Short Takes – 6-15-24 –

Eyeing Trump presidency, conservatives want to delay funding fight. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““I [Rep Cole, R,OK] was around here in 2017 when we tried that, and we had the House, the Senate, obviously President Trump won,” he said. But Republicans still “did not have more leverage because you still have the filibuster in the United States Senate.”

The Dairy Industry Must Act Faster to Keep H5N1 from Starting a Human Epidemic. ScientificAmerican.com commentary. Pull quote: “H5N1 has taken off much faster than we, as a country, could mobilize. It is vital not to dwell on these missteps but rather to work with industry veterinarians and human and animal health regulatory agencies to devise transparent policies and practices to control this disease.”

How Much Does ‘Nothing’ Weigh? ScientificAmerican.com article. Geeky low-energy particle physics experiment. Pull quote: “If the deflections of the balance turn out differently than expected, it might mean several things. Such a result could open the door to entirely new physics if it showed that virtual particles don’t gravitate. But “a missing signal could also be because there is no Casimir effect in cuprates, or it is very weak,” says experimental physicist Markus Aspelmeyer of the University of Vienna. “Therefore, it is even more important to test separately from this experimentally.””

Massive "dead zone" to form in Gulf of Mexico, scientists warn. Newsbreak.com article. Pull quote: “"In a natural system, these nutrients aren't significant factors in algae growth because they are depleted in the soil by plants. However, with anthropogenically increased nitrogen and phosphorus input, algae growth is no longer limited," the college says. "Consequently, algal blooms develop, the food chain is altered, and dissolved oxygen in the area is depleted."”

What causes long COVID? Case builds for rogue antibodies. Nature.com article. Pull quote: “If the findings hold, clinicians might want to consider excluding individuals with long COVID from making blood donations, says Davide Robbiani, an immunologist at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Bellinzona, Switzerland.”