As the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 continues its relentless spread across the globe—the World Health Organization officially declared it a pandemic Wednesday—governments have been struggling mightily to get the crisis under control. Their ultimate goal isn’t to stop the virus in its tracks, as cases have already spread too widely for that, but to “flatten the…
Is It Time for an Elbow Bump Emoji?
Before all the classes got canceled, Stephen Paul Wright, an art director in New York City, went to an OrangeTheory studio for a workout. The instructors have a habit of high-fiving everyone as they walk in, but this time, it was all elbow bumps. No one wanted to touch each other, even if they wanted…
Wash Your Hands—but Beware the Electric Hand Dryer
The spread of Covid-19 has turned us into a nation of hand-washing obsessives, citizens who vigorously interlace our fingers and circle-scrub our thumbs with an exacting, anxiety-fueled intensity. But it’s not over when you flip off the faucet: Drying your hands matters too, because damp skin provides a hospitable environment for microorganisms and, as a…
How Wikipedia Prevents the Spread of Coronavirus Misinformation
“This edit was VERY poor,” wrote James Heilman, an emergency room doctor in British Columbia, to a Wikipedia contributor who had made a couple of changes toward the end of the article on the new coronavirus outbreak. Those edits recommended a special type of mask for blocking the transmission of the virus from those who…
WIRED’s Video Guide to Extreme Indoor Activities
Though it’s necessary to stay home and minimize person-to-person contact during a pandemic, the inescapable reality of “sheltering in place” is: It’s boring. The trick is to defeat the dullness. At WIRED, we’ve always loved a good indoor activity, and we’ve made lots of videos over the years of master-class practitioners doing everything from building…
The Problem With Trump’s Triage Testing
Triage entered the lexicon of the coronavirus era last Friday, when President Donald Trump claimed that Google is working on a tool to determine who’s eligible for testing. In this case, only people who display serious symptoms will be able to get a test for the novel coronavirus. But triage—or targeted—testing is the wrong approach…
In Human Nature, Crispr’s Origin Story Comes to Life
Midday light streams through the windows of the Stanford Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, California. In a bed too big for his child-sized body, David Sanchez sleeps among a tangle of tubes plugged into a port in his chest. A machine nearby draws blood out of his veins, exchanging his deformed red blood cells for…
A Travel Ban, Gig Economy Risks, and More Car News This Week
Well, that was fast. For plenty of Americans, last week began with the regular old commute to school or work and ended with canceled semesters, robust “work from home policies,” fears about making next month’s rent, and canceled events—everything from weddings to concerts to (it hurts!) baseball’s opening day. The coronavirus pandemic has reordered the…
A Star’s Auroras Light the Way to a New Exoplanet
Jupiter’s moon Io—the solar system’s most volcanic world—has inspired a new way to find distant exoplanets. As the moon orbits Jupiter, it tugs on the planet’s magnetic field, generating bright auroras in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Even if we couldn’t see Io itself, the enormous auroras, pulsing to the beat of a hidden orbiting body, would tell…
How to Clean Your Smartphone and Keyboard the Right Way
It’s always a good idea to maintain good hygiene, but especially so in the midst of the ongoing spread of Covid-19. But while you’re hopefully already washing your hands—and not touching your face—make sure to extend those efforts to the phones, tablets, and laptops you handle every day.The science shows that bacteria are very happy…