Author: timbatchelder

Even though protective masks have become more common, transparent versions that make lip-reading possible aren’t in widespread use in hospitals, schools, or big-box stores.

Source: Why Haven’t Clear Face Masks Caught On Yet?

By 2050, 70% of the world’s population is expected to live in towns and cities.

Source: Biodiversity loss could be making us sick – here’s why

Microsoft Excel: 1 — Human Genetics: 0.

Source: Scientists rename human genes to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates – The Verge

Preston Estep was alone in a borrowed laboratory, somewhere in Boston. No big company, no board meetings, no billion-dollar payout from Operation Warp Speed, the US government’s covid-19 vaccine funding program. No animal data. No ethics approval. What he did have: ingredients for a vaccine. And one willing volunteer. Estep swirled together the mixture and…

Source: Some scientists are taking a DIY coronavirus vaccine, and nobody knows if it’s legal or if it works | MIT Technology Review

The red maple is the only known natural source of compounds, called ginnalins

Source: A promising Alzheimer’s treatment comes from the red maple tree

The pandemic has forced universities to bring their courses online – but this is just the first step on the road to a long-overdue educational revolution

Source: COVID-19 is sparking a revolution in higher education

A business model that seemed marginal before the coronavirus pandemic now looks like the future of restaurants.

Source: Our Ghost-Kitchen Future

Despite long-held questions over the efficacy of Chinese traditional medicine, Chinese experts maintain that an herbal formulation based on a nearly 2,000-year-old text is showing promise in treating COVID-19.

Source: VICE – China is Treating COVID-19 With a Blast From the (Distant) Past

Cloth face coverings are gonna be around for a while, so here are the WIRED team’s favorites for running, walking, and going to work.

Source: 15 Face Masks We Actually Like to Wear

The businesses that will survive after the pandemic are the ones who give us back our time.

Source: The Future of Commerce Belongs to the Frictionless

Creating a quaranteam can help mitigate risk while still providing social interactions.

Source: Sorry, it’s too early to stop quarantining. Here’s how to design a bub