Quantic’s Weekly Roundup – August 2020 (2)

Quantic’s Weekly Roundup is a satisfying mix of the latest breaking news, business, STEM and social science stories. Here are your headlines for this week:

Water, water everywhere: A new invention called QuenchSea is on its way to help people turn seawater into freshwater. Hydro Wind Energy has created a 1.5-pound hand-held desalinator, which is manually operated and can make up to 3 liters of potable water per hour. The company says the desalinator will go into full production after the London and Dubai-based tech startup passed its crowdfunding goal by more than 700 percent.

Don’t stand so close to me: Britain started testing a new smartphone app Thursday to help people find out whether they’ve been close to someone infected with COVID-19. This comes after security concerns torpedoed an earlier effort to use technology to track the disease.

Pour one out: A global coffee crisis may be in our future. Coffee is becoming harder to grow, due to climate change and environmental conditions. A recent study estimates that by 2050, the amount of land that can sustain coffee will have fallen by 50 percent. 

Has your office officially hit Zoom fatigue? Don’t worry! From trivia to scavenger hunts, try one these new virtual team-building activities.

Girl Up, United Nations Foundation Communications & Digital Media Associate and Quantic Alum, Naomi Naik, helps girls broaden their social impact skillset, apply STEM for good, and create policy change. This leadership program, founded by the United Nations Foundation, reaches tens of thousands of girls around the world.