One of the ways we experience the world around us is through our skin. From sensing temperature and pressure to pleasure or pain, the many nerve endings in our skin tell us a great deal.

Our skin can also tell the outside world a great deal about us as well. Moms press their hands against our foreheads to see if we have a fever. A date might see a blush rising on our cheeks during an intimate conversation.

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) have published research in Nature Biomedical Engineering that will drastically improve brain-computer interfaces and their ability to remain stabilized during use, greatly reducing or potentially eliminating the need to recalibrate these devices during or between experiments.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a free, open-source smartphone application that permits contact tracing for potential coronavirus infections while preserving privacy. The team's project is detailed in a paper published recently in JMIR mHealth and uHealth.

In light of the highly-infectious Coronavirus pandemic, healthcare systems across the world have had to adapt rapidly for the evolving situation for three reasons:
1. The need to triage and treat large number of patients with respiratory problems
2. The need to protect healthcare workers to ensure they can treat the sick
3. The need to protect the elderly and most vulnerable in society from being infected

A world-first breakthrough by Australian researchers in ventilator splitting could help hospitals under severe stress as the number of critical COVID-19 cases continues to rise. For the first time, researchers have successfully tested, in a simulated environment, the potential to ventilate two lungs of different compliances from a single ventilator.

Social media should be used to chart the economic impact and recovery of businesses in countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research published in Nature Communications. University of Bristol scientists describe a 'real time' method accurately trialled across three global natural disasters which could be used to reliably forecast the financial impact of the current global health crisis.

Scientists on Standby has been rapidly conceptualised and launched in response to the COVID-19 crisis and in anticipation of the increasing pressure on UK diagnostic testing laboratories and facilities in the coming weeks and months. The portal enables scientists with relevant skills and experience to volunteer their time, expertise and support for COVID-19 screening and testing.