We’re Going Back To The Moon, Just Not Today
NASA was set to launch its mighty new moon rocket this morning, but called off its debut flight with three test dummies aboard after a last-minute cascade of problems culminating in unexplained engine trouble. The next launch attempt will not take place until Friday at the earliest and could be off until mid-September or later. The mission, when it happens, will be the first flight in NASA’s Artemis project, a quest to put astronauts back on the moon for the first time since the Apollo program ended 50 years ago. As precious minutes ticked away Monday morning, NASA repeatedly stopped and started the fueling of the Space Launch System rocket because of a leak of highly explosive hydrogen, eventually succeeding in reducing the seepage to acceptable levels. The leak happened in the same place that saw seepage during a dress rehearsal in the spring.
Today on AirTalk, we’re joined by executive director of Astralyrical, a space consulting firm, Laura Forczyk and president and CEO of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, Frank Slazer to discuss the short and long-term goals of this latest moon mission, which is rescheduled to launch this Friday.
With files from the Associated Press
A Closer Look At A Bill That Makes Significant Changes For California Street Vendors
Last week, California’s state assembly approved a bill that would improve the process for street vendors to get vending permits, which in turn could decrease the number of fines and improve food safety for those looking to grab some food on the street. Prior to this, street vendors found it difficult to meet permit requirements since previous state policies were tailored to food trucks and brick and mortar restaurants, along with fee costs being too burdensome.
Today on AirTalk, we discuss what this new legislation means for the world of California food vending with CHIRLA deputy director Rita Medina and Jeff Nelken, a food safety expert, consultant, and food safety auditor in Los Angeles to talk about what the impact this may have on food safety.
Psychedelics Show Promise For Treating Alcohol Addiction
New research published in JAMA Psychiatry showed the compound in psychedelic mushrooms helped heavy drinkers cut back or quit entirely in the most rigorous test of psilocybin for alcoholism. More research is needed to see if the effect lasts and whether it works in a larger study. Many who took a dummy drug instead of psilocybin also succeeded in drinking less, likely because all study participants were highly motivated and received talk therapy. It’s far from the first research into how psilocybin could potentially help treat those with alcohol use disorder -- KPCC published a series back in 2014 looking broadly at research efforts into the potential benefits of psychedelics in treating some psychiatric conditions -- but this new study provides additional evidence of the promise that psychedelics could have when used in this context.
Joining Larry to discuss is Dr. Michael P. Bogenschutz, who led the study. He is a professor in the department of Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. We’ll also speak with Dr.Brian P. Lee, an assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
COVID-19 AMA: Moderna Sues Pfizer Over Vaccine Tech, Why New Boosters Will Be Released Before Human Testing Concludes And More
In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Kimberly Shriner, director of Infectious Disease and Prevention at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.
Topics today include:
- Omicron booster shotsare coming: Will they be a game-changer?
- Moderna sues Pfizer/BioNTech for patent infringement over COVID vaccine
- Public health orders consideration at Tuesday’s L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting
- The government willno longer be sending free COVID-19 tests to Americans
- Latest COVID boosters to roll outbefore human testing is done
Worker Surveillance Is On The Rise And It’s Getting Intense
The New York Times recently published in-depth reporting looking at the rise of productivity scores and worker surveillance. As more people work remotely, more companies have turned to tracking and recording systems to increase efficiency. This raises all kinds of questions. First being, how does that impact employees? Next, can tracking software really give an accurate portrait of whether a worker is doing a great job? Joining Larry to discuss is Ifeoma Ajunwa, professor of law and founding director of the Artificial Intelligence and Decision-Making Research Program at the University of North Carolina and John Verdi, senior vice president of policy at the Future of Privacy Forum, a data-privacy think tank.