"But in the hours before launch on Tuesday, Boeing announced that the Starliner team had discovered 'unexpected valve position indications' in the capsule's propulsion system. Boeing and NASA stood down from that day's attempt to investigate the issue, stating that a liftoff on Wednesday (Aug. 4) remained a possibility."
"A few hours after it had docked to the ISS, the module - called Nauka - started unexpectedly firing its thrusters, essentially trying to pull itself away from the football-field-sized station. A tug of war ensued between the errant module and the four gyroscopes that typically keep the ISS steady. Nauka's thrusters wound up spinning the station around and flipping it over."
"This is why Hodin and his colleagues at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Laboratories have spent the last two years figuring out how to raise this species in captivity. It's an act of desperation borne out of the hope that someday, lab-grown sunflower sea stars could be reintroduced into places where this species has disappeared."
"President Biden on Thursday will unveil proposed rules that would set new fuel efficiency and emissions standards for vehicles, surrounded by union officials and carmakers that the White House says are behind the direction he's headed."
"Climate scientists have detected warning signs of the collapse of the Gulf Stream, one of the planet’s main potential tipping points… The research found 'an almost complete loss of stability over the last century' of the currents that researchers call the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The currents are already at their slowest point in at least 1,600 years, but the new analysis shows it may be nearing a shutdown." We're boned.
"Göttingen researchers have developed mini-antibodies that efficiently block the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and its dangerous new variants. These so-called nanobodies bind and neutralize the virus up to 1000 times better than previously developed mini-antibodies. In addition, the scientists optimized their mini-antibodies for stability and resistance to extreme heat. This unique combination makes them promising agents to treat COVID-19. Since nanobodies can be produced at low costs in large quantities, they could meet the global demand for COVID-19 therapeutics. The new nanobodies are currently in preparation for clinical trials." Way too early to know if this will really be a viable treatment.
"Beginning next week, guests at three central Ohio establishments will be required to show they are fully vaccinated from COVID-19, or that they have tested negative for the virus within the past 48 hours before being allowed inside."
"Florida governor Ron DeSantis earned a new moniker this week as the resurgent coronavirus continued to wreak havoc on his state: the 'Pied Piper of Covid-19, leading everybody off a cliff'… Dan Gelber, the mayor of Miami Beach, coined the term as Florida continued to set records for new cases and hospitalizations, recorded worrying increases in both deaths and rates of positivity, and led the nation in pediatric Covid admissions."
"DeSantis insisted he is ready to object to any COVID-19 restrictions that would prevent business from operating normally. And he pointed the finger at Biden, saying he is the one who is “helping facilitate” the spread of COVID-19 by not security the country’s southern border with Mexico. “You have hundreds of thousands of people pouring across every month,” DeSantis said. 'Not only are they letting them through, they’re farming them out all across the country, putting them on planes, putting them on buses. Do you think they’re worrying about COVID for that? Of course not.' As might be expected, DeSantis didn’t provide any evidence to support his allegations that 'whatever variants there are around the world, they’re coming across that southern border.' The governor had earlier blamed media 'hysteria' for concerns over hospital capacity."
"Nearly 72,000 children tested positive for COVID-19 last week, a “substantial” increase that troubles public health advocates amid the growing wave of infections linked to the highly transmissible delta variant of the virus… The American Academy of Pediatrics released the figures on Tuesday, noting they were a nearly 85% increase from a week earlier. Children — defined by individual states as those aged 17 or 18 and under ― now account for 19% of the nation’s weekly COVID-19 cases."
"School boards are at war with governors over masks. Superintendents are developing contingency plans on the fly. And schools that only just opened have had to shut down… Welcome to sophomore year for Covid-19. The Delta variant, which few had heard of when classes ended in the spring, is upending reopening plans across the country, threatening President Joe Biden’s promise of a more normal school year and sustained economic recovery." At a doctors appointment yesterday the doctor said he was asked by his school board for his input on masks. And as they said, they weren't very up to date on the subject and he would have to research it. I tell this story for a few reasons. First of which is not even all healthcare workers are keeping up with the news, especially when infectious diseases are not their bailiwick (specialists most especially - see what I did there). They said they were half-tempted to just say, "wear the mask" but that they wanted to check the latest from the CDC. Because that's what professionals do, you look to the recognized authority, read what they have to say, and then see if that makes sense or not. Finally I didn't give my opinion, but gave them some direction for further reading (the Providence "outbreak" - which may be less than it was originally made out to be - and the new Delta plus and Lambda variants), because that's also what professionals do.
"The highly contagious delta variant will lead to an increase in breakthrough infections among the fully vaccinated as people begin moving indoors after the summer, Moderna said Thursday." Hello booster shots.
"Initial claims for unemployment insurance edged lower last week, meeting Wall Street expectations, while longer-term unemployment signs showed improvement, the Labor Department reported Thursday… First-time filings for benefits dipped to 385,000 for the week ended July 31, a decline of 14,000 from the previous week as the jobs market remains essentially in a holding pattern during the economic recovery. The total hit the Dow Jones estimate exactly."
"Facebook has blocked a team of New York University researchers studying political ads and COVID-19 misinformation from accessing its site, a move that critics say is meant to silence research that makes the company look bad." The Zuck gets a little grumpy.
"A passenger aboard a Frontier Airlines flight has been charged with three counts of battery. The passenger is accused of inappropriately touching two female flight attendants and punching a male attendant on Saturday. The flight crew then restrained the unruly passenger and used tape to ensure he stayed seated for the remainder of the flight."
"Days after a national eviction moratorium expired, the Biden administration on Tuesday issued a new, more limited freeze that remains in effect through Oct. 3… Like the previous order, the two-month moratorium issued Tuesday comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
"A federal district judge in Texas temporarily blocked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott from implementing an executive order targeting the transport of migrants who are released from custody… The order, issued last Wednesday, was framed as a public health measure to address Covid-19, which is surging in Texas amid Abbott's opposition to new mask mandates or requirements for vaccines. The Justice Department sued two days later."
"A police officer died Tuesday after shots were fired outside the Pentagon building, according to three law enforcement sources… The Pentagon Force Protection Agency, which oversees the security of the Pentagon, confirmed the officer's death in a tweet late Tuesday, hours after reports first surfaced."
"For immigrant rights advocates, that email exchange is vindication of what they've been saying for years: that ICE deliberately retaliates against activists… It's a charge ICE consistently denies. But advocates say there's a growing body of evidence that can't be ignored — and they're urging the Biden administration to do something about it."
"The ghost candidates in the three senate races had no party affiliation and didn't campaign, but they were helped by dark money-funded advertising that came from Alvarado's PACs. They were portrayed as 'left-leaning' to attract votes from Democrats… Former Sen. Artiles made headlines when he resigned from the Florida Senate in 2017 after making racist and sexist comments to two lawmakers in a Tallahassee bar. Now prosecutors say that he paid more than $44,000 to a sham candidate in the 2020 District 37 state Senate race named Alex Rodriguez."
A twitter thread… "This anti-vaxxer getting humiliated by @waltermasterson is named Ashley Jefferey… Ashley Jefferey is an actor, with an IMDB profile… He has no visible means of income. He has unlimited free time to attend anti-vaxx events 5 days a week… Let's dive in." Where's James Woods? Also, this thread that explores the ExploreTalent site. I haven't had a moment to verify this (and it's on twitter, so take it with a huge grain of salt), but it's an interesting thought. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"There are several unanswered questions about this visit, which appears to have violated normal Capitol protocol in various ways. It's not clear who authorized it, since Boebert was not yet a member of Congress and had no official standing in D.C. It's perhaps even stranger that it occurred on a Saturday night, when the Capitol complex is closed. Later, in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack, Boebert repeatedly denied rumors that she had offered 'reconnaissance tours' to would-be rioters shortly before that event. But her ambiguous comments appeared to avoid any specific discussion of this unexplained December tour."
"Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced Tuesday that he made good on his promise to pardon a couple who gained notoriety for pointing guns at social justice demonstrators as they marched past the couple’s home in a luxury St. Louis enclave last year." I'm sure the governor would feel just as magnanimous about the protestors if they were carrying guns (which they weren't).
"Manufacturers say they’re producing as much ammunition as they can, but many gun store shelves are empty and prices keep rising. Ammunition imports are way up, but at least one U.S. manufacturer is exporting ammo. All while the pandemic, social unrest and a rise in violent crime have prompted millions to buy guns for protection or to take up shooting for sport."
"Lawyers for Donald Trump urged a federal judge Wednesday to block the Treasury Department and the IRS from handing his tax returns over to the House Ways and Means Committee… The committee’s stated reason for seeking the returns, to examine how the IRS audits presidents, is simply a pretext for wanting to look for something embarrassing, the lawyers said in a filing in federal court in Washington, adding that the legal authority invoked by Congress has never been used against a president, a former president or any elected official."
"Top Republicans in Congress are embarking on a new campaign of revisionism seven months after the attack on the Capitol, absolving Donald Trump of responsibility and blaming the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, for the 6 January insurrection perpetrated by a mob of Trump supporters… Some House and Senate Republican leaders stated in the charged moments immediately following the attack that Trump was squarely to blame, and amid blood and shattered glass at the US Capitol, some even considered his removal." You spin me right around, baby.
"The latest bombshell came Wednesday with the revelation that Jeffrey Clark, a top official at the Justice Department, composed a draft letter -- which he urged acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and acting deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue to sign onto -- that said the DOJ had 'significant concerns that may have impacted of the outcome of the election in multiple States, including the State of Georgia.'"
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