A scanning electron micrograph of the device used to store quantum information in order to extend the reach of quantum communications.Image: Bart Machielse (Harvard University)A newly created system can enhance quantum communications over longer distances—a small but crucial step toward a quantum internet.We’re in the early stages of a quantum boom, as researchers are attempting…
Author: Whiz Insight News
A letter from the great quarantine: Missing football, pasta and friendship
8:00 AM ETWright ThompsonSenior Writer CloseWright Thompson is a senior writer for ESPN and is executive producer of TrueSouth and co-executive producer of Backstory. He is the author of New York Times bestselling The Cost of These Dreams.OXFORD, Miss. — On Wednesday, someone sent me a video clip of a quarantined Italian man playing the…
The Pandemic Has Led to a Huge, Global Drop in Air Pollution
This story originally appeared in The Guardian and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.The coronavirus pandemic is shutting down industrial activity and temporarily slashing air pollution levels around the world, satellite imagery from the European Space Agency shows.One expert said the sudden shift represented the “largest-scale experiment ever,” in terms of the reduction of…
Space Photos of the Week: Rovers Taking Selfies—for Science
When spacecraft leave the Earth they are destined to either land somehere, orbit something or fly by a planetary object. And one of the very first things NASA does when a spacecraft lands on another planet is to have it take a selfie: “Let me see your wheels in the dirt so I know you…
Reddit’s Wedding Planners Pivot to Covid-19 Crisis Comms
The moderators of r/weddingplanning are no strangers to controversy. Divisive dresses, family dramas, and anxious brides and grooms are par for the course for the volunteer supervisors of Reddit’s go-to forum for the recently betrothed. Then came the coronavirus.Wired UKThis story originally appeared on WIRED UK.Suddenly, the usual mix of wedding dress pictures and etiquette…
What We Think We Know About the Coronavirus Is Going to Keep Changing
Viral particles of SARS-CoV-2, seen under a transmission electron microscope in a sample taken from a person.Image: C.S. Goldsmith and A. Tamin (CDC)With new information about the novel coronavirus seemingly arriving every hour on the hour, it’s perfectly understandable to feel confused and discombobulated. With that in mind, here’s a mantra I’ve held close to…
Greta Thunberg Urges World to ‘Unite Behind the Experts’ as Youth Climate Strikes Move Online
If Queen Greta stans, so do we.Photo: GettyFor the last two weeks, youth climate organizers in New York have been discussing how climate striking may change now that the novel coronavirus had reached the state. These conversations have been happening elsewhere, too, including in Spain and Belgium. And now Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teen activist…
Energy and Policy Experts Have a Plan to Fight Covid-19 and the Climate Crisis
Photo: APRight now, it seems like everything is fucked.A global pandemic is spinning out of control—350,000 people have tested positive for covid-19, nearly 42,000 of whom are in the U.S. We’re facing an impending economic recession. Fifteen percent of American workers have already lost their jobs or hours due to the pandemic, and according to…
Slack is working on a way to call Microsoft Teams users
According to CNBC, Slack plans to integrate Microsoft Teams calling features into its workplace collaboration app. Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield shared the plan during an analyst call. “We’re working on Teams integrations for calling features,” he said.Adding support for Teams makes a lot of sense both because of the current situation and the fact that…
Where to Take Free Online Classes While You’re Stuck at Home
Graphic: ShutterstockIf you’ve always wanted to go back to school, why not put your ongoing involuntary stay-at-home downtime to good use with a free online class? There are literally thousands of virtual university courses (known as Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs) and one-off videos to help you exercise your brain and fight back the…