Short Takes – 12-28-23

Speaker Johnson enters 2024 with warring GOP factions. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““He’s also challenged by a House majority that hasn’t shown a concerted commitment to do the things we ran on — to force border security upon the Senate and the White House, to force spending reductions upon the Senate and the White House, and just stand with him in fighting for those by being willing to withstand a potential partial government shutdown to try to force the Democrats to negotiate,” Good [R,VA] said.”

The First Secret Asteroid Mission Won’t Be the Last. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “So far AstroForge has raised $13 million from investors. A full mining mission would require a much larger investment. But there are riches to be made if the company is successful. On Earth, the metals that may be on M-type asteroids can be difficult and expensive to mine. Iridium, for example, sells for thousands of dollars per ounce.”

Russia, NASA agree to continue joint ISS flights until 2025. Phys.org article. Pull quote: “ISS partners—the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan—are for the moment only committed to operate the orbiting laboratory until 2024, though US officials have stated they want to continue until 2030.”

Could New Chemistries, Retooled Production Strategies Prevent the Next East Palestine Spill? ChemicalProcessing.com article. Interesting perspectives on inherently safer technologies. Pull quote: “I was chair of the Green Chemistry Institute Advisory Board at ACS for three years, and our mantra, like the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) mantra, was efficient, effective, safe and benign. And if you're talking about making substitutions that don't touch those four things, then you're substitute chemistry isn't going to get used. If it costs way more — and I’m not saying it has to cost less — if it doesn't do the job, if it's not markedly safer than what you're using and, also relatively safe in the environment, then it's just not going to succeed.”

Notice of Availability of Software and Documentation for Licensing. Federal Register USAF notice. Summary: “Pursuant to the provisions of section 801 of Public Law 113–66 (2014 National Defense Authorization Act); the Department of the Air Force announces the availability of WIFI Distinct Native Attribute (DNA) Fingerprinting Demonstration Code, V23, dated 15 Nov 2023, to include source code (MATLAB m-files), experimentally collected WIFI data (MATLAB mat-files), and operation checking (Ops Check) documentation software and related documentation for to illustrate some basic elements of Distinct Native Attribute (DNA) fingerprinting. DNA fingerprints are extracted from radio frequency device emissions and used to discriminate (uniquely identify) specific hardware devices using machine learning (ML) techniques.”

Promoting Public Engagement in OIRA’s Regulatory Review Process. WhiteHouse.gov press release. Pull quote: “Today, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is issuing guidance to promote greater public engagement in OIRA’s regulatory review process. The guidance is being issued after receiving input from members of the public through a comment process and listening session. In Executive Order 14094, Modernizing Regulatory Review, President Biden called on OIRA to consider changes to its process for meeting with members of the public regarding regulatory actions under OIRA’s review—known as “E.O. 12866 meetings” after the Executive Order that sets forth the process for regulatory review—with the goals of expanding the range of stakeholders OIRA hears from, including those from underserved communities, while also increasing the effectiveness and transparency of those meetings. This guidance is part of a broader effort by OIRA to encourage public engagement from those that have not historically engaged with the regulatory process.”