Welcome to the first newsletter from the HTR team 🙂

We’re bringing to you the most interesting headlines related to technology from this past week alongside exciting upcoming events in the Harvard community.

This Past Week

Opiod Vending Machines Open. Instead of going to the streets, those addicted to opioids can get safe access to licitly prescribed pills instead of going to the streets. The machine verifies a patient’s identity with a biometric finger scan and dispenses “a prescribed amount of medical quality hydromorphone, a drug about twice as powerful as heroin”.

Coronavirus Panic Spread through Fake News. A dangerous mix of fear and fake news about the coronavirus has sparked violent protests in Ukraine, due to a mass email claiming to be from Ukraine’s health ministry confirmed cases within the country despite there being none.

Bloomberg Controversial Media Campaign.Social media platforms such as Twitter begin to push back against Bloomberg’s digitally aggresive campaign, raising questions on what the correct tech policy is towards digital edits and plaform manipulation.

AI for Revolutionary Antibiotics. MIT synthetic biologists used a neural network to screen over 100 million molecules and discover the powerful new antibiotic halicin. Not only is this particular discovery significant as a step forward in addressing the threat of antibiotic resistant bacteria, but also the development of this approach to drug discovery opens up the possibility of applications to other diseases like cancer.

What’s Upcoming

The Harvard Tech Review is carefully staying updated with COVID-19 and it’s rapid ascension into pandemic status especially alongside misinformation being spread across multiple technology platforms. Stay tuned for the first episode of our new podcast Screen This where we discuss the first waves of coronavirus alongside the implications of tech company decisions of mediating fake news.

Social Justice & Media Symposium. The inaugural symposium on Social Justice and Media will convene for one day in Boston to explore the intersection of social justice and media as it relates to community and pedagogy in daily life. 
Friday, Feb 28th 10 AM – 4 PM; Jackie Liebergott Blackbox Theater, Boston, MA

Fireside Chat with Digital Media Pioneer Jim Louderback. Jim Louderback is among the most respected figures in digital media with a 20-year history of leadership at the intersection of publishing, media and technology. He currently runs events business VidCon (yes, this Vidcon) as an independent division of Viacom.
Wednesday, Feb 26th, 6 PM – 7 PM; Aldrich Hall 110 (HBS)

Entering StartUpLand. Our friends at HUCP are hosting this event with venture capitalist and Harvard Business School professor Jeff Bussgang (General Partner at Flybridge Capital) who will share his decades of experience in studying and mentoring students who embark on their careers at startups.
Tuesday, March 3rd, 5 PM – 6 PM; CGIS Tsai Auditorium (S010)