The importance of engineers in the battle against the coronavirus
The coronavirus outbreak has shone a bright light on the use of experts and scientific advice. In the UK the prime minister, Boris Johnson, is flanked by his chief scientist...
National park’s prized safety system fails during coronavirus pandemic
The coronavirus doesn't care if you're in a glorious canyon, verdant forest, or on a coastal hiking trail. It simply exploits groups of people. Humans give the dogged parasite wings...
NASA issues agency-wide crowdsourcing call for ideas around COVID-19 response – TechCrunch
There’s crowdsourcing a problem, and then there’s crowdsourcing a problem within NASA, where some of the smartest, most creative and resourceful problem-solvers in the world solve real-world challenges daily as...
ImmunityBio and Microsoft team up to precisely model how key COVID-19 protein leads to infection – TechCrunch
An undertaking that involved combining massive amounts of graphics processing power could provide key leverage for researchers looking to develop potential cures and treatments for the novel coronavirus behind the...
DeepMind’s Agent57 AI agent can best human players across a suite of 57 Atari games – TechCrunch
Development of artificial intelligence agents tends to frequently be measured by their performance in games, but there’s a good reason for that: Games tend to offer a wide proficiency curve,...
All the coronavirus antivirals and vaccine research projects being fast-tracked right now
Just three months after China first notified the World Health Organization about a deadly new coronavirus, studies of numerous antiviral treatments and potential vaccines are already underway. Never has science...
The coronavirus test isn’t as scary as it looks
Pictures and illustrations of a coronavirus test might look unnerving. But medical experts emphasize the procedure — which is a common test for respiratory infections — is absolutely normal. Though...
Color is launching a high-capacity COVID-19 testing lab and will open-source its design and protocols – TechCrunch
Genomics health technology startup Color is doing its part to address the global COVID-19 pandemic, and has detailed the steps it’s taking to support expansion of testing efforts in a...
Leading VCs discuss how COVID-19 has impacted the world of digital health – TechCrunch
In December 2019, Extra Crunch spoke to a group of investors leading the charge in health tech to discuss where they saw the most opportunity in the space leading into...
Scientists are working on new ways to recycle chemicals from electronic waste
Our connected consumer society generates a lot of electronic waste, around 50 million tonnes per year worldwide. It is even currently the waste that shows the strongest growth from one year...