Since March, the number of people downloading the safety-awareness app Citizen has doubled. Citizen gathers local reports from emergency scanners — crimes, fires, weather hazards, protests — and lets users upload video of what’s happening. It also recently added COVID-19 contact tracing to the app. Citizen says it keeps people safe and informed. But, like with Nextdoor, Ring and other safety products and services, there are fears of unintended consequences, like paranoia, surveillance, endangering yourself to videotape an incident and the racism that can be inherent in crime reporting. Molly spoke with Andrew Frame, the founder and CEO of Citizen. She asked him how he responds to critics who say the app makes people more paranoid about their communities.

Since March, the number of people downloading the safety-awareness app Citizen has doubled. Citizen gathers local reports from emergency scanners — crimes, fires, weather hazards, protests — and lets users upload video of what’s happening. It also recently added COVID-19 contact tracing to the app. Citizen says it keeps people safe and informed. But, like with Nextdoor, Ring and other safety products and services, there are fears of unintended consequences, like paranoia, surveillance, endangering yourself to videotape an incident and the racism that can be inherent in crime reporting. Molly spoke with Andrew Frame, the founder and CEO of Citizen. She asked him how he responds to critics who say the app makes people more paranoid about their communities.

Drones are a huge industry used in agriculture, construction, real estate, filmmaking and military surveillance. Since the pandemic began, they’ve been used to deliver packages and medical supplies, and some companies have even promised that drones could detect COVID-19 symptoms from afar. But in some ways, drones are still in the early stages techwise. Some engineers believe the best way to improve the tech is to copy nature. Marketplace’s Stephen Beard has been talking to the boss of Animal Dynamics, a British tech firm specializing in biomechanics and working on drone design.

Drones are a huge industry used in agriculture, construction, real estate, filmmaking and military surveillance. Since the pandemic began, they’ve been used to deliver packages and medical supplies, and some companies have even promised that drones could detect COVID-19 symptoms from afar. But in some ways, drones are still in the early stages techwise. Some engineers believe the best way to improve the tech is to copy nature. Marketplace’s Stephen Beard has been talking to the boss of Animal Dynamics, a British tech firm specializing in biomechanics and working on drone design.

Testing for COVID-19 is still limited and way too slow to keep ahead of the pandemic. Now, dozens of cities and countries are turning to the sewers to try to figure out if COVID-19 is spreading in their communities. A Massachusetts-based startup called Biobot Analytics tests wastewater and raw sewage for the presence of the novel coronavirus. It started a free pilot project in June with hundreds of wastewater treatment facilities, and now some cities are starting to pay Biobot for regular monitoring. It’s a branch of research called wastewater epidemiology. Molly speaks with Dan Ackerman, who has been reporting on this for member station WGBH. He told her the science is new, but since cities are desperate to get a handle on the virus, it’s finding new converts.

Testing for COVID-19 is still limited and way too slow to keep ahead of the pandemic. Now, dozens of cities and countries are turning to the sewers to try to figure out if COVID-19 is spreading in their communities. A Massachusetts-based startup called Biobot Analytics tests wastewater and raw sewage for the presence of the novel coronavirus. It started a free pilot project in June with hundreds of wastewater treatment facilities, and now some cities are starting to pay Biobot for regular monitoring. It’s a branch of research called wastewater epidemiology. Molly speaks with Dan Ackerman, who has been reporting on this for member station WGBH. He told her the science is new, but since cities are desperate to get a handle on the virus, it’s finding new converts.

The Democratic National Convention starts Monday, kicking the run-up to the November election into even higher gear. Representatives from big tech companies met with officials from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security last week to coordinate responses to malicious disinformation campaigns on their platforms. Kimberly Adams speaks with Alex Stamos, the former chief security officer at Facebook, who now directs the Stanford Internet Observatory. He said COVID-19 “pre-hacked” the election because so many states have had to change procedures on short notice.

The Democratic National Convention starts Monday, kicking the run-up to the November election into even higher gear. Representatives from big tech companies met with officials from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security last week to coordinate responses to malicious disinformation campaigns on their platforms. Kimberly Adams speaks with Alex Stamos, the former chief security officer at Facebook, who now directs the Stanford Internet Observatory. He said COVID-19 “pre-hacked” the election because so many states have had to change procedures on short notice.

This week, we’ve been looking at disability and technology: where innovation is happening and where there’s work left to do to improve accessibility. That includes video games. Kimberly Adams talks with Steven Spohn, chief operating officer at AbleGamers Charity. He helped develop an adapter that lets gamers use their wheelchair as a controller for consoles or computers.

This week, we’ve been looking at disability and technology: where innovation is happening and where there’s work left to do to improve accessibility. That includes video games. Kimberly Adams talks with Steven Spohn, chief operating officer at AbleGamers Charity. He helped develop an adapter that lets gamers use their wheelchair as a controller for consoles or computers.