Did you readily decide to comply with social distancing in the early days of COVID-19? If you didn’t, Weiwei Zhang would say “blame your working memory” — that is, how much information your mind could hold for a short while (typically for seconds). Psychologists usually regard this amount of information (capacity) as a marker for mental abilities such as intelligence, comprehension and learning. Zhang is a UC-Riverside psychologist who found that “the higher the working memory capacity, the more likely that social distancing behaviours will follow.” Compliance is not easy because social distancing is not yet adequately absorbed and established in many societies. “Social distancing compliance may rely on an effortful decision process of evaluating the costs versus benefits of these behaviours in working memory.” What we do today with deliberate efforts should become a habit, a social norm, before it is fused into one’s working memory. Maybe, on a pleasant post-COVID-19 day, you would grab your face mask as you are about to go out into the street.
SNEAK PEEK
1. Formed of cubes
In his contemplation on the building blocks of the universe, Plato said the earth was basically formed of cubes. In fact, the shapes and fragmentation patterns of a variety of rocks show that the average of all their forms is a cube! Who studied them and said Plato was right?
1. Geophysicist Douglas Jerolmack (University of Pennsylvania)
2. Decline in fertility
Declines in fertility are worldwide. World population will likely peak in 2064 at around 9.7 billion, and then decline to about 8.8 billion by 2100 — about 2 billion lower than previous estimates. Who arrived at the figures based on the data of Global Burden of Disease Study 2017?
2. Dr. Christopher Murray (IHME, University of Washington)
3. Passage of time
The present social & physical distancing measures have distorted our perception of how quickly time passes. Those who are older or less satisfied with social interactions are more likely to experience slower passage of time over the course of a day or week. Who noted this?
3. Ruth S. Ogden (Liverpool John Moores University)
4. Every carbon atom
Every carbon atom in the universe was created by stars. Nearly 90% of stars die as white dwarfs that gradually cool. In their final few breaths before the collapse, they spread their ashes into the surrounding space. Who saw in the ashes the very origin of carbon in our galaxy?
4. UC Santa Cruz astrophysicist Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz
5. Toward a blackout
Nowadays we miss a critically high volume of meteorological information typically forecast by aircraft. Past a certain point, this will cause unstable voltage for the electrical grid that could lead to a blackout — “the last thing we want to see in this pandemic.” Who said that?
.
5. Dr Ying Chen (Lancaster Environment Centre)
6. Toward blindness
Less time outdoors, more time indoors. This and other lifestyle kinks have increased the risk of myopia. Who estimated that half the world’s population (nearly 5 billion) will be short-sighted by 2050, with up to one-fifth of them (1 billion) at a significantly high risk of blindness?
6. Eye specialist Brien A. Holden and his team (BHVI)
7. Rounded is magic
Suppose a 91.27% effective COVID-19 vaccine has been developed. Presenting it as “90% effective” will likely be more appealing to people than presenting the specific digits. Which marketing expert asked health officials to be careful when they use non-round numbers?
7. Gaurav Jain (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
8. Equal connectivity
The efficiency of information transfer through the neural network doesn’t rely on the size or structure of any specific brain. The brains of all mammals, from tiny mice through humans to all large mammals, have equal connectivity. Who discovered it in a study of 130 species?
8. Neurobiologist Yaniv Assaf (Tel Aviv University)
9. Not on Twitter
The rules may be different for well-known people such as Donald Trump or Elizabeth Warren, but people expect politicians to show seriousness and competence even on social media. Who found that candidates using humour are less credible and less likely to get votes?
9. Olivia M. Bullock (Ohio State University)
[ANSWERS]
1. Geophysicist Douglas Jerolmack (University of Pennsylvania)
2. Dr. Christopher Murray (IHME, University of Washington)
3. Ruth S. Ogden (Liverpool John Moores University)
4. UC Santa Cruz astrophysicist Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz
5. Dr Ying Chen (Lancaster Environment Centre)
6. Eye specialist Brien A. Holden and his team (BHVI)
7. Gaurav Jain (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
8. Neurobiologist Yaniv Assaf (Tel Aviv University)
9. Olivia M. Bullock (Ohio State University)
QUIZ No. 964
1. Who finds in the pandemic how the world wars of the 21st century may begin?
– Douglas E. Cowan
– Charlie Ang Hwa Leong
– Maxine Leeds Craig,
1. Charlie Ang Hwa Leong
2. Thinking “it’s over” when the vaccine comes is dangerous. Who warns us of it?
– Dr Heidi J. S. Tworek
– Georgi Dimitrov Dimitrov
– Stuart Carter Dodd
2. Dr Heidi J. S. Tworek
3. Who said that single-use plastic bags are not inherently safer than reusables?
– Dr Nickolas Zaller
– Marcus Terentius Varro
– Selman A. Waksman
3. Dr Nickolas Zaller
4. Who once trailed several troops of gorillas while staying with one for 100 hours?
– Harold Clyde Bingham
– Emil Wolfgang Menzel Jr.
– Richard Wrangham
4. Harold Clyde Bingham
5. Who being a good friend of Abraham Lincoln, sculpted at least 5 busts of him?
– Katherine M. Cohen
– Henry Kirke Bush-Brown
– Sarah Fisher Ames
5. Sarah Fisher Ames