Short Takes – 7-8-24

Faster spreading strain of mpox raises alarm in Congo. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““It seems that it’s likelier to be transmitted from a human to a human. It will follow humans wherever they go,” she said. “In this part of Congo, there’s a lot of movement between countries also, so it could be spread further afield. But if you look at case fatalities or mortality or these kind of things, it’s not more dangerous. So, it really depends on how you define it.””

Titanic sub company co-founder wants to colonise the Moon and create joint society with Earth by 2063. Independent.co.uk article. And we thought that Musk was out there about Mars…. Pull quote: “The entrepreneur has laid out the plans to colonise the Moon as chairman of the WayPaver Foundation, which aims to make humanity a multi-planet species. One of its ventures is Project Moon Hut, which aims to begin the colonisation by placing a basic hut on its surface “comparable to a double-wide trailer that is commonly used on job construction sites” by 2031.”

SpaceX's Starship to fly again 'in 4 weeks,' Elon Musk says. Space.com article. Pull quote: “That success helps explain the relatively rapid turnaround for Flight 5. Because Starship performed as expected on June 6, SpaceX has fewer issues to analyze ahead of the next launch. And the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration didn't require a mishap investigation, so technical readiness, rather than regulatory approval, is the main timeline driver for Flight 5.”