1. How hot can the hottest place on Earth get?
2. Mosquitoes in Mosquito City and
3. How does a car actually turn?

1. It is the Death Valley for a reason

When I read that a place called Death Valley recorded its highest ever temperature this week, I got intrigued for two reasons: the temperature and the name.

At around 3pm on 16th August, Death Valley recorded 54.4C, making it the hottest place on Earth this year. Since 1911, the average high temperature in the valley during the summer months (May to September) is a painful 41.8C. The consistent high temperature has created an oxymoron; the valley floor would look like…

1. What is a fuel that helps spread fake news?
2. Why and how — Belly button lint
3. Do we have a new zodiac sign?

1. The fuel to the fake news fire

It might sound like an oxymoron — I proactively avoid fake news and at the same time research about it. All this while, thought that it was social constructs that cause a real story to take 6 times longer than fake news to reach people. But only recently it struck me that there could be some other fuel that is helping to spread the fake news fire. Are stop words the problem?

Stop words are words such…

• Why is lockdown affecting sleep patterns?
• Do you burn more calories when you exercise in a hotter climate?
• How far do the roots of Voodoo go?

Sleep patterns during the lockdown

In just this week, four of my friends told me that their sleep pattern is “completely screwed”. Coincidence? I was not sure, so I conducted a short survey through Instagram.

From 87 responses, 57% agree that their sleep cycles are affected, and 66% of them are sleeping more. I am not surprised because these results are an indication of a world-wide phenomenon. Fitbit conducted a sleep-pattern study, and the results clearly show that people…

A spark is a little thing, yet it may kindle the world - Martin Farquhar Tupper

To be honest, I am fed up listening to and reading about multiple opinions on the new normal post-Covid. A recurring theme in the conversations I heard or read was that organisations must now become more innovative than ever. I thought that this feels like common sense, right?

Nevertheless, organisations that need support can reach out to a spectrum of consultants and academic theories.

But then, my thinking led to a question — “How do these organisations (its leaders) intrinsically know the mechanisms of a management theory in practice if this is the first time they are ever hearing it — especially that of organisational practices to boost innovation culture?”*

To read more, click here

This week’s Curiosity Box has

1. Can you juxtapose Pulitzer Prize winners with other books?
2. What is the story behind a fairy tale?
3. How and why do space agencies track Asteroids and Comets?

1. Pulitzer prize winners vs the rest:

Last week, a simple analysis revealed that a book that has 200 to 400 pages is most sought after by both authors and readers. But sometimes art and artists are difficult to judge by popular opinion.

In the literary world, the Pulitzer Prize is one of the highest honour an author can get. Every year, a selected jury and a board of members decide who the winners are across a range of categories…

Introduction — context setting

Accolades from a university like the highest number of certifications, university rank holder, and top 1% in aptitude tests may not support you in long term success in careers if you lack the one underlying skill that everyone expects: communication (8). In an organisational context, communication is interlaced with the esoteric relationship that businesses have with their customers. Therefore a sustainable future for the company is out of the equation if communication is removed.

With up-to-date technological tools, businesses have opted for using multiple modes of communication: mainstream media, text messages, websites, and social media platforms, to name a few…