Learn about how to stop Zoom fatigue; a world that may be on its second atmosphere; and koalas’ human-like fingerprints. 4 reasons you feel "Zoom fatigue" and how to get over them, according to Stanford research by Kelsey Donk: Stanford Zoom Exhaustion and Fatigue Scale survey: https://comm.stanford.edu/ZEF Ramachandran, V. (2021, February 23). Four causes for “Zoom fatigue” and their solutions | Stanford News. Stanford News; Stanford University. https://news.stanford.edu/2021/02/23/four-causes-zoom-fatigue-solutions/ Bailenson, J. N. (2021). Nonverbal overload: A theoretical argument for the causes of Zoom fatigue. Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000030 Astronomers discover a planet that may be on its second atmosphere by Grant Currin: Distant Planet May Be On Its Second Atmosphere, NASA’s Hubble Finds. (2021). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/distant-planet-may-be-on-its-second-atmosphere-nasas-hubble-finds Swain, M. R., et. al. (2021). Detection of an Atmosphere on a Rocky Exoplanet. ArXiv.org. https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.05657 Koalas And Humans Have The Same Fingerprints by Anna Todd: Wolchover, N. (2011, May 3). Koalas Have Human-like Fingerprints. Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/14007-koalas-human-fingerprints.html Alasdair Wilkins. (2011, May 4). Koalas have exactly the same fingerprints as humans. Io9; io9. https://io9.gizmodo.com/koalas-have-exactly-the-same-fingerprints-as-humans-5798400 Bryce, E. (2019, December 21). Why Do We Have Fingerprints? Livescience.com; Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/why-do-humans-have-fingerprints.html#:~:text=Fingers%20and%20friction&text=%22People%20have%20had%20two%20ideas,Hull%20in%20the%20United%20Kingdom. Warman, P. H., & Ennos, A. R. (2009). Fingerprints are unlikely to increase the friction of primate fingerpads. Journal of Experimental Biology, 212(13), 2016–2022. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.028977 Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY
Learn about how to stop Zoom fatigue; a world that may be on its second atmosphere; and koalas’ human-like fingerprints.
4 reasons you feel "Zoom fatigue" and how to get over them, according to Stanford research by Kelsey Donk:
Astronomers discover a planet that may be on its second atmosphere by Grant Currin:
Koalas And Humans Have The Same Fingerprints by Anna Todd:
Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-koala-fingerprints-look-eerily-human
CODY: Hi! You’re about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from curiosity-dot-com. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about new research into “Zoom fatigue” — and how to avoid it; a planet that may be on its second atmosphere; and why koalas and humans have the same fingerprints.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
At this point, I don’t think I need to tell you that Zoom calls are getting a little tiring. Luckily, scientists agree. Recently, a group of Stanford researchers looked at the psychological toll these video calls can take. It’s the first peer-reviewed article to break down the psychology behind Zoom fatigue, and it may help us make it through this pandemic’s grand finale. (Hopefully.)
According to this research, the first reason we’re feeling burnt out is just that it’s really intense to make close-up eye contact for a long time. In real-life conversation, we don’t stare at each other for a whole meeting. In real life, when people get that close to us, it’s usually because something big is about to happen. Either it’s going to lead to mating or to conflict. Nobody needs that kind of stress during a work meeting! The simple solution: shrink the video window instead of having it set to full-screen. Then, if you can, back away from your computer a little to give yourself some personal space.
The second reason for Zoom burnout is that seeing yourself during video chats constantly is tiring. Research shows that people are more critical of themselves when they’re looking in a mirror, so staring at yourself on Zoom is probably a bad idea. Again, the solution here is simple. You can hide your own view from your screen: just right-click on your image and hit “hide self view.”
Video chats are also exhausting because they make it harder to move around. When we’re on the phone or in person, we can walk around and do other things. The solution may be to turn off video, or, if you must be on screen, give yourself a space where you can move around, doodle, and relax while you’re there. Movement may even help you think better, too!
The final reason for Zoom fatigue is that video chats are just mentally demanding. Not only are you thinking about how to respond verbally, but you also have to frame yourself properly, nod enthusiastically, and make sure you’re looking okay. The solution here is to turn off your video sometimes. Just listen, turn away from the screen, and give your brain a little break.
If you’re not sure what’s most exhausting for you about video calls, there’s a 15-question survey from Stanford you can take. It’ll break down whether your fatigue is emotional, motivational, visual, or social — and how you compare to others. We’ll link to the survey in the show notes.
If a planet loses its atmosphere — can it get another one? Just ask GJ 1132 b. Researchers who took a close look at this planet with the Hubble Space Telescope think it’s on its second atmosphere.
The exoplanet, located 41 light years away, is sort of like Earth. It’s roughly the same size and about the same age. But there are some big differences, too. The exoplanet is locked in a very tight orbit around a red dwarf star that’s young and hot. A year takes just 36 hours, and the extreme closeness locks its orbit so one side of the planet is always facing the sun.
Thanks to new observations, researchers think the exoplanet has lived a very unusual life.
It looks like it used to be way bigger than Earth. It was probably once a huge gas planet that Earth could have fit into many times over. But it didn’t stay that way for long because radiation from its star quickly burned off that big, fluffy blanket of hydrogen and helium. Once the atmosphere was gone, the planet was just a bare core about the size of Earth.
The planet probably has a very thin crust, likely just hundreds of feet thick. That would help explain why the surface of the planet is so hot: almost 500 degrees F, or about 250 degrees C. It also explains the very weird thing about this planet. Despite losing that thick cozy atmosphere way back when, it does have an atmosphere — a second atmosphere!
The current atmosphere is made of molecular hydrogen, hydrogen cyanide, methane, and a haze of tiny particles that seems pretty similar to smog.
The hydrogen is probably left over from the original atmosphere. It looks like the planet’s magma absorbed a lot of the stuff back in the day and has been slowly releasing molecules of hydrogen and the other gases back into the new atmosphere through volcanic processes. There aren’t volcanoes on the planet, but with such a flimsy crust it’s not hard for gas to escape. As for the smog, it seems similar to what happens on Earth when sunlight interacts with pollution from fossil fuels.
This could mean that some rocky planets didn’t start that way — instead, they may have started as gas giants that lost and regenerated their atmospheres. It also means that there’s no truth in that famous saying. You really can teach an old gas giant new tricks.
There's a chance that you could be framed for a crime committed by a koala. No joke. It turns out that koalas have fingerprints that are so similar to those of humans that the two could easily be confused. The good news? That gives scientists a clue about why we have fingerprints in the first place.
When it comes to the animal kingdom, fingerprints are pretty special. The only animals that have them are us humans; non-human primates like chimps, gorillas, and orangutans; and koalas. We’re very closely related to non-human primates, but koalas? We’re separated from them by 70 million years of evolution. And yet, if you compared humans and koala fingerprints side-by-side, not even a microscope could tell them apart. So how did their prints become so similar to ours?
The most likely answer? It's all in our grasp.
Our primate ancestors used their hands to climb trees, just like koalas do. Our hands are also really good at grasping objects, like pencils and bananas. Koalas spend their days grabbing big handfuls of leaves to eat. Scientists think that primates and koalas developed fingerprints independently for the same reason: it’s an adaptation to help with grasping.
But why are fingerprints important for grasping? Contrary to popular belief, it may not come down to an improved grip. A 2009 study found that fingerprints actually reduce our grip, since they cut down on the surface area that can stick to an object. Instead, experiments suggest that fingerprints make our fingertips more sensitive. Having more sensitive fingerprints would make it easier for us primates and our koala brethren to detect and separate good food from bad.
One way or another, humans, primates, and koalas all rely on grasping for survival. So, if you happen to be near a koala in the wrong place at the wrong time, you've been warned.
Let’s recap what we learned today to wrap up. Starting with
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ASHLEY: Today’s writers were Kelsey Donk, Grant Currin, and Anna Todd.
CODY: Our managing editor is Ashley Hamer.
ASHLEY: Our producer and audio editor is Cody Gough.
CODY: Turn off your video! Then, join us again tomorrow to learn something new in just a few minutes.
ASHLEY: And until then, stay curious!