Short Takes – 7-13-24

CISA broke into a US federal agency, and no one noticed for a full 5 months. TheRegister.com article. Pull quote: “CISA said the exercise demonstrated the need for FCEB agencies to apply defense-in-depth principles – multiple layers of detection and analysis measures for maximum effectiveness. Network segmentation was recommended and the red team wanted to stress the danger of over-relying on known IOCS.”

3 new cases of possible bird flu reported in Colorado. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said in a release Friday that it had identified three presumptive positive cases of avian influenza in workers who were responding to an outbreak of the virus at a commercial egg operation.”

Senate's FY25 spending bills gain bipartisan momentum. GovExec.com article. Pull quote: “The committee did, however, unveil a deal to increase funding for both defense and non-defense agencies above levels agreed to in a two-year budget plan President Biden struck with House Republicans last year. Under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, funding for both sides of the ledger are set to increase by just 1% next year. Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chair and vice chair of the spending panel, have agreed to boost those totals using “emergency” funding. Non-defense agencies would receive a total of $13.5 billion in extra spending, while the Pentagon would get an extra $21 billion.”

Ozempic Quiets Food Noise in the Brain—But How? ScientificAmerican.com article. Pull quote: ““We all have the same reward systems that are absolutely essential to normal functioning,” Pontzer says, “and it’s only when we get toward the real far end of the spectrum on those reward responses that we get into trouble.” This hormonal system is evolutionarily ancient. “And we are now, in 2024, finding the advantages of the system through these drugs—we have hijacked it, if you will,” Hayes says. “We are at the precipice of the ­beginning.””

‘Frog Saunas’ Could Protect Species from Devastating Fungal Disease. ScientificAmerican.com article. Pull quote: “Just because the setup worked with green and golden bell frogs, of course, doesn’t mean it would work for all frog species that are currently threatened by chytrid. For example, alpine frogs used to cold temperatures would struggle to survive in a sauna, Waddle says. But he adds that the study’s findings represent an important change of tone for a field that has recently been dominated by despair. “The prevailing idea from these pillars in our field was that nothing’s going to work,” he says.”