The race is on for a covid-19 test you can take at home

This image could be the first direct evidence of a planet being born

Sponsored by Insight The Download Your daily dose of what’s up in emerging technology 05.21.20 Good morning! The race is on to produce home covid tests, the first image of a planet being born, and vaccines have protected monkeys against coronavirus. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. The race is on for a covid-19 test you can take at home   Peace of mind: If you have symptoms, you want to know if you have covid-19. But getting tested means going to a doctor or a drive-in clinic, and even then, a test can be hard to obtain. That’s why some companies are now trying to develop at-home genetic tests to spot the virus. One, Mammoth Biosciences, says it plans to have a disposable home test kit ready by year’s end. How it will work: The kit will use gene-editing tool CRISPR, thanks to its ability to zero in on very specific genetic information and then trigger a visible signal, similar to the bars that appear on a home pregnancy test. CRISPR is also quick, requires little machinery, and works on raw samples like spit or snot. But, but: It’s unclear how much home tests would really do to control the pandemic or limit new infections. People might not report results to the health authorities. They also might not get or follow medical advice about quarantining or alerting contacts. Read the full story.  —Antonio Regalado and Neel V. Patel This image could be the first direct evidence of a planet being born   The news: Astronomers have made what are possibly the first ever observations of a planet in the process of being born. The newly released images are of a very young star system called AB Aurigae, about 520 light-years away. They show a massive disc of swirling gas and dust. The disc features a prominent twist that could indicate where a new planet is forming. Read more about it.  —Neel V. Patel Vaccines have protected monkeys against covid-19 Studies on macaques suggest that infection with the coronavirus grants some immunity to catching it again—and that vaccines also seem to offer some protection. Becoming immune: First, researchers from Harvard University’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center infected nine monkeys with the coronavirus; they developed pneumonia, just as people do. Then, after five weeks, the researchers tried infecting them again, but this time the virus didn’t take hold. That means monkeys (and possibly people) are probably immune to the virus after they catch it, although how long immunity lasts remains an open question. Creating immunity: The group then tried out four different DNA vaccines on monkeys. The vaccines gave the 35 monkeys some protection from the virus—the ones that got a shot had much lower levels of virus in their respiratory tracts.  Growing evidence: Previously, two other vaccines, one from SinoVac in China and another developed by Oxford University, were also shown to protect monkeys. All told, it’s a strong signal a human vaccine could work.  —Antonio Regalado 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.)   + Taika Waititi, Chris Hemsworth and friends have been reading James and the Giant Peach to raise money for the charity Partners in Health.   + A conference call in real life.   + Walk through Brooklyn’s history.   + Kids—read these books during your very long summer.  Sponsor Message Top 10 strategic tech trends to keep in mind while you pivot While companies race to adopt solutions that support a zero-touch society, the undercurrent of emerging tech continues to swell as trends like multiexperience, distributed cloud, democratization and others gain greater relevance against the backdrop of today’s consumer and employee needs. Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2020 digs deep to help organizations understand and identify opportunities for business IT — even in the midst of disruption. Access the report to learn more. The top ten must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Apple and Google’s contact tracing tech has been released to 23 countries Now, will enough people use it? (TR)   + Why one US state will have two covid tracing apps. (TR) 2 Latin America has overtaken Europe and the US in new daily covid cases Brazil now has the third-largest outbreak in the world, behind the US and Russia. (Reuters) 3 The trajectory of coronavirus cases in each US state This data dashboard will be updated every day. (ProPublica)   + However some states—and the CDC—are muddying the figures by conflating viral and antibody tests. (The Atlantic)   + Maryland reopened—and coronavirus cases shot up after just four days. (Ars Technica)   + How one tiny town mounted one of the most advanced coronavirus testing efforts in America. (New Yorker $) 4 Who is most at risk of severe covid-19? The answer should shape post-lockdown measures. (The Economist $)   + Population density doesn’t account for covid outbreak severity. You need to think a lot smaller. (Wired $) 5 Facial recognition firms want to build “immunity passports”  Imagine trying to explain all of this to someone in 2000. Or 2019, for that matter. (Forbes)   + Estonia has started testing these sorts of passports for workplaces. (Reuters)   + Here’s why it may be a bad idea. (Nature) 6 Meet the astronauts SpaceX will launch to orbit next week 👨‍🚀 They will break several records when they do it. (The Verge) 7 Some students love remote learning Not everyone is well-suited to the school environment. (NYT $)   + But lots of students are being left behind as classes go online. (TR) 8 How video calling became a blessing—and a curse  We need it, yet we often hate it at the same time. (The Guardian)   + A man was sentenced to death in Singapore on a Zoom call. (Reuters) 9 Restaurants are going to be weird when they reopen 🍽️ Those that do reopen, that is.  (Axios) 10 How teen TikTok houses are handling lockdown Just imagine all the drama behind the scenes. (NYT $) We've partnered with Harvard Business Review to bring you EmTech Next.  Join us online June 8-10 to hear from experts on the forefront of change, navigating business disruption and technology innovation. Quote of the day “We’re like the chosen ones. We can go back into society, we can donate plasma, we are very valuable. But to people who are afraid of catching it, we are like pariahs.” —Health journalist Sheryl Kraft tells the New York Times that people who have survived covid-19 are being shunned by their friends and family. Top image credit: Getty Please send new-born stars 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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