Italy marks books as an “essential good” during the coronavirus lockdown
Italy has been hit hard and early by the coronavirus pandemic, but the country is now making tiny steps towards bringing things back to normal by opening some essential stores, including bookstores. While pretty much everything remains on lockdown in the country’s northern regions — most Read More...
Toymaker Lego is making face visors for frontline medical workers
Following in the steps of other major manufacturers from different industries, toymaker Lego, famous for its multi-colored plastic building bricks, is using its resources to build protective gear for healthcare workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. The Denmark-based toy company Read More...
Music administered to healthcare workers in NY area to boost morale
Music has been said to be medicine to the mind, body, and soul. Now it’s exactly the type of medication that’s being administered to boost the morale of New York healthcare workers at the epicenter of the US coronavirus crisis. Daily infusions of upbeat songs from The Beatles’ classic Read More...
India’s post office is helping frontline workers during the lockdown
Three weeks ago, India put into effect what is the largest pandemic lockdown the world has ever seen. The decision has led to all businesses — apart from essential services — to shut down their activities, leaving numerous supply chains stock-still. And because the pause button has been hit Read More...
How museums are stepping up in the battle against coronavirus
Coronavirus may have stopped museums from opening the door to the public, but that hasn’t stopped museums from stepping up for the community and joining in the fight against coronavirus. Medical supplies such as gloves and masks are in urgent need, and it so happens that many galleries have these Read More...
Vietnam sets “rice ATMs” across its cities to help those out of work
Vietnam has reported only 265 cases of coronavirus and zero deaths to date -- numbers that are significantly lower than in the rest of the world. However, to prevent the spread of the virus the country has gone into lockdown, leaving thousands of citizens struggling to make ends meet as they can Read More...
The dramatic drop in carbon emissions due to coronavirus, quantified
We’ve written quite a bit about the pollution-free skies being seen all around the world, but we have yet to quantify what that means for the environmental record over the course of the year—until now. According to data commissioned by the Guardian, global carbon emissions from the fossil Read More...
This DIY kit decontaminates face masks and make them safe to reuse
Many types of face masks used in hospitals by nurses and doctors, like the N95, aren’t designed to be reusable. But due to a shortage of such protective gear, frontline workers have no other choice than to use the masks over and over again, putting them at higher risk of contracting the virus. Read More...
NASA wants you to play this video game to help preserve coral reefs
Video gaming is a common pass time activity among many people confined to their homes due to the coronavirus lockdown. In a bid to make something useful out of this trend, NASA has recently developed an app that enables video-gamers and citizen scientists to help identify and classify the world’s Read More...
The clever strategies small businesses are using to survive quarantine
To find out how small businesses are surviving in the age of coronavirus, Fast Company spoke to a variety of small businesses around the world to find out what they’re doing to get through this uncharted territory. The main takeaway from all of them: flexibility. If you need some inspiration for Read More...