Microsoft Proposes “Virtual Commutes” For Employees Who Miss Theirs

Time in transit lends a definitive start and end to work days—a moment to pause and prepare before entering the work environment (or file away, at the end of the day). With so many people no longer traveling to their office, Microsoft is working on an update for its Teams app, a sort of Slack-Zoom hybrid for companies that use the Microsoft suite. Scheduled for …

Super Enzyme Capable of Speedily Breaking Down PET

The Centre for Enzyme Innovation at the University of Portsmouth announced a new discovery this week: a “super enzyme” capable of breaking down plastic to its building blocks at a rate six times faster than their previous innovations. This comes just months after French research organization Carbios announced a similar discovery, which they plan to test at a plant in 2021. While promised to be …

NASA Ships its Space-Ready Bathroom to the ISS This Week

Finding the perfect toilet for space has stumped researchers and designers at NASA for some time—so much so that they opened a crowd-sourced design competition looking for a better option. Now, NASA announces, they’re going to send a new bathroom option to the International Space Station. The $23 million set-up proves 40% lighter and 60% smaller (by volume) and helps NASA reach its goal of …