Short Takes – 7-5-25

Disposable E-Cigarettes More Toxic Than Traditional Cigarettes. UCDavis.edu article. Pull quote: ““Our study highlights the hidden risk of these new and popular disposable electronic cigarettes — with hazardous levels of neurotoxic lead and carcinogenic nickel and antimony — which stresses the need for urgency in enforcement,” said senior author Brett Poulin, an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology. “These risks are not just worse than other e-cigarettes but worse in some cases than traditional cigarettes.””

Dust devils on Mars may spark lightning — possibly threatening NASA's Perseverance rover. Space.com article. Pull quote: “Dust devils are frequent on the dry and dusty Martian surface. Mars has lower gravity and a thinner atmosphere compared to Earth. This allows the wind there to kick up dust higher than wind on Earth can. As a result, Martian dust devils can be thrice as large as their terrestrial analogues.”

Unleashing phosphorus mononitride. Nature.com article. Very chem-geeky. Pull quote: “Overall, the interstellar diatomic molecule, phosphorus mononitride (P≡N), offers singular access to phosphorus-nitrogen multiple bonded constructs, serving as exemplars in structure, bonding, and reactivity. Only a few synthetic strategies to stabilize P≡N have been reported. We have demonstrated how P-atom transfer from Na(OCP) to an osmium nitride assembles a terminally bound P≡N ligand (3). We envisage this strategy can be generalized to other nitride precursors, provided that they are electrophilic in nature, and thus give access to a wide array of transition metal P≡N complexes.”

Air Force Halts Project With Musk’s SpaceX. TheDailyBeast.com article. Article does not claim that this is an anti-Musk move. Pull quote: “In response to that report [link added], the Air Force had said it would conduct an environmental assessment, but is now instead exploring alternative locations for the program, a spokesperson told Stars and Stripes. A petition calling for the Air Force to abandon its plan had garnered more than 3,800 signatures by Wednesday.”

Measles cases surge to record high since disease was declared eliminated in the US. CNN.com article. Summary type article, not much in the way of new disclosures. Pull quote: “There have been at least 1,277 confirmed cases of measles reported in the US in 2025, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation. Just halfway through the year, the case tally has already surpassed the last record from 2019, when there were a total of 1,274 cases.”