Cat and mouse

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Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today: “Perfect storm” causing auto industry to permanently shrink; Apple hikes prices on MacBooks and iPads immediately; There’s a potentially new way to treat norovirus; and say hello to wedding singer Stevie Nicks…👀

Let’s get into it!

The Swift Observatory is an aging gamma ray telescope orbiting the Earth, and it’s currently at risk of falling out of the sky.

In an effort to restore it into orbit, NASA is considering sending an airplane-launched Pegasus rocket into space as soon as tomorrow, carrying a specially designed robot tasked with catching up to and retrieving Swift and lifting it higher above the Earth.

Swift has been sinking for years due to increased solar activity. Flares ravage the thousands of satellites in orbit, pushing them lower and lower until they can’t be salvaged, and in Swift’s case, that line of demarcation is expected to be crossed in October when it will sink below 185 miles above the surface.

Katalyst Space Technologies was contracted to build the spacecraft tasked with retrieving Swift. Called Link, it’s about the size of a refrigerator, but also has a wingspan of about 40 feet, with three arms that each have pincher-like hands that resemble a LEGO man’s.

A study published in Science Translational Medicine looked into alternative ways of combating norovirus, rather than traditional vaccine-based methods that introduce antibodies into the blood stream.

The researchers tested a method which involved increasing levels of mucosal Immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies, which are usually found on mucosal surfaces like the lungs, airway, intestines, and gut.

They found these specific antibodies had a strong immune response when faced with norovirus, which could potentially lead to a huge breakthrough in treating the virus.

“One of the big challenges with norovirus is there are no drugs or vaccines, but that’s not simply due to lack of investment. It’s due to our limited understanding about the biology and the immunology of norovirus infection,” said study senior author Craig Wilen, an associate professor of laboratory medicine and immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine.

“By using mouse models, we discovered that IgA was both necessary and sufficient for protection against norovirus.”

“This discovery opens the door to potential norovirus treatment strategies that use mRNA technology to deliver protective antibodies directly into the gut.”

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will be wed at the World’s Most Famous Arena on the July 4 weekend in a ceremony likely resembling something straight out of the Gilded Age.

Celebrities, dignitaries, luminaries, and the like will surely be in attendance, and that will include Stevie Nicks, according to Rolling Stone.

It’s unclear at this point if the iconic singer will just be at Madison Square Garden as a guest, or if she’s also been asked to perform.

Though neither Swift nor Kelce have actually confirmed publicly that their nuptials will, in fact, take place at MSG this weekend, it’s very clear that Swift has not only rented the venue for the wedding, but for what appears to be an extravagant, multi-day event.

Tay Tay and Stevie are friends and have performed together before, including a duet on Taylor’s You Belong With Me, along with a duet of Rhiannon they played together at the 2010 Grammys.

"She’s paved the way for us, and she’s mentored so many artists that you don’t even know she’s doing it," Swift said of Nicks. "She’s just become friends with so many female artists, just to be a guiding hand. I can’t tell you how rare that is. She’s a hero of mine and also someone that I can tell her any secret—she’d never tell anybody."

Thrive in ‘85

From the top of the charts to the top of the box office, we’re throwin’ it back to what was going on during this week in 1985, with today’s trivia!