The Times - UK (2020-09-15)

(Antfer) #1

the times | Tuesday September 15 2020 1GM 17


News


It has been a nauseating feature of


travel since the first automobiles hit the


road more than 120 years ago. Now


researchers may have found a cure for


car sickness that involves no more than


a pen and paper.


Academics at the University of War-


wick said that doing puzzles before a


journey could train the brain to reduce


the effect of motion sickness.


The researchers said that sickness


rates were cut by more than half with


exercises designed to stimulate spatial


understanding. It was claimed that the


method could increase the benefits of


driverless cars by allowing passengers


to work, read or watch films.


A third of people are believed to be


“highly susceptible” to motion sickness,


making it impossible for many to spend


their time productively while sitting in


a car. The investment bank Morgan


Stanley has suggested that the produc-


tivity boost from self-driving cars could


be worth £400 billion a year, if passen-


gers can use the freedom to good effect.


Motion sickness is caused by repeat-


training may have reduced the amount
of effort expended doing visual tasks, in
turn enhancing sensory skills and re-
ducing susceptibility to motion sick-
ness. It added: “It may also be possible
that an enhanced ability to resolve con-

flicting motion cues is linked to the ha-
bituation effect, whereby repeat expo-
sures to a motion sickness-inducing, or
spatiality-challenging task can reduce
the susceptibility to motion sickness.”
The study said that although the

A puzzling solution to the problem of car sickness


Graeme Paton Transport Correspondent ed movements when travelling, includ-
ing cars hitting bumps in a road. The in-
ner ear, which helps with balance, sends
different signals to the brain from those
generated by the eyes, with confusing
messages causing nausea and dizziness.
The university’s Warwick Manufac-
turing Group (WMG) put volunteers in
a driving simulator trial or on a real
journey where they sat in the back.
They were then asked to rate their nau-
sea, discomfort and stomach problems.
For the next two weeks they were
asked to complete various pen-and-pa-
per “visuospatial” training tasks for 15
minutes a day. This included paper
folding tasks and analysing spatial pat-
terns. One involved a pattern of boxes
and they had to identify which image
was the original that had been rotated.
Then they took a second motion
sickness assessment. It was found that
sickness rates dropped by 51 per cent for
those on the simulator and by 58 per
cent for those in the car.
The report, in Applied Ergonomics,
said that it was not entirely clear why
improving spatial skills reduced motion
sickness. However, it suggested that the


focus had been on car sickness, it was
“likely that this relationship may be
transferable to other industries. The
applications of this finding may help in
the management of ‘virtual reality
sickness’, space sickness, sea sickness
and other motion sickness states.”
Joseph Smyth, research fellow at the
WMG, said: “Motion sickness has, for a
long time, been a significant limitation
to many people’s transport options and
this research has shown a new method
for how we can address this... it’s also
very likely this method can be used in
other domains such as sea sickness for
navy staff or cruise passengers.”
Answers to puzzle: A & D

“Target”


Mental rotation test: identify which two of the four shapes is the same as the
“target” shape, despite being rotated into a different orientation. Answers in story

A B C D


Source: Science Direct

patrick kidd


TMS


[email protected] | @timesdiary


Toys can never


trump talent


The photographer Gemma Levine
has produced a beautiful album of
pictures of water, called Aqua, in
aid of research into lymphoedema.
One photo of a Warwickshire
canal was taken while out with a
friend. She stopped next to a man
who was juggling with three
cameras and two tripods, whipped
out her iPhone, took three shots
and declared it would do. “No, no,
no, you need a proper camera,” this
man lectured. “And the light is
terrible.” He then complained
about “amateur old ladies getting
in my way”. Her friend laughed.
“That old lady had an exhibition at
the National Portrait Gallery and
has photographed Princess Diana
and every prime minister since
Wilson,” he said. “Surely she is
capable of taking a shot of a boat
moving slowly towards a lock?”

The pizza chain Franco Manca is
advertising its extension of the Eat
Out to Help Out scheme under the
title “Rishi II”. Finally, the chancellor
has become a brand. Mr Sunak now
fits Oscar Wilde’s rule that to be
truly famous you should be known
by just one name of five letters. See
also Jesus, Elvis, Plato, Cilla, Jumbo
and Boris. Though these days the
prime minister is often known by
just four letters.

eton mess
Our Sasha Swire serialisation (try
saying that after a few
drinks) reminded
David Mills, a former
deputy editor of
GMTV’s Sunday, of
when Swire’s politician
husband was given a
job in David
Cameron’s shadow
cabinet. At the time
there was a fuss about
the large number of
Etonians in
Cameron’s team and

one journalist ended a rant about
this to a fellow guest in the green
room with the words: “And he’s
even given a job to Hugo Swire.”
The new shadow culture secretary
smiled from the other end of the
sofa. “Hello, I’m Hugo Swire,” he
said. “I know,” the hack replied, and
quickly changed the subject.

disliked likeness
A portrait of Roy Hattersley, the
former Labour deputy leader,
below, is among 200 on show from
tomorrow at the Royal Society of
Portrait Painters’ annual exhibition
at the Mall Galleries. “Warts and
all!” Hattersley, 87, instructed Ben
Sullivan, the artist, at the first
sitting, echoing Oliver Cromwell’s
cry for realism, though admits
now that he didn’t mean it. “I
wanted the portrait to flatter me,”
he says. “There are those who
think it does.”

Sullivan painted Hattersley as artist-
in-residence at the Reform Club.
Anxious to form a rapport, he
mentioned that they were both from
Sheffield and said he was a lifelong
Blade, or fan of Sheffield United. “If
I’d known that,” the Wednesday-
supporting Hattersley growled, “I
wouldn’t have bloody turned up.”

not ducking out
The historian Tom Holland is
raising money for the Passage, a
homeless charity, by asking people
to sponsor him for each run he
makes for the Authors XI cricket
team this season. While he has got
to £520 that is more down to the
generosity of his backers, aware of
his anatine tendencies,
than him giving the
scorers RSI: seven runs
on Sunday took his
tally this summer to
ten with three games
to go. His captain, the
literary agent Charlie
Campbell, has also
sponsored £50 a catch.
“He’s taken one in ten
years,” Campbell says.

p


s o t t t l C s “ y

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