As states across the U.S. experiment with lifting lockdowns in varying degrees, economists, policymakers and many others are struggling to find the right approaches to reopen the economy while putting safeguards in place to avoid a spike in new COVID-19 cases. How exactly things will play out remains largely uncertain – and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Internships are going virtual, but apparently not enough of them.

It’s hard to get a good read on how many college students have had their spring and summer internships disappear on them amid the Covid-19 pandemic. I’ve seen estimates all over the map, and even when companies say they haven’t outright canceled their internships, they are often scaling back on the number of students they’re taking.

Imagine a crisis that forces your company’s employees to change the way they work almost overnight. Despite initial fears that the pressure would be too great, you discover that this new way of working could be a blueprint for the long term. That’s what leaders of many companies around the globe are finding as they respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

Early reports of the COVID-19 pandemic, created an initial widespread impression that children were not severely affected by the virus. This understanding was framed by data from China which showed that less than 1 percent of cases occurred in children younger than 10. However, this consensus is now being challenged by new reports, including one in the New England Journal of Medicine from Wuhan Children's Hospital, which found a pediatric infection rate of more than 12 percent.

A new study finds that one of the easiest ways for the novel coronavirus to spread is through tears. A research team at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published findings on Saturday that show human tears to be an effective way of spreading SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19. This could be bad news for emotional patients as the pandemic goes on.

For more than a decade, new technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, and blockchain have been taking apart the large-scale industries of the 20th century and reinventing them in ways that are more lightweight, personalized, distributed, and resilient. This “unscaling” trend has been inescapable in every sector, as Silicon Valley venture capitalist Hemant Taneja and I wrote in our book on the subject, Unscaled.

Image: Photograph by Hans Neleman

U.S. approval of a new antigen test to rapidly screen people for the coronavirus “is a real game-changer,” said the former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The emergency use authorization -- the first ever by the FDA for a Covid-19 antigen test -- was granted to San Diego-based Quidel Corp. late Friday, according to a notice from the agency.

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A new soft robot that gets its inspiration from the biomechanics of cheetahs moves more quickly on solid surfaces and through water than earlier versions, according to a new study.

The soft robots can also of grab objects delicately—or with sufficient strength to lift heavy objects.

“Cheetahs are the fastest creatures on land, and they derive their speed and power from the flexing of their spines,” says Jie Yin, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University and corresponding author of the paper in Science Advances.

As we've taken a couple weeks off from publishing (following the excellent advice Liz Fosslien shared with us back in April), we've been thinking through the topics that could be most helpful to founders and startup leaders right now.

There's no shortage of challenges to address. Whether a startup is in an industry that’s accelerating due to off-the-charts demand or one that’s stalling out due to a severe crunch, this crisis is upending carefully-laid plans and adding more to the (already heavy) load on founders bear.

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Entrepreneurs are so passionate about what they are creating — and often, so fearful of letting their team and investors down — that they will do almost anything to realize their startup’s potential. Stories of sacrifice abound in founder blogs and startup post-mortems, with entrepreneurs forgoing sleep, friendships, family relationships, exercise, and good nutrition for their startups. This startup-above-all-else approach can lead to chronic stress, which wreaks havoc on entrepreneurs’ physical and mental health. A UCSF study found that entrepreneurs may already be prone to mental health conditions more than the general population, and in our personal experience, anxiety, self-doubt, depression, and loneliness are rampant among entrepreneurs.

Though I’ve worked in venture capital for the past four years, I still identify as an outsider. The majority of grand VC musings today from the industry’s most visible figures don’t align with my values. Investors have become known for funding products and services that create more systemic problems than the conveniences they provide.

Image: Illustrations: Michele Marconi

Even though the color of their money is always green, all startup investors are not the same. Struggling entrepreneurs are often so happy to get a funding offer that they neglect the recommended reverse due diligence on the investors. Taking on equity investors to fund your company is much like getting married – it is a long-term relationship that has to work at all levels.

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MONDAY, May 11, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- As parts of the United States begin to reopen, two big questions loom for parents -- how quickly can kids get back to school and can it be done safely?

Many factors need to be considered and worked out in partnership with local health departments before individual school districts can open again, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

Beyond their roles in educating students, creating and disseminating knowledge, and preparing graduates to be successful, colleges are businesses. With research parks, hospitals, online and executive education, real estate and property management, foundations and investment arms, satellite and international campuses, intellectual property, and even on-campus hotels and conference centers, big universities can be big business. Then why are colleges and universities not run as such?

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According to most definitions, an entrepreneur is one who envisions a new and different business, meaning one that is not a copy of an existing business model. Many entrepreneurs have a passion and an idea, or even invent a new product, but are never able to execute to the point of creating a startup. Even fewer are able to grow the startup into a viable business.

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COVID-19 continues to have a far-reaching effect on people’s lives, families, and communities as well as on the global economy. Amid the bleak economic reality, companies in response are focused on driving a dual agenda: protecting lives and livelihoods. As the crisis continues to upend lives, companies are struggling to understand its full impact on their businesses and how best to respond. According to our recent B2B Decision Maker Pulse survey, about a quarter of companies surveyed say they are redirecting and increasing spend toward emerging opportunities.

The coronavirus pandemic is a battle in a larger war. Effective leadership by policymakers in each setting can save millions of lives. 

President Trump and others have described the campaign against coronavirus-SARS-CoV-2 as war. Of combat, President Eisenhower, famously said, “Peace-time plans are of no particular value, but peace-time planning is indispensable.” The coronavirus pandemic stands that advice on its head. In the heat of the outbreak, planning is everything.

We live in stressful times and all any of us can do is just relax over the weekend. If you're tired of spending your weekends watching TV, baking, and reading, perhaps it's time to change it up a bit. We've rounded up some courses and products that can make this weekend a little different, and a little more enjoyable.

Over 99% of Canadian businesses are characterised as small to medium enterprises or SMEs. Within this demographic, micro-enterprises represent over 53% of private employers. With a national focus on start-ups and SMEs, the Canadian business landscape is a prime hotspot of entrepreneurs.

As there is so much potential for business owners in the country, an increasing number of people are pursuing careers as entrepreneurs. With high-profile success stories continuing to inspire millions, it’s not surprising so many people are carving out their own futures as business owners.

Copying is perhaps the strongest force in the world. We are so predisposed to copy that it infiltrates our most innovative institutions, even the self-proclaimed hub of innovative thinking, Silicon Valley. Of course, those of us in Silicon Valley don’t call ourselves copycats, we call ourselves disrupters.