The American company Sensory Cloud has developed a kind of nasal spray called FEND as a protection against Covid-19. An aerosol squirter referred to as The Nimbus turns liquid into a cloud of vapour. Users then simply inhale the vapour. FEND is a proprietary solution of salts and is similar to seawater. In a recent study, inhaling the solution was shown to reduce Covid-19 aerosols by 99% for six hours. The device could also be shared by people and the solution sprayed in places like restaurants to protect the guests.

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a system called Dynamic Operations and Reusable Information Storage (DORIS) which, unlike most existing DNA data storage systems, does not rely on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to access stored files. DORIS can therefore read and write files at room temperature without damaging the DNA, and requires no heating or cooling tech, thereby making it much more feasible to develop DNA data management technologies. This could boost the information density of DORIS.

Researchers at the SINTEF research institute have developed a system called EvacSound which uses audio beacons to help people find their way out of smoky tunnels. The system consists of loudspeakers which are located at 20-metre intervals along the tunnel and emit sounds to guide people away from the fire and towards the unblocked end of the tunnel. The system's non-verbal communication means that language is no barrier here. This allows people in a smoke-filled tunnel to escape as quickly as possible.

The start-up Merit has launched a training platform of the same name which enables aspiring venture capitalists (VCs) to source start-ups and analyse markets. Points are awarded through peer-reviewing, after which top performers are introduced to VCs. Participants find and analyse one start-up per week, and also analyse investment opportunities found by two other participants. The process is, therefore, based on their own abilities; rather than where they went to school or who their parents are friends with. This leads to more diversity in the recruitment process for aspiring VCs.

The start-up PodBot.AI has launched a free AI podcast generator which uses AI to automatically generate a podcast from a title. As soon as users enter a title and click on the button, PodBot.AI automatically collects information on the title and creates a podcast including the script, audio, summary and sources. The PodBot.AI also selects a host for the podcast and generates an image of him/her. Users can release their podcasts on the platform with a chosen number of episodes and also have followers.