The UK has granted emergency approval for Pfizer/BioNTech’s covid-19 vaccine

Inside America's virtual eviction crisis 

Sponsored by Hitachi Vantara The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology A Zoom evictions crisis 12.02.20 Good morning! Today: the UK has become the first country to provide emergency authorization for a covid-19 vaccine, thousands of Americans are being kicked out of their homes over video calls, and cultured meat has been approved for consumers the first time, in Singapore. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. Inside America’s virtual eviction crisis  When Gabrielle Diamond and her boyfriend, Brian Cox, showed up for eviction court on October 15, they were more than a little nervous.  The two had been renting a bedroom since January. Almost as soon as they moved in, Diamond says, the issues started. The building was unclean and attracted mice, and the landlord would make unannounced weekly visits.  Then, this summer, they received a letter requesting that they move out in 30 days. But because of what they said were errors in the document, they continued to pay their rent and refused to leave. In September, their landlord escalated the issue, and they were served with court papers alleging they were in breach of their lease. October 15 would be their first court hearing, and because of the pandemic, they were told to appear via video conference.  Diamond and Cox are far from alone. The pandemic means that across America, eviction hearings that used to be handled only in physical courtrooms are now also taking place over video, or simply by phone conference. The result, say lawyers and tenants’ rights activists, is that an already problematic situation has become dramatically, tragically worse. Read the full story. —Eileen Guo The UK has granted emergency approval for Pfizer/BioNTech’s covid-19 vaccine The news: The UK’s regulator has approved Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine, making it the first country in the world to provide emergency authorization for a covid-19 vaccine. The UK had already signed an agreement to buy 40 million doses of the vaccine due to be delivered this year and in 2021, with the first batch set to arrive in the coming days. As the vaccine requires two doses, that is enough for 20 million people. The basis for the decision: The UK's Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) studied Pfizer and BioNTech’s data on a rolling basis as it came in from the trials, including data from the Phase 3 clinical trial, which found the vaccine to be 95% effective. Pfizer reported that there were no serious safety concerns related to the vaccine in its study.  A project like no other: Now the vaccine has been approved, the enormous task of distribution can start. A particular challenge posed by the vaccine is its need to be kept at -70°C. Pfizer and BioNTech have developed containers which use dry ice to keep the vaccine at these ultra-cold temperatures. The UK is on the precipice of the biggest vaccination campaign in its history, starting with elderly and vulnerable patients within days. Read the full story. Cultured meat has been approved for consumers for the first time The news: The first lab-grown meat product has been given the green light to be sold for human consumption. In the landmark approval, regulators in Singapore granted Just, a San Francisco–based startup, the right to sell cultured chicken—in the form of chicken nuggets—to the public. An as-yet-unnamed restaurant in Singapore will soon be the first to have Just’s cultured chicken nuggets on the menu. How it’s made: Most cultured meat is made in a similar way. Cells are taken from an animal, often via a biopsy. These cells are then fed a nutrient broth and placed in a bioreactor, where they multiply until there are enough to harvest for use in meatballs or nuggets. A slew of startups have been founded using variations on this approach. The significance: Singapore’s decision could kick-start the first wave of regulatory approvals around the world. Meat with much lower greenhouse gas emissions and zero animal suffering is really on its way.  Read the full story. —Niall Firth 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.)   + A rapper quit his music career to set up a cat rescue center. Speaking of cats (as I often do), meet Dean and Nala.   + Bath time for a baby elephant.   + Religious festivals in Sicily captured on camera. (WP $)   + Another one for the travel list… the beautiful village of Deià in Mallorca.   + Stunning aerial photography. Sponsor Message Succeed in tough times: Make a digital pivot Amid the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, organizations have had to reassess their digital transformation strategies and recalibrate, often speeding up planned technology projects to survive. It has forced companies to reformulate tech strategies and pivot to IT agility, resilience, and speed. 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 Keep on staying at home (if you can) There is genuine cause for optimism, but the reality in the US right now is still dire. (The Atlantic)   + How do we talk to people intent on engaging in risky behaviors? (Medium Coronavirus Blog)   + A US official says every American who wants a covid-19 vaccine will have one by June. (TR)   + The pandemic has revealed the US healthcare system to be not only unequal, but absurd. (Wired $)   + The CDC thinks covid-19 was already in the US in December. (WSJ $)   + The true number of infections in the US may already be over 50 million. (Bloomberg)  2 China’s Chang’e 5 mission has successfully landed on the moon 🚀 It will shortly begin drilling for lunar rocks and soil to bring back to Earth. (TR)   3 Massachusetts has banned facial recognition use by public agencies Meanwhile, the steady adoption of these systems continues at the federal level. (TechCrunch)   + Facial recognition is getting better at making matches around face masks. (CNET)   + Amazon wants to sell its employee-monitoring tech to other companies. (FT $)  4 The Arecibo radio telescope is no more 📡 It was set to be decommissioned anyway, but now it has fully collapsed. (Scientific American)   6 Facebook’s oversight board has started reviewing cases Topics include nudity, Nazism, covid-19 misinformation, and ethnic conflicts. (BBC)   + Facebook is renaming its Libra currency “Diem.” (Reuters)  7 The people who found love through online games 🎮😍 Aww. (Wired $)   + Researchers are studying why some gamers invert their controls. (The Guardian)   + Is gaming finally becoming accessible to disabled players? (FT $)  8 An AI tool syncs every “Bad Guy” cover in an endless video 🎵 Fun and slightly addictive. (The Next Web)   + Spotify has revealed 2020’s most-streamed songs. (BBC)  9 It seems aliens didn’t remove the Utah monolith after all Oh. Well, that’s disappointing. (NYT $)   + Now the metal monolith in Romania has disappeared too. (Vice)  10 Biden’s grandkids are on Twitter and TikTok Watch out. (NPR) Take the survey: The global AI agenda 2021. “The global AI agenda” is a five-year research program by MIT Technology Review, seeking to chart how enterprises are using AI technology. This year, covid-19 has led to unprecedented disruption, and this 10-minute survey focuses on how big data and AI will help forge a path toward recovery. We’re also interested in how businesses are reevaluating data privacy and citizen consent to AI practices. Take the survey now. Top image credit: JOHN MOORE | GETTY IMAGES Please send dry ice 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 The power of the cloud Join us virtually | February 10-11, 2021 Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142 Want to change how you receive these emails? 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