The Stitch

Who Let the Virus Out?
If you’re still not clear on how a few cases of Coronavirus managed to explode into a full blown Pandemic, despite draconian social restrictions that are the envy of all Western Democracies, watch this infographic. It offers a rad visualization of how hundreds of millions of people moved out of Wuhan since December, and where they all went.

Are we too “Loose” in the West?
First of all, get your mind out of the gutter. “Loose”, in a Covid-19 context, refers more to your fondness of democratic norms than anything else. The differences between individualistic and collective cultures on behavior has long been a focus of study for behavioral scientists, particularly as it impacts behaviors like immunization. In the context of this Coronavirus pandemic, this same phenomenon - and where you stand on the cultural spectrum of looseness - could mean the difference between being able to flatten the curve, or not.

Hand Sanitizer, Masks, and….Toilet Paper?
If you’re looking for a nerdy analysis of why every shopping cart you saw last week was overflowing with toilet paper, there’s a perfectly (ir)rational explanation: “There are at least three factors driving our response – scarcity, social proof, and regaining a sense of control.”Even behavioral scientists themselves couldn’t resist the social pressure to stock up.

Behavioral Sightings at the World Health Organization
The World Health Organization wants to know what people know and think about COVID-19. This unprecedented inquiry into human behavior led by the world's largest organization of doctors and epidemiologists is like a coming out party for the newly established Behavioral Insights Unit at WHO/Europe. They’ve made their research tool free and accessible to everyone, and are also offering support to countries who want to use it. You can download the tool and find out more about it here.

Don’t Test Me
How quickly the Coronavirus can be halted is now almost entirely dependent on human behaviour. A new paper, which scoured 120 research articles in about a week highlights three factors that would make altruistic behavior more likely: clear communication, feeling a sense of community and some form of punishment—social disapproval, for example—for those who break the rules.You may recognize some of them already being rolled out at a press-conference near you.

Cough this way, please
Your coughing could help epidemiologists better understand the distribution pattern and transmission potential of viral respiratory outbreaks in crowds. University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have created an artificial intelligence device called FluSense which can analyze audio of people coughing in public places and turn it into actionable data. With the help of a relatively cheap microphone and thermal imaging data set up in a public area, FluSense can’t tell you if you’re sick as an individual, but it might be able to tell city administrators when a particular neighborhood is about to have an outbreak.

Sharing is caring
Collaboration amongst social scientists has arguably never been more important. This global list of social science research tracks new studies planned and ongoing about COVID-19. It includes published findings, pre-prints, projects underway, and those at proposal stage. If you want to collaborate with a group of social researchers, avoid duplication, or identify a critical gap you can fill, download the shared spreadsheet. Please share widely amongst your networks!

Lessons from the Behavioural and Social Sciences - now and later
This paper, hot off the press this week, was written by 36 authors from around the world and highlights work on navigating threats, social and cultural factors, science communication, moral decision-making, leadership, and stress and coping that is relevant to pandemics. Perhaps more importantly it highlights gaps that need to be urgently filled and the value of these lessons long-term: “Whether policy makers are trying to increase vaccination rates or reduce the harm of climate change, they will be fundamentally facing many of the same issues.” Recommended reading!

“I told you so” - said Bill Gates never
Remember when Bill Gates told us we weren’t prepared for the next pandemic... FOUR YEARS AGO? His TED Talk from 2015 feels like an eerie prediction into the future. Except it was based on science and data, so really it just feels like everyone ignored the data. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation tried once again last year. They,organized a pandemic simulation exercise at the World Economic Forum in October 2019 - just 3 months before  Covid-19 took off in China. The key takeaway? “We’re not ready.”  Anyone surprised?
Luckily for us, Bill Gates isn’t the “I told you so” type. Instead, his foundation is working with the World Economic Forum to set up a Covid-Action platform among governments, international organizations and the business community to focus on three priorities. Hopefully the world will listen more closely this time.

Visual graphs are worth a thousand words
We know most people have their favorite data tracker for the outbreak (this is ours). More than ever, we’re seeing how important it is to provide visuals and graphics to help people interpret numbers and science. What started out as an exercise in counting numbers is now a plotting exercise reminiscent of your high school algebra class. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t really know how to read graphs, and this innumeracy can lead to misinformation and misguided decision making.
If you’re graph literate, you can track how your country is flattening their curve with this nifty time series graph from Visual Capitalist.

#StandAgainstCorona
Knowing the impact of pledges on behavioural follow-through, a team of behavioural scientists launched the #standagainstcorona pledge. It’s a public commitment to carry out four life-saving behaviours.  We took the pledge and so should you! Interested in the science behind the pledge? Check it out here.

Kids need to be entertained
Who knew? There’s no shortage of lists circulating amongst desperate parents trying to keep their kids entertained, mildly stimulated, and away from their Zoom cameras. This is one of the best lists we’ve come across, put together by a mom and former educator, and crowd-sourced by other parents around the world. It includes live virtual classes for all ages, museum tours, puppet shows, toddler concerts, art, magic classes and more. Parents on the edge? You’re welcome.

This list is (way) longer than usual this month. Are we the only ones finding it hard to focus?

The groceries no one wants to panic-buy
Wondering what’ll still be left on the shelves for your midnight grocery run? Chocolate hummus, chick-pea pasta, Dasani water (weird), and all the vegan food you could hope for are a good bet. These groceries are getting no love amidst the shopocalypse.

Dr. BJ Fogg is listening
Life looks pretty different now for most of us. If you’re taking a “one day at a time” approach, or frankly a “one hour at a time” approach,  Dr. BJ Fogg has your back.  Inspired by his book “Tiny Habits”, he and his colleagues offer daily Covid coaching sessions - or “tiny tips” as he calls them - for things like how to remain calm with kids, tools for seniors, and building healthy habits while working from home.


‘I’m no epidemiologist, but…’
If you’re tired of giving advice about COVID-19 that starts with that  phrase,  just stop right there. Don’t say another word. Shhh! Shush. Stop. Take this course first.

TED Connects with Bill Gates, Seth Berkeley and other smart people
This free, live, daily conversation series brings you real-time conversations with some of the world’s leading experts on public health systems, vaccines, mental health, and human behavior. It’s like having a private Zoom session with a celebrity. Insider tip: we logged in with Bill Gates this week and were way too excited to get a glimpse into his home office.  Also exciting on the same scale, he was reassuringly optimistic about our prospects for beating Covid-19.

This Podcast Will Kill You
It won’t really kill you, unless you walk into traffic with your headphones on, but it covers so many things that can. Normally, each episode tackles a different disease, from its history, to its biology, and finally, how scared you need to be. Now, disease ecologists and epidemiologists Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke have created six chapters (and counting) dedicated to everything Covid, from the anatomy of the disease, to potential vaccines, to how to take care of your mental health.

Dr. Tedros on WhatsApp
OK, it’s not really Dr. Tedros personally on your WhatsApp feed, but it’s the next best thing. Text “hi” to +41 79 893 18 92 and get the latest numbers from WHO, information on how to protect yourself, frequently asked questions answered, mythbusters, travel advice, and more.

Behavioral Updates to Covid-19
For constant updates and links to the behavioural side of coronavirus check out this selection of articles and links the Behavioural Scientist collates and updates daily. It’s kind of like the Stitch, but more predictable and slightly more ambitious (read: impressive). 

Mike was keeping fit thanks to this video from a 75-year-old in Cork, Ireland, while holding family dance parties to newly-discovered Zambian music.

Sherine was earning a PhD in toddler arts and crafts, and resorting to this by evening.

Felicity revisited ‘Compassionomics’  and sought out some of London’s quiet spots for her ‘daily exercise’ with Baaba Maal on repeat!

Pauline became an in-house master chef, cooking everything from Alison Roman's Spiced Chick Pea Stew to whatever Julia Child could throw at her. Here's to more butter!