A Second Starship Has Made It To Orbit -- For Musk's SpaceX -- But He Had To Abort Before The Full 12 Revolutions Around Earth... Yikes.

This is progress -- to be certain, as he's been able to avoid blowing up. . . for two launches in a row, now.

But that is a very far piece from being ready for a crew to the Moon -- or beyond. He did deploy some more of his phone service sats, but again -- that is low Earth orbit stuff. Here's the latest on the morning launch, from the AP:

. . .SpaceX launched its enormous Starship into orbit for the first time Monday and successfully delivered the most advanced Starlink satellites yet, but cut the flight short to ensure safety.

The spacecraft reentered over the Pacific and splashed down north of Hawaii three hours after blasting off from Texas. The company had been aiming for a 10-hour flight, spanning six full laps around Earth, to prove its readiness for NASA’s Artemis moon program.

Starship tipped over and erupted in flames upon splashdown, a dramatic end to the mission.

Founder Elon Musk’s Starship almost didn’t make it to orbit when one of its engines shut down prematurely. But with everything else working well and the bad engine no longer needed, flight controllers decided, after several tense minutes, to proceed as planned. . . .

Now you know. Onward, grinning -- and I do hope for the best with his space hardware. . . but it is mostly. . . just hope. Yikes.

नमस्ते

Deeply Disturbing News From Butembo: Pro-Ebola Education Politician Beaten To Death; Home Looted And Set Ablaze...

It is possible (but not at all likely) that Mr. Karondwa's politics have offended one or more of the armed groups fighting for control of the region, in a long-simmering civil war inside DRC.

But the attack came immediately after he had given a radio interview -- urging adherence to public health measures, to help limit the ferocious spread of Ebola in the area. The official number of cases crossed 8,000 over the weekend, but actual, on the ground totals are now likely over well 10,000. Here's the deeply discouraging news:

. . .Marie-Celestin Karondwa, acting president of the UDPS party's federal executive committee in Butembo and a party spokesperson, was attacked by residents ⁠of his neighbourhood after appearing on a radio show during which he promoted Ebola prevention measures, the UDPS federation in Butembo said in a statement.

The party said the attackers beat him, looted his belongings and set his house on fire. It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, how many were involved or what motivated it. Karondwa later died from his injuries, the party said. The mayor of Butembo did not immediately respond to a request ⁠for comment.

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on Ebola response teams, underscoring persistent mistrust among the population. . . .

We will continue resolutely just the same -- and even though the US (via RFK, Jr. and Tangerine) is finally contributing to public health efforts after a nearly two year shut-out, the severity of this epidemic is clearly the feckless fault of Trump and Musk.

As we've shown over and over, this was all largely avoidable. Under Mr. Biden, the deaths ended at four people -- last time (2023). FOUR. Simply. . . disgusting.

नमस्ते

UPDATE: NASA's Swift Space 'Scope Now Expected To Burn In -- Over The Pacific Ocean -- In Early October...

We were cautiously optimistic, for the private-sector near-Boulder, Colorado engineering and science teams -- but launching in under one elapsed year, here -- on a complicated zero-G grapple maneuver. . . proved to be too tall an order. So Swift will soon be end-of-mission.

It was a nice try, but space is. . . hard. Here's all that, from the NASA team's blog:

. . .NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has resumed use of its third science instrument, the Burst Alert Telescope, after the mission returned to data collection in August. Flight controllers have also allowed the spacecraft to resume automatically repointing its other telescopes to examine new high-energy flashes in the sky.

The return to normal operations follows the scaling back of a commercial mission that would have boosted Swift to a higher altitude.

[It] has [consequently] caused Swift to resume its rapid sinking. It is now located around 200 miles (325 kilometers) above Earth. Below 185 miles (300 kilometers), spacecraft operations become more difficult and science observations will likely cease.

The team estimates Swift will reach this threshold sometime in early to mid-October. . . .

Now you know -- onward, after a glorious EU vacation over the last four weeks. . . I'll likely put a few of my better shots into the masthead in the coming weeks -- or. . . maybe. . . now. Smile.

नमस्ते

A Potential $3 Billion A Year Blockbuster -- For Rahway, By 2030? Could Be, In Macular Degeneration Therapies That Were Acquired In 2024 From EyeBio...

As Mr. Davis lines up the next bevy of products that will "fill the eventual gap" -- as Keytruda becomes available in non-branded versions in the early 2030s -- we have followed this particular eye treatment narrative line since early 2024; and the money spent on acquiring EyeBio certainly looks to be paying off well.

Here's Fierce on all the latest Brunello clinical trial news I missed whilst away:

. . .Merck & Co.’s Brunello trial has hit its primary endpoint, shedding light on the effects of a trispecific diabetic macular edema (DME) drug that the Big Pharma bought in a $3 billion takeover.

The phase 2b/3 trial compared Merck's remigromig to ranibizumab, the VEGF inhibitor that Roche’s Genentech sells as Lucentis in the U.S. Mimicking a natural ligand called norrin, remigromig agonizes the Wnt signaling pathway. The pathway supports the restoration and maintenance of blood-retinal barrier integrity, suggesting remigromig could improve visual outcomes. . . .

Remigromig was well tolerated, Merck said. However, the company reported higher rates of proliferative diabetic retinopathy, vitreous hemorrhage and treatment discontinuations because of adverse events on remigromig than on ranibizumab. Merck is running further analyses to characterize the findings. Eyebiotech, remigromig’s original developer, saw no drug-related adverse events in a phase 1b/2a trial.

Merck will present data from the trial at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Annual Meeting next month. . . .

Merck acquired remigromig and the Tie2xVEGF bispecific, MK-8748, in its $1.3 billion upfront takeover of EyeBio in 2024. Merck is also on the hook for up to $1.7 billion in milestones. The assets are part of Merck’s efforts to grow beyond the loss of exclusivity for Keytruda. . . .

Now you know. Seriously jet-lagging -- but smiling just the same. Will see the lil' grand-nieces this evening for a Sunday night barbeque dinner. Grin.

नमस्ते

Official Number Of Ebola Cases Now Nearly At 7,800: Harrowing -- But Actual Total May Be Well Over 10,000 Already.

This bears all the earmarks of being worse than the 2013-2014 outbreak of over 14,000. In just this past week -- two days saw over 25 deaths. The current outbreak is still a very far distance from being. . . arrested.

Here's the latest hard news from CIDRAP -- three days ago now, while I was off-grid:

. . .The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to infect those in Ituri province at an alarming rate, according to a new report published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) yesterday. According to the report, the DRC has 7,773 confirmed cases, including 3,759 deaths, with 40 new confirmed cases and 27 deaths reported during a 48-hour period earlier this week.

“Ituri province remains the most affected, with 5,966 cases, including 2,737 deaths, reported from 28 of 36 health zones,” the ECDC wrote. “In total, 84.5% of identified case contacts are under follow-up in the affected provinces. . . .”

In addition, during the prior two weeks, another young medical doctor, treating the afflicted in situ in Ituri, DRC contracted the virus -- and has died from it. Discouraging, indeed.

नमस्ते

Q.: What Will We Learn From Greg Bovino's CBP-Issued Devices, Later This Year?

We are finally at the point where the class plaintiffs will be able to test the veracity of Bovino's largely preposterous in court, under oath burpings. . . of last year -- and earlier this year.

CBP will have to provide the raw data and transcripts from these devices. Good news, but conveniently, Mr. Bovino claims he "lost" his work phone between Minnesota and South Dakota. How convenient. That would have had lots of older comms onboard. But as the team CBP lawyers note, "the cloud lives forever". And we will doubtless find much of interest there. Here's the latest, from USDC Judge Sara Ellis' court docket in the Dirksen in Chicago:

. . .Mr. Bovino declined to surrender his personal cell phone. Mr. Bovino did, however, orally inform CBP officials that he had no work-related documents or communications on his personal cell phone. . . .

The CBP-issued phone that Mr. Bovino had in his custody at the time of his separation from the agency in March 2026 was a replacement phone that was issued to him in January 2026. Mr. Bovino reported a previously-issued work phone as lost in January 2026 while travelling between Minnesota and South Dakota. A new phone was issued to Mr. Bovino in January 2026.

To preserve the integrity of the data on the lost phone, CBP suspended the typical security feature that would auto-delete data on a CBP-issued phone that is reported lost. CBP worked to obtain the approximate geocoordinates of the phone’s last known location and dispatched officers to that location to search for the phone, but it was not recovered. Any data on the lost phone that is stored in a CBP cloud-based repository has been preserved, including communications and documents on Microsoft applications such as Outlook, Word, and Teams.

Additionally, CBP has been able to recover SMS and MMS messages from his lost phone, and those messages are being preserved. . . .

That preserved cloud data will make Bovino sweat, to a near-certainty.

In more mundane news, I am headed back across the pond a lil' early, as other duties require attention here -- so this is the final in-air post. . . out of Dublin now and over the Atlantic. Smile -- go Buffs, in about an hour -- even though you are 10 point 'dawgs. U: Buffs fall to 2-2. Oh well. Tough home game next week, too. Out.

नमस्ते

Lanham Act Spats -- Of Decades In Length: Finally Being Mediated To An Agreement?!

The two disparate Mercks may well be closer than they have in many decades to agreeing on a path forward as to the names and wordmarks of these two unrelated pharma/life sciences companies -- one older, and German; and one US based since the end of WWI.

Here's that -- from whilst I've been off grid (this will be by my count their fourth latest set of dates for mediation)

. . .[All parties and counsel] had mediation with Judge Hochberg on September 16-18, 2026. We have agreed to continue mediating with Judge Hochberg on October 27-28, 2026. . . .

Now you know. Onward.

नमस्ते

Oh. And Don’t Look Now, But Moderna Just Hit $201, After We Said “Undervalued”, At $38 Last Year!

This is real vindication of our long-ago (Fall 2024) rather bold predictions. [I actually think it was around $29, when we first said $85 would be fairer.]

Moderna is a great company, well run and very careful in its research spending. Focuses on things that it believes it truly can tackle. And then it tackles them with gusto.

Here's the latest from just one of many similar Wall Street "rag" stories over the past three days, so I won't link it, but this is how they view it -- and with that I will be off -- gallivanting across the lush green countryside.

. . .Wolfe Research upgrades Moderna to Peer Perform and describes the melanoma trial as de risking the intismeran platform, with a clearer regulatory path in adjuvant melanoma and estimated unadjusted peak sales across four indications of $9.2 billion. . . .

Barclays, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital all move price targets materially higher, linking their revisions to the Phase 3 melanoma success and to higher modeled contribution from intismeran. . . .

Here, now, in the land of my ancestors. . . these extended trips completely renew my soul!

नमस्ते

DaVinci | Goddard Team Passes More Heating Trials, For 2030s Largely Automated Mission To Venus' Surface...

[As it is very wet in Northern Ireland today (and I'm headed to a hot and sunny Parisian weekend, and week -- via Chunnel), I've now popped into a publican for a bit, and am doing at least one marginal space science post, by iPhone.] We have been following this mission development, at Goddard, for over five years. It will offer us significant new insights, as to the second planet -- by the 2032 timeframe, or so.

The team at Goddard earlier had verified the cams it will use can withstand the punishing heat of a plunge to the surface of Venus -- now they've verified that all the working components of the spacecraft will not exceed rated temps, inside the titanium shielded ball that will make the parachute jump, on entry into orbit. Here's the ltest, on NASA's 2030-ish automated Venusian probe craft:

. . .An engineering model of NASA’s DAVINCI (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) descent probe passed a key test that ran from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10, showing it can survive the extreme temperatures of Venus.

The DAVINCI team took the engineering model to a furnace at Rex Heat Treat in Bedford, Pennsylvania, as it’s one of few facilities capable of heating up to Venus-like temperatures as rapidly as the probe would experience. . . .

Encased in a corrosion resistant, strong-yet-lightweight titanium shell, the DAVINCI probe will be equipped with a suite of instruments to sample the composition of the gases of the Venusian atmosphere to determine what molecules they’re made of and learn about the atmosphere’s structure. It will also contain cameras that will snap the highest-resolution images of Venus’ surface ever, which scientists will use to make a 3D map, and a radio system to send data back to the spacecraft flying 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) overhead.

This heat testing follows on the heels of a campaign earlier this summer to demonstrate the probe’s imaging system. The mission is currently working toward gaining approval to move into the final design and fabrication phase. “The DAVINCI team has now met both of the major mission milestones this year on an accelerated timeline,” Garvin said. Showing that the DAVINCI probe can beat the Venusian heat, brings scientists one step closer to learning why Earth’s “twin” turned out so different from our home.. . .

Onward, ever grinning. . . .



नमस्ते

In-Air WiFi Blog Post: Tangerine Cannot Suspend The Free Press. Period.

Those CNN (and other) reporters' hard passes are immediately restored -- for 1600 Penn press events. Amendment First still exists -- even if Trump cannot read and comprehend the clear English language, in the Bill of Rights.

Indeed, Tangerine 1.0 lost exactly this same sort of overreach case -- during his first term. See, Jennings. What a malign moron:

. . .[Trumpian] Defendants do not dispute that [CNN] Plaintiffs did not receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before their hard passes were revoked. And, as in Karem, the record is bereft of any relevant "formally articulated standards" in place before any of the conduct for which Defendants revoked their hard passes. Karem, 960 F.3d at 665. One standard Defendants appear to offer reflected in letters they sent to Plaintiffs on September 22, 2026, identifying their objectionable reporting is so vague it hardly does the trick. See, e.g., ECF No. 16-1 ("[Y]our organization has exhibited behavior in violation of the standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House Complex.").

Moreover, Defendants renewed Plaintiff Betsy Klein's hard pass several months after she published some of the identified reporting, undercutting any argument that she or her employer, for example, had the requisite notice that the conduct at issue violated a relevant standard. See ECF No. 2-3 9| 4; ECF No. 16-1. Finally, nothing put Plaintiffs on notice of the magnitude of the sanction Defendants imposed. Karem, 960 F.3d at 665.

None of Defendants' arguments convince the Court that Plaintiffs are not likely to succeed on their due process claim. Defendants say that Sherrill and Karem were wrongly decided. ECF No. 16 at 12. Maybe -- but this Court is bound by D.C. Circuit precedent, full stop. . . .

On the plane, I just saw that the White House Security team is willfully violating this USDC Judge Timothy Kelly TRO -- on Trump's explicit direction. Time to hold him in contempt. Damn.

Housekeeping note: When I land in Paris. . . I'm back on blog-vacation, until the 29^th. . . smile.

नमस्ते

[U: Roma] Still, No Blogging… Florence Edition

Florence? No, Rome!

Onward in Tuscany. . .

Rains abating after a soggy midday.

. . .big fun -- but still no blogging. . . .

Updated: on to Rome by the morning of the 22^nd. . . .

Grinning ear to ear!

नमस्ते

Adventures Ahead — But No Blogging…

Underway -- with a long day in the air, and ground transfers -- from JFK to Nice, France.

Day Two, on the French Riviera -- swim shakeout. . . falling silent, now:

. . .blog forecast -- outage through Sept. 25, 2026. . . .

Onward -- Keep it spinning in good karma!

नमस्ते

New Remote Access/Phone Hearing -- Against ICE -- In Class Action In Chicago: USDC Judge Sara Ellis' Case 26-cv-321 On September 11...

On that morning here, I'll be off grid in the South of France, but you may dial in (on mute), to listen if you choose.

But this case is drawing nearer a finding that would result in payouts to plaintiffs, and injunctive relief to the State of Illinois for the damage the ICE lawlessness engendered in our communities, last year and early in 2026. Here's the latest order:

. . .MINUTE entry before the Honorable Sara L. Ellis:

The court sets a Telephone conference for 9/11/2026 at 10:00 a.m.

Attorneys/Parties should appear for the hearing by calling the Toll-Free Number: (650) 479-3207, Access Code: 2314 361 1508.

Entering an attendee code is not required. Throughout the telephonic hearing, each speaker will be expected to identify themselves for the record before speaking.

Please note that the conference call-in will be used by all cases that are on the court's calendar for the said date, therefore counsel must be in a quiet area while on the line and must have the telephone muted until your case is called. Members of the public and media will be able to call in to listen to this hearing (use toll-free number). Please be sure to keep your phone on mute when you are not speaking. Persons granted remote access to proceedings are reminded of the general prohibition against photographing, recording, and rebroadcasting court proceedings.

Violation of these prohibitions may result in sanctions, including removal of court-issued media credentials, restricted entry to future hearings, denial of entry to future hearings, or any other sanctions deemed necessary by the Court. . . .

Now you know. Smiling -- she is one fine federal trial court judge indeed.

नमस्ते

The Trump Anti-Freedom FCC Proposed Rules Are At An End -- For Limiting Democratic Committees' Speech Rights. Solid Decision -- From The Supremes.

So, now the Trump FCC attempts -- to limit primarily Democratic Committee reach, on a "political ad spending" basis -- have failed. I don't love committee spending, as a rule -- but it is plainly consistent with the free expression/political speech precepts we've long held, in the US.

This one involves (in the succint prose of Amy Howe) Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) and three other Democrats who are/were candidates for the House or Senate went to the full FCC on April 29, 2026 -- asking it to review the public notice. Approximately six weeks later, before the agency had acted on their application for review, they went to federal court, where they argued that the public notice was inconsistent with federal election laws. That is correct.

But as it now stands, both Democratic and Republican Committees will be able to buy ads at preferential rates (should they wish to) -- going into the midterms.

This confirms my view of the First Amendment law. And whatever Trump's FCC does (or tries to do, more precisely -- beyond its charter), after the midterm cycle -- will be litigated anew. Here's the decision, of last evening, from the Supremes (and for the record, KBJ was the lone dissenter -- I get her point; but I think freer speech is. . . better):

. . .Because the candidates’ application for review was pending when they filed their petition for review, the Fourth Circuit likely lacked statutory jurisdiction to address their challenge. Its holding to the contrary splits with every other Circuit to have considered the issue. Council Tree Communications, Inc. v. FCC, 503 F. 3d 284, 287 (CA3 2007); Alabama Power Co. v. FCC, 311 F. 3d 1357, 1366 (CA11 2002); International Telecard Assn. v. FCC, 166 F. 3d 387, 388 (CADC 1999) (per curiam). Accordingly, the first and second stay factors weigh in favor of granting the application.

The party committees have also demonstrated that they will likely suffer irreparable harm absent a stay. They represent that, in light of the Fourth Circuit’s decision -- which the Fourth Circuit likely lacked jurisdiction to issue -- broadcasters are already rescinding favorable rates. Current and future recissions will require the party committees to pay more for advertising space, thereby hampering their efforts to reach the electorate in the critical weeks leading up to the midterms. That injury, which implicates their First Amendment rights to speak and coordinate their political activities freely. . . .

Now you know -- blog outage begins on early Monday morning, now. . . flight plans are changing slightly -- smile.

नमस्ते

Sunshine… Is A Very Potent Antiseptic: Blanche’s $1.8 Billion Slush Fund Edition.

Bit by bit, these crooks in designer suits and silk ties will be sorted out -- and many will be run from office.

Some of them may even see the inside of a jail cell by 2029 or so -- and it couldn't happen to a nicer group of thugs.

Here's the latest from The New York Times:

. . .A federal magistrate judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to reveal the identities of the people who devised a contentious plan to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate those who believed they were wronged by political prosecutions.

The order by the magistrate judge, Ivan D. Davis, could shed further light on how the fund was put together. The plan to create the fund, which could have funneled taxpayer money to the president’s allies, drew repeated scrutiny. It prompted a rare rebuke from Senate Republicans, and imperiled the confirmation of Todd Blanche as attorney general.

Mr. Blanche has repeatedly said the fund is dead, but President Trump has been more circumspect, indicating his support for compensating people like the rioters who [make the preposterous claim that they were done wrong, when they were] prosecuted for attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. . . .

Now, onward -- with two days worth of international travel ahead -- over the long weekend. Smile. . . .

नमस्ते

Tangerine 2.0's Appeal (In Fourth Cir.) -- Of His Loss In Maryland -- Re Abrego Garcia, Has Been Dismissed: He Failed To Explain The Basis For Any Appeal Of A TEMPORARY Order

The lawyers for Tangerine well-knew this was a loser. USDC Judge Xinis' orders were clear, logical and well-grounded in settled black letter federal law.

So Team Tangerine didn't even bother to timely file papers to explain any putative reason(s) for originally appealing their complete loss.

. . .The court dismisses this proceeding for failure to prosecute pursuant to Local Rule 45. The court dismisses this proceeding for failure to prosecute pursuant to Local Rule 45.

For the Court--By Direction

/s/ Nwamaka Anowi, Clerk. . . .

Abrego is increasingly. . . a free man, here. Onward, grinning -- with youngest son (and bike!) flying in, overnight from Oregon. Then we are all on, to the South of France -- with bikes!

नमस्ते

A Very Improbable Comeback — But I Will Take It!

Strictly speaking, this is off-topic.

But many here will recall that I had closely followed the University of Colorado Buffaloes during the era of Travis Hunter.

It was only a season opener -- on the road in Atlanta -- but all the critics had predicted that they would lose by a full touchdown, and look ugly doing it. And, at points they did look ugly. But they ran the ball when they needed to and stopped the run -- also when they needed to.

They were losing almost the entire game until 30 seconds left -- when they took a one point lead with their highly touted but lightly experienced quarterback -- JuJu Lewis -- who has only made three D1 career starts. He threw several spot on dart passes and managed the field under pressure -- perfectly. But on the ensuing series, Georgia Tech gained an improbable amount of yardage via a pass over the middle. Still 23 seconds on the clock, and in field goal range with their big footed kicker.

And so GT was (with three seconds left) sitting 43 yards away from the winning field goal.

But the Buff defense, in the person of "Boo" Carter, swooped in and blocked Georgia Tech's ace field goal kicker! Game over -- CU wins down in Hotlanta -- on a steamy night.

नमस्ते

Do Go Read All Of This -- From “Peterr”, Over At EW. He's Got The 2009 Nostradamus Edition, Up!

Some things remain true for ages -- but become amplified over decades, as we fail to learn the lessons, of those decades.

Today is a time like that. In abundance. Do go read this -- all of it:

. . .Idiot America is not the place where people say silly things. It is not the place where people believe silly things. It is not the place where people go to profit from the fact that people believe in silly things. That America has been with us always -- the America of the medicine wagon and the tent revival, the America of the juke joint and the gambling den, the America of lunatic possibility that in its own mad way kept the original revolutionary spirit alive while an establishment began to calcify atop the place. Idiot America isn’t even those people who believe that Adam sat down one day and named all the dinosaurs. . . .

The rise of Idiot America, though, is essentially a war on expertise. . . The rise of Idiot America today reflects -- for profit, mainly, but also, and more cynically, for political advantage and in the pursuit of power -- the breakdown of the consensus that the pursuit of knowledge is a good. It also represents the ascendancy of the notion that the people we should trust the least are the people who know best what they’re talking about. . . .

Idiot America is a collaborative effort, the result of millions of decisions made and not made. It’s the development of a collective Gut at the expense of a collective mind. It’s what results when politicians make ridiculous statements and not merely do we abandon the right to punish them for it at the polls, but we also become too timid to punish them with ridicule on a daily basis, because the polls say they’re popular anyway. It’s what results when leaders are not held to account for mistakes that end up killing people. . . .

[His] Three Great Premises:

1. Any theory is valid if it sells books, soaks up ratings, or otherwise moves units.
2. Anything can be true is someone says it loudly enough.
3. Fact is that which enough people believe. Truth is measured by how fervently they believe it. . . .

Yikes. That is the time of Trump, to a tee. As I say, do go read it all -- it is spot-on, from top to tail -- here over 16 years later. Onward.

नमस्ते

The Scourge Of Lassa Continues Apace, In Nigeria -- Exceeding The Rates Of Infection, And Deaths -- Seen Last Year...

This is. . . unfortunate. And largely avoidable.

But here we are -- with the outbreak still eclipsing last year's run rates -- on deaths and afflictions. So goes it, when the US's moral public health for the world torch is. . . snuffed. Here's the latest:

. . .Nigeria’s Lassa fever outbreak has claimed 252 lives so far this year, with confirmed cases reaching 1,035, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).

The agency reported 14 new confirmed cases during epidemiological week 33, covering Aug. 10-16, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed infections in 2026 to 1,035, Anadolu agency reported. . . .

The 252 deaths represent a case-fatality rate of 24.4%, up from 18.6% during the same period last year, when 159 deaths were recorded from 854 confirmed cases.

The NCDC said Lassa fever has been confirmed in 23 states and 117 local government areas across the country this year.

Five states -- Ondo, Bauchi, Taraba, Edo and Benue -- account for 87% of all confirmed cases, while the remaining 13% were reported across 18 other states. . . .

Now you know. . . many a great moment coming with Fall, into Winter 2026, just the same. Smile. . . .

नमस्ते

The Long-Planned Separation Has Begun, At Mercury: ESA/JAXA BepiColombo Mission Entering Residential "Mercurial" Science Phase...

It has taken eight years of gravity assisted, but decreasingly-eliptical fly-bys. . . to trim the craft's speed and trajectory -- so that it might enter Mercury orbit with a minimum of extra / expended fuel burns.

But we are now at that moment -- and the stacked craft is about to separate -- to begin the transition into a multi-craft observatory -- preparing for "Mercurial" science in Spring 2027. Here's all that, from ESA:

. . .After eight years, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission is about to enter its Mercury Arrival Phase. On 3 September 2026, ESA’s Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) will separate from BepiColombo’s two science orbiters – the first major step in one of the most operationally challenging planetary arrival sequences ever attempted by ESA.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will livestream the critical milestone from 13:45 CEST. Tune in and witness the first step of one of the most complex phases of the mission, live from ESA mission control. . . .

BepiColombo's arrival is one of the most demanding operational sequences ever carried out by ESA. MTM's separation on 3 September is just the first step. After MTM has separated, in November ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio) will enter orbit around Mercury together, before separating from each other in December 2026. Science operations will begin in April 2027. . . .

Starting this weekend, blogging / updates will be scarce for a month. You will need to wear your bear ballet shoes. . . solo. Smile.

नमस्ते