The US government shut down 30 days ago. WIRED spoke with more than a dozen federal workers who have struggled to pay bills, worked side gigs, and relied on free food programs to get by. In late September, a federal worker based abroad learned that her husband, who is also a federal worker and a military veteran, had "high risk, very aggressive cancer." Doctors told the couple that the cancer needed to be removed immediately or it would no longer be treatable. Her husband is covered by TRICARE, the health care program offered to members of the military and veterans.

Andrew Meieran is about to reopen the doors of one of L.A.'s legendary restaurants in a bid to once again make it an offbeat dining and entertainment destination. Meieran is the proprietor of Clifton's Republic, the kitschy, forest-themed restaurant on Broadway in downtown's Historic Core that for nearly a century served up comfort food such as pot roast, mashed potatoes and Jell-O. The five-story restaurant and bar complex has been closed for the last year after a burst water pipe caused a flood that destroyed the kitchen and collapsed the ceilings on three floors. Clifton's is scheduled to reopen next month after extensive repairs and renovations. Among the changes patrons will find is a basement venue several years in the making that Meieran said is "dedicated to innovation and the magic of experiences" with "entertainment, cocktails and culinary offerings." Andrew Meieran has ambitious vision for Clifton's Cafeteria Meieran is keeping details under wraps for now, but he has demonstrated a knack for creating provocative entertainment and dining venues through an obsessive attention to offbeat details, as well as a willingness to spend more money than most real estate developers to realize his vision and preserve the historic integrity of his projects.

High school senior Isabell Diaz has a routine. She rolls out of bed half an hour before her 9 a.m. On breaks, she steps away from the screen to eat breakfast or complete chores. She has learned how to navigate online assignments and virtual club meetings. So when she learned that her school would open in late April, she had mixed emotions.

COVID-19 has transformed how we travel, work and live. As we emerge from the pandemic, our transport, energy and internet patterns will again undergo a seismic shift, and so will the infrastructure systems that underlie them: our roads, railways, water supply, electrical grids and telecommunications. To plan and optimise these systems, operators need to forecast future usage. Forecasting energy demand and renewable energy generation, for instance, can help operators to avoid unnecessary use of fossil fuels. Artificial intelligence (AI), and more specifically machine learning (ML), can play a crucial role in making these forecasts, helping to guide the evolution of our infrastructure systems.

Assistant HHS Secretary Admiral Brett Giroir weighs in on the coronavirus pandemic on'The Daily Briefing.' The leaders of the House Problem Solvers Caucus Friday expressed optimism that Republicans and Democrats will soon come together on a major coronavirus deal to continue supplemental unemployment benefits, help struggling small businesses and fund the reopening of schools. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., predict an agreement will come within a matter of days. Negotiators are under pressure to act due to Friday's expiration of $600-per-week federal unemployment benefits, schools needing help to reopen this month and lawmakers wanting to preserve their August recess. "I think we're going to get this done this coming week," Gottheimer said in an interview with Fox News on Friday.

Just getting workers to the office can be a challenge, amid ongoing travel restrictions aimed at containing the pandemic, said Gaston Silva Maldonado, project and systems analyst at Chilean food processor giant Agrosuper SA. "Our employees have been prevented from moving from one city to another, or even from one point of the city to another," Mr. Maldonado said, citing local lockdown rules. Based in Rancagua, Agrosuper employs about 3,500 office workers, in addition to thousands more in its production plants. So far, he said, only administrative staff and production plant workers deemed essential have returned to the workplace. With the Chilean government in July announcing a five-week plan to gradually ease travel restrictions within the country, the company is hoping to bring back more in the weeks ahead. To do that, Agrosuper has started using robotic process automation to scan and relay employment data on its more than 12,000 workers to a government website that issues emergency travel passes required at health checkpoints scattered throughout the country.

It's impossible to contain covid-19 without knowing who's infected: until a safe and effective vaccine is widely available, stopping transmission is the name of the game. While testing capacity has increased, it's nowhere near what's needed to screen patients without symptoms, who account for nearly half of the virus's transmission. Our research points to a compelling opportunity for data science to effectively multiply today's testing capacity: if we combine machine learning with test pooling, large populations can be tested weekly or even daily, for as low as $3 to $5 per person per day. In other words, for the price per test of a cup of coffee, governments can safely reopen the economy and halt ongoing covid-19 transmission--all without building new labs and without new drugs or vaccines. Most people get tested for the coronavirus because they experienced symptoms, or came in close contact with someone who did.

A smart factory in South Korea has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) solution to help people stay socially distanced and keep the coronavirus contained as the country reopens. A cafe in Daejeon, South Korea is using a robot barista to serve people lattes and make it easier for consumers to stay the recommended six feet apart, according to a report in Reuters on Monday (May 25). The robot was developed in collaboration with smart factory Vision Semicon and a state-run science institute, according to Lee Dong-bae, director of research at Vision Semicon. "Our system needs no input from people from order to delivery, and tables were sparsely arranged to ensure smooth movements of the robots, which fits well with the current'untact' and distancing campaign," he said. The robot can make 60 different types of coffee and serves orders to consumers at their tables.

The reopening of schools in England is expected to take place in a "phased manner", says the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson. He told the Education Select Committee the date for opening would depend on scientific advice - but schools would get "as much notice as possible". But when pupils start returning it could just be for some year groups. "All schools returning on day one with a full complement of pupils would not be realistic," he told MPs. With schools closed by the coronavirus outbreak, the education secretary faced questions on a timetable for re-opening and how to support the disadvantaged, while pupils were meant to be learning online from home.

There is widespread agreement that the only way to safely reopen the economy is through a massive increase in testing. The US needs to test millions of people per day to effectively track and then contain the covid-19 pandemic. This is a tall order. The country tested only around 210,000 people per day last week, and the pace is not increasing fast enough to get to millions quickly. The urgency to do better is overwhelmingly bipartisan, with the most recent legislation adding $25 billion for testing a few days ago.