Smartphones provide a “palm-sized window” onto the world, enabling us to learn about almost anything at the touch of a button.
There is growing evidence that although digital technology may help us save some time, we end up using that time to do more things.
Experts recently conducted interviews with 300 people across Europe, to understand how they use digital devices in daily life. The research showed that people want to avoid free hours in their lives, so they fill those periods by performing tasks, some of which would not be possible without technology.
Participants reported that time that was previously “empty” was now filled with brain training apps, creating lists of things to do or try based on their social media feed.
It seems that the quiet moments where people watch, imagine and daydream are now filled with technology-based tasks.
The growth in digital tasks is occurring, in part, because technology is changing our perception of what free time means. For many people, eating dinner, watching TV, or perhaps exercising is no longer enough.
Instead, in an attempt to avoid wasting time, these activities are performed while also surfing the web in search of the ingredients needed for a more complete life and trying to develop a sense of accomplishment.
On the surface, some of these tasks may seem like examples of technology saving us time. Social media can sometimes inspire, motivate or comfort people. But new research suggests that people often feel guilt, shame and remorse after filling their free time with online activities, because they see them as less credible than real-life activities.
It seems that people still consider going for a walk or being physically present with friends more valuable than being online.
It is also believed that changing work patterns leads to work intensification. Home and hybrid work, enabled by video conferencing technology, has blurred the boundaries between work and personal time.
Digital technologies accelerate the pace of life. Take email and online meetings as examples. Before it existed, we had to wait for responses to voicemail messages, or commute to places to talk to each other.
Instead, we now have back-to-back online meetings, sometimes with not enough time in between to even go to the toilet.
Email creates tremendous growth in communications, which means more work to read and respond to. Poorly designed technology can also force us to do more work because of the inefficiency it creates.
As time pressure increases, stress and fatigue increase, leading to increased absence from work.
Regaining time may require a shift in the way we relate to it. To break free from the habit of filling our time with more and more tasks, we must first accept that sometimes it is possible to do little or nothing at all.
In the work environment, employers and employees need to create an environment where separation is the norm, not the exception.
But developing legislation that enshrines the right to disconnect may be the only way to ensure that technology stops dominating our time.
This states that employees are not obligated to contact them outside of their working hours, and that they have the right to refuse to take digital work home with them.
And maybe when technology starts telling us to stop working, we'll get the time back.
The report is by Ruth Ogden, Professor of Chronology, Liverpool John Morris University, and Joanna Witowska, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Maria Grzegorzewska University.
How do we get our eye colors?
It is widely known that "the eyes are the window to the soul", however, this human organ in itself, may hide some secrets, among them the origin of its color.
To help explain the details of this genetic wonder, Fox News Digital spoke with a genetics expert about the topic.
What is eye color?
Eye color refers to the color of the iris, which is the colored part of the eye that surrounds the pupil, which is the small black opening in the middle of the eye, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation noted: “Your eye color is like your fingerprint. Because there is no other person in the world who has exactly the same eye color as you.”
How is eye color determined?
Eye color depends on the amount, type and distribution of melanin, or pigment, in the iris, said Blair Stevens, a clinical genetic counselor, director of prenatal genetic counseling services and a professor at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
“Melanin production is determined by a person’s genetic information, which we inherit from our parents,” Stevens added.
Eye color is a "polygenic" trait, meaning that several genes are involved. To this end, some genetic variants produce more melanin, leading to a darker color, while other genetic variants produce less melanin, leading to lighter-colored eyes, according to Stevens.
She continued: "People often wonder why newborns' eyes change color, because melanin production continues to develop after birth."
What are recessive and dominant genes?
Stevens explained that “recessive” traits are usually only expressed if someone inherits the recessive gene from both parents, while a “dominant” trait inherited from only one parent can mask a recessive trait from the other parent.
“Brown eye color is thought to be dominant over blue eye color, similar to a paint mix,” she said.
For example, if you have blue paint and mix it with brown, the resulting color will appear more brown than blue.
Although brown eye color is thought to be dominant over blue, Stevens confirmed that we have two copies of each gene, one from each parent, and that multiple genes are involved in determining eye color.
"This means that there are many combinations of genes that children can inherit from their parents. Imagine a watercolor palette with some blue, green and brown paint options," she explained.
Does either parent typically have dominant genes for eye color and other traits such as hair color or skin color?
Eye color, hair color, and skin tone are all affected by melanin, or the pigment our bodies produce, Stevens explains. “Our genes dictate the type, structure and amount of melanin,” she said. “So, if a person has different melanin genes that produce high amounts of melanin, their eye color, hair color and skin tone will likely be darker than someone with genes that produce lower amounts of melanin.”
She added that there are some genes that affect hair color and may not affect eye color and vice versa.
Can siblings have different eye colors? If so why?
Siblings could have completely different eye colors, Stevens noted, because "it would depend on the mixing of genes that each of them inherits."