This month:
Sleepy pilots, social psychology and Yahoo.
Sleepy pilots:
New FAA rules about pilot rest took effect in America, ones I’m quite surprised took this long to effect considering the well-known cognitive deficiencies of sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep is one thing we really do not want in the people who fly our aircraft.
He doesn’t look too sleepy. Must be caffeine.
In a move that will make unions very happy, pilots are now legally required to have 10 hours of rest of which eight hours must be uninterrupted sleep, in between their eight- or nine-hour shifts. This is an improvement of two hours more sleep than before, which did not even have to be uninterrupted.
Preventing sleepy pilots (Gulliver)
Social psychology:
A study that found that men for whom a door had been held open scored lower on self-esteem and self-efficacy immediately after. The authors put forward the explanation that holding open doors for men is a socially unusual action that suggests they look vulnerable.
In my city, people hold doors open for others all the time. I take it as a gesture of community and it would be a shame if people let it make them feel smaller. Maybe I shall examine the details of this further in another article.
Open a door for a man… (via British Psychological Society Research Digest)
Yahoo:
With Meyer at the helm, Yahoo is always hungry. It just acquired Aviate, an app that organises Android homescreens. It seems that Yahoo has recognised a problem many people seem to have: app overload. By offering the right information at the right moment Yahoo wants to be the solution to sifting through reams of unused apps, simultaneously reaming Google Now in the process.
Let the 2014 acquisition spree begin: CEO Marissa Mayer reveals Yahoo’s acquisition of Aviate (VentureBeat)