Month: August 2024

Enlarge / A child with a "slapped cheek" rash (credit: CDC)

A common seasonal respiratory virus that typically infects school-aged children is causing an unusually large spike in cases across Europe and the US this summer. The surge in transmission is a significant danger to certain vulnerable populations including pregnant people, according to a health alert released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday.

The virus is parvovirus B19, aka B19V, which spreads via respiratory droplets and typically causes a mild, two-phased illness in children. The first phase is marked by flu-like symptoms that can include fever, headache, malaise, muscle aches, cough, sore throat, and joint pain. In the second phase, a characteristic "slapped cheek" rash develops, which is also called Fifth Disease or Erythema Infectiosum. By age 20, about 50 percent of people have been infected and have antibodies that can help fight reinfection. And by age 40, the figure rises to 70 percent.

But, for those who have compromised immune systems, are pregnant, or have certain conditions, such as sickle cell anemia, the virus can cause severe complications, such as severe anemia, myocarditis, hepatitis, or encephalitis. In pregnancy, the virus can infect the fetus and cause dangerous complications and miscarriage.

Enlarge / Elon Musk speaks at the Satellite Conference and Exhibition on March 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images | Win McNamee )

US District Judge Reed O'Connor today recused himself from Elon Musk's lawsuit alleging that advertisers targeted X with an illegal boycott.

O'Connor was apparently Musk's preferred judge in the lawsuit filed last week against the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and several large corporations. In order to land O'Connor, the Musk-owned X Corp. sued in the Wichita Falls division of the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

O'Connor purchased Tesla stock, a fact that generated controversy in a different X lawsuit that he is still overseeing. He also invested in Unilever, one of the defendants in X's advertising lawsuit. The Unilever investment appears to be what drove O'Connor's recusal decision.

Enlarge / Administrator Bill Nelson delivering remarks and answering questions from the media at the OFT-2 prelaunch press conference. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann)

Ars Technica recently had the opportunity to speak with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who has now led the US space agency for more than three years. We spoke about budget issues, Artemis Program timelines, and NASA's role as a soft power in global diplomacy. What follows is a very lightly edited transcript of the conversation between Senior Space Editor Eric Berger and Nelson.

Ars Technica: I wanted to start with NASA's budget for next year. We've now seen the numbers from the House of Senate, and NASA is once again facing some cuts. And I'm just wondering, what are your big concerns as we get into the final budgeting process this fall?

Administrator Bill Nelson: Well, the big concern is that you can't put 10 pounds of potatoes in a five-pound sack. When you get cut $4.7 billion over two years, and when $2 billion of that over two years is just in science, then you have to start making some hard choices. Now, I understand the reasons for the cuts. Had I still been a member of the Senate I would've voted for it simply because they were held hostage by a small group in the House to get what they wanted. Which was reduced appropriations in order to raise the artificial, statutory budget debt ceiling in order for the government not to go into default. That's part of the legislative process. It's part of the compromises that go on. It happened over a year ago, and it was called the Fiscal Responsibility Act. The price for doing that wasn't cuts across the entire budget. Remember, two-thirds of the budget is entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, and it certainly wasn't in defense. So, all the cuts came out of everything left over, including NASA. I'm hoping that we're going to get a reprieve come fiscal year '26 when we will not be in the budgetary constraints of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. But who knows? Because lo and behold, they've got another artificial debt ceiling they're going to have to raise next January.