Facebook said it’s converting a part of its Menlo Park headquarters into a vaccination site, joining the government effort to speed up the US’s vaccination drive. The technology company is going out of its way to ensure citizens are jabbed as soon as possible, in turn, putting an end to the Coronavirus pandemic.

It’ll partner with the Ravenswood Family Health Center to turn part of its headquarters into a vaccination clinic for underserved communities. The company also said it’s partnering with California Governor Gavin Newsom and nonprofits to support pop-up clinics.

Facebook plans to arrange vaccine rides to and from Facebook’s campus. However, Facebook employees will be ineligible for the vaccination program. The new vaccination site is being made for under-served communities.

Recently, the social networking giant launched a tool that shows the nearest vaccination facilities to a user. Facebook is partnering with Boston Children’s Hospital, which runs the VaccineFinder.org website, to offer the tool that identifies places nearby to get the vaccine.

The adoption of vaccines is a point of contention for many due to a host of reasons — misinformation, lack of trust, poor supply chains, and more. Amid the pandemic, health regulators worldwide are urging citizens to get jabbed as soon as possible. Facebook has also launched a profile picture frame that says, “I got my COVID vaccine.”

“Now that many countries are moving towards vaccinations for all adults, we’re working on tools to make it easier for everyone to get vaccinated as well,” Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, said in a blog post.

As part of the efforts, the Coronavirus Information Center will expand to Instagram, and the company soon expects to roll out a WhatsApp chatbot in association with local health authorities.

The Coronavirus pandemic has created plenty of new needs for everyone. One of which is having an air purifier to cleanse our homes. Sharp, with its Plasmacluster tech, has proven to be quite adept in battling the airborne Coronavirus has a new gadget you might fancy — the Sharp Cube Purifier.

This tiny air purifier which measures 90mm x 90mm x 95mm has undergone many tests to prove its effectiveness. The tests were conducted by different health organizations such as the Ishikawa Health Service Association, the Japan Food Research Laboratories, Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and many more.

The tests conducted showed the Cube Purifiers proficiency in removal of airborne mold, reducing growth of adhering mold, suppressing activity of airborne viruses and adhering viruses, and suppressing the activity of adhering bacteria.

Despite its size, it can emit double the amount of ions of up to 50,000 when operating under full power. It can stand on your desk or shelf and it can also be wall mounted.

Price and availability

The Sharp Cube Purifier comes in black and retails for SG$ 299. It’s available for purchase at Sharp’s official online stores and authorized dealer stores.

Elon Musk is trying to establish a human colony on Mars, believes that the future of currency is Bitcoin, and is churning out more electric vehicles than ever. But that’s still not enough. The billionaire has also wired up a monkey’s brain to control a video game via his startup Neuralink.

Neuralink put two computer chips into a monkey’s skull and used microwires to connect it to its brain. It sends brain signals from the monkey through a 1,024 electrode transmission device called the N1 Link. This neural activity is then decoded and calibrated to predict the monkey’s intentions.

Basically, if the nine-year-old monkey can mentally operate a video game and there’s no need for external pointing mechanisms like a mouse, trackpad, joystick, or even a touchscreen. After just six weeks of practice, the monkey had learned to play the 1970’s video game classic Pong in return for a banana smoothie reward.

Neuralink’s primary target is to make the computer-brain interface directly possible. According to Musk, people are already “cyborgs” because they have a tertiary “digital layer” thanks to phones, computers, and applications.

Musk claimed in a tweet that the first product from the startup would allow “someone with paralysis to use a smartphone with their mind faster than someone using thumbs.” His goal is to help people with brain or spinal injuries since they can’t directly communicate.

The video ends with a recruitment callout, imploring anyone who’s “good at solving hard problems” to contact Neuralink, even if they’re not in the neurological field.