Philippa Kaur

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    in Humans

    2021 in review: Learning the pros and cons of working from home

    The covid-19 pandemic has forced millions to participate in one of the biggest social experiments of our time. Nearly two years in, it’s time to take stock: what happens when workers abandon offices?

    Humans

    15 December 2021

    By Alice Klein
    Working from home has led to rises in productivity for someExperience Interiors/iStock
    THE covid-19 pandemic has forced millions of us to participate in one of the biggest social experiments of our time: what would happen if office workers largely abandoned their workplaces and began working from home? More than 18 months in, it is time to take stock.
    One thing seems clear: more people working remotely has brought some benefits for the environment. With less commuter traffic, wildlife has been able to reclaim urban spaces while people have been tapping away at their home keyboards.
    But what about the benefits to people? The major perks of home working include people having more flexibility to mould jobs around their family, exercise and leisure time, being able to wear whatever they like, controlling their own heating and lighting and not having to commute. The lack of commuting may be the biggest bonus, since surveys show that workers typically rate their commute as the worst part of their day, unless they walk or cycle.Advertisement
    Many people have also been able to get more done while working remotely, possibly due to fewer distractions. A survey by Boston Consulting Group of 1500 managers at large European companies found that more than half had seen productivity levels rise as their employees shifted to remote work during the pandemic.
    “There used to be a lot of resistance to working from home because managers thought employees would just goof off and watch Netflix, but there’s a lot more trust now,” says Sue Williamson at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia.
    However, the experiment hasn’t been all positive. Many people forced to work from home have reported feeling isolated and finding it harder to switch off due to the blurred boundary between work and home life.
    “Surveys show that workers typically rate their commute as the worst part of their day”
    Many managers have also reported declines in innovation, which is probably because “it’s hard to get those serendipitous conversations between people that spark ideas” when everyone is physically separated, says Anne Bardoel at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.
    Then there is “Zoom fatigue”, the drained feeling that often accompanies virtual meetings, even though they tend to be shorter than in-person ones. This may be because people have a stronger sense of being on show while on screen and feel more pressure to present well, says Allison Gabriel at the University of Arizona.
    As vaccines help to control covid-19, many organisations are hoping to reap the best of both worlds by letting employees work from home on some days and travel to the office on others. The coming months and years will undoubtedly involve trial and error as companies and employees settle on the optimum mix of office and work-from-home days. But one thing seems certain: now that office workers have been given a chance to really think about how they want their work lives to look, there is no turning back.
    “It is this opportunity to reset and rethink how we actually work, and I think that’s a very positive thing,” says Bardoel.

    2021 in review
    This was a year of tackling great challenges, from the covid-19 pandemic to climate change. But 2021 was also rich in scientific discoveries and major advances.

    More on these topics: More

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    in Humans

    Strange but true? Test yourself in our barely believable science quiz

    By New Scientist
    Martin O’Neal
    *Some questions have multiple correct answers
    1 Health benefits of intimacy
    A Cuddling increases bone density
    B Sex is a nasal decongestant
    C Masturbating improves eyesight

    2 States of matter
    A In condensed matter physics, a “hyperfluid” is a material with zero viscosity, meaning it can flow backwards in time and, when stirred, will spin forever (both forwards and backwards in time)
    B In condensed matter physics, a “time crystal” is a state of matter in which the configuration of the component parts shifts in a repeating cycle forever without using any energy
    C In condensed matter physics, an “ontological condensate” is an ultracold gas that could reveal the true nature of being, should we ever be able to isolate it

    3 Hairy faces
    A Beards might have evolved to keep faces warm
    B Beards might have evolved to store food in through winter
    C Beards might have evolved to soften the blows from punches

    4 Animals at play
    A Komodo dragons play tug of war
    B Crows play blackjack
    C Elephants play hide and seek

    5 Celestial bodies
    A Astronauts could use their own hair to create Martian space suits
    B Astronauts could use their own blood to build a Martian base
    C Astronauts could use their own nail clippings to create rocket fuel

    6 Grand delusions
    A Capgras syndrome is the irrational belief that a familiar person has been replaced with an exact duplicate
    B Fregoli syndrome is the irrational belief that a familiar person, typically someone persecuting the affected individual, is disguised as various other people
    C Cotard syndrome is the irrational belief that part of … More

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    in Humans

    Snowflake spotters needed to give climate science a boost

    By Layal Liverpool
    Shutterstock/Mariia Tagirova
    BING CROSBY dreamed of a white Christmas. This December, I’m dreaming of categorising snowflakes. All in the name of science, of course.
    White Christmas or not, you too can get up close and personal with snowflakes and contribute to climate research by taking part in the online Snowflake ID project. It invites volunteers to flick through high-resolution snowflake photos taken around the world – from Alaska to the Swiss Alps to Antarctica – and help classify them by characteristics, such as their size and shape. You can access the project via the Zooniverse citizen science platform.
    Snowflakes come in many … More

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    in Humans

    Kenneth Libbrecht interview: A grand unified theory of snowflakes

    Snowflakes can form in either a plate or column shape, but no one understood why – until physicist Kenneth Libbrecht investigated. His theory is the result of two decades making snow in the lab

    Humans

    15 December 2021

    By Kenneth Libbrecht
    Courtesy of Kenneth Libbrecht
    SNOWFALL in Pasadena, California, is so rare, it’s almost unheard of. Except, that is, at the California Institute of Technology, where Kenneth Libbrecht can conjure it up using the world’s most sophisticated snowflake-making equipment.
    As a physicist, Libbrecht has tackled some fairly epic questions, like the nature of gravitational waves and the internal workings of the sun. But he also has a delightful sideline in the science of snowflakes, which are far more complex and mysterious than you might think. One of the biggest unanswered questions about them is why they appear to come in two distinct types.
    Libbrecht went on a 20-year odyssey to solve this mystery. Recently, he published the fruits of that journey in the form of a monograph that runs to more than 500 pages. It contains a kind of grand unified theory of snowflakes, explaining for the first time how and why they grow into the delicate shapes they do.
    Joshua Howgego: What got you interested in snowflakes?
    Kenneth Libbrecht: One day I was chewing the fat with one of my students and we got talking about how crystals grow and take on shapes. We started thinking about what we could study in this area and I thought: well, water would be cheap and easy. Then I thought: actually, that would be the physics of snowflakes, I wonder how that works? Apropos of nothing – I was just curious – I started reading up on research on snowflakes and I found it really fascinating.
    “I can turn knobs to control the conditions exactly, so I can get these designer snowflakes”
    What was the big question … More

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    in Humans

    Ambergris: What fragrant whale excretions tell us about ancient oceans

    Ancient whale poo, known as ambergris, has long been prized by perfumiers – but it also contains precious information about ancient oceans that could help save today’s whales

    Humans

    15 December 2021

    By Claire Ainsworth
    Peter Crowther
    THEY say, where there’s muck, there’s brass. Anyone who has stumbled upon ambergris will confirm this. The weathered whale excrement is extremely rare, but it can be found on beaches in many parts of the world. It is unprepossessing: dusty grey or brown with the faintest whiff of earth and sea, mixed with something unfathomably animal. Yet this stuff is so prized by perfume-makers that a lump the size of a human head could fetch you £50,000 or more.
    Traditionally used to boost the staying power of scents, these days a synthetic alternative means that ambergris is found only in some luxury fragrances. But now scientists have discovered that it harbours another treasure. Adrift in the oceans for decades, even centuries, before washing ashore, each lump is a message in a bottle from a long-departed whale. It holds clues about the lives of these animals before whalers came to plunder them. “There’s really quite exciting potential to look at the impact of whaling on whale health and diversity,” says Ruairidh Macleod at the University of Cambridge.
    Ambergris also contains historical information about the oceans, especially the marine species foraged by the whales that produce it. It could even give insights into how these animals might respond to the challenges they face as a result of climate change.
    Ambergris usually makes landfall after a long voyage, originating as black, waxy lumps in a sperm whale’s colon. Nobody knows exactly why it forms. It may encase the sharp beaks of the squid that the whales prey on to stop them damaging the gut, or it may simply be … More

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    in Humans

    Football matches in top European leagues are becoming more predictable

    Computer predictions for the outcome of European football matches over a 26-year period become more accurate in recent years

    Humans

    15 December 2021

    By Chris Stokel-Walker
    A match between KRC Genk and Club Brugge in the Belgian First Division AJoris Verwijst/BSR Agency/Getty Images
    Football matches have become more predictable over time, according to an analysis of 87,816 matches across 11 European leagues.
    The study covers the results of matches between 1993 and 2019, including 10,044 each from England’s Premier League and Spain’s La Liga, as well as leading divisions in Belgium, Greece, Scotland and Turkey, among others.
    A computer model that was given data from the matches tried to predict whether the home or away team would win by looking at the performance of the teams in previous matches in the league. The model didn’t count any drawn matches, which excluded between a quarter and a third of the total matches from the analysis.Advertisement
    “Our model isn’t the most accurate,” says Taha Yasseri at University College Dublin in Ireland. “I’m sure there are better models, but it’s very simple and you can go back 26 years and do the exercise as if you were doing the prediction 26 years ago.”
    The average AUC score – which measures how well the computer model performed – was around 0.75, meaning that the model correctly predicted the match result 75 per cent of the time.

    Seven of the 11 leagues that were studied saw an increase in predictability over time. Richer leagues, such as the Premier League and La Liga, had higher AUC scores than worse-funded ones, like Belgium’s First Division A.
    The study found a correlation between predictability and inequality, in terms of the distribution of points between teams at the end of the season – that is, match results are predicted correctly more often in leagues where the points are spread more unequally.
    The researchers suggest that football is becoming more predictable because inequality between the richest and poorest teams has grown, as prize money and other revenues have increased and successful clubs can spend more on players.
    The study also found that home team advantage is becoming less of a factor in matches. In France, for instance, home teams took around two-thirds of points in 1993, but around 58 per cent of them in 2019.
    Joey O’Brien at the University of Limerick, Ireland, says the researchers make rigorous statistical arguments that football has become more predictable. “Perhaps, at a more philosophical level, one could also question whether this predictability is good for the game,” he says. “Do fans get just as much enjoyment observing skilled teams predictably performing strongly?”
    Journal reference: Royal Society Open Science, DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210617

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    in Space & Astronomy

    The only known pulsar duo sheds new light on general relativity and more

    The only known duo of pulsars has just revealed a one-of-a-kind heap of cosmic insights.

    For over 16 years, scientists have been observing the pair of pulsars, neutron stars that appear to pulsate. The measurements confirm Einstein’s theory of gravity, general relativity, to new levels of precision, and hint at subtle effects of the theory, physicists report in a paper published December 13 in Physical Review X.

    Pulsars, spinning dead stars made of densely packed neutrons, appear to blink on and off due to their lighthouse-like beams of radiation that sweep past Earth at regular intervals. Variations in the timing of those pulses can expose pulsars’ movements and effects of general relativity. While physicists have found plenty of individual pulsars, there’s only one known pair orbiting one another. The 2003 discovery of the double-pulsar system, dubbed J0737-3039, opened up a new world of possible ways to test general relativity.

    One of the pulsars whirls around roughly 44 times per second while the other spins about once every 2.8 seconds. The slower pulsar went dark in 2008, due to a quirk of general relativity that rotated its beams out of view. But researchers kept monitoring the remaining visible pulsar, combining that new data with older observations to improve the precision of their measurements.

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    Now, astrophysicist Michael Kramer of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany, and colleagues have dropped an exhaustive paper that “just lays it all out,” says physicist Clifford Will of the University of Florida in Gainesville. “To me, it’s just magnificent.”

    Here are five insights from the new study:

    1. Einstein was right, in so many ways.

    The pulsar duo allows for five independent tests of general relativity in one, checking whether various properties of the orbit match predictions of Einstein’s theory. For example, the researchers measure the rate at which the orbit’s ellipse rotates, or precesses, to see if it agrees with expectations. All of the parameters fell in line with Einstein.

    What’s more, says astrophysicist Scott Ransom of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Va., “each of the individual tests of general relativity have gotten so precise that …  higher-order effects of general relativity have to be included to match the data.” That means that the measurements are so exacting that they hint at subtle peculiarities of gravity. “All of those things are really amazing,” says Ransom, who was not involved with the research.

    2. Gravitational waves are sapping energy.

    The observations reveal that the pulsars’ orbit is shrinking. By measuring how long the pulsars take to complete each orbit, the researchers determined that the pair get about seven millimeters closer every day.

    That’s because, as they orbit, the pulsars stir up gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime that vibrate outward, carrying away energy (SN: 12/18/15). This telltale shrinkage was seen for the first time in the 1970s in a system with one pulsar and one neutron star, providing early evidence for gravitational waves (SN: 12/16/78). But the new result is 25 times as precise as the earlier measurement.

    3. The pulsar is losing mass and that matters.

    There’s a subtler effect that tweaks that orbit, too. Pulsars gradually slow down over time, losing rotational energy. And because energy and mass are two sides of the same coin, that means the faster pulsar is losing about 8 million metric tons per second.

    “When I realized that for the first time, it really blew me away,” says Kramer. Although it sounds like a lot, that mass loss equates to only a tiny adjustment of the orbit. Previously, scientists could neglect this effect in calculations because the tweak was so small. But the measurement of the orbit is now precise enough that it makes sense to include.

    4. We can tell which way the pulsar spins and that hints at its origins.

    By studying the timing of the pulses as the light from one pulsar passes by its companion, scientists can tell in what direction the faster pulsar is spinning. The results indicate that the pulsar rotates in the same direction as it orbits, and that provides clues to how the pulsar duo formed.

    The two pulsars began as neighboring stars that exploded, one after the other. Often when a star explodes, the remnant it leaves behind gets kicked away, splitting apart such pairs. The fact that the faster pulsar spins in the same direction it orbits means the explosion that formed it didn’t give it much of a jolt, helping to explain how the union stayed intact.

    5. We have a clue to the pulsar’s radius.

    Gravitational effects are known to cause the orbit’s ellipse to precess, or rotate, by about 17 degrees per year. But there’s a subtle tweak that becomes relevant in the new study. The pulsar drags the fabric of spacetime behind it as it spins, like a twirling dancer’s twisting skirt, altering that precession.

    This dragging effect implies that the faster pulsar’s radius must be less than 22 kilometers, an estimate that, if made more precise with future work, could help unveil the physics of the extremely dense neutron star matter that makes up pulsars (SN: 4/20/21).

    “The authors have clearly been very meticulous in their study of this amazing system,” says astrophysicist Victoria Kaspi of McGill University in Montreal. “It is wonderful to see that the double pulsar … indeed is living up to its unique promise.” More

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    in Space & Astronomy

    The cosmic ‘Cow’ may have produced a new neutron star or black hole

    A cosmic flare-up called the Cow seems to have left behind a black hole or neutron star.

    When the flash was spotted in June 2018, astronomers debated its origins. Now, astrophysicist DJ Pasham of MIT and colleagues have seen the first direct evidence of what the Cow left behind. “We may be seeing the birth of a black hole or neutron star,” Pasham says.  

    The burst’s official, random designation is AT2018cow, but astronomers affectionately dubbed it the Cow. The light originated about 200 million light-years away and was 10 times as bright as an ordinary supernova, the explosion that marks the death of a massive star.

    Astronomers thought the flare-up could have been from an unusual star being eaten by a black hole or from a weird sort of supernova that left behind a black hole or neutron star (SN: 6/21/19).

    So Pasham and colleagues checked the Cow for flickering X-rays, which are typically produced close to a compact object, possibly in a disk of hot material around a black hole or on the surface of a neutron star.

    Flickers in these X-rays can reveal the size of their source. The Cow’s X-rays flicker roughly every 4 milliseconds, meaning the object that produces them must be no more than 1,000 kilometers wide. Only a neutron star or a black hole fits the bill, Pasham and colleagues report December 13 in Nature Astronomy.

    Because the Cow’s flash was from the explosion that produced either of these objects, a preexisting black hole was probably not responsible for the burst. Pasham admits he was hoping for a black hole eating an exotic star. “I was a little bit disappointed,” he says. “But I’m more blown away that this could be direct evidence of the birth of a black hole. This is an even cooler result.” More