Short Takes – 11-11-25

Antibiotic found hiding in plain sight could treat dangerous infections, early study finds. LiveScience.com article. Pull quote: “This systematic approach allowed the team to isolate two never-before-seen molecules, which they named pre-methylenomycin C and pre-methylenomycin C lactone. After using an array of techniques to thoroughly characterize the structures of these compounds, they investigated the molecules' biological activity against a panel of bacterial strains.” Outlines an interesting technique for following metabolic chemical development.

Canada Loses Measles Elimination Status After Ongoing Outbreaks. MedPageToday.com article. Pull quote: “But vaccination rates have since slipped below the 95% coverage rate needed to stop outbreaks. Large outbreaks in Venezuela and Brazil in 2018 and 2019 cost the region [the Americas] its elimination status. It was reclaimed in 2024, but ends again with Canada's loss.”

FAA restricts commercial rocket launches indefinitely due to air traffic risks from government shutdown. Space.com article. Pull quote: “Beginning 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT) on Nov. 10, commercial launches to space can only take place between the hours of 10 p.m. EST (0300 GMT) and 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT), according to the FAA order. This will help keep airspace restrictions in Florida, near NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, as well as Vandenberg Space Force Station in California, to a minimum while air traffic delays stack up due to staffing shortages caused by the government shutdown.”

If another country tested nuclear weapons, here’s how we’d know. ScienceNews.com article. Pull quote: “It’s difficult to say anything useful when it’s all in such an ambiguous context [talking about ‘non-explosive testing’]. But what I can say, if they were testing weapons in the traditional sense of setting off nuclear tests and designing weapons and improving them, we would know about that. If we were detecting little magnitude 5 earthquakes in these test sites, we would suspect those were nuclear tests, and that is certainly not happening.”

Exploiting AgTech connectivity to corner the grain market. PenTestPartners.com blog post. Pull quote: “Now we understood why the [cloud platform] service was free: that [harvest] data would allow the combine manufacturer to know crop yields before the market did. The opportunity to take a long or short position on grain futures was huge! We’re not suggesting that the manufacturers actually do this, but the temptation would be significant.”

Adventures in EM Side-channel Attacks. NCCGroup.com blog post. Pull quote: “We consider this a success, as we were able to replicate the signal capture from the original research in only two weeks, using lab-fabricated equipment and a number of expediencies. Employing the same equipment on other targets should be straightforward, and likely easier, given that the Infineon security element is one of the hardest targets out there.”

EO 14357 – Modifying Duties Addressing the Synthetic Opioid Supply Chain in the People's Republic of China – Federal Register

EO 14358 – Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates Consistent With the Economic and Trade Arrangement Between the United States and the People's Republic of China – Federal Register

Backlog List

• Periodic Graphics: Faking flavors with chemistry,

• Scientists Map Microbiome Hidden Deep inside Tree Trunks,

• This reaction turns Teflon into toothpaste’s key ingredient,

• Enclosed-Space Fatalities Continue Despite New IMO Safety Rules, Industry Survey Seeks Answers, and

• This ‘minor’ bird flu strain has potential to spark human pandemic.