Short Takes – 7-18-24

Will space-based solar power ever make sense? ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “These plans involve large fluxes of microwave or radio radiation. But space-based solar power is relatively safe. For microwave radiation from a space-based solar power installation, “the only known effect of those frequencies on humans or living things is tissue heating,” Vijendran said. “If you were to stand in such a beam at that power level, it would be like standing in the… evening sun.” Still, Caplin said that more research is needed to study the effects of these microwaves on humans, animals, plants, satellites, infrastructure, and the ionosphere.”

New map depicts the world’s hidden reserves of groundwater in unprecedented detail. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “These groundwater springs are resources that are often hidden and exposed to destruction by agriculture. About 53 percent of the ecosystems identified on the map are undergoing depletion, and of these declining springs, only one-fifth are under any official protection.”

How Countries Are Preparing for a Potential Bird Flu Pandemic. ScientificAmerican.com article. Pull quote: “Isabella Monne, who studies the molecular epidemiology of animal viruses at the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Venice in Legnaro, Italy, is developing and evaluating tools to help laboratories across Europe to detect viral particles and antibodies, which are evidence of past infection, in cow blood and milk. Groups across Europe, Canada and the United States have started testing cow blood or bulk milk samples.”

Long Covid and Vaccination: What You Need to Know. NYTimes.com article (free). Pull quote: “In the new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Al-Aly and his colleagues provided persuasive evidence that vaccines cut the risk of long Covid.”

Sea ice's cooling power is waning faster than its area of extent. NewsWise.com article. Pull quote: “Beyond disappearing ice cover, the remaining ice is also growing less reflective as warming temperatures and increased rainfall create thinner, wetter ice and more melt ponds that reflect less solar radiation. This effect has been most pronounced in the Arctic, where sea ice has become less reflective in the sunniest parts of the year, and the new study raises the possibility that it could be an important factor in the Antarctic, too—in addition to lost sea ice cover.”