Humans

Some people seem to possess unlimited get-up-and-go, while others can barely muster enough drive to leave the couch. Here’s what science tells us about motivation – and how to cultivate it

Health

26 May 2021

By Amelia Tait

Antonio Sortino
I’VE had three weeks to write the words you are about to read, but they were written at the last possible minute. Why? I wasn’t busy exercising – I haven’t done that in months. My time wasn’t spent at my book club or calligraphy class, because I’m not involved in anything of the sort. Nor did I procrastinate by mastering the ultimate sourdough loaf – just the thought of it makes me want to lie down. Quite simply, I waited until the last minute because I couldn’t be arsed.
My condition is what’s known colloquially among my generation as “The CBAs” – the “can’t be arseds”. In my case, it is chronic. I can’t be arsed to go on a run. I can’t be arsed to cook. I can’t be arsed to reply to my emails.
I’m not alone. According to a December 2020 survey by the Pew Research Center, 42 per cent of people in the US aged between 18 and 49 say they have struggled to find the motivation to work since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. That still leaves half of the population who are fine, who get up and get on. Then there are those people who wake at 6 am and run 10 kilometres before work. People who write their memoirs. People who wash their curtains.
What are their secrets? Why do some people have so much drive and others, like me, so little? And is it possible for me to become a go-getter? To find out, I mustered the motivation to ask a few of the scientists who might know.
Motivation is what drives much … More

By Helen Thomson

I AM only 37 and I have experienced the menopause multiple times. Drugs for IVF and endometriosis paused my hormonal cycles on five separate occasions, placing me in what doctors call “artificial menopause”.
But there was nothing artificial about the symptoms – the hot flushes that burned deep inside my core at 2 am were a particular shock. So when I came across The Menopause Manifesto, written by gynaecologist Jen Gunter, I jumped at the chance to learn more about what was in store when the real thing hits.
Despite the universal nature of menopause for half the planet’s population, few of us are fully informed about the symptoms, physical changes, medical concerns or treatment options.
According to Gunter, this information vacuum is largely down to medical misogyny. Indeed, medicine’s long history of neglecting women means that menopause concerns are still too often dismissed as fabricated, unimportant or just “part of being a woman”.
Gunter’s ambition is to change this conversation, which is worthy in all the right ways. Menopause shouldn’t be a fringe part of women’s healthcare: aside from quality of life issues, social impact and physical symptoms, there is its link to cardiovascular disease. This is responsible for 1 in 3 female deaths each year – more than die from breast cancer.
So it turns out that my 2 am “hot blooms” (as I find they would have been called in the 18th century) are the least of it. Women can also expect abnormal bleeding, temporary cognitive changes, vaginal dryness, pain during sex, decreased libido and joint pain. Not to mention the increased risk of osteoporosis, dementia, metabolic syndrome (a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity), type 2 diabetes and urinary tract infections. Sound like something you should know about?
“We don’t define men as they age by an obvious physical change in their reproductive function”
Gunter’s teaching of the history and biology around menopause is second to none. Her opinions on the societal lens through which we view the menopause are just as interesting. She highlights the fact that it is misogynistic to tie a description for a third of a woman’s life to the function of her uterus and ovaries. We don’t define men as they age by an obvious physical change in their reproductive function, she points out. Yes, the menopause is a marker for increased risk of heart disease for women, but so, too, she says, is erectile dysfunction for men. Imagine a world with men in what she calls the “erectopause”.
Running throughout the book is a wealth of information on the physiological processes at play during a woman’s life. While it could do with a little pruning, it can’t fail to leave you feeling completely wised up, without veering into a biology lesson.
As a gynaecologist, Gunter also has the authority to provide vital information on treatments, from traditional hormone replacement therapies (HRT) to alternative medicines. She also shows us where we may be led astray by celebrity endorsements of natural remedies, and by “compound” therapies – treatments that resemble traditional HRT, but which remain largely unregulated and untested, she says.
There is information on drugs like fezolinetant, too, which look promising for hot flushes. My copy has many page corners turned over – things I plan to ask my doctor, now and later.
“I am here to scare you about osteoporosis,” Gunter says in one chapter. It isn’t the only scary thing she reveals about this future time in my life, but at least I am now better prepared, have the confidence to know what to ask, and feel able to have a more grown-up conversation.
Gunter promises to give women strength, value, agency and knowledge to help them through this transition in their life. She has unquestionably achieved that. More

By Alexander McNamara
and Matt Hambly

Barbara Ferra Fotografia/Getty Images
Photographic memory is the ability to recall a past scene in detail with great accuracy – just like a photo. Although many people claim they have it, we still don’t have proof that photographic memory actually exists. However, there is a condition called Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) that allows people to recall past events in detail, along with the exact dates when they occurred. For example, they may be able to tell you what they ate for lunch on 1 May 1999 and what day of the week it was (Saturday). But HSAM has been identified in fewer than 100 people worldwide, and while their memories are exceptional, they still aren’t as reliable as photographs.
The East Antarctic plateau is the coldest place on Earth
Ted Scambos, NSIDC
The coldest temperature ever recorded was a frosty -94°C, taken at the East Antarctic plateau, a region that stretches for more than 1000 kilometres. This measurement means the plateau is the coldest place on Earth – not that anyone was actually there to record such a temperature, though. The reading was collected using data from satellites across Dome Argus and Dome Fuji, two ice domes that sit at thousands of metres above sea level. Results suggested the air temperature could be around -94°C, but researchers think that the dry air around the area could cause temperatures to get even colder.

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Queen bees can lay more than 1500 eggs in a day
Getty Images/iStockphoto
Queen honeybees live for up to seven years and can more than 1500 eggs a day, which equates to more than their body weight. Rather than working, like the vast majority of colony members, queens spend their lives devoted to laying eggs while other bees serve them. Instead of pollen and honey, the queen is fed royal jelly, which workers secrete from glands in their heads. When a queen grows old, a colony will select a new one, but in some colonies there may be multiple new queens, who have to fight each other to the death. The survivor will fly to a drone congregation area and mate with around a dozen drones, storing up to 6 million sperm in her body.
Laughing gas may have ended the last glacial period
Monica Bertolazzi/Getty Images
Laughing gas, otherwise known as nitrous oxide, has been used as an anaesthetic since the 19th century. These days, it is most commonly found in small, steel cartridges sold to the catering industry for making whipped cream. However, nitrous oxide is also a potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting chemical. Although it is present in the atmosphere at much lower concentrations than carbon dioxide – just 330 parts per billion – it has 300 times the heat-trapping capability. Indeed, a pulse of nitrous oxide released from plants 14,500 years ago may have hastened the end of the last glaciation.
We don’t necessarily yawn because we are tired
Gints Ivuskans / Alamy
We tend to think of yawning as a sign of being tired or bored. That probably explains the popular perception that it is a way to get more oxygen into the blood to increase alertness. However, psychologist Robert Provine at the University of Maryland tested this idea and found people were just as likely to yawn when breathing air high in oxygen. A closer look at when people yawn suggests another explanation. It turns out that most spontaneous yawning actually happens when we are limbering up for activity such as a workout, performance or exam, or simply when we wake up. That has led to the idea that yawning helps us gear up by increasing blood flow to the brain.
The placebo effect can depend on whether a pill is colourful
Derek Croucher / Alamy
The placebo effect is the mysterious reduction in a patient’s medical symptoms via the power of suggestion or expectation, the cause of which remains unexplained. However, what we do know is that a number of different factors can affect the power of the placebo effect. It can be triggered by administering pills, injections or surgery, or even just an authority figure assuring a patient that a treatment will be effective. In fact, experiments have shown that the power of the placebo effect depends on surprising factors like the appearance of tablets. For example, colourful pills work better as a placebo than white ones.

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Take a minute to imagine this sentence being whispered into your ear. If that thought elicits a tingle around the neck, you may have experienced autonomous sensory meridian response or ASMR. This strange sensation triggered by, among other things, whispering, card shuffling or chewing noises can induce relaxation in viewers and videos online attract millions of views. But what exactly is going on in our brain? In this week’s Science with Sam we look at the science of ASMR.
Tune in every week to youtube.com/newscientist for a new episode, or check back to newscientist.com
More about Science with Sam
Previous episode: Why do cats go crazy for catnip?
Video transcript
Hello.

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It’s lovely to see you.
Relax.
This is the science of ASMR.
You may have seen videos of people whispering, tapping glasses and even eating very close to microphones. These channels can amass millions of loyal subscribers and you might have wondered, what is going on here?!
This is a world where people come to drift off to sleep, relax and experience the sensation of ASMR.
Autonomous sensory meridian response or ASMR is a strange sensation some people get when they watch stimulating videos or take part in other activities which often involve close personal attention.
Sadly, I’m not one of these people, but those who are lucky enough to experience ASMR describe it as a tingle starting around the neck, spreading across the shoulders and back, or a brain massage.
Some people say it’s similar to the feeling of using one of these (head scratcher things).
Different people have different triggers for the sensation. For some it’s watching someone play with a deck of cards, and for some chewing noises or “mouth sounds” put them in a state of intense relaxation. Others find their brain tingles from roleplay or scenes like this…
But the sound of whispering is the most common ASMR trigger, followed by the feeling of someone you love caring personally for you such as stroking your hair or face. But what’s actually going on here? And is there any science behind it?
Despite its undoubted popularity, nobody actually knows what ASMR is yet, although there are many theories. It’s been compared to synaesthesia – a condition where a person experiences a mix up in sensory information – for these people words may take on a certain colour, or music might evoke a particular taste or texture. But this doesn’t quite fit the description of ASMR.
A more promising comparison is something known as ‘frisson’ – sometimes called musical chills. This sensation is triggered by an emotional experience like powerful music and sends a shivery electric like feeling through a person’s body.
People often confuse ASMR and frisson – but ASMR lacks the shivery, electric element. A 2016 review of studies looking at the two sensations argued that perhaps ASMR is relaxing while frisson is arousing.
One study used functional MRI to monitor brain activity in 10 ASMR-sensitive people as they watched videos that trigger the sensation. The scans showed significant activation in parts of the brain linked with reward and emotional arousal. Similar patterns are seen in frisson, suggesting the two sensations are indeed related.
But ASMR videos don’t work for everyone, which raises the question, what’s different about the people who are susceptible?
Psychological studies have found that people who get ASMR have higher scores on openness-to-experience and neuroticism, and lower levels of conscientiousness, extroversion and agreeableness.
It’s possible that there is some underlying genetics that makes people both susceptible to ASMR and neuroticism, but the jury is still currently out. It could be that people who are open to new experiences are more willing to try odd-sounding videos.
Are you an ASMR junkie? Let us know in the comments.
And if you want to learn more about how your brain works, New Scientist is the magazine for you. Use the link in this video to get a special 20 per cent discount.
For those who do experience it, ASMR has real and measurable effects.
One study monitored people’s heart rate and skin conductance – a measure of emotional arousal – while they watched ASMR videos. Everyone’s heart rates slowed, but in people who experience ASMR, it slowed more. Unexpectedly they found that skin conductance increased indicating increased emotional arousal.
Some have suggested that ASMR may be to do with social connections and emotional bonding. A study found that the brain activation sparked by ASMR is similar to what we see in people and animals experiencing friendly behaviour. It’s been compared to the great apes grooming each other. They receive close personal attention from another ape – and this pastime seems to be greatly rewarding to them.
Studies have also found that people report greater feelings of social connection after ASMR. Maybe it is an intense version of the feeling we all get when loved ones tend to us – and these videos can be a shortcut to it.
But this satisfying sensation may not last. People have increasingly reported that their experience of ASMR is diminishing when they watch too many videos. The phenomenon has been dubbed “ASMR immunity” and it’s a bit like when drug users require larger doses to get the same high.
But taking a break can bring back the pleasant sensations just as substance users take a break to bring back a drug’s effects.
Whatever the explanation, watching ASMR videos can give those who experience it an amazing elevation in mood that persists for hours after. And whilst it’s no replacement for that feel-good factor we get from being with our close friends and family, it can be a handy shortcut for some.
And who couldn’t do with a bit more pleasure in our lives, right now?

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By Michael Marshall

Geoglyphs found in the desert near Boha, IndiaYohann Oetheimer
A huge spiral carved into the ground in India covers almost 100,000 square metres, dwarfing other individual geoglyphs like those in the Nazca desert in Peru.
The spiral is in a small cluster of geoglyphs discovered by father-and-son researchers Carlo and Yohann Oetheimer, who are based in Luriecq, France. Carlo searched Google Earth images of the Thar desert in India and identified eight sites with possible geoglyphs. In 2016, they flew a drone over them and found that four were furrows dug for failed tree plantations.
One site …
Article amended on
26 May 2021

We corrected the number of sites that were failed tree plantations More

By Krista Charles

Catfish was being eaten in Jerusalem and surrounding areas even as Judaism was emerging thereIndradkristiono/Getty Images
Non-kosher fish was on the menu in areas that are now part of Israel and Egypt while Judaism was developing in the region and the Hebrew Bible was being written there.
The Torah – the first five books of the Hebrew Bible – states that certain foods, including pork and aquatic animals that lack fins and scales, shouldn’t be eaten. Modern, practising Jewish people are prohibited from eating these foods.

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To explore the origin of the custom, Yonatan Adler at Ariel University in the West Bank and Omri Lernau at the University of Haifa in Israel examined ancient fish bones from 30 archaeological sites in Israel and Sinai dated from about 1550 BC to AD 640. They found that finless and scaleless fish were regularly eaten during that 2000-year period.
“What people were doing in the past often leaves a footprint on the material record, just as we leave footprints today,” says Adler. “We are, as archaeologists, rifling through ancient people’s garbage, essentially, and learning about their actual behaviour. So, by looking at archaeological finds, we learn what ancient Jews were doing.”
The research forms part of a larger project to determine the origins of Judaism, in this case looking at food laws.

Lernau identified different fish species from about 20,000 bones and found that of the non-kosher fish, catfish was eaten the most. Other non-kosher fish that were eaten include rays and sharks.
“If you have fish, especially in a place which is far from a water source, let’s say Jerusalem [where one of the 30 sites was located]. People were bringing these fish to Jerusalem, and if you brought a fish to Jerusalem, it was to eat it. You can’t really do anything with fish aside from eating it,” says Adler.
Many scholars believe that the Jewish dietary laws came about because there wasn’t a precedent for eating these foods in the culture at the time, but the presence of non-kosher fish in these ancient diets suggests otherwise.
“We can see that things developed very slowly, and the interpretation of these laws were not as fixed as people might think,” says James Aitken at the University of Cambridge. “Jewish identity was a slow process and not immediately apparent. Jews did not look different from their neighbours. They did not behave differently or eat differently.”
Journal reference: Tel Aviv, DOI: 10.1080/03344355.2021.1904675
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By Michael Marshall

A site near Keimoes, South Africa, where Stone Age rock walls were foundProfessor Marlize Lombard
Stone Age hunters living in what is now South Africa built long rock walls that acted as traps, funnelling fleeing prey animals into kill zones where they could be easily dispatched.
While these “desert kites” are common in the Middle East, it was thought that southern African hunter-gatherers didn’t build them and instead left little or no mark on the landscape.
“I predict that there may be many more kite sites in southern Africa,” says Marlize Lombard at the University of Johannesburg in South … More

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