​The way you use your mouse can reveal how stressed you are ● NASA just unveiled its new 3D-printed Martian habitat ● Senegal just harvested its first ever wheat crop

The way you use your mouse can reveal how stressed you are

In countries where the well-being of workers is really taken into account, in this case Switzerland, there are also studies that show, in addition to what the worker declares, his stress level. This is evidenced by a study conducted by researchers from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, published in the Journal of Biomedical Informatics.

To get a convincing result, researchers from the Swiss Institute analyzed the behavior pattern of 90 people, each of whom had to perform certain tasks in the office. It was mostly statistical analysis, databases, things that required a certain level of care and attention.

While some subjects were left to work in peace, others were repeatedly interrupted by phone or computer messages or engaged in other tasks, such as interviewing a potential future employee. After all, the idea was to annoy people in a work-like environment.

During the tests, the researchers noticed that people under stress moved the mouse differently than those who were not under any stress. For example, those who are under stress move the mouse cursor far across the screen and much more often than usual. They also tend to type as quickly as possible, with short pauses to think, and tend to make far more mistakes. In contrast, people who are not stressed rarely take long pauses while typing, suggesting that they need more time to analyze and write as accurately as possible.

The result is not unexpected, on the contrary, it is a clear proof of the connection between the level of stress and the way we act at work. In this case, it was also proven that stress interferes with the brain’s ability to process information. In addition, it also affects motor functions. Seriously, many people don’t realize this until it’s too late.

Swiss researchers are currently working on an even larger database, which will be completed by the end of the year. In a new study, several hundred Swiss employees agreed to install a program on their laptops and computers that would track how they type and use the mouse. As I said, the test will be completed in December, but it will provide much broader and more detailed results than those obtained in the laboratory.

NASA has just unveiled its new 3D-printed Martian habitat

The new Martian habitat, dubbed Mars Dune Alpha (MDA), created by NASA is not yet on Mars, but only in a hangar at Space Center Houston. It was 3D printed on a model that could be used by future settlers on the Red Planet using materials available there. The MDA has an area of ​​160 square meters and will be used as a base to provide conditions as close as possible to Martian conditions.

In the first phase, four volunteers will spend a year there, living, researching and growing their own plants. This is starting from June. As you might have guessed, this is one of the first steps towards what will be the first permanent base on the Red Planet.

The researchers want to study, even if this is not the first such experiment, how people react to such a long period of isolation. Then see how the newborn colony will behave in such a situation.

The names of the four volunteers are still unknown. NASA says it is testing several options. There is no doubt that the chosen people will not only be physically and psychologically perfect, but also among them will be those who have in-depth knowledge in the field of engineering, mathematics, technology, etc.

Returning to the habitat that the foursome will share throughout the year, it is equipped with four bedrooms, a shared bathroom, a small medical center, a recreation room with video or other games, small indoor greenhouses and, very important, a fitness room.

Why is this room so important? Because in it, volunteers will walk on a belt suspended on special ropes to perfectly reproduce the gravity of Mars, the huge distances they would cover in reality. They just don’t go to Mars to stay at home. And it is even impossible to make them walk in a circle for 6 hours tied up.

NASA wants to get everything it can out of such an experiment. From the level of stress caused by isolation, to endurance, the ability to work in difficult conditions, etc., to analyzing the waste received to see what can be reused. After all, NASA has also announced that it wants to send the first human crew to Mars in a decade or so. And since time is not exactly the ally of those who work at NASA, the tests should be as eloquent as possible.

Senegal has just harvested the first wheat crop in the country’s history

Senegal is a country where wheat is the most consumed cereal after rice. This means at least 800,000 tons per year. And until this year, the African country, like many others in the region, did not produce a single grain of wheat. Everything that was consumed was imported.

Now, for reasons that there is no point in recounting, which you all know, Senegal has found itself deprived of a large part of the wheat that came from Ukraine and Russia. Add to that global inflation, rising prices, proliferation, etc., and you have a picture of potential humanitarian and economic disaster. So the authorities there decided to resort to the desperate measure of growing their own wheat. It seems to the Rooster that some loco sowing of wheat would at least partially reduce the purchase price of almost a million tons annually. Yes, but it’s not as easy as it seems.

Tropical areas are not highly recommended if you want to start growing grains. In the sense that I am not at all. Because of this, most of the hundreds of varieties tested by the researchers of the local Research Institute of Agriculture turned out to be unsuccessful. Currently, the Senegalese have settled on four varieties. Three of them are Egyptian and one was made in a local laboratory.

And it looks like it’s starting to work. These varieties, planted in January, ripened in three months, and they are already collecting a mini-experimental harvest. Now, as if they had nothing else to do, the officials began to argue. For example, the president of the National Federation of Bakers of Senegal says that they don’t really need wheat, besides, he doesn’t even believe in the success of a large-scale harvest. It would be much better to grow corn, millet, sorghum, because it would be more profitable. How would they come, after years of destruction, to start looking for other viable species.

Now what they will grow, where, how and when – remains to be seen. But it’s important that they do because they won’t do well with global warming, war, inflation, and other things yet to be announced.

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