The science news of the week: The human brain, which has evolved over thousands of years, is perfectly adapted to deal with analog information. In fact, it is more than adequate for acquiring food, finding a mate, and avoiding danger. The problem is that today we are bombarding the brain with digital information and, according to scientists, it is not always able to process it. This is confirmed by a recent study conducted by a group of specialists led by Kevin Mador of Stanford University. It showed that “media multitasking” – or the simultaneous viewing, listening, or sending of digital information – impairs young people’s attention (volunteers aged 18 to 26 participated in the experiment), reduces their ability to concentrate, and makes it difficult for them to remember or reproduce individual episodes of their life or work.
During the experiments, the scientists first asked the participants to rate the size or attractiveness of pictures and objects on the computer screen, and after 10 minutes, they showed them new objects and pictures and asked them to remember whether they had rated them or not. In addition, the authors of the new study used electroencephalography and tracked the subjects’ eye movements and pupil dilation to assess their ability to concentrate and remember. The results were then compared with the results of pre-completed questionnaires in which participants were asked to describe how often they used media sources and gadgets at the same time. “We explain quickly, simply and clearly what happened, why it matters and what will happen next.” The number of episodes should remain the same. End of Podcast Advertising Story It turns out that high levels of “media multitasking” were directly associated with memory lapses and smaller pupil dilation – a known marker of decreased attention. Mador emphasizes that the research does not directly indicate that “media multitasking” reduces attention – or, on the contrary, that it is people with reduced attention and poor memory who are drawn to distracting digital sources. This does not mean that there are media sources that have a particularly strong and negative effect on the brain (it is known that some video games even improve its functions). All the researcher is saying (and his colleagues and detractors fully agree) is that a considerable amount of additional work will be required to establish or refute this dependence. And yet, in light of the past and coming shutdowns and people’s increasing dependence on digital information, Madore is ready to offer advice: “Don’t overdo the flow of information, whether it’s remote work or study or a Zoom meeting, don’t try to secretly watch your favorite show or text someone at the same time. Your memory may not forgive you.
Using a group of one and a half thousand people between the ages of 18 and 73, Brazilian scientists have shown that unwillingness to wear a mask during a pandemic is an indication of a person’s antisocial tendencies. Using a specially designed questionnaire, they decided to assess the respondents’ affective resonance – that is, their ability to show empathy and emotional responsiveness toward others. The questionnaire also included a question about people’s compliance with measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, such as wearing a mask. After targeted analysis, scientists have identified a strict pattern: individuals prone to antisocial behavior generally neglect safety measures, while individuals with increased empathy strictly adhere to them. According to researchers, an antisocial profile is associated with “stubbornness, deceitfulness, hostility, impulsivity, irresponsibility, a tendency to manipulate others, and a willingness to take unwarranted risks,” in other words, characteristics commonly found in individuals with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). According to scientists, although a tendency to ADHD may be genetically predisposed and cannot be corrected, authorities and the medical community are able to influence people’s behavior by persuading them through educational programs (if they are unable to comprehend this on an emotional level) about the need to follow prescribed measures, including wearing masks. Despite protests, the effectiveness of measures such as mandatory masks is increasingly being confirmed by statistics. For example, a recent report published in the Lancet by an international group of experts who analyzed data from 172 studies in 16 countries indicates that wearing a mask reduces the risk of contracting Covid-19 to 3%.
Rapidly melting permafrost poses a threat to Alaska in the form of powerful landslides and tsunamis. Scientists warn that this threat looms over all cold mountainous regions of the world. Although it would be more accurate to say not looming, but eroding, because many mountains depend solely on freezing, and without it, collapses will begin, especially in the case of proximity to the sea, powerful landslides can cause tsunamis from which there is no salvation either in water or on land. Alaska, however, caught the attention of scientists when geologists studying satellite images of Barry Arm Fjord concluded that the fjord’s slide into the ocean, which began hundreds of years ago, had accelerated significantly in recent decades. Experts predict that a major landslide is “possible” this year and “probable” within the next 20 years. This could potentially cause a tsunami that could swamp the nearby mountains by a hundred meters, hit cruise ships that pass through the fjord, and inundate the popular tourist town of Whittier with a 10-meter wave. One need not look far for examples. A powerful landslide in Taan Fjord, which was completely covered by ice until the early 1990s, caused a tsunami in 2015 that cut off all vegetation up to a height of 193 meters. Scientists have no doubt that warming is causing landslides, but the exact timing of their occurrence, like earthquakes, is not yet calculable. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that global warming has freed large areas of water near fjords from ice, increasing the size of glacial lakes, and landslides that once ended on the ice now fall into the water, causing the water level to rise sharply. Few people realize that over the past century, 10 of the 14 largest tsunamis have been observed in mountain glacier areas. For example, in 1958, a landslide in southeastern Alaska’s Lituya Bay caused a record-breaking wave of 524 meters. And the majority of the victims of the devastating 1964 earthquake were caused by tsunamis.
Donald Trump’s administration has removed the American gray wolf population from federal protection, allowing states to set their own rules for hunting the predator. To date, wolf hunting has been allowed in only four states – Alaska, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. According to U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, “this decision reflects the Trump administration’s commitment to conserving species based on the law and the most reliable scientific and commercial data.” Bernhardt’s department is confident that the population of over six thousand individuals is well above the previously established parameters for species recovery, and therefore it is time to open the hunting season. However, these arguments do not convince conservationists. They believe that although the gray wolf population has partially recovered, the wolves have not yet regained their original habitat. The decision to delist gray wolves is linked to Trump’s desire to win over hunters and farmers in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. By the 1930s, gray wolves, once at the top of the food chain, had been virtually wiped out in the United States. This was due to government programs that paid for the shooting, trapping, and poisoning of these animals that were considered pests. Fortunately, Americans realized their mistake in time, and instead of extermination programs, they developed programs to save wildlife, including wolves, and their population gradually began to recover, although today they occupy less than 15% of their former range. “The mission is never accomplished when it comes to wolves,” says Kristen Boyles, an attorney with the nonprofit environmental group Earthjustice, which plans to challenge the administration’s decision in court. “Wolves have just begun to populate the northern regions of California and the Pacific Northwest coast, but to become established in the Rocky Mountains and the Northeast, they need federal protection,” he believes. Last year, when the proposal to lift the hunting ban was under consideration, nearly two million Americans spoke out against the idea, while 86 members of Congress and 100 scientists wrote an open letter urging the administration to reconsider. But perhaps one of the most emotional was the video message from British scientist Jane Goodall: “How would you feel if it was your dog that was caught in a snare and had to endure hours of agonizing pain? How would you feel if someone shot your dog and hung its head on the wall in someone’s house?