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SPONSORED BY  | | | | July 30, 2024: Why social media has its hooks in us, a single-atom-thick sheet of gold, and the seventh person in the world is cured of HIV. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | | Why are humans so enthralled with social media? We have evolved to be information foragers, write Carl T. Bergstrom and C. Brandon Ogbunu, professors in biology and evolutionary biology, respectively. A thirst for knowledge and information helped our earliest ancestors seek out food sources and shelter. Shared ideas kept small communities knitted together and created a space for culture to develop. A love of learning helped us advance our knowledge and technology, and flourish. Social media is engineered to tap into this ancient information appetite. Why this matters: The Internet runs on advertising dollars, so platforms compete fiercely for our attention, the authors write. Social media companies know exactly what types of information entice users to keep them hooked as long as possible. "This specialized attention to new information on social media has come to mean that we spend much of our time engaging with fluff at best and disinformation at worst."
What the experts say: "We consider it unlikely that media conglomerates will ever acquiesce to the large-scale changes required to support better, safer, healthier social media practices," Bergstrom and Ogbunu write. Our human nature makes us vulnerable to the negative aspects of social media. But our human erudition can save us from its worst effects. | | | Amanda Montañez; Source: "Synthesis of Goldene Comprising Single-Atom Layer Gold," by Shun Kashiwaya et al., in Nature Synthesis. Published online April 16, 2024 (reference) | | | Scientists have created freestanding, single-atom-thick sheets of gold, dubbed "goldene." It's the first time this has been done with any metal atoms. The researchers embedded gold atoms inside titanium silicon carbide by heating layered films of the materials to about 670 degrees Celsius, causing gold to displace some of the silicon in single-celled sheets. Why this is cool: To figure out how to get the gold sheets out from the crystal structure of titanium silicon carbide, the researchers used Murakami's reagent, a solution used in a century-old technique for etching Japanese swords and other metals. Using the reagent in darkness, the team managed to produce freestanding goldene flakes of about a tenth of a micron in area.
What's next: Goldene has a higher molecular binding energy than regular gold; this property means it could catalyze or jump-start chemical reactions. Researchers expect goldene to have its own set of other special properties, just like graphene (single-layer carbon) does. | | | SPONSORED CONTENT BY CCHCS | Use your skills to make a positive difference in the lives of incarcerated persons. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) / California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) is seeking full-time compassionate, knowledgeable psychiatrists to join our multidisciplinary mental health teams. | | | • When interacting with information online or on social media, we need to be more aware of how our emotions and biases can be exploited, write the editors of Scientific American. Before you hit like, share or heart on a post, pause and consider: Is this content meant to brand me as partisan? Have I read the whole article? Am I sharing this content to get validation through likes? Perhaps most importantly, how are media entities using my consumer data, political preferences and past behavior to manipulate me and make money off of me? "Ask yourself if sharing it is worth the risk of becoming a messenger for disinformation meant to divide people who might otherwise have much in common." | 3 min read | | | How many words can you find in our new game Spellements? Check out today's puzzle here and email me or games@sciam.com if you spot any cool science words that were missing from the game! Yesterday's player Zedory Cottrell, from Sunnyvale, Calif., found "nevi," which is the plural for "nevus," a skin mole. Great find, Zedory! | | | I'm sure many of us have felt that strange sensation of being sucked down into a social media rabbit hole, scrolling endlessly through posts or video feeds. Rather than reading a book or article or playing a video game, social media is a mostly passive activity, with images, sounds and ideas flowing at us and pinging our dopamine receptors. Some helpful tips I've found to break out of the trance: 1. Turn on time limits on your phone that cuts off social media access. 2. Don't bring your phone into the bedroom at night where you might be tempted to scroll in bed. Try an old-fashioned alarm clock instead of your phone's alarm to wake up! 3. Go on walks without your phone, or leave your phone in the glovebox if you go out in a car. Get used to being without your phone sometimes. | It can be hard to break our social media fixations. Stick with me and I'll give you engaging, informed and evidence-backed content every day. Thanks for reading, and reach out anytime: newsletters@sciam.com. | —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor | | Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters . | | | | Scientific American
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