Short Takes – 5-6-25 PM

Spy Agencies Do Not Think Venezuela Directs Gang, Declassified Memo Shows. NYTImes.com article. Pull quote: “While there is evidence that some “mid- to low-level Venezuelan officials probably profit from TDA’s illicit activities,” the memo said, the gang’s decentralized makeup would make it “logistically challenging” for the organization as a whole to act at the behest of the government. While there is evidence that some “mid- to low-level Venezuelan officials probably profit from TDA’s illicit activities,” the memo said, the gang’s decentralized makeup would make it “logistically challenging” for the organization as a whole to act at the behest of the government.” A similar argument could be made that Mexican cartels are acting at the direction of the US Government to destabilize Mexico.

Why the humanoid workforce is running late. TechnologyReview.com article. Pull quote: “But achieving that [widespread use of humanoid robots in industry] means passing countless hurdles. We’ll need safety regulations for humans working alongside humanoids that don’t even exist yet. Deploying such robots successfully in one industry, like automotive, may not lead to success in others. We’ll have to hope that AI will solve lots of problems along the way. These are all tll things that roboticists have reason to be skeptical about.”

Signal clone used by Trump official stops operations after report it was hacked. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “"Data related to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the cryptocurrency giant Coinbase, and other financial institutions are included in the hacked material, according to screenshots of messages and backend systems obtained by 404 Media," the report said. 404 Media added that the "hacker did not access all messages stored or collected by TeleMessage, but could have likely accessed more data if they decided to, underscoring the extreme risk posed by taking ordinarily secure end-to-end encrypted messaging apps such as Signal and adding an extra archiving feature to them."”

Battlefield First! Ukrainian Sea Drone Drops Two Russian Su-30 Fighters with Sidewinders. WesODonnel.com blog post. Pull quote: “According to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR), the strike occurred near Novorossiysk, a Russian port city, using a US-supplied AIM-9 Sidewinder missile fired from one of Ukraine’s newly upgraded Magura-7 naval drones.”

Shingles vaccine may directly guard against dementia, study hints. LiveScience.com article. Pull quote: “More studies are needed to understand the mechanism behind the vaccine's protective effect against dementia, as that's currently unclear. One theory suggests that reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus may trigger brain damage through a range of mechanisms, including the buildup of abnormal proteins and chronic inflammation. By preventing reactivation, the shingles vaccine may theoretically prevent this brain damage.”

Some doubts about Jared Isaacman. TheSpaceReview.com commentary. Pull quote: “None of these issues will alter the outcome of the upcoming vote, allowing Isaacman to become the next administrator. But unless he takes steps to resolve them, it’s unlikely he will live up to the billing that many in the space community have for Isaacman as a strong leader for NASA in troubled times.”