From HuffPost: Space Tacos...Call it 'One Tasty Leap for Mankind'

Astronauts Make 'Best Space Tacos Yet' With Key Ingredient They Just Learned To Grow

Lettuce and radishes have been successfully grown in microgravity, but now a new veggie is spicing up life on the International Space Station.

By 

Elyse Wanshel 

 

Reporter, HuffPost

11/03/2021 06:51pm EDT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Astronauts figured out how to grow a chile pepper in space for the first time, NASA announced. The crew aboard the International Space Station celebrated successfully growing green Hatch chiles — a type of pepper found in New Mexico’s Hatch Valley — in microgravity by whipping up a batch of space tacos.

NASA astronaut Megan McArthur checks Hatch chile plants.

NASA

Astronaut Megan McArthur shared photos Friday of what she called her “best space tacos yet” on Twitter. The Mexican-inspired meal consisted of fajita beef, rehydrated tomatoes and artichokes, and a Hatch chile grown on the ISS. Sadly, no green cheese from the moon was available for grating atop the space tacos.

Friday Feasting! After the harvest, we got to taste red and green chile. Then we filled out surveys (got to have the data! 😁). Finally, I made my best space tacos yet: fajita beef, rehydrated tomatoes & artichokes, and HATCH CHILE! https://t.co/pzvS5A6z5u pic.twitter.com/fJ8yLZuhZS

— Megan McArthur (@Astro_Megan) October 29, 2021

The crop of Hatch chiles was part of NASA’s Plant Habitat-04 investigation, according to NASA. The scientists began growing the spicy pods on the ISS in July in an effort to understand more about “plant-microbe interactions” in space.

Astronauts have been victorious in getting other veggies, such as radishes, Chinese cabbage, mizuna mustard, red Russian kale and three types of lettuce, to grow on the ISS. They’ve also grown zinnia flowers. . .

And the point of the chile pepper experiment wasn’t just so astronauts could zhuzh up their presumably bland dehydrated food menu. Scientists want to expand the number of crops that astronauts can grow in space so their tummies can stay full during more ambitious missions in the future, NASA explained in a July news release.

“The challenge is the ability to feed crews in low-Earth orbit and then to sustain explorers during future missions beyond low-Earth orbit to destinations including the Moon as part of the Artemis program and eventually to Mars,” said Matt Romeyn, principal investigator for NASA’s Plant Habitat-04 experiment. “We are limited to crops that don’t need storage or extensive processing.”

So it looks like astronauts may get to munch on some Hatch chiles on future missions. Hopefully a crop of antacids is next."

 

Space log: 3 steps to drink safe water in space station

BEA News: U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, September 2021...The goods deficit increased $8.9 billion in September to $98.2 billion.

BEA News: U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, September 2021

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has issued the following news release today:

The U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased in September 2021 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit increased from $72.8 billion in August (revised) to $80.9 billion in September, as imports increased and exports decreased. The previously published August deficit was $73.3 billion. The goods deficit increased $8.9 billion in September to $98.2 billion. The services surplus increased $0.8 billion in September to $17.2 billion.

The full text of the release on BEA's website can be found at: www.bea.gov/news/2021/us-international-trade-goods-and-services-september-2021

The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides this service to you at no charge. Visit us on the Web at www.bea.gov.

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ON THE VERGE (3 of 3)

Right to the headline story published today by James Vincent

Scammers use Google Ads to siphon off hundreds of thousands of dollars from fake crypto wallets

By James Vincent Nov 4, 2021, 6:55am EDT

(Illustration by Maria Chimishkyan)        

 

Phishing scams in your Google results? It’s more likely than you think!

The Verge

"The crypto world is full of dangers, with scammers lying in wait for newbies and novices. A recent report from security outfit Check Point Research highlights a potent form of attack: using Google Ads to direct users to fake crypto wallets. In its report, CPR said it has seen roughly half a million dollars siphoned off through these methods in just the last few days.

Here’s how the scam works.

Attacker buys Google Ads in response to searches for popular crypto wallets (that’s the software used to store cryptocurrency, NFTs, and the like). CPR says it’s noticed scams targeting Phantom and MetaMask wallets, which are the most popular wallets for the Solana and Ethereum ecosystems. . . .

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. . .When an unsuspecting user Googles “phantom,” the Google Ad result (which appears above actual search results) directs them to a phishing website that looks like the real thing. Then, one of two things happens: either the user enters their credentials which the attacker keeps. Or, much weirder, if they try to create a new wallet they’re told to use a recovery password which actually logs them into a wallet controlled by the attacker, not their own. “This means if they transfer any funds, the attacker will get that immediately,” says CPR.

As with phishing scams more generally, the attackers rely on making their fake log-in pages look as much as possible like the real thing. CPR notes that they’ve seen attackers use fake URLs to trick users, directing them to phanton.app or phantonn.app, for example, instead of the correct phantom.app. The group has also seen similar phishing scams used to direct users to fake crypto currency exchanges, including PancakeSwap and UniSwap.

CPR’s researchers say they started noticing these scams after seeing crypto users complain about their losses on Reddit and other forums. They estimate that “at least half a million dollars” have been stolen over the past few days.

“I believe we’re at the advent of a new cyber crime trend, where scammers will use Google Search as a primary attack vector to reach crypto wallets, instead of traditionally phishing through email,” said CPR’s Oded Vanunu in a press statement.

“The phishing websites where victims were directed to reflected meticulous copying and imitation of wallet brand messaging. And what’s most alarming is that multiple scammer groups are bidding for keywords on Google Ads, which is likely a signal of the success of these new phishing campaigns that are geared to heist crypto wallets.”

The group offers a few words of wisdom for users hoping to avoid these pitfalls, including never clicking on Google Ads results but instead looking at search results, and always checking the URL of the site you’re visiting.