Tag "IQ"

An international team of scientists including a HSE researcher have detected a rare optical emission from one of the most powerful gamma-ray bursts in the history of observation. The team measured the parameters of the environment, from which the emission originated, and proceeded to construct a model that simulates the behaviour of gamma-ray bursts. This contributes to our understanding of why such bursts are accompanied by electromagnetic radiation in the visible range. The findings have been published in Nature Astronomy.

Researchers from the MIEM HSE Centre for Quantum Metamaterials, jointly with colleagues from Germany and the UK, have proposed an algorithm for the automated compression of arbitrary environments (ACE). It opens up exciting new possibilities for the precise calculation of the dynamics of quantum systems. According to the scientists, the new method can assist in the design of quantum computers and novel communication systems. The study findings are published in Nature Physics.

Rogue waves, or killer waves, are abnormally high and deadly waves that can emerge unpredictably in open seas and along shorelines. They pose an imminent deadly threat to everyone from colossal liners and pleasure yachts to seafarers and vacationers. Scientists from the HSE campus in Nizhny Novgorod Efim Pelinovsky and Ekaterina Didenkulova have assembled a catalogue of such phenomena that occurred in the World Ocean from 2011 to 2018, identifying the areas where they are frequently documented and inflict the most substantial damage.

Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl believed that the quest for meaning constitutes a fundamental and intrinsic motivation for all human beings. Some other authors suggest that the need for meaning or purpose only emerges at higher levels of personality development. According to a team of psychologists from HSE and the University of Paris Nanterre, individuals who have achieved higher levels of ego development are inclined to relinquish hedonistic motives in favour of cultivating mindfulness and embarking on a quest for meaning. These findings have been published in Frontiers in Psychology.

Physicists from the Joint Institute for High Temperatures of RAS, HSE University, and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technologies have developed the first open-source GPU-based code for the simulation of microparticles motion in a plasma flow.  OpenDust is optimised for graphics accelerators, that allows it to calculate the forces acting on microparticles significantly faster than existing alternatives. A paper with the findings has been published in Computer Physics Communications.

A team made up of HSE researchers and paediatricians of the Turner Research Institute for Children’s Orthopedics have compared the cognitive functions of children with and without arthrogryposis. The experiment revealed that children with arthrogryposis exhibit a slight delay of a few milliseconds in their brain responses to words associated with hand movements. The researchers suggest that this discovery be taken into consideration when teaching children with motor impairments and developing diagnostic tools. The paper has been published in Clinical Neurophysiology.

Researchers of the HSE Centre for Language and Brain have investigated the impact of both auditory and visual noise on semantic processing during reading to determine if it results in a more superficial reading style that emphasises the meanings of individual words over connections between them in a sentence. It appears that noise does not affect reading comprehension but can cause a decrease in reading speed when even unintelligible conversations are occurring nearby. However, when exposed to visual noise, individuals tend to read slightly faster, possibly due to the irritating nature of the noise. The study findings have been published in PLOS ONE.

Researchers from HSE University and Tambov State Technical University (TSTU) have developed intelligent robotic systems for the monitoring and quality control of fruits and vegetables. The system allows gardeners to carry out agrotechnical and protective activity, ensuring the highest possible quality of the crop.

A team of researchers from HSE University, the Russian Academy of Sciences Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, and Molecular Technologies, LLC have jointly proposed a new treatment for osteoarthritis. This is currently the first disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug to act simultaneously on bone and cartilage tissue metabolism and on inflammation. The study findings are published in Scientific Reports.

Greater marital satisfaction lowers the risk of professional burnout, with this correlation being more pronounced among men than women. This is a conclusion made by HSE psychologists after conducting a study on the effect of social interactions on workplace burnout on a sample of 203 employees from several Russian companies. According to the researchers, gaining a better understanding of the specific aspects of burnout experienced by individuals makes it possible to address this syndrome more effectively. The paper has been published in Organizational Psychology.