Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) is an international research project that is engineering crops to be more productive by improving photosynthesis, the natural process all plants use to convert sunlight into energy and yields. By equipping farmers with higher-yielding crops, we can ensure that everyone has enough food to lead a healthy, productive life.

As scientists pin down the origin, governments enact prevention measures and labs look for a cure, news about the outbreak of the novel coronavirus often comes down to two questions: Where and how many people are infected? A new interactive map from University of Washington geographer Bo Zhao aims to answer those questions in real time. Zhao produced this interactive map of the coronavirus, which updates every few hours with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the People’s Republic of China, and other government agencies, including those in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Cal Poly senior Zahnae Aquino pulled a virtual-reality headset over her eyes and her office in the university’s California Cybersecurity Institute (CCI) melted away. Aquino, a computer science major, is no stranger to this virtual space — she spent weeks creating it to support the CCI’s effort to fight human trafficking. She is one of nearly a dozen Cal Poly students who spent the past six months working at the CCI on projects intended to help the fight to end human trafficking.