Short Takes – 3-6-25

Red Hat Teams Up with Axiom Space to Launch, Optimize the Space Company’s Data Center Unit-1 On Orbit. Axiom.com press release. Pull quote: “The goal is to allow Axiom Space and its partners to have access to real-time processing capabilities, laying the foundation for increased reliability and improved space cybersecurity with extensive applications. Use cases for ODCs include but are not limited to supporting Earth observation satellites with in-space and lower latency data storage and processing, AI/ML training on-orbit, multi-factor authentication and cyber intrusion detection and response, supervised autonomy, in-situ space weather analytics and off-planet backup & disaster recovery for critical infrastructure on Earth.”

Inside U.S. spy agencies, workers fear a cataclysmic Trump cull. WashingtonPost.com article. Pull quote: “The Air Force official, who oversees a Europe-based tactical analysis unit, said two of his seven civilian employees are on probationary status. One of the two, he said, is a star performer with 15 years’ experience in military intelligence. Like many employees of U.S. military intelligence agencies, this person is a military veteran, rehired as a civilian for their specialized skills.”

‘Omg, did PubMed go dark?’ Blackout stokes fears about database’s future. Nature.com article. Pull quote: “PubMed “is one of the primary platforms that health-care providers, researchers and students rely on to access peer-reviewed medical literature”, says Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious-diseases physician who studies global health in Dallas, Texas. The database, which indexes more than 37 million articles, is maintained by the US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), based in Bethesda, Maryland.”

CDC Reports Neurologic Complications of Flu in Kids This Year. MedPageToday.com article. Pull quote: “Study limitations included that data might have over- or underestimated IAE prevalence, and that data on IAE prevalence among pediatric influenza-associated deaths during the current flu season are preliminary and based on small numbers. Also, IAE prevalence among pediatric influenza-associated deaths is likely not representative of overall pediatric IAE prevalence, especially less severe cases. And due to the lack of established surveillance for IAE in the U.S., it was not possible to determine whether anecdotal reports of hospitalizations and deaths due to IAE -- including ANE -- during the current flu season are within or above expected ranges.”

Second death reported in growing measles outbreak. WashingtonPost.com article (free). Pull quote: “State officials declined to release the person’s age, sex and underlying medical conditions or disclose whether contact tracing is underway to identify others who may have been exposed to one of the world’s most contagious viruses. The virus is airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs.”