No link between handedness and spatial navigation: evidence from over 400 000 participants in 41 countries

There is an active debate concerning the association of handedness and spatial ability. Past studies used small sample sizes. Determining the effect of handedness on spatial ability requires a large, cross-cultural sample of participants and a navigation task with real-world validity. Here, we overcome these challenges via the mobile app Sea Hero Quest. We analysed the navigation performance from 422 772 participants from 41 countries and found no reliable evidence for any difference in spatial ability between leftand right-handers across all countries. A small but growing gap in performance appears for participants over 64 years old, with left-handers outperforming right-handers. Further analysis, however, suggests that this gap is most likely due to selection bias. Overall, our study clarifies the factors associated with spatial ability and shows that left-handedness is not associated with either a benefit or a deficit in spatial ability

No link between handedness and spatial navigation: evidence from over 400 000 participants in 41 countries.

There is an active debate concerning the association of handedness and spatial ability. Past studies used small sample sizes. Determining the effect of handedness on spatial ability requires a large, cross-cultural sample of participants and a navigation task with real-world validity. Here, we overcome these challenges via the mobile app Sea Hero Quest. We analysed the navigation performance from 422 772 participants from 41 countries and found no reliable evidence for any difference in spatial ability between left- and right-handers across all countries. A small but growing gap in performance appears for participants over 64 years old, with left-handers outperforming right-handers. Further analysis, however, suggests that this gap is most likely due to selection bias. Overall, our study clarifies the factors associated with spatial ability and shows that left-handedness is not associated with either a benefit or a deficit in spatial ability

Sonochemical CO₂ Reduction to Acetamide and Liquid C₂₊ Oxygenates Using a Liquid Metal Gallium-Based Reductant

Carbon dioxide emission is a major cause of environmental concern, such as global warming and ocean acidification. Therefore, there is an ongoing search for feasible carbon dioxide reduction processes that utilize renewable energy to convert CO2 into a valuable product. Here, we report a versatile sonochemical process for the permanent removal and conversion of carbon dioxide into acetamide and liquid oxygenates using a Ga liquid metal-based reductant. Liquid metals are ideal for CO2 reduction due to their notable catalytic properties at low temperatures, nontoxicity, and relatively low cost. The process involves ultrasonication of water-suspended liquid Ga droplets, leading to the formation of GaOOH, which is further sonicated in the presence of an aqueous solution of NH4OH with a CO2 feed at a low temperature of 70 °C. Liquid C2 and C3 oxygenate products were formed including industry-relevant acetamide, ethanol, and acetone platform chemicals. In addition, solid-phase gallium nitride and oxynitride nanomaterials were formed, which could be utilized in various catalytic and electronic applications

Plasma-Assisted CO2 Reduction into Nanocarbon in Water Using Sonochemically Dispersed Liquid Gallium

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming but fortunately can be removed via chemical conversion processes that often involve a reduction step. Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma is an effective way to promote chemical reduction processes but requires a catalyst for energetically demanding reactions. In this study, the rapid conversion of CO2 into solid carbon via a DBD plasma is reported using dispersed liquid metal Ga which is first converted into GaOOH particles to ultimately form a GaOOH/C nanocomposite. Raman and X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments indicate that amorphous activated carbon is formed after the plasma treatment. Further analysis demonstrates that highly dispersed sub-nano-sized carbon particles containing oxygen functional groups are formed uniformly on the GaOOH surface. The CO2 conversion mechanism suggests that plasma electrons activate CO2 molecules, while plasma-generated oxygen vacancies on the catalyst surface help dissociate CO2 into solid carbon. This work opens a new approach for synthesizing materials comprising of highly dispersed sub-nano-sized carbon on a metal oxide support suitable for other applications such as adsorption, heterogenous catalysis, and energy conversion

No link between handedness and spatial navigation: evidence from over 400 000 participants in 41 countries

There is an active debate concerning the association of handedness and spatial ability. Past studies used small sample sizes. Determining the effect of handedness on spatial ability requires a large, cross-cultural sample of participants and a navigation task with real-world validity. Here, we overcome these challenges via the mobile app Sea Hero Quest. We analysed the navigation performance from 422 772 participants from 41 countries and found no reliable evidence for any difference in spatial ability between leftand right-handers across all countries. A small but growing gap in performance appears for participants over 64 years old, with left-handers outperforming right-handers. Further analysis, however, suggests that this gap is most likely due to selection bias. Overall, our study clarifies the factors associated with spatial ability and shows that left-handedness is not associated with either a benefit or a deficit in spatial ability

Bridging model and real catalysts: General discussion

Charles Campbell opened the discussion of the paper by Hans-JoachimFreund: If you have a 3D gold particle and it spreads out to be a 2D particle whenyou adsorb CO2, it must gain energy stability. Did you estimate the energy changeof the overall process to do that