Short Takes – 2-13-25

Egg prices are surging, so why are chicken prices stable? TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “Broilers are typically slaughtered within two months, whereas egg-layers take longer to mature and only start producing after four to five months. Once those hens start laying eggs, the cycle can last over a year. Less time on the farm means broilers have less of an opportunity to be exposed to the virus.”

We Need Rapid Bird Flu Testing Now. MedPageToday.com commentary. Pull quote: “Our goals are early detection, self-isolation, and early treatment. We hope that vaccines against avian flu will become available in a timely fashion. COVID began as an external threat but, if avian flu progresses, it will start as a local outbreak. We strongly suggest that state leadership takes the responsibility to promote early diagnosis and reduced community transmission.”

Vast space station qualification article passes major milestone. NasaSpaceFlight.com article. Pull quote: ““If we don’t win [the contract], we don’t think we can even exist, so it’s a matter of survival,” Haot said. “Being realistic, how can we win? And the strategy we came up with is Haven-1. So, our thesis is, what if we actually build a space station, launch it in orbit, have a crew of four go to it, spend two weeks at least in the space station, and come back home safely…before the U.S. government makes their decision?””

DARPA skips the lab, will head to orbit to test space manufacturing tech. TheRegister.com article. Pull quote: “Momentus' role in NOM4D phase 3 will see it shuttling Caltech's composite fiber longeron-assembling robot to orbit onboard its Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle. Once in place, Caltech's machine will operate without human engagement to construct a 1.4-meter diameter circular truss akin to the structure of an antenna aperture. If successful, it would be the first step scaling up towards building large-scale structures in space, Detor said.”

Athena, Next U.S. Commercial Moon Lander, Is Set for Spectacular Lunar Science. ScientificAmerican.com article. Pull quote: ““The purpose of the [hopper] demo is to show that we can reach extreme environments with technologies other than rovers,” explained Trent Martin, senior vice president of space systems at Intuitive Machines, at the briefing. Nokia’s LSCS, which uses the same 4G LTE communications technology as a smartphone, will keep all of Athena’s payloads “online” and connected as they branch out on their respective objectives. “We are set up to handle the very large number of payloads that we have on this mission ... and supporting operations from around the world from different control centers for various payloads that are on the mission,” Martin added.”

Earth’s mysterious inner core really is changing shape. Nature.com article. Pull quote: “Some scientists have proposed that changes in seismic signals passing through Earth are caused not by the core’s rotational shifts, but instead by physical changes at the inner core–outer core boundary4. The new work suggests that both explanations are right. Many changes in the waveforms from the South Sandwich Islands earthquakes can be attributed to core rotation, Vidale says. But others are probably caused by the inner core–outer core boundary deforming by developing bulges in some areas.”