The news: Holing up with groups of friends or neighbors or other families during lockdown has given many people, especially those stuck home alone, a way to relieve isolation without spreading covid-19. These groups are known as bubbles, and new computer simulations described in Nature …Continue reading
How to protect yourself online from misinformation right now
There wasn’t a communications blackout in Washington, DC, on Sunday, but #dcblackout trended on Twitter anyway, thanks to some extremely distressing tweets telling people that, mysteriously, no messages were getting out from the nation’s capital. The tweets, Reddit posts, and Facebook messages …Continue reading
How to stay sane when the world’s going mad
Take a deep breath. Now, tell me … how are you feeling? There are no wrong answers, and no one else needs to know. Give your day a score out of 10 if you can’t think of the right words. Even better, …Continue reading
Does keeping kids offline breach their human rights?
Pruthvirajsinh Zala was a 19-year-old first-year law student when he walked into the high court of Gujarat to argue his inaugural case. “It’s a big enormous building,” he says. “All black stone. There’s a giant statue of Gandhi. My petition says Pruthvirajsinh Zala …Continue reading
Predictions for 2030 by people shaping the world
AI will cause a productivity boom Erik Brynjolfsson, director, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (USA) Machine learning has advanced tremendously over the past decade, yet US productivity growth has fallen by 50% since 2004. It’s not uncommon with powerful new general-purpose …Continue reading
Your tweet could last just 24 hours with “fleets”
The company will launch a story function that looks a lot like the ones at competitors Instagram and Snapchat—but there are already fears that it could be abused. The announcement: On Wednesday, the company announced that it was testing “fleets” in Brazil. These …Continue reading
Snapchat will now offer mental health tools in the app
Snapchat has released a beta version of a search tool called “Here For You” that will connect users to mental health resources. How will it work? A user who types in words indicating distress will be guided to content designed to help. For …Continue reading
The WHO got on TikTok to teach teens about coronavirus
On Friday, the World Health Organization made its debut on TikTok in an effort to combat rampant disinformation about the coronavirus. The news: The WHO launched its TikTok presence with a video on Friday about what coronavirus is, and a follow-up video on Saturday about when and …Continue reading
No, there’s no evidence that cell phones give you cancer
A new review from the FDA says it finds no evidence linking the two, but that research should continue. The findings: The report reviewed 125 experiments carried out on animals and 75 on humans between 2008 and August 2019. In summary, the FDA said that …Continue reading
Facebook will now take down posts that spread coronavirus misinformation
The news: Facebook has started deleting posts that contain false claims about the coronavirus, especially ones spreading dangerous misinformation about treatment—such as that drinking bleach cures the virus—and incorrect advice about available health resources. Why it matters: This policy change, announced in a blog post, marks a …Continue reading