TLDR 2021-07-20

Lanebreak is Peloton's new in-app video game that involves riders changing their cadence and resistance to meet goals and control an on-screen rolling wheel. It isn't available yet, but a members-only beta will be open later this year. The game is similar to the Rainbow Road in Mario Kart. It features three types of challenges and ways to earn points. A screenshot from the game is available in the article.

Jeff Bezos will launch into space at 9 AM ET along with his brother Mark, Wally Funk, and Oliver Daemen. The mission will last for around 10 minutes. Funk was an aviator who trained to be an astronaut in the '60s, and Daemon is the son of the winner of Blue Origin's New Shepard seat auction that closed at $28 million. Daemen's father couldn't fly due to schedule conflicts. The New Shepard will lift off in Van Horn, Texas. A link to the YouTube livestream, beginning at 7:30 AM ET, is available in the article.

Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research have developed a transparent material that is hard and self-heals when cracked. It is based on a piezoelectric organic material that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy and vice versa. The arrangement of the material results in a strong attractive force that can heal fractures when they occur. It may still be some time before the material appears on any smartphones.

SpaceX has successfully fired up Super Heavy, the largest rocket booster in the world. Booster 3 was completed around July 1 and it passed its first cryogenic proof test on July 12. It successfully ignited three Raptor engines on its first go on July 19. This is the first Starship prototype that completed its cryogenic and static fire tests on its first attempt. The success makes it clear that SpaceX's Starship launch vehicle design, production, and operations are rapidly maturing.

Brython is an implementation of Python 3 that runs in the browser. It supports the main syntax of Python 3 and many modules of the CPython distribution. Brython includes libraries to interact with DOM elements and events and with existing JavaScript libraries.

Svelte Storm is a Svelte IDE with a built-in State Manager window for viewing projects in real-time. It features file directory access and a built-in terminal. Svelte Storm is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems.

It is possible to fake a positive Covid-19 lateral flow test using soft drinks. The effect is likely caused by the acidity of the drinks deforming the antibodies used in the test, impacting their function. Fake positive tests revert back to negative if they are washed with a buffer solution. The article contains a detailed explanation of how the Covid-19 test works.

A 53-year-old veterinarian from China has died from a Monkey B virus infection. Monkey B is a type of Herpes virus that is transmitted horizontally and through direct contact with bodily fluids. It is rare in humans, with only one other case documented in the 1990s. The victim was dissecting two dead monkeys in early March and developed symptoms a month later. He died in late May. There were over 500 macaques infected with the virus in The Silver Springs State Park in Florida last year.