Here’s what we have to do to show a coronavirus vaccine works

Robots could help save your local store from going out of business

Sponsored by Supermicro The Download Your daily dose of what’s up in emerging technology 05.26.20 Good morning! Today: this is what we'll have to do to prove a coronavirus vaccine works, and how robots could help smaller stores survive. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. Here’s what we have to do to show a coronavirus vaccine works Racing ahead: The moonshot program to come up with a vaccine against covid-19 is advancing faster than anyone could have hoped. At least four have been shown to protect monkeys, and three of those are already being given to brave human volunteers. The aim is a vaccine by January, and money is no object. It’s all good news. But the next hurdle is the biggest one: proving that a vaccine candidate actually works. What’s coming: Researchers will launch several huge efficacy studies involving thousands of volunteers this summer. This is going to be the most costly part of testing a vaccine, and also the hardest to speed up. That’s because researchers will have to wait for people in the study to get accidentally infected with the virus, and then check how often those given the vaccine get sick. A good problem to have: With covid-19 getting beaten back in cities like New York, successful efforts to suppress the disease could perversely make it harder to test a vaccine. The irony is that the process will go faster if the covid-19 outbreak keeps flaring up. Potential setbacks: There are also warnings that even if everything goes perfectly and we find a vaccine (or vaccines) in an unprecedentedly short timeframe, there could be delays in manufacturing it at scale, and persuading enough people to get the shot. Read the full story.  —Antonio Regalado Robots could help save your local store from going out of business Coming to your local store: Big online stores like Amazon and Ocado are based around vast automated warehouses. Robots keep costs down and make order fulfillment quicker and more accurate. Now, given a series of lockdowns that could go on for months or even years, this kind of automation could be key if smaller retailers are to survive. The way we shop is changing: the future of retail automation is smaller, closer to home, and more flexible.  The danger: According to the US Department of Commerce, retail sales in the US fell by 16.4% last month—the worst drop since reporting began in 1992. Many physical stores have closed. But it’s not all bad news. Others are seeing their online business explode and finding it hard to meet demand. The biggest shift is in groceries. “It’s as if e-commerce jumped ahead five years,” says Vince Martinelli, CEO of Right Hand Robotics, a US firm that installs robotic arms.  The upshot: Smaller retailers are benefiting from the way the big guns have changed the field in recent years, operating vast out-of-town fulfilment centers filled with thousands of robots, managed by a central AI. Read the full story.  —Will Douglas Heaven  We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + Light streaming through Westminster Abbey’s stained glass window.   + Watch Brene Brown’s uplifting commencement speech to UT Austin graduates.   + A bird explaining how to cross a road to a hedgehog.   + These kids are too clever for this world.   + Thanks David Moreno for sending in this video of a cat with incredible goalkeeping skills.   + Puppies snow tubing.   + An entire website dedicated to exploring why McMansions are so awful.   + Andrew Scott, bathed in sunlight, reading Everything is Going to be All Right by Derek Mahon.  Sponsor Message Watch Now - Supermicro 5G Live Forum Learn about the latest server and solution innovations for 5G and Telco operators from Supermicro. Our 5G Live Forum event brought together key technologists from Supermicro, Intel®, software partners, and leading international telecom providers to present and discuss the latest solutions and innovations in telecommunications infrastructure from the RAN to the Edge to the Cloud. Watch Now: 1. Supermicro 5G Live Forum – Infrastructure Innovation  2. Partner Showcase: T-Systems EdgAIR Collaboration  3. Partner Showcase: Telefónica Open RAN Initiative  4. Supermicro Solutions for the 5G Micro Data Center  5. Breakout: 5G Core Terabit Traffic Demo  6. Breakout: O-RAN Solution for 5G  7. Breakout: Smart Edge and CERA for Advanced MEC  The top ten must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 This is SpaceX’s big chance to really make history The launch tomorrow will be the first crewed space mission from American soil in years. (TR)   + How to watch it. (Wired $)   + Virgin Orbit's rocket has failed on its first attempt to get into space. (TR) 2 The stories of the 100,000 people who have died in the US An incomprehensible, impossibly sad loss, each one leaving behind grieving families. (NYT $)   + Elderly minorities have been hit particularly hard. (Quartz)   + The virus is sweeping through the Navajo Nation. (Wired $)   + Brazil’s daily death toll has now surpassed the US’s. (Reuters)   + How long are people with covid-19 contagious for? (BGR) 3 How Australia’s covid app went from essential to irrelevant This looks like a trajectory a lot of countries are on. (The Guardian)   + Watch out for contact tracing app scams. (Wired $)   + China plans to make health tracking on smartphones permanent. (WSJ $)   + This database lets you compare each country’s app at a glance. (TR) 4 How did Japan beat the virus without lockdowns or mass testing? Manual contact tracing, early data, public awareness, and clear communication from medical experts. (Bloomberg) 5 The antimalarial drug Trump took for covid might actually be dangerous It not only doesn’t offer any benefit, but can increase the risk of heart problems. (TR)   + The WHO has suspended a hydroxychloroquine trial over safety fears. (The Guardian) 6 Sweden wasted a rare chance to study coronavirus in schools Unlike most countries, it has kept its schools open throughout the pandemic. (Science) 7 Muslims celebrated the end of Eid… in Animal Crossing 🎇 But of course. (Vice)   + The joy of mundane job simulation games. (The Guardian) 8 Lockdown is playing havoc with teens’ sleep schedules To be fair, this feels like it pre-dates the pandemic. (WSJ $)   + Meet Charli D’Amelio, a 16-year-old girl from Ohio who is TikTok’s biggest star. (WP $) 9 Hong Kong shows what eating out will be like in future 🍽️ Measures like temperature checks, dividers, and time limits will become commonplace. (The Atlantic) 10 Astronomers have found a donut- shaped galaxy 11 billion lightyears away They described it as a “cosmic ring of fire.” (CNN) How will you adapt your strategy and your workforce when unprovoked changes upend your business and your market? Join our upcoming virtual conference, EmTech Next, hosted in partnership with Harvard Business Review, for actionable advice as you chart your path forward in these uncertain times.  Quote of the day “We’re not essential, we’re expendable.” —Denita Jones, a call-center worker in Dallas, tells The Guardian that the lifting of lockdown will disproportionately hurt black people. Please send McMansions to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? 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