Short Takes – 12-9-24

The end of the ISS will usher in a more commercialized future in space. TheVerge.com article. Pull quote: ““We’re just concerned that people not lose sight of that as they see people going into space [on commercial missions]. And that’s great. People are doing tourism, and some of them are doing education. But it’s not the science, the cutting edge, the ‘let’s learn about who we are and where we came from and where our solar system came from’. That’s gonna be government-sponsored space as far as I can tell.””

The world’s next big environmental problem could come from space. TechnologyReview.com article. Pull quote: “Crucially, most of the ash these reentries produce will remain suspended in the thin midatmospheric air for decades, perhaps centuries. But acquiring precise data about satellite burn-up is nearly impossible, because it takes place in territory that is too high for meteorological balloons to measure and too low for sounding instruments aboard orbiting satellites. The closest scientists can get is remote sensing of a satellite’s final moments.”

Congress in the Twilight: Navigating Big Decisions as the 118th Term Ends. FirstBranchForecast.Substack.com article. Pull quote: “Congress will also have to move legislation to fund the government before a previous continuing resolution expires on December 20th. We do not yet know the form of that legislation, although there's a good chance it will be a short term continuing resolution. If so, the CR may contain other provisions, such as spending for natural disasters, funds for which were depleted by a spate of major storms earlier this year. Some hardline House Republicans, including the Speaker, have indicated a dislike for CRs, but once again Republicans likely cannot move the legislation into law without the help of Democrats. This provides an opportunity to negotiate — and a challenge to Johnson, who may have to spurn the party's right wing to make it happen.”

SpaceX Gets US Contract to Expand Ukraine’s Access to Starshield. Bloomberg.com article. Pull quote: “China’s military’s has been paying “close attention to the effective use of constellation satellite networks in warfare, such as Starlink, which have been used to secure the communications of Ukraine’s military amid attacks by Russia,” according to the latest annual report by the congressionally mandated US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.”

Assad’s fall was swift and unexpected. But the signs were always there. WashingtonPost.com article (free). Pull quote: “But none came. Eventually, even those Syrians who remained loyal because they saw him as a bulwark against the Islamists they feared became disenchanted, Azm said. The Assad family ran the country as though it was their personal piggy bank, and the lavish lifestyles of the president’s relatives, frequently shown on Instagram, fueled the resentment.”

I Ran Operation Warp Speed. I’m Concerned About Bird Flu. NYTimes.com guest editorial (free). Pull quote: “Here is where matters stand: The most recent risk assessment from the Johns Hopkins Center for Outbreak Response Innovation, issued on Nov. 19, listed the risk of infection to farm workers as high and the risk of infection to people in contact with affected farm workers and animals as moderate. The Johns Hopkins report said that “while the immediate risk to the general public and health care workers is still currently low, the long-term consequences of continued, uncontrolled transmissions presents a high risk to all populations.””

Why hasn’t the bird flu pandemic started? Science.org article. Pull quote: “One simple answer is that the virus may just need more time to hit the right combination of mutations. The high mutation rate of influenza viruses should tip the odds in H5N1’s favor: “My rule of thumb is that one in 4000 [virus] particles will have a mutation at the amino acid that you are interested in,” Paulson says. Indeed, one polymerase mutation the virus likely needs, dubbed 627K because it leads to the amino acid lysine (K) at position 627 of the protein, has been found several times in strains infecting mammals but also in virus isolated from the first human case associated with the U.S. outbreak in dairy cows.”