1 . We all know that unpleasant feeling when we’re talking about something interesting and halfway through our sentence we’re interrupted. But was that really an interruption? The answer depends on whom you ask, according to new research led by Katherine Hilton from Stanford University.

Using a set of controlled audio clips (录音片段), Hilton surveyed 5, 000 American English speakers to better understand what affects people’s perceptions of interruptions. She had participants listen to audio clips and then answer questions about whether the speakers seemed to be friendly and engaged, listening to one another, or trying to interrupt.

Hilton found that American English speakers have different conversational styles. She identified two distinct groups: high and low intensity speakers. High intensity speakers are generally uncomfortable with moments of silence in conversation and consider talking at the same time a sign of engagement. Low intensity speakers find it rude to talk at the same time and prefer people speak one after another in conversation.

The differences in conversational styles became evident when participants listened to audio clips in which two people spoke at the same time but were agreeing with each other and stayed on topic, Hilton said. The high intensity group reported that conversations where people spoke at the same time when expressing agreement were not interruptive but engaged and friendlier than the conversations with moments of silence in between speaking turns. In contrast, the low intensity group perceived any amount of simultaneous (同时) chat as a rude interruption, regardless of what the speakers were saying.

“People care about being interrupted, and those small interruptions can have a massive effect on the overall communication,” Hilton said. “Breaking apart what an interruption means is essential if we want to understand how humans interact with each other.”

4 . It’s not just people that are social distancing. Brands are doing it too.

McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Audi and Volkswagen are just a few of the big companies that are interpreting “social distancing” with logo (商标) redesigns.

The term, social distancing, meaning standing 6 feet apart from others in an effort to lower the risk of being infected (感染) by diseases, has become popular recently.

“Our current global situation is no joke. It’s a serious matter,” Douglas Sellers, executive creative director for firm Siegel + Gale told CNN Business. “And brands designing social distancing logos have the potential to decrease the severity of what we are going through. The creativity, passion, and thought that goes into wanting to help, educate, and be part of the physical distancing movement is a worthy note,” Sellers said.

McDonald’s Brazil

Last week, McDonald’s Brazil pulled apart its iconic (标志性的) golden arches in a picture posted to its Facebook page. The ad agency explained that despite the temporary separation between its customers and the company caused by closures of some of its restaurants, they can always be together. McDonald’s is offering food through delivery.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is currently running an ad in New York’s deserted Times Square that shows each letter of its logo separated with the slogan “Staying apart is the best way to stay united”. The brand typically celebrates togetherness and love in its ads.

Audi and Volkswagen

Two companies that share ownership, Audi and Volkswagen, changed their logos for their social media accounts. Audi separated its four rings in a short video telling people to stay at home and keep their distance. Volkswagen also promoted a similar video with inspirational messages and separated the V and W.

5 . With researchers suggesting that sitting is the new smoking, sit-stand desks (SSD) have become a common tool to interrupt long sitting in an office or classroom environment. As this furniture becomes popular, conflicting opinions have arisen on whether they can work as successfully as they are intended. Dr. April Chambers from the University of Pittsburgh worked with teammates to gather data from 3 studies and published a review article listing present information on the benefits of SSDs.

“There has been a great deal of scientific research about sit-stand desks in the past few years, but we have only scratched the surface of this topic,” said Chambers. I want to gather what we’ve known so far to figure out how we can use these desks to better benefit people in the workplace.

This work was done with Dr. Nancy A. Baker from Tufts University. The review examines the effects of a sit-stand desk in the following aspects: behavior, physiological(生理的), work performance, psychological, discomfort, and posture. Their work showed that using an SSD effectively got participants to sit less and stand more and that the device made users more comfortable at work. However, many frustrations (沮丧) with SSDs came from the physiological outcomes. According to the review, physiological effects were the most studied, but there were no significant results with regards to fatness.

There are many considerations about using an SSD most effectively, such as desk height, monitor height, and the amount of time to stand. Chambers believes that the overall arrangement of the workplace or study place and the amount of work are two factors that should be further studied.

Chambers noted that present research is limited because many of the studies were done with young and healthy subjects who were asked to use the desk for a week or a month at most. Since some of the significant benefits are with heart health or muscle discomfort, it may be beneficial to perform additional studies with middle-aged or overweight workers.