OUR PICKSTrain Derailments Involving Hazardous Chemicals Keep Happening | Iraq War’s Failures Are Still Misunderstood | Fear of Future Quantum Hacks, and more

A Valuable Early-Warning System for Disease Outbreaks Could Be Shut Down  (Betsy Ladyzhets, Scientific American)
During the past three years of the pandemic, testing sewage water for the virus that causes COVID has become a valuable tool: it has spotted surging infections and new variants weeks before they showed up in medical clinics, for instance. The technology has also warned of other health threats such as seasonal viruses and increased opioid use.
But now its long-term ability to protect public health is in jeopardy. Funding uncertainty from the federal government and uneven commitments from state health departments have raised the specter that wastewater monitoring programs may shut down in the future.

Why Train Derailments Involving Hazardous Chemicals Keep Happening  (Li Zhou, Vox)
A train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in Raymond, Minnesota, on Thursday, the latest such accident in recent months. Thursday’s incident comes in the wake of a major train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio on February 3, when a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals went off the tracks, spewing contaminants into the town’s air and water.
Although train derailments involving hazardous chemicals are relatively rare, the occurrence of the Minnesota derailment so close to the Ohio one has raised questions about train safety and whether new regulations are needed to prevent more of these dangerous incidents from happening in the future. According to the Washington Post, there were 1,049 train derailments last year, and 10 train incidents that involved the spillage of hazardous materials, both figures which are lower than years past.

Congress Should Limit, Not Expand, Irregular Warfare Authority  (Katherine Yon Ebright, Just Security)
Earlier this month, the House and Senate Armed Services committees held hearings to discuss the Department of Defense’s legislative asks and priorities regarding U.S. special operations forces. In those hearings, Department officials made clear that one of their top priorities for the upcoming legislative cycle is expanding an obscure security cooperation authority: section 1202 of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes the U.S. military to work “by, with, and through” foreign partners to counter foreign adversaries like Russia and China.
In advocating for an expansion of section 1202, Department officials have reportedly promised that the authority would be “limited to noncombat operations.” Congress, however, should cast a wary eye on this promise and on the Department’s overarching request for broader authority.