A Little Dirt Never Hurt Anyone:

A Little Competition Never Hurt Anyone's Relevance Assessments

This paper investigates the e↵ect of real-time performance feedback and competition on the accuracy of crowd-workers for a document relevance assessment task. Through a series of controlled tests, we show that displaying a leaderboard to crowd-workers can motivate them to improve their performance, providing a bonus is o↵ered to the best performing workers. This e↵ect is observed even when test...

Hard work never hurt anyone: or did it? A review of occupational associations with soft tissue musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and upper limb.

Pain in the neck and upper limb is common and contributes considerably to absence from work due to sickness. Evidence suggest that prolonged abnormal posture and repetition contribute to such conditions. Psychosocial risk factors may also play a part in the aetiology of upper limb disorders.

’ ANYONE FOR TENNIS ? 199 Anyone for tennis ?

Eating Dirt

Sign on the wall of El Santuario de Chimayo, New Mexico T his place feels old beyond human recollection. The carvings and paintings were surely done by human hands, but no one remembers whose hands those were. The work is striking, especially in the apse behind the altar. There, the colors of surrounding hills have been transferred onto nearly luminous wooden reredos full of Catholic symbolism....

Seconds, anyone?

Scientists and journalists don’t always see the world the same way. A “first” often makes news. But in science, the “second” – that is the confirmation – may actually be more important. Journalists are like toddlers, though, when it comes to seconds. They often need coaxing. Consider two recent cases. First, Neanderthal DNA. Back in 1997, reporters made a bit of a fuss when scientists announced...