Update -- On NASA's / SpaceX's / ISS Crew 11's Adventure... And The Medical Issue, That Cut The Ride Short.

We will offer more. . . off-world, real and true patriotic deep blue hero content -- for a bit here. [And, my prior entry, on this.]

NASA and Mike Fincke have obliged, thus:

. . .NASA is sharing the following information at the request of NASA astronaut Mike Fincke:

“On Jan. 7, while aboard the International Space Station, I experienced a medical event that required immediate attention from my incredible crewmates. Thanks to their quick response and the guidance of our NASA flight surgeons, my status quickly stabilized.

After further evaluation, NASA determined the safest course was an early return for Crew-11 -- not an emergency, but a carefully coordinated plan to be able to take advantage of advanced medical imaging not available on the space station. On Jan. 15, we splashed down off the coast of San Diego after an amazing five-and-a-half-month mission.

I am deeply grateful to my fellow Expedition 74 members—Zena Cardman, Kimiya Yui, Oleg Platonov, Chris Williams, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Sergei Mikayev -- as well as the entire NASA [science and engineering] team, SpaceX, and the medical professionals at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla near San Diego. Their professionalism and dedication ensured a positive outcome.

I’m doing very well and continuing standard post-flight reconditioning at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Spaceflight is an incredible privilege, and sometimes it reminds us just how human we are. Thank you all for your support. . . .”

Now you know. Onward, resolutely. Grin.

नमस्ते

And To Bend The Arc Back, Toward... Positivity... A Red To Yellow Hyper-Giant... Eating Its [Binary] Blue Dwarf: Interstellar Science, From Athens, Greece.

I need to look away from this present Wag the Dog moment, for a bit -- and may not mention it again, unless US- or Israeli- troops are killed in large numbers. But that does not mean I approve. [There is a need to corral the oppressive regime in Iran, and the leaders' nuclear ambitions -- but this is not the way, in my estimation.]

So to better (still evolving) narratives -- off some 163,000 light-years, into the night skies -- in the Large Magellanic Cloud -- sits a supermassive red to yellow binary, that is "spagettifying" its companion blue dwarf. That added energy may be its undoing, as it is now possible that it "super-novas" on a non-geological time scale (i.e., potentially, before our very eyes/telescopes). Here's that fascinating story -- and a bit, out of Athens, Greece:

. . .The doomed star in question is WOH G64 (also known as IRAS 04553–6825), located in a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way known as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), around 163,000 light-years away. The star is around 1,540 times the size of the sun, with almost 30 times the mass of our star and a staggering 282,000 times its brightness. Discovered in the 1970s, WOH G64 has always appeared to be a red supergiant star surrounded by a ring, or torus, of dense dust.

However, in 2014, the appearance of this supergiant began to change. A team of astronomers, led by Gonzalo Muñoz-Sanchez at the National Observatory of Athens, noticed the star's color changing along with a corresponding increase in its surface temperature. Muñoz-Sanchez and colleagues determined this must represent the transformation of a red supergiant into a rare yellow hypergiant, which could also mean astronomers are witnessing a star "die" in real time. . . .

"The fate of stars with initial masses between 23 and 30 solar masses after evolving into red supergiants is still uncertain. In this case, WOH G64 was the most extreme red supergiant known, with an estimated mass of around 28 solar masses," Muñoz-Sanchez told Space.com. "It remains unclear whether such stars explode as supernovas, collapse directly into black holes, or evolve from the red supergiant phase into a yellow hypergiant stage before ending their lives. "WOH G64 might be the solution to this question. . . ."

Super-nova, next? We shall -- as ever -- see. Onward, resolutely.

नमस्ते

“Wag The Dog”?! Check — Not Just Movie Fiction, Anymore.

Tangent: Full-On March 2019, Again?! Yep -- Oil Nations War, Too!

That moment, when Persian Gulf hot wars (over oil, at bottom) flared again… spot Bitcoin crashed to around ~$3,000 before recovering.

This time, once again, all of the chaos of Trump is in high dudgeon, roiling the markets. Moreover, a “Wag the Dog” scenario is no longer purely (Epstein) fiction -- with a burgeoning potential for oil well-wars (underway) in the Persian Gulf (again), spot Bitcoin will fall below $60,000, next week -- almost to a certainty.

And. . . Riot Platforms will announce Q4 and a full year ‘25 — of staggering losses Monday night of next week — into all of this bad news. . . [hilariously prodigious timing there, kids!]

Here’s CoinDesk, on the latest full-on “Vulture Scenario” like 03.2019 (Syria, Pakistan & Afganistan that time):

. . .In mid-November 2018, CoinDesk discussed a bearish flip in long-term averages on a chart that bundles three days of price action into each candle. It warned that a similar occurrence in 2014 deepened the bear market and, within a week, bitcoin crashed to under $4,500 from $6,000, extending the decline from the peak of roughly $20,000.

Cut to April 2022. The same pattern occurred, with the same result. BTC's bear market deepened and prices cratered to $17,500 from $32,000, having already dropped from the late 2021 record of nearly $70,000.

Now, the pattern's back again (check the Technical Analysis section). While past performance is not a guarantee of future results, history calls for caution. Some savvy traders are preparing for a deeper crash below $60,000. . . .

Now you know — do buckle up — for Monday night blood-letting at Riot, too.



नमस्ते

Team Hegseth, And Team Noem: Supposed To Wear Same Color Jersey. Seems... They Don't, Really. Feuding Cabinet Lackeys Edition.

This is eventually going to get US service members killed -- mark my words.

Yesterday, it was only a "dead" drone.

But apparently the "Dept. of War" fired on one of its own: a US Border Patrol drone near Fort Hancock, Texas -- with a laser. "Pew-pew-pew!" End, drone patrol mission. [And. . . we know Tangerine 2.0 is thinking of actions into Iran?! How many own goals to come there? Damn.] Here's that from the NYT, tonight:

. . .The closure of airspace near the U.S.-Mexico border for the second time over the use of lasers to shoot down drones is the latest evidence that some powerful government agencies seem to be at war. With each other.

On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration closed air travel over the small town of Fort Hancock, Texas, after soldiers fired a high-energy laser on a drone they deemed threatening. The drone was later determined to have been flown by Customs and Border Protection, a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

A preliminary internal report on the incident said Customs and Border Protection had not notified the Defense Department it was launching a drone in that area. So to the military, it was an unknown drone, a Pentagon official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an investigation into the matter. . . .

This is what happens when deeply incompetent people lead organizations -- yep, "the center won't hold; everything starts to come. . . apart." Out.

नमस्ते

NASA Admits: There Will Be No Artemis "Boots On Moon" Before Late 2028 -- If Ever.

This very morning, Trump's guy at NASA -- after the dual disappointments, on the two most recent "wet" dress rehearsals we detailed -- has made it clear that Trump is unhappy that we won't have some goofy show-boat junk-mission surrounding the Moon, for this coming Fourth of July (250^th). Just as we said.

So he is announcing a hiring jamboree of some sort -- and the goal is to increase the number of missions per year. Yikes. To be clear, I am all for increasing NASA's science and engineering team budgets. [But I favor safer, robotic missions of high science value -- to Mars, and beyond.]

In any event, here is the presser, but not too much of this will get funded after the mid-terms -- and almost certainly not, when there is a new occupant at 1600 Penn.:

. . .As teams prepare to launch Artemis II in the weeks ahead, the Artemis III mission, now in 2027, will be designed to test out systems and operational capabilities in low Earth orbit to prepare for an Artemis IV landing in 2028. This new mission will endeavor to include a rendezvous and docking with one or both commercial landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin, in-space tests of the docked vehicles, integrated checkout of life support, communications, and propulsion systems, as well as tests of the new Extravehicular Activity (xEVA) suits. NASA will further define this test flight after completing detailed reviews between NASA and our industry partners. The agency will share the specific objectives for the updated Artemis III mission in the near future.

NASA’s recently announced workforce directive is a key factor in enabling this acceleration. NASA will rebuild core competencies in the civil servant workforce including more in-house and side-by-side development work with our Artemis partners, enabling a safer, more reliable, and faster launch cadence. . . .

Now you now. Onward.

नमस्ते

In The Appeal Of The Hudson Tunnel Payments Awards / Prelim. Injunction... A Stay Motion Filed In Second Cir. -- To Be Heard Tuesday.

Just a smallish update on this "Tangerine's Vanity" case.

The upper court will hear argument next week, on Tuesday, as to whether the already contracted-for, but future payments due may be stayed, during appeals:

. . .NOTICE OF MOTION PLACED ON THE CALENDAR

A motion for stay pending appeal filed in the above-referenced case has been added as a submitted case to the substantive motions calendar for Tuesday, March 3, 2026. . . .

Now you know. Onward, resolutely.

नमस्ते

Merck's Durham NC Facility Will Lay Off ~150 Positions: Largely A Result Of The Ongoing Global Gardasil® Sales Slump...

CIDRAP: At Fighting Mpox, Tecovirimat (Tpoxx) No Better Than A Placebo... Disappointing.

But this is why we do actual. . . [bio-]science. Why we run independently-monitored, generally double-blinded clinical trials -- with peer reviews, before publishing.

Knowing the actual facts. . . matters. Even when it means we need to look in other directions.

Heres' the latest, from CIDRAP:

. . .The antiviral drug tecovirimat (Tpoxx) is no better than placebo in achieving a shorter time to clinical resolution, reduced pain, or increased viral DNA clearance in adults infected with clade 2 mpox virus, per a phase 3 randomized controlled trial published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

An international roster of investigators in the Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally Study of Tecovirimat for Human Mpox Virus (STOMP/A5418) group randomly assigned 412 participants in a 2:1 ratio to receive either tecovirimat (275 patients) or a placebo (137) for 14 days from September 2022 to October 2024. . . .

At 29 days, the estimated cumulative rate of clinical resolution was 83% in tecovirimat recipients and 84% in those given placebo, and 79% of tecovirimat recipients and 81% in the placebo group had clinical resolution of skin lesions. The competing-risks hazard ratio (crHR) for clinical resolution was 0.98. No significant differences were observed between the two groups in pain reduction in participants reporting severe pain (difference, 0.1 point) or in complete lesion healing (crHR, 0.97). . . .

Onward, resolutely just the same. [And yep -- this is power alley stuff.]

नमस्ते

[U — Complete — 30 Days.] Live Notes — From Courtroom 5D, In The Morning…

This will go live (assuming lawyers' cell-phones are permitted inside the well) shortly after 9 AM Central on February 26, 2026.

Hopefully, the day ends in a dismissal on all counts.

. . . ➢ more live blogging, to come, here. . . .

➢ We are about halfway through Mr. McGuire's testimony. . . And it is not going well for him. He hasn't been cross examined yet and it's 11 AM. Cell phones are not permitted inside the court so only when we take breaks will there be updates. . . .

➢ Acting US Atty. Robert McGuire has claimed on cross-examination (under oath), that when the liaison with Main Justice was emailing him about including "the Baltimore information" in his speaking indictment, that he did not take that as anyone trying to "help" him draft his indictment. Uh-huh.

➢ Yet in the next breath, he admitted that in high profile cases, he would expect to be submitting an indictment like this up the chain for "approval/awareness" -- in other words, that Pam Bondi or Todd Blanche (or someone) was suggesting that counts should be added, even though there was no competent proof for allegations like "MS 13 -- or gun trafficking, or sexual offenses." That's all pretty explosive.

➢ And, in fact, this speaking indictment contained at least three clearly false statements about Mr. Abrego Garcia, which were never actually made part of any included charge. More as we get it.

➢ Supervisory Special Agent John VanWie, Homeland Security Investigations was on the government's witness list, but the AUSA rested without calling him. Hmm. [Would he have contradicted his prior testimony, from Summer of 2025?]

➢ We learned that he was the conduit and keeper of the "Baltimore information". Question: is it at least possible that the entirely sealed proceeding we mentioned early in the week has to do with VanWie, and how it came to be. . . that Kristi Noem herself repeated several of his lies -- at a press conference she called, in Nashville? [It is nearly unheard of for a Cabinet level official like Noem, to traffic in lies in public press conferences -- about a regional ICE indictee.] We shall see, but she's never set the record straight. . . .

➢ We are done — post hearing briefs in three* [nope; 30] days; then Judge Crenshaw will rule. . . .

Onward -- but now, I must sleep. ✈

नमस्ते

~~~~~~~~~~~~

* The New York Times reporter in the well thought Judge Crenshaw said "30 days". Updated: he heard correctly; paper order entered 02.27.26 -- but that would be the typical rule for full post trial briefs (of perhaps 30-50 pages…) this should come in at under 10 pages -- as today's two witnesses appeared merely at an evidentiary hearing. Moreover, a man has been indicted for felonies, and quite possibly the DoJ was acting vindictively (lawlessly) -- in the judge's own prior orders. I thought I heard three days, but I was wrong. Could the delay in Judge Crenshaw's ruling indicate that the sealed matter involves a consensual transfer to Costa Rica -- for Mr. Abrego Garcia? We shall see.

[U: 02.25.26 @ 5 PM | no update.] Hmm. There Is A Separate, Entirely SEALED Case -- 26-mj-4029 -- In The USDC In Nashville, Now Lised As "Associated" With Abrego Garcia's...

Updated: Mañana, we will undoubtedly find out more over in Courtroom 3D. Nothing at the court live, this evening, on paper. Onward. End update.

[Originally @ 02.24.2026 PM:] When I get situated tomorrow afternoon, I'll go by the live in person docket, and see what I can find out. Likely not much -- but it could be one of the cases against one of the supposed govt. "cooperating" witnesses. We shall see.

In any event, I am pretty sure it will all be made clear shortly after 9 AM on Thursday, in USDC Judge Waverly Crenshaw's courtroom.

. . .26-mj-4029 | Sealed v. Sealed. This case is SEALED. . . .

Onward, resolutely. On the Southwest small-jet by 2 pm. . . Now in at Union 614.

नमस्ते

Mpox WHO Global Situation Report: As Of February 24, 2026

Globally, there are now over 54,000 active cases of Mpox (all Clades) -- and 221 verified deaths, as all clades of mpox/sq-pox virus (MPXV) continue to circulate.

This will be a long, winding road ahead. Here is the latest, from WHO:

. . .In January 2026, 50 countries across all WHO regions reported a total of 1334 new confirmed mpox cases, including three deaths (case fatality ratio [CFR] 0.2%). Of these cases, 66% were reported in the African Region.

➢ Four regions observed a decline in confirmed cases in January, compared to December 2025, while the European Region reported an increase in confirmed cases.

➢ Twenty countries in Africa reported active transmission of mpox in the last six weeks (5 January – 15 February 2026), with 1142 confirmed cases, including four deaths (CFR 0.4%). Countries reporting the highest number of cases in this period are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Madagascar, Liberia and Ghana.

➢ One country, Comoros, and one territory, La Réunion (Overseas Department of France), have reported mpox due to clade Ib MPXV for the first time.

➢ Outside Africa, reports of community transmission of clade Ib MPXV continue in France, Portugal and Spain, including in sexual networks of men who have sex with men.

➢ WHO conducted a global mpox rapid risk assessment in February 2026; the overall global public health risk associated with the mpox multi-country outbreak was assessed as moderate.

➢ India has reported a case of mpox with the clade Ib /IIb recombinant MPXV. The strain sequenced is closely related to the first clade Ib / IIb recombinant strain reported by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in December 2025. As both cases are travel-related, these case reports suggest wider transmission of the recombinant strain, implicating four countries in three WHO regions. . . .

Onward -- headed. . . south -- smiling, and hoping for a good outcome in federal court, tomorrow.

नमस्ते

The News Is... Clearly Immaterial, Today. [Power Alley]

Merck is taking steps to segment the oncology wing of its businesses into a separate operating group.

Yawn. As I understand it, the team hasn't even set up a separate holdco subsidiary for the pembrolizumab franchises. That is, these are simply spreadsheet entries at this point -- not legal entities. [It will make it much easier for the internal management teams to track the fully-loaded profitability of the oncology wing, though -- to be certain.]

The move is to make the company both more agile and "ready to go", should someone be willing to pay the very last, tip-top dollar for those businesses. But until then -- I can all but guarantee Rob Davis is not going to sell-, or spin- the franchises. [Query: I suppose he could sell the rest of the company off, and keep oncology. . . but that too is perhaps a decade away, yet. He could fund the dividend forever, with the oncology earnings.] So yes, all of this is definitively immaterial, today.

Here's the stuff, from Fierce:

. . .Merck is reorganizing its current human health business into a distinct oncology division and a separate specialty, pharma and infectious diseases unit, the company said in a Feb. 23 release.

The oncology unit will, naturally, oversee Merck’s roster of current and experimental cancer meds, including Keytruda, which Merck has predicted will collect $35 billion in peak annual sales in 2028. . . .

Non-cancer products -- including newer growth driver Winrevair and aging diabetes stalwart Januvia -- will go over to the other unit, which will also oversee Merck’s portfolio of vaccines, according to The Wall Street Journal. . . .

Largely a yawner -- for the next five to ten years. Onward, to Music City, mañana. . . smile.

नमस्ते

It Turns Out That... Trump Said -- On An Open Line -- "I Have To Invite The Women, Or I'll Be Impeached"... He Said It, While Talking To USA Men's Hockey.

This is. . . ultimately. . . just your average, or "normal" Tangerine 2.0 misogynist/hate-filled sentiment.

But he said it on a speaker phone being held by one Kash Patel (who was chugging champagne with the boys, at the time), in the USA Hockey locker room in Milano, by then a full day AFTER the women had already won gold. [He hadn't put in a call to them -- by that point.]

. . .It is unclear if the men’s team will attend the speech. . . .

"I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that," Trump said when extending the invitation to the men's team.

If he did not invite the women's team, "I do believe I probably would be impeached," he joked. . . .

This man is. . . a pig. As is his boy, Kash Patel.

नमस्ते

Tangent: The Relevance (If Any), Of Evidence Of Alleged Intoxication -- In The Charged Plot, To Kill Martin Shkreli?

Well. . . this is a pretty common tactic, in threats of violence made by telephonic means, or via the internet: argue that the indicted speaker/actor was so intoxicated that he could not have been of a truly "guilty mind" -- or possessed mens rea, in the Latin.

And that mental state -- specifically, intending to do great bodily harm to another human being (all as alleged by the government) -- is an element the government must prove.

So, at trial, the defense is likely to introduce what all was in Mr. Mulleady's liquor cabinet -- and out of it -- on the days and nights in question. [The defense has indicated that it may call what appears to be Mr. Mulleady's significant other. This would be one of the purposes, presumably, for that witness being seated.]

In any event, here is that federal filing in Miami, tonight -- and a bit of it:

. . .[Mr. Mulleady's potential] evidence regarding voluntary intoxication would not be part of the defendant’s “case-in-chief.” The voluntary intoxication instruction goes to the defendant’s state of mind, and ability to form the requisite mens rea, of a specific intent crime. Thus, evidence regarding voluntary intoxication is evidence that negates an essential element of the government’s prima facie case. It is not an affirmative defense presented as part of a defendant’s case-in-chief, but as rebuttal of evidence that may (or may not) be presented by the government that the defendant did in fact form the requisite mens rea “at the time in question.” See Clark v. Arizona, 548 U.S. 735, 769 (2006) (“[E]vidence tending to show that a defendant suffers from mental disease and lacks capacity to form mens rea is relevant to rebut evidence that he did in fact form the required mens rea at the time in question.”); see also United States v. Melhuish, 6 F.4th 380, 394 (2d Cir. 2021) (“A defendant may submit mental health evidence for the purpose of rebutting the prosecution’s proof of the mens rea element of a specific intent crime.”) (citations omitted).

One district court in Tennessee recently summed up a similar situation nicely. As that court explained, “The Defendants here, for example, could wait and decide what defenses to raise once they see what evidence the Government presents at trial. Or perhaps they believe the Government is, in any event, unable to put on a case that will survive a motion for a directed verdict. If that is the case, it would be untenable -- and, most likely, unconstitutional -- to require Defendants to turn over potential evidence (most of which is currently privileged) to the Government or risk forfeiting a defense. The source of that concept, whatever it might be, is fundamentally foreign to the adversarial system of criminal justice contemplated by the United States Constitution.” United States v. Wilkerson, 388 F. Supp. 3d 969, 975 (E.D. Tenn. 2019). . . .

I may have to spend a week in Miami for this one -- could be. . . highly entertaining! Hah!

नमस्ते

Again, The Noemites/Homan-istas Have Directly Disobeyed A Federal Court Order Of USDC Judge Cummings, In Chicago. Ugh.

The Noemites are again flirting with contempt -- and jail time -- here.

This time, in a similar federal proceeding in Colorado, the Noemites told a judge in open court that its brodacsts would apply nation-wide -- "so, not to worry about a separate order for Colorado."

Then, not barely three weeks later, the able USDC Judge Cummings in Chicago ordered a similar broadcast order, to the one entered already in California. To certify it had complied, the ICE lawyers said that -- despite two clear orders of his -- the Noemites sent it only to Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, and Kansas.

That was, at a minimum, a lie -- and a fraud, on the Colorado federal District Courts. So, Judge Cummings just today ordered new compliance proceedings -- and they will be held this week:

. . .[The goverenment's broadcast] is inconsistent with this Court’s orders both at the February 13 hearing and in the February 17 Order. Accordingly, the Court orders defendants to re-circulate the Broadcast Statement of Policy to all ICE agents nationwide by email and they shall advise the agents that the Broadcast remains in effect as the ICE policy governing warrantless arrests until further notification by DHS and ICE, period, full stop. Defendants are further ordered to certify their compliance with this directive in their February 27, 2026 certification. . . .

Other courts have recognized that the Broadcast Statement of Policy is a nationwide statement of ICE policy. See, e.g., Ramirez Ovando v. Noem, No. 1:25-CV-03183-RBJ, 2025 WL 32923467, at *2–4 (D.Colo. Nov. 25, 2025) (discussing the origin of the Broadcast (“Broadcast I”), how it was prematurely rescinded by ICE (“Broadcast II”), and how it was reinstated by this Court’s October 7, 2025 Order (“Broadcast III”)); Id., at *15 (applying the requirements in “defendants’ own Broadcast statements”); Id. at *23 n.28 (“The standards for determining probable cause of flight risk for a warrantless arrest and documentation in a Form I-213 are substantially the same as those ICE has previously set out for itself in Broadcasts I and III.”).

Notably, in Ramirez Ovando, defendants themselves took the position that the Colorado district court need not enter an injunction governing warrantless arrests because a sufficient policy was “already in place” by virtue of the Broadcast. Id., at *14 (emphasis in original); Id., at *21 (“Finally, the Court rejects defendants’ argument that plaintiffs cannot show a likelihood of irreparable harm in light of Broadcast III, which was issued a week before the hearing, and already require[rs] ICE officers to comply with § 1357(a)(2).”) (cleaned up). If defendants believed that the Broadcast only applied to the ICE Chicago Area of Responsibility, this Court would like to believe that defendants never would have represented to the Colorado district court that the Broadcast was in effect in Colorado. . . .

All of this -- this whole damn ICE dumb show -- is simply. . . madness. Out.

नमस्ते

Take A Dangerous Ride Around... A "Dark Matter Dominated" Galaxy, 600 Million Lightyears Off, In Perseus...

William Butler Yeats had different beasts in mind, when he first penned the below -- after WWI. That much is certain.

But consider that entirely dark galaxies are out there -- and should you be unlucky enough to miss the gravitational waves, it might just swallow you. . . whole. But fret not -- this one is over 600 million light-years out, in Perseus. We won't fall in -- by anyone's accident or inattention.

"...Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere....

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That [six million] centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards [Perseus] to be born?"


-- William Butler Yeats (1919)

Hah! [Pretty. . . dark, and foreboding -- like our current moment.] Yet, in any event, here's the far more cheerful latest-, and a video- explainer, from NASA (on these stealthy enigmas):

. . .NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has revealed an exceptional discovery in the Perseus galaxy cluster: CDG-2, an ultra-low surface brightness galaxy composed of 99% dark matter.

This elusive galaxy remained hidden until astronomers detected a slight increase in globular cluster density, suggesting the presence of an underlying galactic structure.

Observations from Hubble, ESA's Euclid observatory, and the Subaru Telescope confirmed a faint halo of diffuse light surrounding these ancient star clusters.

Analysis indicates CDG-2 has the luminosity of approximately six million Sun-like stars, with the clusters comprising about 16% of its visible matter. The galaxy's normal matter was likely stripped away through gravitational interactions within the Perseus cluster. . . .

Now you know. . . grin.

नमस्ते

Now -- The Revised Govt. Witnesses List -- For Thursday Morning, In Nashville...

Well. This is going to provide some juicy moments -- on cross examination!

And Mr. Hecker will put on a master class in it.

Mostly, I cannot wait to see the "lawyer as witness" problem confound Mr. McGuire, as he squirms to try to explain that "he alone" decided to indict -- and then bring toward trial. . . a nearly three year old traffic stop -- where not even a traffic ticket was issued. . . but somehow he charged it as. . . a felony -- to the grand jury. And then explain how his impartial "justice only" facade will return, as soon as he is back sitting in the first seat -- prosecuting for the Noemites. Yikes.

I will also particularly enjoy Agent VanWie's repeated nonsense -- he tried this gambit last summer, too -- before USDC Judge Crenshaw [which is, in no small part, why the dismissal is pending, for this Thursday] re his silly explanation for why he reopened this old. . . non-case.

. . .COMES NOW the United States of America, by and through Braden H. Boucek, United States Attorney, and, pursuant to this Court’s prior order (DE # 162), provides the following amended witness list for the February 26, 2026 evidentiary hearing. This pleading amends the Government’s prior witness list, which was previously filed on October 30, 2025. (DE # 196.)

At the hearing, the Government intends to call:

➢ Supervisory Special Agent John VanWie, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI): the United States anticipates that Agent VanWie, who worked for HSI – Baltimore, will testify regarding his decision to reopen the [not even traffic-ticketed 2023 Tennessee] investigation into the defendant’s [early 2023, entirely unticketed] activities -- on April 17, 2025. . . .

➢ Special Agent In Charge Rana Saoud, Homeland Security Investigations: the United States anticipates that Agent Saoud, who supervised the HSI -- Nashville office, will testify regarding the [re-]commencement of the [more than two year stale] investigation into the defendant’s. . . activities by HSI -- Nashville. . . .

➢ First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire: the United States anticipates that Mr. McGuire [who, until now had been lead trial counsel], who was serving as the Acting United States Attorney at the time the indictment was obtained, will testify regarding the reasons he sought the indictment and who made the ultimate decision to seek the indictment. . . .

[Bonus question: Will Mr. Hecker find a way to call the US Attorney who resigned rather than undertake this vindictive prosecution -- he's a long time VAndy law prof. -- widely respected. Will we see him? I dunno.] In any event, buckle-up buttercup -- these dullards / goons are about to be. . . unmasked -- in Music City Thursday morning. See ya' then.

नमस्ते

Power Alley: Gilead To Pay Up, For Arcellx: As A CAR-T Rival To JNJ Franchises...

The next-gen immuno therapy wars just keep rumbling onward. JNJ will now face a potentially very formidable competitor in the CAR-T space.

Here's the latest, from Fierce -- in the power alley (and a bit):

. . .Gilead Sciences has struck a deal to buy Arcellx for $7.8 billion to take full control of a CAR-T cell therapy that is on the cusp of approval.

Arcellx partnered with Gilead to develop the BCMA-directed CAR-T anitocabtagene autoleucel (anito-cel) in 2022. Gilead invested in Arcellx as part of the agreement and, having invested again when amending the deal in 2023, owns 11.5% of the company. With Gilead on the hook for $530 million in milestones for anito-cel, analysts had speculated about a potential buyout.

Gilead made its move Monday, agreeing to pay $115 per share in cash for Arcellx. The offer represents a 68% premium to Arcellx’s 30-day volume-weighted average share price. Arcellx shareholders will receive another $5 per share if cumulative global anito-cel sales hit $6 billion by the end of 2029. Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day discussed the buyout in a statement. . . .

Pricey -- but probably a pretty savvy bet. Onward, grinning into Wednesday afternoon -- at Union Station.

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The Oceans’ Floors May Explain Long-Lived “Snowball Earth” Epochs…

56 Million Years -- that's a very long time to be sitting in a freezer -- waiting for your turn to get on the grill, and crisp up. . . .

Other, later breaking Earth Ice Ages lasted only tens of thousands of years -- up to a few million years -- but this particular Ice Age lasted over 50 million years. Ponder that. [And it seems a "runaway carbon cycle" -- but on the oceans' floor -- was a main factor, yet again.] Here is that item, and a bit:

. . .By tracing how carbon moved between ocean and atmosphere, Trent B. Thomas at the University of Washington (UW) demonstrated that intensified seafloor weathering could hold greenhouse gases low enough to prolong deep freeze conditions for tens of millions of years.

In his simulations, volcanic carbon release remained within the same range for both episodes, yet only the scenario with accelerated ocean-floor reactions reproduced the prolonged glaciation.

That imbalance pointed away from the sky and toward the seabed, setting up the need to understand how the ocean floor gained such outsized control over Earth’s climate clock. . . .

Fascinating. Onward.

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Here, Tonight Tangerine 2.0 Says "Too Much" -- And, Not Enough, All At Once.

So -- as these Milano Winter Games come to a close. . . this item is exceedingly (albeit unintentionally). . . revealing.

A hard right nutjob crows that Tangerine 2.0 invited the men's hockey team to his SOTU speech, on Tuesday.

He originally made no such offer -- to the women's team.

[BTW -- they also won gold. For its part the NHL's stars are saying that travel arrangements may be "difficult" -- vis-a-vis the timing of the hard restart of league play. Hilarious! These guys can charter their own jets, man. But they do. not. want. to. be. props.]

In any event, the hard right well knows. . . these are very powerful, brilliant women. They too, might not agree to only be "seen, and not heard".

O U T.

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