Coronavirus News (230)

 A New Breakthrough Just Brought City-Wide Quantum Communication Into Reach 

An Army of Microscopic Robots Is Ready to Patrol Your Body

How Firms Can Become More Resilient in the New Normal

Getting the Job Done: How Immigrants Expand the U.S. Economy

What Will the World Look Like in 2030?

Oxford Scientists: These Are Final Steps We’re Taking to Get Our Coronavirus Vaccine Approved

Yes, COVID-19 Kills Younger Adults, Too — "A life-threatening disease for people of all ages"

Coronavirus has sped up the digital revolution, with China leading the way From live-streaming sales to building lasting business relationships online to adopting AI in manufacturing, Chinese companies have risen to the challenge of the pandemic and offer the rest of the world a glimpse of the future

With Shenzhen poised in the wings, is Hong Kong’s time in the sun over after protests, Covid-19 pandemic and US-China row? Hong Kong’s premier position has weakened in the past year as it was rocked by months-long civil unrest and hit by economic recession amid pandemic Shenzhen appeals to investors, start-ups, but experts say former British colony still has the edge, for now

China’s inward-facing ‘dual circulation’ strategy leaves many wondering where domestic demand will come from A lack of purchasing power among the people is flying in the face of Beijing’s economic plan to create a massive domestic market to curb nation’s reliance on exports Beneath surface of China’s weak consumer spending is a national wealth-distribution system that favours the state and the wealthy instead of average households

Covid-19: A bad flu season colliding with the pandemic could be overwhelming 

Experts project autumn surge in coronavirus cases, with a peak after Election Day

AMERICANS’ TEETH ARE CRACKING IN HUGE NUMBERS DENTISTS ARE BUSIER THAN EVER DURING THE PANDEMIC. HERE'S WHY.

Gene-Hacked “Bodybuilder” Mice Stayed Ripped on Space Station Eventually, they want to try the same genetic modification on human astronauts.

Facebook wants its AR glasses to give wearers superhearing

AngelList pioneers rolling VC funds in pivot to SaaS

Peloton is betting you'll never go back to the gym

Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving Capability' falls short of its name

Coronavirus: what does suspension of Oxford-AstraZeneca trials tell us about vaccine development? Independent committee must investigate any possible link between participant’s unexplained illness and the trial vaccine Thousands have received test vaccine and the company plans to enrol up to 50,000 volunteers worldwide for the last stage of trials

India-China border: Tibetans at Pangong Tso race to help amid warnings military face-off could take ‘any trajectory’ Families of those who fled after Beijing sent troops into Tibet in 1950 are now helping New Delhi supply its forward bases in the icy heights of Ladakh Soldiers from both sides are reportedly in eyeball-to-eyeball proximity as foreign ministers Wang Yi and S. Jaishankar are expected to meet in Moscow

China debates cutting US access to drugs as hostilities spike Some government advisers say China should cut drug exports to the US if Washington increases sanctions Others contend it could be immoral and speed up relocation of US pharmaceutical firms out of China

China-India border dispute: armed parachute drills by elite PLA forces point to military build-up CCTV reports over 300 Chinese troops conducted a jump over the Tibetan Plateau Drawing on elite forces from various units for high-altitude airdrops suggests China is preparing for potential conflict, analyst says

How does the COVID recession compare? 

Coronavirus News (229)

 Why Is the Stock Market So Strong When the Economy Is Weak?  the U.S. economy shrank 31.7% in the April-June quarter .........  the apparent disconnect between the stock market and the economy ........  we may have situations “where the stock prices may predict something that is going to be different from what we see right now.” .........  “What the Fed is doing right now is unprecedented,” he continued. The Fed has continued on the trajectory of low interest rates since mid-2019, but also pressed on with its “quantitative easing” approach to inject liquidity into the financial system, which it had used in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. “In recent months, it is not only doing the traditional quantitative easing of buying treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, but also continuing to buy other assets like corporate bonds, which is something that the Fed has not done before.” .............  The prices of assets are “mechanically pushed up” by the Fed’s act of purchasing them .......... the stock markets are factoring in expectations that the U.S. economy will rebound 20% or more in the current third quarter, with the lifting of lockdowns and resumption of modest economic activity in many parts of the country. ............  the stocks that are doing very well – Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix – haven’t been hurt that much by the current economic conditions. Some of them maybe have benefited from them. They are very dominant in the stock market, but they are not necessarily representing the economy as a whole ............... small businesses have no access to the stock market…. You see they are closing down. They are firing people, and so on, but you don’t see any reflection of those particular businesses in the stock market. .............  part of what’s going on is the fact that stock prices are forward-looking, so maybe they are seeing something optimistic. But it could be that they are missing some negative signals, and maybe those negative signals will come back to hit the market soon ............ Amid all those liquidity infusions are worries that the federal debt will balloon to unmanageable proportions ..............  The stock market is a prediction machine in the short term, a weighing machine in the long term. ........ I’m expecting the black swan style blow up to make the current pandemic and civil unrest look like a vacation.   

Ventilator Maker: We Can Ramp Up Production Five-Fold

America Is Going Hungry

Experts warn U.S. covid-19 deaths could more than double by year’s end  The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic could triple by year’s end, with an additional 1.9 million deaths, while a fall wave of infections could drive fatalities in the United States to 410,000 ......... cooler, drier weather and increased time spent indoors could boost viral transmission in the Northern Hemisphere surge this fall and winter — something typically seen with other respiratory viruses. ..........  The best-case scenario is 288,381 deaths and worst-case is 620,029 ....... The scenarios pivot on human behavior and public policy. The best-case scenario would result from near-universal mask-wearing and the maintenance of social distancing and government mandates limiting the size of indoor gatherings. The worst-case scenario assumes that people and their communities stop taking precautions.