With its promise of taming the ravages of stomach acid, ranitidine—best known under the brand name Zantac—was counted among the agents of pharmaceutical salvation, the enduring and reliable drugs that treat intractable diseases and make daily life more tolerable. In 1987, Zantac became the most-prescribed drug in the world.But last week ranitidine was essentially erased…
Helen hasn’t taken a day off in weeks. Since the novel coronavirus crisis began, she’s taken countless trips to the grocery store as an Instacart shopper, ferrying bags of food to people for what amounts to a little more than minimum wage. Recently, a group of Instacart shoppers staged a nationwide strike, demanding that the…
The time has come to start covering your face. As we reported April 3, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends all citizens voluntarily wear a cloth face mask for essential trips out of the house to the grocery store, doctor, or other public places where the 6-foot social distancing rules may…
One of the coolest things about infrared cameras is that you can point them at a scene and get a visual image of how hot or cold things are. So … what if those things are humans? Could you use an IR camera, for instance, to check people at an airplane gate for possible Covid-19…
It’s great that Facebook, Twitter, and other large social media companies are doing what they’re doing to prevent the spread of misinformation around Covid-19. Sure, Facebook is still ignoring what’s shared in private groups and has co-hosted a town hall with Fox News; sure, Google’s efforts to ban Covid-19 advertising will play right into Donald…
It started with one doctor. On January 22, Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws published an interview with Kris Van Kerckhoven, a general practitioner from Putte, near Antwerp. “5G is life-threatening, and no one knows it,” read the headline. One scientifically baseless claim in this article, published in a regional version of the paper’s print edition…
Governments around the world are racing to adopt new surveillance tools in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many are green-lighting dragnet monitoring systems, seeking real-time location data from mobile providers or deploying facial recognition and other emerging technologies. These steps may usher in a long-term expansion of the surveillance state. Covid-19 has arrived after two…
Hello, and welcome to another edition of The Monitor, WIRED’s breakdown of the week’s big entertainment news. Today on the roundup, we actually have some news that’s not related to the coronavirus, which is a nice change of pace. We also have some news that’s very much related to Covid-19. But first, let’s go to…
Highlight Reel is Kotaku’s regular roundup of amazing plays, stunts, records, and other great moments from around the gaming world. Please check out the original videos in the links below, and send us your favorite clips to highlightreel@kotaku.com. To submit, either send us a link to your video on YouTube, a game DVR, Streamable, Twitch,…
The Chevy Dude beats official GM acceleration estimates in his personal C8. If you believe manufacturer estimates, the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8 can hit 60 miles per hour in 3 seconds. That’s an incredible feat for a vehicle whose base price is just under $60,000, and that estimate might even be a bit conservative, if…
