A group of 239 scientists say there’s growing evidence covid-19 is airborne

If you're over 75, catching covid-19 can be like playing Russian roulette

Sponsored by Dell Technologies The Download Your daily dose of what’s up in emerging technology 07.07.20 Good morning! Today: a group of 239 scientists say there's growing evidence the virus is airborne, and catching covid-19 is like playing Russian roulette for the over-75s. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. A group of 239 scientists say there’s growing evidence covid-19 is airborne   The news: 239 scientists from 32 countries have written an open letter to the World Health Organization arguing that covid-19 can be transmitted through the air. You might think we know that already but most current guidance is around covid-19 being transmitted via droplets expelled from an infected person’s nose or mouth. The thought is that these larger respiratory droplets quickly drop to the floor. That's the position the WHO has taken a position from early on in the pandemic and that’s why we have been keeping at a distance from one other. However, the signatories of the open letter say that the organization is underestimating the role of airborne transmission, where much smaller droplets (called aerosols) stay suspended in the air. What’s the evidence? The letter says that multiple studies “have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking, and coughing in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in air.” An early laboratory study carried out by the National Institute of Health found that the coronavirus can linger in the air for up to four hours in aerosol form.  The implications: If airborne transmission is a route for the spread of the virus, it could lead to changes in the current advice. It would suggest that social distancing may be insufficient, especially indoors. This may place yet more importance on mask-wearing. Read the full story. If you’re over 75, catching covid-19 can be like playing Russian roulette Reasons to stay home: Are you hiding from covid-19? Our biomedicine editor Antonio Regalado is. The reason is simple: the high chance of death from the virus. Last week a report from the New York City health department and Columbia University estimated that on average, between March and May, the chance of dying if you get infected by SARS-CoV-2 was 1.45%. That’s higher than your lifetime chance of getting killed in a car wreck. The biggest risk: Your odds of dying from covid-19 depend on things like location, sex, and underlying health conditions. But the biggest factor is age. For someone like Antonio’s mother, in the over 75 age bracket, the chance of death can range as high as 17%. That’s roughly 1 in 6, or the chance you’ll lose at Russian roulette. For Antonio, his chance of dying if he gets coronavirus is probably three times his annual all-cause risk. Current trends: At the current rate of spread—40,000 confirmed cases a day (and maybe five to 10 times that in reality)—it’s only two years until most people in the US have been infected. It means we’re pointed toward what, since the outset, has been seen as the worst-case scenario: a couple of hundred million infected and a quarter-million deaths. If you want to calculate your own death risk, you can do so at covid19survivalcalculator.com. Read the full story. 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.)   + Incredible portraits from India.   + These artists in France create artworks best appreciated from the sky.   + How Talking Heads created “Burning Down the House.”   + How dogs apologize (and how they react when they land on a trampoline.)   + An amazed owl. Sponsor Message Pandemic reveals opportunities for 5G connectivity "5G has been in development for quite some time with a belief that certain capabilities would be necessary, but it wasn't always clear to people what those things were and why we needed them. In the last 90 days, people have started to realize that there are deficiencies and that technologies like 5G can help solve them." —Says John Roese, President and CTO of Products and Operations at Dell Technologies, at the EmTech Next virtual event on June 9, 2020 Learn more here. The top ten must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 If the virus can float around indoors, this is how to protect yourself   + Masks, ventilation, and avoiding crowded indoor spaces like bars. (NYT $)   + Five pressing questions that remain about the virus. (Nature)   + Former WHO director Anthony Costello on where governments have gone wrong in their response to the pandemic. (The Guardian) 2 How covid-19 will change the next five years Views from people working in academia, business, food, science, media, and tech. (Quartz) 3 This is what reopening is doing to our brains 🧠 In the absence of clear guidance from the top, we turn on each other. (The Atlantic) 4 Tracking coronavirus outbreaks across Europe Good quality subnational, localized data is becoming increasingly important. (The Economist $)   + The reproduction number, and what it can and can’t tell us. (Nature) 5 Trump, Twitter, Facebook and the future of online speech Why the debate of Section 230 and free speech is outdated. (New Yorker) 6 Why time feels so wacky this year 🕒 These tests illustrate how fickle our memories really are. (Reuters) 7 Google, Twitter and Facebook have stopped handing over user data in Hong Kong They’re concerned about China’s imposition of a national security law on the city. (WSJ $)   + TikTok is exiting the Hong Kong market. (Reuters) 8 Elon Musk is getting into the online learning market A wacky new school is set to start offering once-a-week classes for $7,500. (The Daily Beast) 9 What’s going wrong with Quibi? The video platform has “slow-motion car crash” written all over it. (Vulture) 10 A mystery shopper is leaving behind thousands of online shopping carts “John Smith” is in fact a bot built by Google, but he’s playing havoc with e-commerce data analytics. (WSJ $) Our world has hit an inflection point. Now is the time to reset, rethink, and rebuild. Join us online at EmTech MIT, our annual flagship event on emerging technologies and trends that you can leverage to help you lead with innovation. Register now. Quote of the Day “No country is reliably insulated from a highly contagious virus as long as it persists anywhere.” —Former politicians Robert E. Rubin and David Miliband explain why it’s in rich countries’ best interests to help poorer ones to combat covid-19 in an article for the New York Times. Top image credit: GETTY Please send trampolining dogs 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? Sign up for free Leading with Innovation. Join us online, October 19-22. *View this in a browser You received this newsletter because you  Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog subscribed with your email address                                      *Edit email preferences   |   *Unsubscribe from all emails Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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