Author: Michele Debczak

For all the time Americans spend complaining about sad desk lunches, after-hours emails, and unused vacation days, our workload is surprisingly light. As Inc. reports, the average U.S. worker spends just 39 percent of their clocked-in hours on actual work, but employee laziness isn’t necessarily to blame.

That number comes from Workfront’s latest U.S. State of Enterprise Work Report which surveyed over 600 people employed by large companies. The percentage of time respondents said they dedicated to job tasks in 2016 is down from the 46 percent they reported last year. So what’s causing the severe drop in productivity? It’s tempting to blame the tweets, quizzes, and cat GIFs constantly at our fingertips for distracting employees. And past research has shown that slacking off does contribute to missing time in the workday—but only about 30 to 60 minutes of it. According to Workfront’s report, the biggest distractions employees face are actually coming from up top.

Workers surveyed reported spending 21 percent of their days in meetings (half of which they didn’t find productive) and 16 percent answering emails. So even when employees want to get work done, they still have to deal with managers interrupting them throughout the day.

While our work hours are becoming less productive, they’re also growing longer: The average amount of time spent at the office increased from 44.3 hours in 2015 to 45.1 hours in 2016. Thankfully there are alternatives for workers determined to make better use of their precious time. Working from home is becoming more widely accepted and, as you might suspect, remote employees get more done and feel happier overall.

[h/t Inc.]

From microscopic fossils to giant squids, each episode of the series Shelf Life takes a look at one of the 33 million items in the American Museum of Natural History’s collection. After launching on YouTube in 2014, the series is back for its second season, and this time, the museum is presenting some of its rarely seen artifacts in a way they’ve never been viewed before.

In the video below, viewers can experience a 1920s fossil expedition in 360 degrees. Mike Novacek narrates the story of Roy Chapman Andrews, the leader of the legendary Gobi Desert excavations and one of the American Museum of Natural History’s most prolific explorers. Between 1922 and 1930, Andrews and his team made several landmark discoveries in the field of paleontology, including the first nest of dinosaur eggs ever unearthed. Many of those fossils are still housed in the museum today. Toward the end of the clip, viewers can “step into” the museum’s modern collections and browse artifacts by tilting their phone or dragging their mouse across the screen.

The video was edited together from still images and film reels dug out from the museum’s library. To create the 360-degree effect from 100-year-old footage, AMNH producer Erin Chapman and VR director Jason Drakeford used techniques like matte-painting, 360 environment creation, and live-action 360 shoots. The result is an immersive look at some of the most important expeditions in the museum’s history.

To see more recent discoveries made in the Gobi Desert, you can check out AMNH’s 13th episode of Shelf Life here.

Technology is useful when you’re trying to figure out the distance between Hong Kong and Seattle, but when measuring surfaces at home, the old-fashioned way is generally still the best. As The Verge reports, a tech company called InstruMMents is offering an alternative to rulers and tape measures with a new product called the 01. The multipurpose pen, currently raising funds through Indiegogo, uses a laser beam to take precise measurements of irregular surfaces.

The 01 comes in three aluminum versions: a pen, pencil, and stylus-tipped instrument. Each tool includes a laser pointer at the opposite end for the recording the dimensions of flat planes, complex terrain, and everything in between. To use it, owners simply point the pen at one end of the object they wish to measure and roll it along the length of the edge. The dimensions are then displayed through a companion smartphone app, where users can share them on social media (InstruMMents gives the example of using it as a virtual door-frame measurement for sharing your kids’ height).

This type of technology isn’t new: Engineers, architects, and surveyors already use laser measuring tools for a variety of projects. But professional equipment can get pricey, with some products costing up to tens of thousands of dollars. The 01 isn’t cheap, but at $149, it’s a more affordable option for home use. The project, which is nearly halfway funded, is accepting pledges now through the rest of November.

[h/t The Verge]

Barack Obama passed several digital milestones during his presidency. The official White House Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter pages were all created while he was in office. Now, for the first time in history, the transfer of presidential power that takes place this January will also come with a transfer of social media accounts.

As CNET reports, the official @POTUS Twitter handle will be handed over to whoever wins the election on November 8. This includes the roughly 11 million followers Obama has amassed since the page launched in May 2015 (still small potatoes compared to the 78.5 million people who follow Obama’s personal account, putting him behind only Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, and Taylor Swift in popularity).

That package will not include, however, the current feed’s more than 300 tweets. Those will be archived at a new handle called @POTUS44 while the 45th president of the United States will have a clean digital slate to work with. The White House’s Snapchat and Instagram accounts will also be inherited by the next commander in chief.

This digital transition is a new experiment for the White House, and considering how many social channels have blown up and fizzled out in the past eight years alone, it will likely look different with each incoming president. The videos, images, and tweets that have been published to President Obama’s social pages so far will be available for the public to view through the National Archives and Records Administration. Anyone with creative ideas on how to archive presidential social media content in the future, whether through Twitter bots or physical books, can submit them here.

[h/t CNET]

November has barely begun, but some companies are already using the month’s arrival as an excuse to ring in the unofficial start of the holiday season. That includes Starbucks, the national drink chain that’s turned their seasonal drink offerings into an impressive customer draw. For the 2016 holidays, Starbucks is ditching their traditional red cup for a green one symbolizing unity, TIME reports.

The cups, which began appearing in stores on Tuesday, November 1, feature a “mosaic of more than a hundred people drawn in one continuous stroke,” according to a press release. It was designed by artist Shogo Ota, a Japan native who moved to the U.S. 14 years ago. The cup is meant to evoke feelings of community and togetherness, something Starbucks says our country needs to be reminded of now more than ever.

“During a divisive time in our country, Starbucks wanted to create a symbol of unity as a reminder of our shared values, and the need to be good to each other,” chairman and CEO Howard Schultz said in the statement.

Conflict around the holidays is something Starbucks is familiar with: Last holiday season the brand came under fire for their stripped-down red cups, an aesthetic choice some consumers characterized as an attack on Christmas. This year, the company is prepping for a different reaction, championing the new design as “a symbol for stitching people together as a united community.”

[h/t TIME]

From albino sturgeon caviar to cronuts, food usually seems to taste better when it’s hard to come by. But the rarest pasta dish on Earth isn’t likely to become a foodie sensation anytime soon: Su filindeu (literally “God’s wool”) is only made by three women living on the Italian island of Sardinia.

Newser recently shared the video below, which follows the preparation of the recipe step-by-step. The pasta, a dish that’s been passed down through a line of women tracing back three centuries, isn’t especially complicated. The dough consists of semolina flour, water, and salt. Stretching it out is the tricky part. The dough needs to be pulled and folded eight times to create the delicate, hair-like stands. From there the noodles are draped over a circular surface in crisscrossing layers and left out to dry in the sun.

Served in the traditional style with mutton broth and pecorino cheese, the dish looks like what you’d expect to find in a typical Italian grandmother’s kitchen. Sadly the pasta is anything but typical—if you want to try it while it’s still around you’ll have to book a trip to Sardinia.

[h/t Newser]

Header/banner images: iStock

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Whether it’s the rise of hookup culture or the death of the napkin industry, Millennials are used to taking the blame. Now, it looks like a global coffee shortage could be the latest problem traced back to 19- to 34-year-olds. As Bloomberg reports, young people’s coffee-drinking habits are driving up global demand to record heights

Outlets have been reporting a looming coffee bean shortage all year, and the situation is growing increasingly dire. Since dry weather in Brazil has slowed the country’s crop of Robusta beans used for instant coffee, more companies have turned to Arabica beans as an alternative. But suppliers are struggling to keep up with the demand: During the last week in October, Arabica coffee prices in New York surged to their highest point in 20 months.

Demand for coffee in the U.S. is on its way to reaching record-breaking numbers, and Millennials’ taste for the beverage is contributing to the problem. The generation accounts for roughly 44 percent of the country’s total coffee consumption. According to the National Coffee Association, 48 percent of people aged 18 to 24 and 60 percent aged 25 to 39 drink coffee on a daily basis. Coffee drinkers are also developing the habit earlier in life, with Millennials born after 1995 starting up before age 15 (for comparison, average Millennials on the older end of the spectrum started drinking coffee at age 17).

The pressure Millennials are putting on the industry isn’t limited to the coffee-loving U.S. Markets like Brazil and China are also feeling the effects of their younger populations’ java cravings. Fortunately, stockpiles of unroasted coffee beans can provide coffee companies with a temporary cushion in case demand doesn’t slow down—which it doesn’t appear to be doing any time soon. In the meantime, Millennials might consider cutting down their coffee consumption with some alternative caffeine sources.

[h/t Bloomberg]

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In past years, Google’s Halloween-themed doodles have featured witches, pumpkins, and the artwork of Wes Craven. The web giant has outdone itself this year with an interactive homage to spookiness that allows players to fend off ghosts as a magical cat, Geek reports.

The star of the game is Momo: a big-eyed black cat studying at a magic academy. When the school is threatened by an invasion of malicious ghosts, Momo steps in to defeat them. Players cast spells by dragging their mouse across the screen to match the corresponding symbols above the ghosts’ heads; symbols get more complicated as each level progresses, with some ghosts having more than one.

The game only has five levels, so hopefully it won’t be as much of a global time-waster as Google’s Pac-Man doodle from 2010. If you’re looking for more ways to distract yourself this Halloween, Google’s list of top trending costumes is one internet rabbit hole worth exploring.

[h/t Geek]

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Attention Disney fans: Van Eaton Galleries has announced they will be auctioning off over 1000 Disneyland artifacts, including a rare item the likes of which has never been seen on the auction block before. An original figure from the “It’s a Small World” ride, estimated to go for $80,000 to $90,000, is the first complete Disneyland audio-animatronic doll ever offered for sale.

In addition to the souvenir from one of Disney’s most iconic attractions, the auction will feature other pieces of memorabilia from early in the park’s history. An original stretch painting from the “Haunted Mansion” is expected to go for $30,000 to $40,000, a devil prop from “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” for $8,000 to $10,000, and an animatronic sparrow from the “Enchanted Tiki Room” is pegged at $35,000 to $45,000. The list of items also includes original ride models, costumes, concept art, attraction posters, and a piece of carpet from Walt Disney’s apartment in the park.

Bidding is scheduled to take place online and in person at the Van Eaton Galleries in Los Angeles on November 19. Van Eaton regularly hosts Disney-centric auctions, so if you aren’t able to bid on a piece of history from the park this November, there’s always next time. Meanwhile, the public is invited to browse the collection at their gallery from now until auction day.

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Since its completion in 1890, the pinnacle of Ulm Minster in Germany has reached higher than any other Christian church in the world. At 530 feet, it was even the tallest structure on Earth for a brief stint in the late 19th century. Today, the historic landmark is facing a unique threat: urine and vomit from inconsiderate passersby.

As Travel + Leisure reports, the pee problem has gotten so bad that the stone base of the tower is beginning to erode. Now the church officials responsible for conserving it are imploring the public to stop.

Earlier in 2016, the city of Ulm doubled the fine for public urination to 100 euros, but so far that’s done little to deter vandals and their bodily fluids. A city spokeswoman told Süedwest Presse that despite the evidence coating the walls, practically no one’s been caught in the act. She said that “as long as there are people,” the problem isn’t likely to disappear anytime soon.

The sandstone base was recently restored, but if the public doesn’t start behaving, the department that maintains the building could be faced with another restoration—and the financial burden that entails. Since curbing the city’s partiers isn’t likely to happen anytime soon, one department official has put forth a more realistic solution: on-site port-a-potties.

[h/t Travel + Leisure]

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