Dyson Spheres, DNA Tags, and an Ebola Drug: NOVA Next Week in Review

This Week’s NOVA Next Feature

Development of a promising Ebola drug was halted by Congressional wrangling over the fiscal cliff in 2012.

A NOVA Next exclusive, this story—reported by Justine Calma—is a part of our ongoing collaboration with The GroundTruth Project on a multi-part investigation called Next Outbreak .

In other news:

• Synthetic DNA tags could help artists outwit forgers.
• Bizarre data coming from this far-off star may suggest a solar-collecting megastructure .
• Could 1,000-ton “bowling balls” of dark matter be rolling around the cosmos?
• As the “internet of things” becomes a larger—and less visible—part of our lives, it could change the entire meaning of privacy .
• If you live in North America, radiation from Fukushima is still not coming to get you.

What We’re Reading

• In a handful of other places around the world, catastrophes for human populations have become a boon for wildlife . [National Geographic]
• Mental illness affects at least one million people in countries like Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria, where a “chaining” practice is common. [The New York Times]
• If you’re touched by several feet of sea wasp tentacle , you will probably go into cardiac arrest within minutes. [The New Yorker]
• Ingestible health sensors could go far beyond what wearables can do. [New York Magazine]