Tick-killing pill shows promising results in human trial
If you have a dog or cat, chances are you’ve given your pet a flavored chewable tablet for tick prevention at some point. What if you could take a similar pill to protect yourself from getting Lyme disease? Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is developing such a pill for humans—minus the tasty flavoring—that could provide protection against the […]
Starbucks ditches its Odyssey NFT program
Update: Starbucks announced Friday that it’s discontinuing its NFT program, which was in beta, to “prepare for what comes next as we continue to evolve the program,” according to an FAQ page. We spoke with Steve Kaczynski, the program’s lead, on the Chain Reaction podcast last month. On Friday, he tweeted that his future […]
Senate slows bill that could ban TikTok after rapid House vote
After a bill calling for the forced sale or ban of TikTok blazed through the House, senators on Thursday dialed back the pace — urging cautious deliberation on an effort that could shutter an app used by more than 100 million U.S. users. The legislation represents a severe threat to the popular video-sharing app’s operations. […]
iOS 17.4: Siri Can Now Read Texts to You in More Languages. Here’s How
Apple released iOS 17.4 on March 5, and the update brought a handful of bug fixes and new features, like new emoji and more Stolen Device Protection options, to your iPhone. One of the latest features can be helpful for many people as it allows Siri to read texts back to you in languages other […]
TikTok Bill’s Progress Slows in the Senate
After a bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell the app or face a nationwide ban sailed through the House at breakneck speed this week, its progress has slowed in the Senate. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader who determines what legislation gets a vote, has not decided whether […]
How Zipline Designed Its Droid Delivery System
About a year ago, Zipline introduced Platform 2, an approach to precision urban drone delivery that combines a large hovering drone with a smaller package-delivery “Droid.” Lowered on a tether from the belly of its parent Zip drone, the Droid contains thrusters and sensors (plus a 2.5- to 3.5-kilogram payload) to reliably navigate itself to […]
The Global Danger of Boring Buildings
We need to make the exterior parts of buildings that people focus on more interesting, so that people want to protect rather than replace them. But most people aren’t architects or city planners—they can’t change the designs of what’s being made. Indeed, we have a public who feel utterly powerless, and a construction industry that […]