What Makes Virtual Worlds Unique in the Era of Zoom Meetings . By now, it’s well known that usage of video-conferencing software like Zoom has exploded as a result of the Covid-19 shutdown. What is less known is that interest in avatar-based virtual worlds and bus...

This Week’s Awesome Tech Stories From Around the Web (Through April 18) . BIOTECH

The Quest for a Pandemic Pill

Matthew Hutson | The New Yorker

“Our usual antiviral approach is, as researchers say, ‘one bug, one drug’; often, it’s no drug. ...[David Ho would] like to see a pen...

How to Navigate the Coronavirus Crisis With Innovation at Warp Speed . “It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.” –Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek

Many of you likely recognize the truth in this quote from legendary Star T...

Coronavirus: What Are the Chances We’ll Change Our Behavior in the Aftermath? . The world as we know it may never be the same. The global economy has slowed, people are living in isolation, and the death toll from an invisible killer is rising exponentially. The coronavirus pandem...

Can Genes Explain Why Coronavirus Seriously Sickens Some and Spares Others? . In the early 1980s, a deadly epidemic was gaining momentum. Caused by a virus dubbed HIV, AIDs has since infected and killed millions of people around the world. But not everyone who is exposed to HIV ...

Can Our Genes Explain Why Coronavirus Seriously Sickens Some and Spares Others? . In the early 1980s, a deadly epidemic was gaining momentum. Caused by a virus dubbed HIV, AIDs has infected and killed millions of people around the world. But not everyone who was exposed to HIV got s...

Is the Reason Coronavirus Seriously Sickens Some and Spares Others in Our Genes? . In the early 1980s, a deadly epidemic was gaining momentum. Caused by a virus dubbed HIV, AIDs has infected and killed millions of people around the world. But not everyone who was exposed to HIV got s...

A Quick Guide to the Turbo-Charged Search for Coronavirus Drugs . One of the scariest things about the new coronavirus is that there aren’t any validated treatments. Plenty of ideas are in the works: a decades-long anti-malaria pill, blood components from people who’...

A New Neural Interface Could Last up to 6 Years Inside the Human Brain . For many futurists, humanity’s destiny lies in merging our minds with machines, but before that can happen we need to physically connect with them. There are a myriad of challenges involved in making a...

Coronavirus Is Changing How We Live, Work, and Use Tech—Permanently . Within a week, many world leaders went from downplaying the seriousness of coronavirus to declaring a state of emergency. Even the most efficacious of nations seem to be simultaneously confused and exa...