Humans and Technology

A look at how technologies from AR/VR, brain-computer interfaces, and chip implants to health trackers, biometrics and social media are changing the most basic aspects of human life—work, friendship, love, aging, sickness, parenting, learning, and building community.

Humans and Technology

Why does it suddenly feel like 1999 on the internet?

The coronavirus pandemic has turned back the clock to a kinder time on the web, before the novelty of virtual connection wore off. Will it last?

Humans and Technology

Lockdown was supposed to be an introvert’s paradise. It’s not.

Calendars cleared by coronavirus are filling up with virtual happy hours, and some people are starting to feel exhausted.

A woman looking forlornly at her laptop

Humans and Technology

Meet the parents using Trello to plan their kids’ coronavirus homeschooling

Families in indefinite lockdown are turning to Asana and Trello to run their households.

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Humans and Technology

Forget Zoom—children are using Facebook Messenger Kids to deal with coronavirus isolation

Kids are getting a crash course on texting and social media with “technology on training wheels.”

Kid with phone

Humans and Technology

How to work remotely during the coronavirus lockdown

Slack’s Ali Rayl tells us how the company is fostering remote working and Rajesh Anandan of Ultranauts, gives insight into what the future of remote work could be.

Radio Corona Title card

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Humans and Technology

How coronavirus is transforming online dating and sex

Quarantines and lockdowns are forcing us to relearn how to date—and figure out how to have sex without touching.

by Tanya Basu
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Humans and Technology

Can low-cost, open-source ventilator designs help save lives?

An MIT team is racing to publish designs it hopes could help as the escalating pandemic strains supplies of the machines.

by James Temple
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Humans and Technology

This is how you can co-watch during a coronavirus lockdown

“Co-watching” is how we’ll be socializing for the next few weeks at least.

by Tanya Basu
2020-03-24T12:52:53-04:00

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Humans and Technology

The coronavirus pandemic is a game changer for mental health care

Regulatory changes and anxiety heightened by isolation are leading to a boom in use of mental health apps and teletherapy—but are they good enough?

by Tanya Basu
2020-03-20T13:49:00-04:00

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Humans and Technology

A new app would say if you’ve crossed paths with someone who is infected

Private Kit: Safe Paths shares information about your movements in a privacy-preserving way—and could let health officials tackle coronavirus hot spots.

by Will Douglas Heaven
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Biotechnology

How to practice social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic

Not everyone can work from home or cease traveling. Here’s what you can do when circumstance forces you to be out and about during the COVID-19 outbreak.

by Tanya Basu and Karen Hao
2020-03-13T04:00:54-04:00

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Humans and Technology

How a ban on pro-Trump patterns unraveled the online knitting world

When knitting site Ravelry banned all pro-Trump content it caused a schism in the community—but it also shone a spotlight on how women are using niche sites to politicize.

by Tanya Basu
2020-03-06T05:30:01-05:00

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Humans and Technology

Your tweet could last just 24 hours with “fleets”

by Tanya Basu
2020-03-05T11:38:57-05:00

Freeman Dyson (center) with colleagues

Humans and Technology

Freeman Dyson remembered by people who knew him: “an unusual visionary”

Colleagues reflect on the life and work of the renowned physicist, who died last week.

by Edward Witten , Dwight Neuenschwander , Harold Feiveson , Arthur Jaffe , Elliott Lieb , and N.D. Hari Dass
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Humans and Technology

The WHO got on TikTok to teach teens about coronavirus

by Tanya Basu
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