Short Takes – 9-19-24

1,3-Butadiene; Draft Risk Evaluation Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) Peer Review; Request for Nominations of ad hoc Peer Reviewers. Federal Register EPA notice. Summary: “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is seeking nominations of scientific and technical experts that EPA can consider for service as ad hoc peer reviewers assisting the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) with the peer review of the draft risk evaluation for 1,3-butadiene conducted under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). To facilitate nominations, this document provides information about the SACC, the intended topic for the planned peer review, the expertise sought for this peer review, instructions for submitting nominations to EPA, and the Agency's plan for selecting the ad hoc peer reviewers for this peer review. EPA is planning to convene a virtual public meeting of the SACC in early 2025 to review the draft risk evaluation.”

Why virologists are getting increasingly nervous about bird flu. TechnologyReview.com article. Pull quote: “So far, it is clear that the virus has mutated but hasn’t yet acquired any of these more dangerous mutations, says Michael Tisza, a bioinformatics scientist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. That being said, Tisza and his colleagues have been looking for the virus in wastewater from 10 cities in Texas—and they have found H5N1 in all of them.”

Ukrainian drones strike a major military depot in a Russian town northwest of Moscow. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “Ukraine claimed the strike destroyed military warehouses in Toropets, a town in Russia’s Tver region about 380 kilometers (240 miles) northwest of Moscow and about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border with Ukraine.”

There are plenty of uses for powerful lasers in space. But where should we put them? Phys.org article. Pull quote: “While the merit of this idea is immediately clear, the problems follow soon after. A bank of powerful space lasers is every supervillain's dream. Its destructive power could be immense. "With a DE-STAR 4 structure (10 km × 10 km square) capable of generating a laser beam on the order of tens of gigawatts, clearly, there is the potential for such an asset to be deployed as a weapon by targeting locations on Earth," Hibberd writes.”

U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act Incorporation. Federal Register FAA final rule. Summary: “This final rule incorporates various changes required by the United States Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015. This final rule provides regulatory clarity to applicants seeking licenses for space flight operations involving government astronauts by adding two new subparts to the human space flight regulations containing requirements for operators with government astronauts with and without safety-critical roles on board vehicles.”

Republicans shift to plan B to prevent shutdown. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “The change in strategy, to be sure, does not come as a surprise: Members in both parties and chambers predicted that the funding fight would end in a “clean” stopgap into December, which would garner strong bipartisan support. Democrats — and even some Republicans — said they would not support a stopgap into next year that included the voter ID bill, dubbed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, making it unable to avert a shutdown.”

Schumer takes steps to prevent shutdown as Speaker Johnson’s next move unclear. CNN.com article. Pull quote: ““House Republicans don’t seem to have any plan for actually keeping the government open, so the Senate will step in,” Schumer said in floor remarks. “Both sides are going to spend the next few days trying to figure out the best path remaining for keeping the government open. By filing today, I’m giving the Senate maximum flexibility for preventing a shutdown.””