August 16, 2024: How planets form, why some people procrastinate, and carpenter ants amputate each other's limbs. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | High in Chile's Atacama Desert, the ALMA observatory uses dozens of antennas in tandem to capture images of distant planetary systems. CLEM and Adri Bacri-Normier (wingsforscience.com) and ESO | | | Earlier this year, astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) in Chile released images of baby planets forming around more than 80 stars in three different regions of the sky, ranging from 600 to 1600 light-years from Earth. The images suggest that planets are less likely to form in star systems with more than one star (like a binary system). In the disks of dust that surround a star, the researchers saw gaps and other telltale signs of massive planets embedded within them. Why this is so cool: In the last few decades, space telescopes like Hubble and those on the ground in Chile have delivered many images of planet formation around specific stars in our galaxy. Astronomers have finally reached a scale of observations that they can make meaningful comparisons among the characteristics of these planetary nurseries, including their density, age and chemical structure.
What the experts say: "There are still many questions about how our own solar system came to be and evolved over the eons into its current configuration," writes astronomer and columnist Phil Plait. "A critical step toward answering them is to make observations that let us find the deeper connections between other planetary systems and ours." | | | Why do people procrastinate when it's decidedly stressful to live with a looming deadline? Psychology researchers found that people with a negativity bias, who focus more on the negative aspects of a task, tend to delay tasks more, especially if they also have poor self-control.
How it works: Researchers used a surprising testing method that they call the "Beanfest." Working with study participants who either filed their taxes on time or not (the latter indicating procrastination), the researchers awarded or deducted points based on physical characteristics of images of beans (points for speckled beans vs no points for a circular bean shape, for example). Then they showed the participants new beans that had a mix of traits and had the participants guess whether the new bean would be a win or loss. Participants who more frequently focused on the new bean's negatively-associated traits were more often part of the late tax filing group.
What the experts say: "It turns out that people's tendencies to generalize either positive or negative associations on this test can serve as a proxy for their general likelihood of weighing pros or cons when making decisions of any sort," write Javier Granados Samayoa and Russell Fazio, who led the study. In follow-up studies, the team found that they could re-balance how study participants weighed the good and bad outcomes of a task, and that reduced their procrastination. | | | Carpenter ant. Anthony Hawthorne Photography/Getty Images | | | • Carpenter ants perform lifesaving amputations on the damaged limbs of their colony siblings to save them--resulting in a 90 percent survival rate. | 4 min read | | | • A barber shaves all men who don't shave themselves. Does he shave himself? Here's the math behind this question and two other mathematical paradoxes. | 6 min read | | | • Despite how they may be portrayed in the media, eating disorders are equally prevalent across socioeconomic status, racial and ethnic groups, affecting approximately 9 percent of females and 4 percent of males. But the stereotype that eating disorders only affect wealthy young white girls and women has led to underdiagnosis, lack of treatment access and limited understanding of eating disorders in many people, writes Ashley Andreou, a psychiatry resident at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. | 6 min read | | | • Do you know the answer to the first question of today's science quiz? Also, don't miss today's Spellements, and if you spot any science words that are missing, email them to games@sciam.com. This week, readers Lyn Hughes and Seren spotted lenticel, and Linda from Atlanta sent in centile. Impressive! | | | MOST POPULAR STORIES OF THE WEEK | | | • Can Coffee's Effects on Appetite and Digestion Cause Weight Loss? | 5 min read | • Cancer Rates Are Rising in Young People. Here's What You Need to Know | 5 min read | • U.S. Wind and Solar Are on Track to Overtake Coal This Year | 3 min read | | | • Thousands of people around the world do live-action role-playing (LARP). Psychologists have found that role-playing can have a profound effect on mental health. Summer's a great time to fire up the imagination and pull out the costume box! | 8 min read | • Scientists have discovered dozens of seafloor communities that are supported by sunken whale carcasses, and have described more than 400 species that are living in and around them, of which at least 30 have not been seen anywhere else. It's sad when whales die, but they have a prolific environmental afterlife. | 11 min read | | | As someone who has flirted with procrastination from time to time, it's fascinating that a person's outlook on life can affect when they complete tasks. The researchers found that re-orienting their study participants' views of the benefits of getting something done quickly impacted their ability to take action. Mindset really does matter it seems. | Thank you for being part of our circle of science-curious readers. Email me anytime: newsletters@sciam.com. See you back here on Monday! | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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