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Did FDA Pick the Wrong COVID Vaccine Strain Last Season? – MedPage Today
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NASA’s Goldstone Planetary Radar Observes Fast-Spinning Asteroid
Click here for animation (.gif, 1.6 MB)
This series of 41 radar images obtained by the Deep Space Network’s Goldstone Solar System Radar on July 28, 2025, shows the near-Earth asteroid 2025 OW as it made its close approach with our planet. The asteroid safely passed at about 400,000 miles (640,000 kilometers), or 1.6 times the distance from Earth to the Moon.
The asteroid was discovered on July 4, 2025, by the NASA-funded Pan-STARRS2 survey telescope on Haleakala in Maui, Hawaii. These Goldstone observations suggest that 2025 OW is about 200 feet (60 meters) wide and has an irregular shape. The observations also indicate that it is rapidly spinning, completing one rotation every 1½ to 3 minutes, making it one of the fastest-spinning near-Earth asteroids that the powerful radar system has observed. The observations resolve surface features down to 12 feet (3.75 meters) wide.
Asteroids can be “spun up” by sunlight being unevenly absorbed and re-emitted across their irregular surfaces. As photons (quantum particles of light) carry a tiny amount of momentum away from the asteroid, a tiny amount of torque is applied and, over time, the asteroid’s spin can increase – a phenomenon known as the YORP effect. For 2025 OW to maintain such a fast rotation without breaking apart, it may be a solid object rather than a loosely bound rubble pile like many asteroids.
The Goldstone measurements have allowed scientists to greatly reduce uncertainties in the asteroid’s distance from Earth and in its future motion for many decades. This July 28 close approach is the closest asteroid 2025 OW will come to Earth for the foreseeable future.
NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar is located near Barstow, California, and is supported by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program within the Planetary Defense Coordination Office at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. The radar system is part of NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), which is managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The DSN receives programmatic oversight from Space Communications and Navigation program office within the Space Operations Mission Directorate, also at NASA Headquarters.
More information about planetary radar and near-Earth objects can be found at:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroid-watch
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Gates Foundation commits $2.5 billion to ‘ignored’ women’s health
The Gates Foundation will spend $2.5 billion by 2030 on women’s health, it said on Monday, with founder Bill Gates saying the area, including conditions from preeclampsia to menopause, had been neglected for too long.
The investment is among its first big commitments since Gates announced earlier this year that he would give away his $200 billion fortune by 2045. It is around one-third more than the Foundation spent on women’s and maternal health research and development over the last five years.
“Women’s health continues to be ignored, underfunded and sidelined. Too many women still die from preventable causes or live in poor health,” Gates said in a statement. “That must change.”
The work will look at deeply under-researched areas that affect hundreds of millions of women in both high- and low-income countries, from preeclampsia and gestational diabetes to heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis and menopause.
Investment will focus on five key areas: obstetric care and maternal immunization; maternal health and nutrition; gynaecological and menstrual health; contraceptive innovation; and sexually transmitted infection.
The aim is to kickstart research, develop products, and ensure equitable access to them worldwide.
The Foundation’s head of gender equality, Dr. Anita Zaidi, said that the field had been held back in part because of bias and a lack of data on key issues, such as how drugs cross into the uterus.
“If you look at the literature, there may be only 10 women who’ve been studied, ever,” she told Reuters. “We don’t even have the answers to these basic questions.”
Just one percent of the healthcare research and innovation spend went to female-specific conditions beyond cancer, a 2021 analysis by McKinsey & Co found.
Zaidi acknowledged that the $2.5 billion was a “drop in the bucket” compared with what was needed and called on others to step in, including the private sector, philanthropists and governments.
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Take a Trip Down the Catwalk With Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol, “Male Bust” (c. 1957), ink on Strathmore paper (all photos Julie Schneider/Hyperallergic) Before Campbell’s soup cans, Brillo boxes, and famous faces became hallmarks of Andy Warhol’s culture-defining pop art, the artist worked as a department-store window designer and a commercial illustrator for style magazines, including Vogue and Glamour. These roots in the fashion world would serve as a fruitful foundation for his career, and a theme that continued to catwalk through his artwork for decades.
The exhibition Andy Warhol: Fashion at Anton Kern Gallery offers a fresh look into Warhol’s stylish fascinations. It assembles 48 fashion-focused drawings from the 1950s and ’60s, along with four episodes of Fashion (1979–80), Warhol’s first public-access television show. Each 30-minute episode delved into a facet of the fashion industry, such as modeling, photography, and design, and began with a clip of the artist snapping a photo with his SX-70 Polaroid camera and murmuring the word “fashion.” The exhibition’s curator, Vincent Fremont, produced this television program. He also served as Warhol’s studio manager and, later, co-founded the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. So the show is infused with a subtle in-the-room-where-it-happened aura that’s playful and inviting.
Installation view of Andy Warhol: Fashion at Anton Kern Gallery Installed across two floors, Andy Warhol: Fashion feels, at turns, like a private, over-the-shoulder glimpse of Warhol at work and like a party. On the screens playing Fashion episodes, male models banter about their work life, designer Betsey Johnson talks about clothing through the eras, and danceable ’60s and ’70s music spills into the gallery as young women rocking mini dresses and colorful tights shimmy and strut.
Clusters of framed ink and graphite drawings — many with cut, torn, or otherwise uneven edges — are grouped by form, and organized around the body: feminine faces, male nudes, coiffures, feet. The titles are typically straightforward and descriptive, such as “Tattooed Female In Girdle” (c. 1955) or “Male Genitals With Bow” (c. 1956). The drawings’ sensitive lines and embellished details, including flowers and butterflies and bows, add a sense of humanity, intimacy, and wit. Occasionally words join the images, with captions penned in lively cursive.
Some frames hold pairings that reveal the artist’s process. “Female Head in Flowered Hat” (c. 1957–58) and “Boy’s Head” (c. 1953), for instance, each include two mirrored drawings that show the mechanics of Warhol’s famed blotted-line technique — a basic printmaking method that involves inking a drawing and then pressing a fresh sheet of paper over the wet ink. This resulted in his perfectly imperfect lines that blob and feather, wobble and dot. Alive with analog charm, these stylish, inky lines wend through the show, beckoning us to follow and see where Warhol’s keen eye for fashion will lead next.
Andy Warhol, “Reclining Cat With Two Shoes” (c. 1956), ink and graphite on paper 
Andy Warhol, (left) “‘Love is a Pie by Maude Hutchins’” (c. 1951), ink on ivory bond paper; (right) “Brandon De Wilde Smokes Camels Because They Are So Mild” (c. 1953), ink on white Riverside bond paper 
Still from the intro sequence of Andy Warhol’s TV show, Fashion (1979) 
Installation view of Andy Warhol: Fashion at Anton Kern Gallery 
Andy Warhol, “Tattooed Female In Girdle” (c. 1955), ink and graphite on paper 
Andy Warhol, (left) “Standing Male Nude Partial Figure” (c. 1957), black ballpoint on manila paper; (right) “Reclining Male Nude Partial Figure” (c. 1957), ink on black ballpoint on manila paper. 
Andy Warhol, “Bali, Indonesia” (1956), blue ballpoint pen on manila paper 
Installation view of Andy Warhol: Fashion at Anton Kern Gallery 
Andy Warhol, (left) “Feet” (c. 1961), black ballpoint on manila paper; (right) “Feet” (c. 1960), black ballpoint on manila paper Andy Warhol: Fashion continues at Anton Kern Gallery (16 East 55th Street, Midtown, Manhattan) through August 13. The exhibition was curated by Vincent Fremont.
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Eoptic and Starris establish strategic partnership to develop multispectral satellite imaging payloads
Rochester, N.Y./Ontario, N.Y. — Eoptic Inc. and Starris: Optimax Space Systems announce a partnering agreement to build end-to-end satellite imaging payloads that leverage the knowledge and space heritage of both companies — Eoptic’s expertise in imaging science and advanced onboard processing and Starris’s leadership in precision optics and scalable manufacturing for responsive space.
Eoptic’s Cambrian technology enables three imaging sensors to capture synchronized, multispectral and multimodal high-resolution data across UV, visible, and infrared wavelengths through a single lens, eliminating parallax errors for precise imaging an onboard processing. This provides for compact, cost-effective payloads with enhanced detection of complex phenomena like hypersonic vehicle shock waves or atmospheric events, supporting rapid deployment in space-based defense and scientific missions.
The first collaborative system will focus on hypersonic missile detection and tracking, combining Eoptic’s Cambrian multispectral technology with the Starris SDA-85 monolithic telescope to create a compact, deployable UV multispectral payload.
“This collaboration between Eoptic and Starris is a game-changer for space domain awareness and defense applications, addressing the growing need for responsive, affordable satellite constellations capable of detecting elusive threats in real time,” said Pano Spiliotis, CEO at Eoptic. “By combining our Cambrian technology’s multispectral prowess with Starris’s monolithic optics, we’re delivering scalable payloads that can identify previously undetectable events, such as hypersonic vehicle signatures or astrophysical phenomena.”
“Starris brings to the partnership with Eoptic the ability to scale production in support of an array of evolving small-satellite mission needs, with three decades of space-proven heritage,” said Kevin Kearney, Starris Space Strategy Lead. “Working jointly, we will be able detect, monitor and characterize energetic events through UV wavelength bands that at present cannot be identified, with applications in defense, space domain awareness, and space science.”
Eoptic and Starris are teaming up to deliver talks at two space conferences in August. At the Space and Missile Defense SMD Symposium, August 5th in Huntsville, Ala., Kevin Kearney of Starris will present a paper co-authored with Eoptic engineers, titled “Modeling Solar and Atmospheric Effects on Multispectral Hypersonic Vehicle Detection.” At the Small Satellite Conference on August 13 in Salt Lake City, Kearney will lead a panel discussion featuring experts from Eoptic, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Optimax, and Teledyne Space Systems, titled “Ultraviolet SmallSat Opportunities for Space Domain Awareness and Monitoring.”
About Eoptic
Eoptic is a leading provider of advanced imaging and optical systems, specializing in software-defined, multispectral, and digital solutions for defense, industrial, and commercial markets. Based in Rochester, N.Y., a global hub for optics and photonics, Eoptic brings together cutting-edge optical engineering, custom software development, and deep systems integration expertise to tackle complex challenges with precision and speed. From rapid prototyping to full-scale deployment, Eoptic’s modular technology platforms are built to adapt, scale, and perform in demanding environments. The company’s Cambrian imaging engine powers a wide range of applications, delivering actionable insights through high-performance imaging and analytics. For more information, visit www.eoptic.com.About Starris
Starris: Optimax Space Systems is powered by three decades of space-qualified innovation on civil, commercial, and defense space missions, as the space systems unit of precision-optics leader Optimax. Starris is focused on production-scale EO/IR infrastructure for responsive space, based on the disruptive, patented monolithic telescope technology developed by Lawrence Livermore National Lab. The monolithic telescope technology enables deployment of proliferated small satellite constellations that are affordable, reliable, and storage stable. Starris offers a pre-engineered modular approach for space-qualified optical payloads that combines optics, sensors, and electronics. Starris optical payloads are tailored for aggressive design cycles and rapid deployment, supported by a robust testing and manufacturing ecosystem. Learn more at www.Starris.com.Attn Media:
High-resolution images are online at https://tinyurl.com/EopticStarrisFor Eoptic:
Elise Hemink
Elise.Hemink@Eoptic.com
(585) 314-7130 (cell)For Starris:
Dresden Engle
Dresden@DresdenPR.com
(585) 319-1812 (cell)Related
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NIST releases final digital identity guidelines after years of drafts
The National Institute of Standards and Technology released new digital identity guidelines on Friday, updating standards dating back to 2017 to respond to a changing landscape.
These guidelines outline the process and technical requirements for digital identity proofing, authentication and federation. Many non-governmental organizations also look to these standards. It took NIST four years, two drafts and 6,000 public comments to update them.
“This is one step in a continued evolution of how we can help organizations deploy more effective, more efficient, more secure identity technology,” Ryan Galluzzo, the digital identity lead for NIST’s applied cybersecurity division, told Nextgov/FCW Monday.
One change from the previous draft updates is the removal of the word “equity,” which was mentioned upwards of 30 times in the first two drafts, though it was not included in the 2017 guidance.
The revision comes as the Trump administration has sought to remove diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from the federal government after the Biden White House made DEI a priority.
Instead, the table of contents in the final standards appears to reference “customer experience” in the sections where equity and usability used to be the focus.
“You can’t deploy technology that just will not work for your population,” said Galluzo of customer experience. “No matter how secure and effective it seems, if no one can use it, no one can use it.”
This isn’t the first time the ideological differences between the Biden and Trump administrations have altered identity efforts within the government.
In June, the White House rolled back parts of a Biden-era cybersecurity executive order focused on digital identity, citing false claims that those policies mandated that immigrants lacking legal status get government-issued IDs, which could be used to get government benefits.
Beyond the removal of equity from the update, the new NIST publication does retain other changes that previous drafts made to the 2017 document, like the addition of mobile drivers licenses and how they can be used to prove identity online.
That is potentially a big change, as mDLs are currently used mostly in person to prove identity, as opposed to online, where some in industry say they could be a major tool in fighting fraud fueled by identity theft.
The revised guidelines also have additional information on controls meant to address deepfakes, which pose enough of a threat that the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an alert warning financial institutions about them last fall, writing that it had seen an increase in deepfakes being used in fraud schemes to get around identity and authentication controls.
“Criminals have used GenAI to create falsified documents, photographs and videos to circumvent financial institutions’ customer identification and verification,” that alert reads.
The new NIST guidelines also feature expanded fraud requirements, information on synchable authenticators, or passkeys, and recommended continuous evaluation metrics. The performance of digital identity solutions can vary widely, and some solutions don’t work as well for people with darker skin tones.
Among the questions organizations using digital identity solutions should ask are “How many people are being successful? How many people are failing? Why are they failing? Where are the issues within the process?” said Galluzo.
The goal is to ensure solutions work well both in terms of preventing fraud but also customer experience, he said.
As with older draft versions of the now-final update, the guidelines also offer new options meant to give organizations ways to require digital identity proofing without needing to use biometrics like facial recognition.
Up next, NIST says that it’s working on implementation resources and exploring machine-readable conformance criteria and a digital identity risk management tool.
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Clifford Chance advises Shin Kong Life Insurance on US$400 million Tier 2 Subordinated Dated Capital Bonds issuance
Global law firm Clifford Chance has advised Shin Kong Life Singapore Pte. Ltd on its successful issuance of US$400 million, 6.95%, Tier 2 Subordinated Dated Capital Bonds due 2035, guaranteed by its parent company, Taiwanese insurer Shin Kong Life Insurance Co., Ltd.
Partner David Tsai said, “This transaction underscores Clifford Chance’s deep expertise in advising on complex cross-border capital markets deals in the insurance sector. It reflects our continued commitment to supporting clients like Shin Kong Life as they access global funding to drive long-term growth.”Continue Reading
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Tesla awards Elon Musk $29 billion in stock amid compensation battle. What to know
Tesla is awarding Elon Musk around $29 billion in shares as a legal battle looms over a prior multibillion dollar compensation plan for the chief executive.
A special committee of the company’s board of directors said the interim pay package would motivate Musk to “stay focused” on Tesla as the electric vehicle maker pivots to robotics and artificial intelligence.
Under the pay plan, Musk would receive 96 million shares valued at around $300 each as long as he remains in an executive position at Tesla for the next two years. On Musk’s social media platform X, the special committee said the executive has not received “meaningful compensation” for his work for eight years.
One of the world’s richest people, Musk owns about 13% of Tesla shares, making him the largest individual shareholder. The company is worth more than $969 billion based on current share prices. Tesla shares on Monday closed at $309.26, up 2%.
Why did the board approve this plan?
Tesla board members Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson said on X that the $29 billion award is a first step, “good faith” effort to compensate Musk in lieu of a longer term plan.
As Musk splits his time and energy among several ventures, including AI startup xAI and space exploration firm SpaceX, Tesla board members said they are eager to keep his attention focused on the electric vehicle maker. Musk has garnered criticism from investors for getting distracted by his temporary role in the Trump administration.
Tesla shares have fallen more than 18% this year following significant brand damage and plunging vehicle sales. The company is at a critical turning point where it must pivot to robotics and autonomous driving technology to remain competitive, analysts said. Musk has overseen Tesla’s robotaxi launch in Austin, Texas, and frequently touts the potential of the humanoid robot Optimus.
“While these impending changes are exciting, the outcomes are not guaranteed,” wrote Denholm and Wilson-Thompson. “It is imperative to retain and motivate our extraordinary talent, beginning with Elon.”
“We are confident that this award will incentivize Elon to remain at Tesla,” they wrote.
What happened to Musk’s previous pay package?
A Delaware judge has twice struck down a 2018 executive pay package that would have awarded Musk more than $55 billion in stock, arguing that Musk exerted unfair control over the negotiation process.
In 2018, Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta sued the company to block the compensation plan, claiming the board misled investors and was not transparent about the approval process. Tornetta and his attorneys also argued that the board was too susceptible to Musk’s influence.
Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, the judge in the case, sided with Tornetta and rescinded the entire pay package, calling it an “unfathomable sum.” McCormick denied the pay plan again in 2024, after the board held another vote to approve it. Tesla has since appealed McCormick’s second decision, citing his contributions to Tesla’s growth.
“This compensation issue has been a constant concern of shareholders once the Delaware soap opera began,” Tesla analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note.
If the 2018 plan is ultimately approved after legal battles, the recent $29 billion package will be thrown out to prevent double dipping, the board said.
How does Musk’s pay compare to other chief executives?
The pay package brought to court in 2018 was the largest potential compensation plan for an executive of a publicly traded company, McCormick said, worth 250 times as much as the median peer pay.
The new plan is still the highest executive compensation package by far. Blackstone Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman earned $1.39 billion in 2008, compared to the $29 billion interim package for Musk. Another top earner, Palantir CEO Alexander Karp, earned $1.10 billion in 2020.
In 2018, Musk agreed to forgo a cash salary for his work at Tesla and instead receive stock options based on his ability to meet company milestones. Board members argue that the value Musk brings to the company is worth hefty compensation.
“We can all agree that Elon has delivered the transformative and unprecedented growth that was required to earn all milestones of the 2018 CEO Performance Award,” the board’s special committee wrote. “Retaining Elon is more important than ever before.”
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iPhone 17 Pro, Max and Air: Release dates, colors and everything else you need to know about Apple's new phones – Engadget
- iPhone 17 Pro, Max and Air: Release dates, colors and everything else you need to know about Apple’s new phones Engadget
- iPhone 17 could be ‘Apple’s biggest shake-up in years’ The Independent
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- Apple iPhone 17 Pro: Eye-Catching New Look Revealed In Latest Leak Forbes
- iPhone 17 dummies pose with their updated color palettes – GSMArena.com news GSMArena.com
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