In January 2020, when the coronavirus started making headlines around the world, Jane McGonigal’s inbox was flooded with emails from Silicon Valley execs, government officials, and nonprofit leaders. They all had the same question: “Jane, didn’t you run a simulation of a respiratory pandemic?”
Yes, she had. All the way back in 2010.
McGonigal is a game designer. She builds simulations that help players imagine the unimaginable. And in 2010, she invite
If you subscribe to Amazon Prime, you’re probably doing it for the two-day shipping, the free video content, and . . . well, maybe that’s about it.
But Amazon is a big company with a bevy of offerings, many of which are hard to find—including a bunch of other free stuff you get with your Prime membership.
Here’s a look at some of the best freebies you’re entitled to beyond fast shipping, movies, and TV shows.
Amazon Music
Amazon
Elon Musk’s standoff with Twitter over data regarding bot accounts has taken a new twist.
The social media site agreed on Wednesday to meet Musk’s demands for access to its full data stream,
Over the past year, more than 10 million people have activated LinkedIn’s Creator Mode. The setting, launched last fall, gives users access to content creation and live streaming tools including LinkedIn Live and newsletters. Today, LinkedIn expands its creator tool offerings by debuting audio events and profile enhancements, pivoting the professional networking platform further into the creator economy. Emerging from six months of beta-testing, LinkedIn’s audio events gives users
A Google employee has given us greater insights into the mathematical mystery that is pi (also known to many of us as 3.14). Using the company’s cloud computing services, Google Cloud developer advocate Emma Haruka Iwao was able to calculate the first 100 trillion digits of the mathematical constant, making her the first person ever to know the 100 trillionth digit (it’s a zero). Google is now working with Guinness World Records to officially verify her accomplishment. It’s
There are some 200,000 blind people in Israel. Though those citizens must navigate an at times difficult post-pandemic world (as is this case with visually impaired people everywhere), there’s at least one place—albeit an unlikely one—where conditions have actually improved since the start of the pandemic: McDonald’s, the largest chain restaurant in the country. Earlier this month, the fast food behemoth announced an extended partnership with RightHear, an Israel-base
Some 400 years after the original Mayflower sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, its unmanned robotic descendant has completed the first transatlantic crossing solely on its own decision-making. After seven years of planning and 40 days at sea, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS400) finally pulled into Halifax, Nova Scotia, on June 5 after a 3,500-mile journey from Plymouth, U.K. Originally headed to Washington, D.C., the ship—which is propelled by a solar-driven hybrid electric motor and ba
Today, the Supreme Court settled a long-standing split among lower courts about which kinds of transportation workers qualify for a federal limit on forced arbitration—and, surprisingly, the justices voted unanimously to expand that class of workers. The case at hand involved an airplane cargo supervisor, Latrice Saxon, who took Southwest Airlines to court for overtime issues back in 2019. Southwest argued she couldn’t do that because she was bound by an arbitration agreement. Saxo
The practice of medicine often requires making the most of a tragic situation, learning from illness to help people stay healthy. Look no further than the act of organ donation. The donor’s selfless act can transform a loss into hope for the sickest patients—those identified most in need of an organ transplant by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the nation’s transplant system. Every organ donor has the potential to save up to eight lives and improve quality
The rise of online transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic has been well documented. In 2021, digital payments increased by 14% in the U.S. Since 2019, U.S. e-commerce has grown by more than 50%. The amount of money that changes hands digitally each year around the world is now north of $5 billion. These numbers are staggering, but the story is familiar: Payments are undergoing a revolution from physical to digital. Less well-documented, perhaps, is the corresponding rise in digital payments f