. The satellite is made of many small antennas that can connect existing smartphones, which is an approach that distinguishes the company from Starlink and other planned constellations that currently rely on ground antennas or dishes.”

House Is Paralyzed, With No Speaker After McCarthy Ouster. NYTimes.com article (free). Pull quote: “That [“deep spending cuts and severe immigration restrictions”] is nearly impossible to promise given that Democrats control the Senate and the White House. And the situation could be a recipe for further dysfunction on Capitol Hill, most immediately in negotiations on federal spending. The House and Senate must agree by mid-November on the 12 annual appropriations bills to fund the government in the fiscal year that began on Sunday, something that cannot be done without a speaker in place.”

Telling the Truth About Taiwan. TheAtlantic.com article. Pull quote: “It may have been a necessary lie when the United States recognized the People’s Republic of China, although it is more likely that the United States got snookered by Chinese diplomats in the mid-1970s, when they needed us far more than we needed them. It may even be necessary now, but a lie it remains. Acknowledging this fact is not merely a matter of intellectual hygiene but an imperative if we are to prevent China from attempting to gobble up this island nation of 24 million, thereby unhinging the international order in Asia and beyond.”

How Dodgy Spare Parts Got Into Jet Engines, Leaving Airlines Scrambling. WSJ.com article (free). Pull quote: “The dubious documentation “puts aircraft safety in jeopardy and renders it impossible for operators who have purchased these parts to verify the airworthiness of their engines,” according to the lawsuit filed by GE, Safran and their joint venture, CFM International. “All falsified parts need urgently to be identified and the relevant operators notified.””

UC San Diego Awarded $9.5 Million to Enhance Cybersecurity in Health Care. UCSD.edu press release. Pull quote: ““Cybersecurity in health care is a huge problem that can affect each and every one of us, but few health care systems are prepared for the consequences of cyberattacks,” said Longhurst. “The new center is designed to address this unmet need, and this new research is just the beginning of that effort.””

Here Are the Republicans Vying to Replace McCarthy as House Speaker. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “Mr. Hern would not definitively confirm that he was running on Wednesday, but he said that “people have been asking me about a different face, somebody that’s got a different set of experiences” than the others who have already thrown themselves into the race.”