The hard part of connecting a gooey, thinking brain to a cold, one-ing and zero-ing computer is getting information through your thick skull—or mine, or anyone’s. The whole point of a skull, after all, is keeping a brain safely separate from [waves hands at everything].So if that brain isn’t yours, the only way to tell what’s going on inside it is inference. People make very educated guesses based on what that brain tells a body to do—like, if the body makes some noises that you can understand (that’s speech) or moves around in a recognizable way. That’s a problem for people trying to...…The hard part of connecting a gooey, thinking brain to a cold, one-ing and zero-ing computer is getting information through your thick skull—or mine, or anyone’s. The whole point of a skull, after all, is keeping a brain safely separate from [waves hands at everything].So if that brain isn’t yours, the only way to tell what’s going on inside it is inference. People make very educated guesses based on what that brain tells a body to do—like, if the body makes some noises that you can understand (that’s speech) or moves around in a recognizable way. That’s a problem for people trying to...WW…

This pandemic—the , the virus SARS-CoV-2—is not Singapore’s first epidemiological nightmare. In 2002 and 2003, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the original SARS, tore out of China and through Asia, in Singapore and sparking wholesale revisions to the city-state’s public health system. “They realized they wanted to invest for the future to reduce that economic cost if the same thing were to happen again,” says Martin Hibberd, an infectious disease researcher now at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who worked in Singapore on SARS.So Singapore instituted new travel...…This pandemic—the , the virus SARS-CoV-2—is not Singapore’s first epidemiological nightmare. In 2002 and 2003, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the original SARS, tore out of China and through Asia, in Singapore and sparking wholesale revisions to the city-state’s public health system. “They realized they wanted to invest for the future to reduce that economic cost if the same thing were to happen again,” says Martin Hibberd, an infectious disease researcher now at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who worked in Singapore on SARS.So Singapore instituted new travel...WW…

to the meeting last month with very good data. A clinical trials expert at McMaster University, Mills was new results from a trial that is looking at how well half a dozen different drugs treat Covid-19—not for the people so sick they’re in the emergency room or the hospital, but in people whose symptoms haven’t gotten that bad yet. People sick at home, in other words.At his online talk, put on by the National Institutes of Health, Mills’ slides told the tale: A reduced the relative risk of mild Covid getting worse by nearly 30 percent. The drug is , a selective serotonin reuptake...…to the meeting last month with very good data. A clinical trials expert at McMaster University, Mills was new results from a trial that is looking at how well half a dozen different drugs treat Covid-19—not for the people so sick they’re in the emergency room or the hospital, but in people whose symptoms haven’t gotten that bad yet. People sick at home, in other words.At his online talk, put on by the National Institutes of Health, Mills’ slides told the tale: A reduced the relative risk of mild Covid getting worse by nearly 30 percent. The drug is , a selective serotonin reuptake...WW…

researchers announced that they’d found an hiding aboard the International Space Station. And they were cool with that.In fact, for an organization known for a sophisticated public communications strategy—Mars rovers don’t write their own tweets, is what I’m saying—everyone was pretty quiet about this discovery.Almost too quiet.It’s true that the new life wasn’t, say, a xenomorphic alien with acid for blood. It was a novel species of bacteria, unknown on Earth but whose genes identified it as coming from a familiar terrestrial genus called Methylobacterium. Typically its members like to...…researchers announced that they’d found an hiding aboard the International Space Station. And they were cool with that.In fact, for an organization known for a sophisticated public communications strategy—Mars rovers don’t write their own tweets, is what I’m saying—everyone was pretty quiet about this discovery.Almost too quiet.It’s true that the new life wasn’t, say, a xenomorphic alien with acid for blood. It was a novel species of bacteria, unknown on Earth but whose genes identified it as coming from a familiar terrestrial genus called Methylobacterium. Typically its members like to...WW…

ready to retire. This was 2011; he was teaching computer science in Chicago by then, but that was really just the capstone on a legendary career in software. In 1979, Pelczarski wrote Magic Paintbrush, an artmaking program for the Apple II, the first personal computer capable of color. He started Penguin Software two years later to publish classics like Graphics Magician, and in the late 1980s he went on to develop music software, create a CD-ROM precursor to Google Maps, and play steel drums with Jimmy Buffett. It’s safe to say that computers look and sound the way they do, at least a...…ready to retire. This was 2011; he was teaching computer science in Chicago by then, but that was really just the capstone on a legendary career in software. In 1979, Pelczarski wrote Magic Paintbrush, an artmaking program for the Apple II, the first personal computer capable of color. He started Penguin Software two years later to publish classics like Graphics Magician, and in the late 1980s he went on to develop music software, create a CD-ROM precursor to Google Maps, and play steel drums with Jimmy Buffett. It’s safe to say that computers look and sound the way they do, at least a...WW…

of connecting a gooey, thinking brain to a cold, one-ing and zero-ing computer is getting information through your thick skull—or mine, or anyone’s. The whole point of a skull, after all, is keeping a brain safely separate from [waves hands at everything].So if that brain isn’t yours, the only way to tell what’s going on inside it is inference. People make very educated guesses based on what that brain tells a body to do—like, if the body makes some noises that you can understand (that’s speech) or moves around in a recognizable way. That’s a problem for people trying to understand how the...…of connecting a gooey, thinking brain to a cold, one-ing and zero-ing computer is getting information through your thick skull—or mine, or anyone’s. The whole point of a skull, after all, is keeping a brain safely separate from [waves hands at everything].So if that brain isn’t yours, the only way to tell what’s going on inside it is inference. People make very educated guesses based on what that brain tells a body to do—like, if the body makes some noises that you can understand (that’s speech) or moves around in a recognizable way. That’s a problem for people trying to understand how the...WW…

that goes back to 1880 and a reputation for publishing world-changing research, the journal Science is the apex predator of academic publishing. Getting an article past its gatekeepers and peer reviewers can make a researcher's career; the journal's news section is a model for high-level reporting on everything from quarks to viruses to blue whales to galactic clusters. Along with its competitors Cell and Nature, the journal represents not just new knowledge but also the cultural mores of the world it covers—innovation, integrity, accuracy, rectitude, fealty to data.So it’s surprising (but...…that goes back to 1880 and a reputation for publishing world-changing research, the journal Science is the apex predator of academic publishing. Getting an article past its gatekeepers and peer reviewers can make a researcher's career; the journal's news section is a model for high-level reporting on everything from quarks to viruses to blue whales to galactic clusters. Along with its competitors Cell and Nature, the journal represents not just new knowledge but also the cultural mores of the world it covers—innovation, integrity, accuracy, rectitude, fealty to data.So it’s surprising (but...WW…

at the US Military Academy last weekend, President Donald Trump appeared lethargic and occasionally slurred words. He seemed to have to his lips, and apparently leading away from his dais.The images caught fire on and in the . What might have been a nothingburger for any other elderly, overweight gentleman a day shy of his 74th birthday turned into a news peg—and for renewed demands that the president release results from a comprehensive physical examination, including a neurological assessment to determine if he had motor or cognitive disabilities.Well, here is a counterproposal: Nobody...…at the US Military Academy last weekend, President Donald Trump appeared lethargic and occasionally slurred words. He seemed to have to his lips, and apparently leading away from his dais.The images caught fire on and in the . What might have been a nothingburger for any other elderly, overweight gentleman a day shy of his 74th birthday turned into a news peg—and for renewed demands that the president release results from a comprehensive physical examination, including a neurological assessment to determine if he had motor or cognitive disabilities.Well, here is a counterproposal: Nobody...WW…

disease Covid-19, the virus SARS-CoV-2—is not Singapore’s first epidemiological nightmare. In 2002 and 2003, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the original SARS, tore out of China and through Asia, in Singapore and sparking wholesale revisions to the city-state’s public health system. “They realized they wanted to invest for the future, to reduce that economic cost if the same thing were to happen again,” says Martin Hibberd, an infectious disease researcher now at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who worked in Singapore on SARS.So Singapore instituted new travel controls...…disease Covid-19, the virus SARS-CoV-2—is not Singapore’s first epidemiological nightmare. In 2002 and 2003, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, the original SARS, tore out of China and through Asia, in Singapore and sparking wholesale revisions to the city-state’s public health system. “They realized they wanted to invest for the future, to reduce that economic cost if the same thing were to happen again,” says Martin Hibberd, an infectious disease researcher now at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who worked in Singapore on SARS.So Singapore instituted new travel controls...WW…

on Thursday what President Donald Trump called a “phased and deliberate approach” to lifting the social-distancing requirements intended to slow the spread of the pandemic disease Covid-19 in the US. At least three are already trying to work out their own approaches to reviving their economies—something the president initially said wasn’t up to them, before recanting—and the White House plan, finally released into the wild, still seems to be playing catch-up. Surprisingly, it aligns with the ideas those state coalitions have already discussed, but it lacks specific guidance on how to...…on Thursday what President Donald Trump called a “phased and deliberate approach” to lifting the social-distancing requirements intended to slow the spread of the pandemic disease Covid-19 in the US. At least three are already trying to work out their own approaches to reviving their economies—something the president initially said wasn’t up to them, before recanting—and the White House plan, finally released into the wild, still seems to be playing catch-up. Surprisingly, it aligns with the ideas those state coalitions have already discussed, but it lacks specific guidance on how to...WW…