cross-posted from: https://feddit.dk/post/9189541

Abstract:

Working from home has become standard for employees with a university degree. The most common scheme, which has been adopted by around 100 million employees in Europe and North America, is a hybrid schedule, in which individuals spend a mix of days at home and at work each week1,2. However, the effects of hybrid working on employees and firms have been debated, and some executives argue that it damages productivity, innovation and career development3,4,5. Here we ran a six-month randomized control trial investigating the effects of hybrid working from home on 1,612 employees in a Chinese technology company in 2021–2022. We found that hybrid working improved job satisfaction and reduced quit rates by one-third. The reduction in quit rates was significant for non-managers, female employees and those with long commutes. Null equivalence tests showed that hybrid working did not affect performance grades over the next two years of reviews. We found no evidence for a difference in promotions over the next two years overall, or for any major employee subgroup. Finally, null equivalence tests showed that hybrid working had no effect on the lines of code written by computer-engineer employees. We also found that the 395 managers in the experiment revised their surveyed views about the effect of hybrid working on productivity, from a perceived negative effect (−2.6% on average) before the experiment to a perceived positive one (+1.0%) after the experiment. These results indicate that a hybrid schedule with two days a week working from home does not damage performance.

Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers are defects in diamond where a carbon atom is replaced by a nitrogen atom, and there's a missing carbon atom (vacancy) next to it. They have unique properties that make them useful for quantum sensing, computing, and even biological imaging.

Researchers found ways to control the number and location of NV centers in diamonds using irradiation and annealing (heating and cooling). The temperature and the direction of the diamond during the process affect how many NV centers are formed and where they are located.

This study offers a refined recipe for creating NV centers in diamonds, paving the way for advancements in quantum technology.

Rethinking science: A mission-driven approach to tackle global sustainability challenges

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https://council.science/blog/rethinking-science-a-mission-driven-approach-to-tackle-global-sustainability-challenges/?utm%5C_source=rss&utm%5C_medium=rss&utm%5C_campaign=rethinking-science-a-mission-driven-approach-to-tackle-global-sustainability-challenges

ISC experts drive science-based solutions for plastic pollution treaty

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https://council.science/blog/international-science-council-statement-at-the-inc-5-plenary/?utm%5C_source=rss&utm%5C_medium=rss&utm%5C_campaign=international-science-council-statement-at-the-inc-5-plenary

Reclaiming science as a human right: Comment from the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights

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https://council.science/blog/comment-from-the-un-special-rapporteur-in-the-field-of-cultural-rights/?utm%5C_source=rss&utm%5C_medium=rss&utm%5C_campaign=comment-from-the-un-special-rapporteur-in-the-field-of-cultural-rights

More than a million years ago, on a hot savannah teeming with wildlife near the shore of what would someday become Lake Turkana in Kenya, two completely different species of hominins may have passed each other as they scavenged for food.

Scientists know this because they have examined 1.5-million-year-old fossils they unearthed and have concluded they represent the first example of two sets of hominin footprints made about the same time on an ancient lake shore. The discovery will provide more insight into human evolution and how species cooperated and competed with one another, the scientists said.

Short explanation by Andi

Here is a simplified explanation of the research described in the article in about 240 words: The researchers were exploring a new kind of exotic state of matter called a "topological time crystal." This is a material where the atoms exhibit unusual coordinated behavior that repeats in time in a special way. Specifically, they were using a quantum computer made of superconducting circuits to simulate the behavior of a topological time crystal. They arranged 18 superconducting qubits (quantum bits) in a square lattice pattern and carefully programmed them to mimic the theoretical model of this exotic state of matter. The key signature they were looking for was that when they measured certain nonlocal properties of the system, they would see oscillations that repeated not at the period at which they were driving the system, but at twice that period. This "discrete time translation symmetry breaking" is the defining property of a time crystal. Remarkably, they observed this period doubling when they looked at nonlocal operators spanning multiple qubits, indicating the coordinated exotic behavior. But local measurements on single qubits did not show any unusual oscillations. This proves the nonlocal topological nature of this exotic state. They further demonstrated the robustness of this unusual coordinated behavior and its topological properties by adding small perturbations. Their observations provide evidence for realizing this novel out-of-equilibrium phase of matter in a real quantum simulator. The results showcase exciting progress in exploring exotic quantum states using quantum computers.

Monitoring plastic pollution: key elements for a science-based framework for a global plastics treaty

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https://council.science/blog/monitoring-plastic-pollution-key-elements-for-a-science-based-framework-for-a-global-plastics-treaty/?utm%5C_source=rss&utm%5C_medium=rss&utm%5C_campaign=monitoring-plastic-pollution-key-elements-for-a-science-based-framework-for-a-global-plastics-treaty

We need an urgent reform of our Climate COP’s to enable real climate action

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https://council.science/blog/we-need-an-urgent-reform-of-our-climate-cops-to-enable-real-climate-action/?utm%5C_source=rss&utm%5C_medium=rss&utm%5C_campaign=we-need-an-urgent-reform-of-our-climate-cops-to-enable-real-climate-action

Scientists call for stronger science-policy collaboration in global transformations

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https://council.science/news/world-science-forum-declaration/?utm%5C_source=rss&utm%5C_medium=rss&utm%5C_campaign=world-science-forum-declaration

I like the idea that it might become regular maintenance to get our brains unclogged.