Bees use social distancing

Research by M. Pusceddu et al. shows that honeybees use social distancing when a parasite is introduced to the hive. In a parasite-free hive, activities are spread throughout the hive, whereas clusters form when parasites are detected. The Economist illustrated the difference with a grids of dot densities.

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Social distancing when we’re back in the office

For Reuters, Sarah Slobin and Feilding Cage imagine life back at the office with an interactive game. Navigate through different office scenarios while maintaining social distance:

To understand what that might feel like, we spoke to some experts on work and workspaces who predicted that social distancing measures and hybrid work models are here to stay. Walk through our simulations below to experience what going back to the old/new office might be like. Make sure to avoid contact with others along the way!

I haven’t worked in a proper office in many years, and it never appealed to me, but it sounds pretty nice these days.

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People of the Pandemic, a game that simulates social distancing in your ZIP Code

People of the Pandemic is a game that lets you choose how many times you leave the house to get food or go for a walk. Using data for population and hospital beds in your ZIP code, the game then simulates infection, death, and recovery for a hypothetical virus, based on your choices and 19 others’ choices who played before you.

The infection rate felt aggressive no matter what choices I made in my ZIP code, so it’s probably worth emphasizing again that the game uses a simplified model. See the methodology here. But I like the effort to localize our individual decisions.

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Simulation of droplets while social distancing

Using 3-D simulation data from the Kyoto Institute of Technology, The New York Times shows how droplets from a sneeze or a cough can spread in a space. In a nutshell, six feet is the recommendation while in public areas, but the farther you away you can stay away the better. Go to the end, and there’s also an augmented reality segment that puts a six-foot range around you.

I may never set foot in a crowded place again.

See also: how different cough coverings can change the spread of droplets.

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Social distancing isn’t available for everyone

For Reuters, Chris Canipe looks at social distancing from the perspective of household income:

Anonymized smartphone data in the United States shows some interesting trends. People in larger cities and urban corridors were more likely to change their travel habits, especially in early March. By the end of the month, most U.S. residents were traveling dramatically less than they did in February, but social and demographic differences were strong predictors of how much that changed.

The above shows median change in distance traveled against median household income by county. Note the downwards trend showing counties with lower median incomes with less change in travel.

For many, it’s not possible to work from home or it isn’t safe to stay at home. Don’t be too quick to judge.

An aside: There are bigger things to concentrate on right now, but after this is all done, I feel like we need to think more about who has access to our location via cellphone. Clearly the data has its uses, but that’s not always going to be the case.

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Simulations for virus spread with social distancing

Social distancing is the game plan these days. Try to stay at home and avoid contact with others as much as you can. But why? For The Washington Post, Harry Stevens used simplified simulations of an imaginary virus to show how social distancing can flatten the curve.

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