StarsAndScopes

🇺🇸 How many of you have noticed the dramatic decrease in the reach of significant Democratic voices on X who usually have thousands of likes and comments e.g., @leftcoastbabe @BraddrofliT? And how many Democratic sites on X have been hacked? Too numerous to count at this point @X Now we have a president with 34 first degree felonies for fraud (confirm them yourself) who wants to save his shorts from diesel shortages due directly to the war in Iran. His solution? Buying diesel from Russia - Russia for whom the United States is supposed to be sanctioning. All of you know the list is longer than your arm of the terrible things going on in our government never before witnessed - in the name of God no less. @SenateDems @SenateGOP

💫Here young hot blue stars erode surrounding walls of gas and dust in NGC 346 - a dynamic open star cluster and emission nebula. At 210,000 light years away, it's interesting to know this nebula was captured by Hubble years ago by its mirror spanning 2.4 meters (7.8 feet) in diameter, collecting 40,000 times more light than the human eye.💫

Mars oldest repetitive and interesting cloud: The Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud is a massive water-ice cloud that forms daily during spring and summer in Mars' southern hemisphere. Its decades long fame (since the 70's) stems from its forming up to 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) long at sunrise in just three hours – then detaching from the extinct Arsia Mons volcano and completely evaporating by late morning.

The pneumonic plague (Yersinia pestis): Before I get into to this (lightly) be confident of three things: Nothing is as it seems in Putin’s world, the Russian government controls the press (circumstances avalanching monthly in the US), and the pneumonic plague is bacterial vs viral. Do take seriously its cardinal symptom: rapidly increasing respiratory distress. It is a killer, near 100% if untreated and out-of-control. This pathology is a bacterial pneumonia with an exceptionally low contagion rate 1: 1.3 (one person infects 1.3 people). For comparison measles is about 1: 12. It is spread through large droplet expression (coughing/sneezing) so an N95 is ideal. No - there is no world where I am going to debate masking on this lovely piece of bacterial work. Immediate antibiotic treatment is paramount: Levofloxacin and Ciprofloxacin are typically used effectively. If anything can be believed coming out of Russia, and this plague does not magically mutate into something remarkably contagious, the US and other countries should be fine except for sporadic outbreaks brought in by already infected travelers.

🩺Dissolvable Stents: For those with narrowing or occluded arteries, you may not have to endure some of the problems that previous stents caused. New arterial scaffolding made from polymer materials like polylactic acid open blocked blood vessels, and reabsorb into the body over about 2.5 years. Some designs slowly release medication like everolimus, which prevent scar tissue and renarrowing as the vessel heals. Dissolving stents also reduce the need for multiple ant-clotting medications, although current information states at least one anti-clotting drug may be necessary for life unrelated to the stent. My concern: Should the scaffolding dissolve unevenly, and a piece breaks free, theoretically this could lead to heart attack or stroke - and without autopsy who would know what caused the death.

Health experts project a mild to moderate flu season for the US 2026/2027. Severity of symptoms remain speculative due to the potential emergence of unpredictable variants of the now dominant A(H3N2) subclade K strain. Vaccine Supply and Composition: Trivalent Doses: 100% of the projected vaccine supply for this season is trivalent (three-component), featuring updated components for H1N1, H3N2, and influenza B strains. Components were specifically updated to target the influenza A(H3N2) subclade K virus that circulated widely during the prior season. Alternative Options: About 27% of the U.S. supply is non-egg based, and 99% of the projected supply is free of thimerosal preservative.

There are so many of you chasing your tail, caring for mates, for children, for pets, for homes, immersed in demanding work. This is for you who don't know the date! The federal midterm general election date is the same in every state in the US: Tuesday, November 3, 2026.