Short Takes – 9-24-24

Scientists explore how indoor vertical farming could help future-proof food demand. Phys.org article. Pull quote: “"However, the technical possibility of keeping them constant does not mean that keeping them constant is the best solution. Once dynamic environmental control has become established, both the energy use and costs of the used energy can be substantially reduced, increasing the profitability and sustainability of vertical farms."”

NASA reveals images of enormous, snowman-shaped asteroid 2024 ON after its ultra-close approach to Earth. LiveScience.com article. Pull quote: “The new images were captured by the Goldstone Solar System Radar near Barstow, California on Sept. 16. They showed that the skyscraper-size asteroid resembles something like a peanut. That's because 2024 ON is actually two asteroids that became locked by their own gravity into a formation known as a contact binary after they came too close to each other. Other famous contact binaries include Selam, a double-lobed 'moonlet' orbiting the asteroid Dinkinesh in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, and Arrokoth, a frigid object beyond the orbit of Pluto that was studied by NASA's New Horizons probe in 2015.”

Why Do So Many Tiny Asteroids Have Moons? ScientificAmerican.com article. Includes a number of quirky parenthetical comments. Pull quote: “Clearly there’s a lot left to learn about space rocks. Given that they could still impact our planet and cause widespread havoc, finding out as much as we can about them doesn’t just satisfy our need to gain knowledge for the love of science—it could increase humanity’s ability to stick around, too.”

Why Is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon? ScientificAmerican.com article. Pull quote: “The new way of going deep into space ultimately results in a safer, better-understood system that might meet with more public approval—at home and abroad. And besides, it’s always been true that we choose to do it because it’s hard—so what if it’s harder? And what’s the rush? It’s not a race.”

Speaker Johnson says House will not approve ‘Christmas omnibus’. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “Johnson is also ruling out other large packages of funding legislation, such as “minibuses” — bills that combine funding for some, but not all, areas of government. Government funding is theoretically divided up among 12 appropriations bills.”

Senate GOP wants no part of spending showdown in election year. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) said the Senate could pass the government funding stopgap as soon as Thursday, several days before the Sept. 30 deadline, because Republican lawmakers don’t want to risk a politically damaging government shutdown next week.”

CDC widens mpox vaccine recommendations. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “The CDC guidance advised that travelers should speak to their providers about immunization if they are travelling to a country where clade I mpox is endemic and they anticipate sex with a new partner; sex at a commercial venue; sex in exchange for money or goods; and sex associated with a large public event.”

Pipeline Safety: 2024 Risk Modeling Public Workshop. Federal Register PHMSA notice of meeting change. Summary: “This notice provides amendments to the time, website information, dates, and other details of a notice published July 25, 2024, announcing a public workshop on risk modeling methodologies and tools for the evaluation of gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), and hazardous liquid pipelines.”