Ask a sixteen-year-old about a social media ban, and you get an answer sharper than most adults arguing about bans. She says, “It doesn’t prepare us for the real world when we will have to deal with these distractions in our life”. The teenager’s response strikes at the core of the ban vs
How I got hooked on chasing solar eclipses Traveling the globe for celestial events may seem downright loony—until you get a taste of the addictive world of ‘eclipse chasing’ Published on: Aug 23, 2026, 18:30:10 IST WSJ Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link ‘It was glorious
Made-in-India semiconductor chips are now powering key Indian space missions. These domestically manufactured components support lunar and solar exploration efforts. Specialized chips from Mohali's Semiconductor Laboratory are used in Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1
India's space program began with a small rocket range in 1962. It progressed to launching its first satellite and developing indigenous launch vehicles. Chandrayaan-3's lunar landing marked a significant achievement for the nation. The program now includes private sector involvement and ambitious
India plans to establish its own space station by the year 2035. The first module for the Bharatiya Antariksha Station has already received approval. This ambitious project aligns with the nation's growing space capabilities and aspirations. National Space Day celebrates India's achievements and
India observed its third National Space Day, commemorating the Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing. ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan recalled the agency's humble beginnings and current global standing. He highlighted Chandrayaan-3's soft landing near the Moon's south pole in August 2023
The Indian government created the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) to offer students an intellectually vibrant research environment and to bring them into research at a relatively — vis-à-vis the Indian milieu — early stage
Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to lure global expertise to India's expanding space landscape. He identifies the private sector's potential as a crucial asset for global competition. Key advantages include India’s affordability and its appetite for innovation
Late nights, long sleeps, low output: Workers who don't follow a social schedule struggle most at work, finds a study
A large study reveals that workers whose sleep patterns clash with daily schedules, known as social jetlaggers, experience significant productivity loss. Insomnia and extreme sleep durations also negatively affect workplace performance. Researchers used smartphone data from nearly 80,000 Japanese workers to identify these trends. The findings highlight the critical role of sleep quality and timing in daily output.
A large study tracking sleep through smartphones has found that workers whose body clocks clash with social schedules, often called “social jetlaggers”, lose the most productivity at work. The analysis, based on sleep data from nearly 80,000 Japanese workers, also shows that people prone to insomnia face a similar dip in performance. Researchers say both too little and too much sleep can quietly drag down workplace output.
What the study found
Researchers from the University of Tsukuba studied smartphone-collected sleep data and matched it with productivity loss scores gathered through questionnaires. They looked closely at total sleep time, how long people took to fall asleep, and how often they woke up during the night.
The results, published in the journal npj Digital Medicine, point to a clear U-shaped pattern. Workers who slept for very short hours and those who slept for unusually long hours both showed reduced productivity at work.
In simple terms, extreme sleep habits on either side came with a cost.
Who are the “social jetlaggers”?
Social jetlag happens when a person's internal body clock does not match their daily work or social schedule. For example, sleeping late and waking late on weekends, then forcing an early routine on weekdays, can throw the body out of sync.The researchers grouped participants into five sleep types, or phenotypes: “healthy sleepers”, “long sleepers”, “fragmented sleepers”, “poor sleepers” and “social jetlaggers”.
Among these, two groups stood out for all the wrong reasons.
The worst-hit sleep groups
“The latter two clusters showed the worst scores for insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and presenteeism (reduced workplace productivity),” they said.People in these groups often took longer to fall asleep, woke up frequently during the night, and showed greater misalignment between their sleep timing and daily routines. All of this added up to lower performance at work.
The team also found that frequent night awakenings and irregular sleep patterns mattered just as much as the total number of hours slept.
It's not just about hours in bed
The findings underline a broader message: sleep quality, timing and regularity play a major role in how people function at work. Simply clocking more hours does not guarantee better productivity.Workers who slept at odd hours or followed inconsistent routines were more likely to struggle during the day, even if their total sleep time looked “normal” on paper.
Why smartphones matter here
The researchers say smartphone-based sleep tracking could help spot people at risk on a large scale. Such tools may guide more personalised strategies in the future, helping workers adjust sleep habits before productivity takes a hit.For now, the message is clear and slightly ironic for a busy world: sleeping too little, too much, or at the wrong time can quietly undo your best efforts at work.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
Source: EconomicTimes
Related Posts: Smartphone addiction,social jetlag,smartphone sleep data,worker productivity,sleep tracking
The Northeast India Space Workshop 2026 will convene in Guwahati to explore regional transformation. This event aims to leverage space technology for global reach and economic growth. Stakeholders will discuss Northeast India becoming a developer and testbed for space solutions
1 days ago
The dramatic 1° Celsius rise in global temperatures since industrialisation has already proved to have upended the lives of wild flora and fauna: that of at least 15,801 species on the Red List of Threatened Species, according to IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
2 days ago
India faces a substantial cost gap with the United States for launching payloads. A recent study estimates India's cost at over $13,000 per kilogram by 2025. This contrasts with the United States' estimated cost of $3,225 per kilogram. The study highlights scale and experience as key factors for
2 days ago
Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged young space entrepreneurs to innovate for agriculture and daily life. He highlighted the potential of India's private space sector for global impact. Startups were urged to engage with schools and inspire future generations
2 days ago
Rock-solid evidence for the origins of birds Stones in dinosaur stomachs may help understanding of avian evolution Published on: Aug 20, 2026, 21:09:09 IST The Economist Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link How do you know what a dinosaur ate? Guts rot away after death
3 days ago
Was it meat or glucose that fueled the growth of the human brain? If evolutionary science told us, hitherto, that human brain expansion relied on meat to grow, a new study has an interesting addition to this theory. Published in a recent issue of Science
4 days ago
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch the GISAT-1A satellite in September, in a mission that will be watched closely for many important reasons. Since the two successive PSLV mission failures, in 2025 and early 2026, ISRO had paused launches as it investigated the reason
4 days ago
The Hara forests are a vital ecological treasure of the Persian Gulf. Spanning the Strait of Hormuz, these mangrove forests consist mainly of grey mangrove trees (Avicennia marina), which have a special filtration system in their roots that allows them to thrive in saline conditions
5 days ago
India spends more to put a kilogram of payload into orbit than any other major spacefaring nation, marring its public image as a cost-effective launcher, according to a new peer-reviewed analysis of more than six decades of rocket launches published in Economics Letters
7 days ago
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there,” the English novelist L.P. Hartley wrote famously in his 1953 novel The Go-Between. In a peculiar twist, the same cannot be said of the Moon. It is not a foreign country, or even a foreign world: the U.S
7 days ago
The computer did not create a virus. It did not touch a test tube or handle a living cell. What it did may ultimately be more consequential: it helped decide what the virus’s genome should be. Researchers at Stanford University and the Arc Institute used artificial intelligence (AI) to design
8 days ago
Spectators across Spain watched in wonder, some whipping off their protective glasses and rising to their feet in unison, as a rare total solar eclipse swept across the north of the country on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) evening, plunging it into darkness
8 days ago
Japan's MMX mission will blast off soon to collect Martian moon samples. The spacecraft will orbit Mars for three years and land on Phobos. This mission aims to understand Solar System origins and life's emergence. A rival Chinese mission also plans to return Mars samples around 2031
8 days ago
Draft rules for the SHANTI Act, 2025, mandate financial security for nuclear damage. Operators must maintain insurance or financial security until spent fuel removal. Foreign reactor designs require certification by their country of origin's regulatory body
9 days ago
As a total solar eclipse will be visible in parts of Europe on August 12 for the first time since 1999, solar physicists at the Raman Research Institute (RRI) in Bengaluru, along with collaborators, have predicted the magnetic structure of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or its ‘crown’
9 days ago
When a young man was brought to my clinic after his first episode of psychosis, his parents wanted to know when he could return to college. This is not an atypical first interaction. However, in many instances, after a few consultations later and especially once the immediate crisis had settled
11 days ago
Some people can live apparently ordinary lives even when both copies of a gene (one inherited from the mother and the other from the father) have stopped working. Until their DNA is sequenced, they may never know that this has happened. A large study from Pakistan, published in Nature (June 2026)
11 days ago
Physicist Deepak Dhar received the 2026 Dirac Medal for his statistical mechanics work. He shares the award with three other scientists for their complex systems research. Their contributions span biology, finance, computer science, and artificial intelligence
12 days ago
Colombia and Venezuela experienced deadly earthquakes due to tectonic plate friction. The Nazca plate sliding beneath the South American plate caused tremors. Earthquake magnitude and depth significantly influenced the destructive impact. Building codes and terrain also played crucial roles in the
12 days ago
India has been invited to join NASA's Moon Base program. Discussions focused on expanding civil and commercial space cooperation. Both nations agreed to advance open scientific data sharing under Artemis Accords. They also reaffirmed commitment to UN guidelines for outer space sustainability
12 days ago
A team led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine has found that several inherited traits in the mouse genome break the rules Gregor Mendel laid down in the 19th century about how genes work. This is not because the genes mutate but because of chemical modifications of the genome
13 days ago
Urban India’s water emergency will not be fixed by better crisis management alone. Over the coming decades, hundreds of millions more people will live and work in Indian cities, driving a sharp increase in the urban water demand. And unless we change how we design, finance
15 days ago
IN-SPACe seeks private partners to manage ISRO's new launch complex. This facility will support small rocket launches and enhance launch efficiency. Private entities will handle end-to-end operations and maintenance of the complex. ISRO will provide initial technical and operational support for
15 days ago
NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Jessica Meir on Friday (August 6, 2026) concluded their spacewalk outside the International Space Station to assemble the modification kit for its power channel that would allow addition of solar arrays. The spacewalk – 281st in support of the space station –
15 days ago
The gut microbiomes of eight tribal populations across India have a unique diversity shaped by their traditional diets, and are distinct from those observed in industrialised settings, researchers have reported in Gut Microbes. The effects of probiotics depend on a population’s diet and gut
15 days ago
Five minutes past noon on July 18, the launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota roared back to life after a gap of 187 days. The last launch from the space port was on January 12, 2026, involving the PSLV-C62 mission carrying the EOS-N1 earth observation satellite
15 days ago
A lettuce that makes meat protein: The science behind engineering plants to grow an animal molecule & why it matters The study established proof of concept, but lettuce with meat protein is still some distance from ending up in your burger. Updated on: Aug 7, 2026
16 days ago
