Short Takes – 11-15-24

Rand Paul has plans to kneecap the nation’s cyber agency. Politico.com article. Pull quote: “But his grand plans for finally crushing CISA’s mandate may not be entirely possible. Paul is likely to face fierce resistance from Democrats in the House and Senate on any proposal to limit CISA’s powers. And many Republicans are also likely to push back against plans to fully cut the agency that plays a key role in responding to foreign cyberattacks.”

Failings in response to East Palestine train derailment compounded human and environmental impact. ChemistryWorld.com article. Pull quote: “The study concludes that the approval of handheld PIDs and the lifting of the evacuation order with inadequate air testing meant that people were exposed to chemicals. Whelton says ‘individuals making decisions about using certain sampling approaches and equipment did not understand the limitations of the sample approaches and equipment. And that’s a problem.’”

CDC detects first human bird flu case in Oregon. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: ““We continue to remind the public that people at increased risk of infection are those who have had close or prolonged, unprotected exposures to infected birds or other animals, or to environments contaminated by infected birds or other animals,” said Dean Sidelinger, a health officer and state epidemiologist at Oregon Health Authority (OHA).”

Near-Earth dwarf planet’s surface is 90% covered by water. TheBrighterSide.news article.  Pull quote: “According to Mike Sori, “We think that there's lots of water-ice near Ceres surface, and that it gets gradually less icy as you go deeper and deeper." He explained that earlier theories suggested that if Ceres had a high ice content, its craters would have deformed quickly, behaving like glaciers on Earth or a viscous substance like honey. However, their simulations show that ice mixed with a small amount of solid rock can be much stronger, causing craters to remain stable over billions of years.”

It Sounds Like NASA's Moon Rocket Might Be Getting Canceled. Futerism.com article. Pull quote: “To reiterate, the SLS is a non-reusable rocket, which means that NASA will have to build entirely new rocket stages for each upcoming Artemis mission. That's in stark contrast to SpaceX's fully reusable Starship, which the space agency is still hoping to tap for Artemis III, the first crewed trip to the Moon's surface.”