John Edwards, Technology Journalist & AuthorMarch 26, 20255 Min ReadLiubomyr Vorona via Alamy Stock PhotoA long-dormant IT project that suddenly springs back to life can be both welcome and challenging. Teams must be reassembled, abandoned timelines reconfigured, and technologies and methodologies updated to reflect current practices and standards.The best way to launch a project revival is to look backward. "Conduct a thorough project reassessment to identify the root causes of delays, then re-prioritize deliverables using a phased, agile-based approach," suggests Karan Kumar Ratra, an engineering leader at Walmart specializing in e-commerce technology, leadership, and innovation. "Start with high-impact, manageable milestones to restore momentum and stakeholder confidence," he advises in an online interview. "Clear communication, accountability, and aligning leadership with revised goals are critical."Shanna Rahming, senior vice president of managed services for SDI Presence, an IT consulting and managed services provider, and former CIO for the State of Nevada, agrees that it's important to understand what actually caused the delay. Was it a lack of resources, such as funding, skills, tools, hardware, or staff? "After you know why it's off track, you can then determine what needs to be done to get the project completed," she advises in an online interview.Related:Once the delay's cause has been clearly defined, seek information and insights from the original team, Rahming advises. "Then the stakeholders and executives need to have that information communicated to them."The next step should be performing a root-cause analysis. "Identify whether the delay stemmed from unclear requirements, technical debt, resource gaps, or scope creep," Ratra says. "Engage stakeholders, document findings, and reset priorities based on what delivers the most value in the shortest time."Team RebuildingIts usually best to retain past core team members who understand the projects history and complexities but augment the team with new expertise where gaps exist, Ratra says. "Fresh perspectives often drive innovation and problem-solving, while experienced team members ensure continuity."Recall past team members, yet supplement them with new members with similar skills and project experience, recommends Pundalika Shenoy, automation and modernization project manager at business consulting firm Smartbridge, via email. "Outside perspectives and expertise will help the team."While new team members should be welcomed, try to retain at least some past contributors to ensure project continuity, Rahming advises. Fresh ideas and insights may be what the legacy project needs to succeed but try to retain at least some past contributors to ensure project continuity, Rahming advises. "The new team members may well bring a sense of urgency, enthusiasm and skills ... that weren't present in the previous team at the time of the delay."Related:Avoiding MistakesThe biggest mistake team leaders make is rushing into execution without first addressing root causes. "Restarting a project without fixing systemic issues, such as poor communication, unrealistic timelines, or unclear scope, can lead to repeated failures," Ratra warns. IT leaders must also avoid setting overly ambitious goals. "Start small, show progress, and scale up."Its easy to focus on simply catching up with deadlines or scrambling to get back on track, but if the underlying issues aren't addressed, the same problems will likely surface again, cautions Anbang Xu, founder of JoggAI, an AI-based video platform provider. "IT leaders sometimes ignore team dynamics, communication issues, or technical debt in favor of focusing on just getting the project finished," he explains in an email interview. "This can create a cycle of delay, further burnout and, ultimately, project failure."Related:Shenoy says the two big mistakes he repeatedly sees are adding additional resources without understanding the real issues and overcommitting without team consensus.Final ThoughtsTransparency and trust are essential for successful project recovery, Ratra says. "Leaders should foster an open culture of accountability and communicate realistic goals with stakeholders." Leveraging automation tools and using AI-driven project monitoring can also help identify bottlenecks early, ensuring the team remains on track and responsive.To keep the relaunched project on track, it's important to establish and monitor a detailed communication plan that regularly shares critical information with team members, Rahming says. There should also be buy-in from technology and business stakeholders.Build a unified staff culture that's committed to succeeding or failing as a team, Shenoy says. "Encourage transparency and active collaboration across the team and stakeholders."Managing delayed projects requires a deep understanding of adaptability and resilience, Xu observes. "In a fast-moving field, like AI, setbacks are inevitable," he notes. "But the ability to pivot, reassess, and lead your team with confidence makes all the difference."About the AuthorJohn EdwardsTechnology Journalist & AuthorJohn Edwards is a veteran business technology journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and numerous business and technology publications, including Computerworld, CFO Magazine, IBM Data Management Magazine, RFID Journal, and Electronic Design. He has also written columns for The Economist's Business Intelligence Unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers' Communications Direct. John has authored several books on business technology topics. His work began appearing online as early as 1983. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he wrote daily news and feature articles for both the CompuServe and Prodigy online services. His "Behind the Screens" commentaries made him the world's first known professional blogger.See more from John EdwardsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like

Lisa Morgan, Freelance WriterMarch 26, 20257 Min ReadJacob Lund via Alamy StockLow-code/no-code platforms have given rise to the citizen developer -- a power user of tools such as Microsoft Excel. In other cases, this person tends to be someone who needs an immediate solution, has an idea in mind, and isnt afraid to try something new to turn their dream into a reality.Citizen developers arent a threat to professional developers because they dont understand software architecture and the hand-written code it would take to customize the app. Theyre simply a less expert member of the workforce who happens to understand the context of a task, workflow or technology, and are motivated to make improvements on their own.In many cases, citizen developers arent left to their own devices. Theyre using wizards and visual tools instead of writing lines of code. In some organizations, citizen development has been enabled by IT and developers in a way that benefits both professional and citizen developers.For example, a citizen developer might build a solution that may eventually need a professional developers expertise to take it to the next level. The beauty of the center of excellence approach is that professional developers can spend more time on difficult problems while citizen developers solve the simple ones. If the organization has standardized on a platform, then handoffs between citizen developers and professional developers are seamless. It is common, however, for enterprises to use more than one low-code/no-code solution.Related:The best citizen developers have some traits in common, though their roles may differ. A proactive mindset and a love of learning help.Traits of An Effective Citizen DeveloperBrett Smith, distinguished software developer at data and AI provider SAS, believes effective citizen developers are usually subject matter experts on the business problem and possess a basic understanding of programming concepts. They are also problem solvers who are self-motivated and have a growth mindset. Notably, they can learn new skills quickly and are not afraid to experiment with new technologies.Citizen developers have a deep understanding of the business problem and the domain. They [can] communicate effectively with IT teams, which helps to ensure the solutions they develop are aligned with the needs of the business, says Smith. It's critical that enterprises provide citizen developers with the tools and resources they need to be successful. This includes access to training and support, as well as creating a culture that encourages innovation and experimentation.Related:Brett Smith, SASBrett Smith, SASNick Vlku, VP of product growth at end-to-end AI search and discovery platform provider Algolia, says citizen developers hold different roles such as product managers, project managers, designers and analysts, to name a few. One common trait is that they're intensely solution-oriented with an intrinsic drive to tackle business challenges, he adds.I've witnessed this firsthand, like watching a non-technical product manager who taught themselves SQL simply because they needed better answers to their data questions, says Vlku. These individuals are natural problem solvers who take initiative. Rather than waiting for help, they actively search for no-code solutions or teach themselves low-code approaches they find online.Their ability to focus on solving the problem at hand will become even more valuable with the rise of AI-assisted development tools and coding applications, Vlku says.Citizen developers will naturally incorporate these advances as additional tools to help them achieve solutions more efficiently, says Vlku.However, the enterprise also has a role to play. Vlku says enterprises should actively support and cultivate citizen developers, as they represent highly valuable employees who prioritize efficient problem-solving.Related:There's a notable challenge: these individuals often undervalue their technical capabilities, placing software engineering on a pedestal that makes them doubt their own abilities or feel uncomfortable embracing their problem-solving approaches, says Vlku. Organizations need to take specific actions to nurture this talent.First, enterprises should explicitly recognize and reward this initiative during performance reviews, acknowledging the solutions delivered and the innovative approaches used to achieve them. Second, they should streamline access to necessary tools and platforms.While determined citizen developers might find ways around organizational barriers, removing these obstacles upfront will encourage more employees to step into this role, says Vlku. This support is particularly important because citizen developers tend to doubt their technical legitimacy despite their demonstrated ability to deliver solutions. By creating an environment that actively validates and enables their efforts, organizations can help overcome this self-doubt and expand their pool of effective citizen developers.Karl Threadgold, managing director at Oracle NetSuite provider Threadgold Consulting, says the most effective citizen developers tend to have four defining traits: a problem-solving mindset, a strong understanding of business operations, a willingness to collaborate with IT and a hunger for learning.The most successful citizen developers deeply understand their organizations workflows, pain points and inefficiencies. They dont just automate processes for the sake of it; they focus on solving real business challenges, says Threadgold. Rather than working in isolation, they engage with IT teams to ensure their solutions are scalable, secure and aligned with governance policies. Given how quickly no-code and low-code tools are evolving, top citizen developers continuously upskill to stay ahead.The reason successful citizens outperform their peers is that they create solutions that are technically sound and strategically relevant.They dont just build the bare minimum, says Threadgold. They go above and beyond and build what the organization needs to thrive. Their ability to communicate with IT teams also helps prevent shadow IT issues, ensuring their applications integrate seamlessly into the broader tech landscape.The enterprise also has a role to play here, which is enabling this broader base of problem-solvers.Many enterprises still take a passive approach to citizen development. [They assume] that providing access to low-code tools is enough -- it's not, says Threadgold. They need to provide clear training structures, chances for people to work alongside experienced developers, and have clear collaboration frameworks in place. These people are often hungry to learn and develop their skills, so enterprises need to put structures in place to help them thrive. Without clear governance, training and collaboration frameworks, businesses risk ending up with fragmented, unsustainable solutions.How Citizen Development Is EvolvingAI capabilities have been added to all types of software, including low-code/no-code platforms. According to SASs Smith, adding AI helps citizen developers solve more complex problems. It also helps them write more code, faster -- but its double-edged sword.The increase in the amount of code a citizen developer produces could introduce more bugs and vulnerabilities than normal. There is a risk of overwhelming test and security teams with sheer volume of code to review and test, says Smith.Fundamental skills in AI, security and testing will support citizen developers in creating better applications and help avoid the introduction of bugs and vulnerabilities. Additional skills in project management and communication aid citizen developers in working effectively with IT teams to ensure that solutions are aligned with business needs.Algolias Vlku believes citizen development is still at the innovators stage.The proliferation of low-code and no-code tools is helping those without technical backgrounds bring their areas of search expertise directly into search platform development with less reliance on developers and engineers, says Vlku. Gen AI tools may also be accelerating this trend. Eventually, we foresee pre-built agents will be prepared and ready to support development, and citizen developer roles will be to invoke those agents.Nick Vlku, AlgoliaNick Vlku, AlgoliaHowever, like professional developers, citizen developers should understand the basics of AI and how it can help them.Citizen developers should focus on understanding and leveraging AI-powered development tools, as these represent a significant new frontier in problem-solving capabilities. The current technology landscape offers AI solutions that can assist with UI development and troubleshooting, presenting opportunities to enhance productivity even further, says Vlku.Rather than viewing AI as a separate skill to master, citizen developers should approach it as an extension of their existing problem-solving toolkit. By staying informed about and experimenting with these emerging tools, they can amplify their ability to deliver solutions efficiently.Threadgold says his organization sees citizen development moving beyond simple workflow automation to more complex applications integrating AI, data analytics, and API-driven solutions.With this shift, new skills such as data literacy, AI and automation, and APIs and integrations are critical. Citizen developers should understand how to effectively work with structured and unstructured data, use the AI tools included in low-code/no-code platforms and ensure solutions connect with enterprise systems.Citizen development is more than just helping non-technical staff to build applications. Its about helping people improve their skills and create a culture of innovation, says Threadgold. With the right support, enterprises can harness this movement to drive real business transformation.About the AuthorLisa MorganFreelance WriterLisa Morgan is a freelance writer who covers business and IT strategy and emergingtechnology for InformationWeek. She has contributed articles, reports, and other types of content to many technology, business, and mainstream publications and sites including tech pubs, The Washington Post and The Economist Intelligence Unit. Frequent areas of coverage include AI, analytics, cloud, cybersecurity, mobility, software development, and emerging cultural issues affecting the C-suite.See more from Lisa MorganReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like

Are you a technical, detail-oriented, and hands-on technical web manager looking to own and optimise a portfolio of high-performance websites?Then this is an exciting opportunity to join a lean-by-design, fast-growth, and globally recognised B2B SaaS company.Creative Force is looking for a highly skilled technical web manager to take ownership of our marketing websites, ensuring they are secure, high-performing, and fully optimised. This role is deeply technical, requiring deep expertise in WordPress, the WordPress ecosystem, performance optimisation, security, and compliance.You will be the primary point of contact for all technical website-related matters, working closely with SEO specialists, designers, and our security team to maintain, enhance, and protect our web presence. A strong understanding of Core Web Vitals, geotargeting, cookie management, and regulatory compliance is essential.RoleManage and maintain four high performance websites, ensuring uptime, security, and optimal performance.Implement and manage WordPress plugins, themes, and integrations.Monitor and improve Core Web Vitals and other key performance metrics.Optimise website speed, caching strategies, and overall efficiency.Ensure compliance with cookie management requirements.Troubleshoot and resolve website issues, including technical bugs, plugin conflicts, and security vulnerabilities.Collaborate with SEO specialists to implement technical SEO best practices.Work with designers to ensure the website maintains a high standard of UI/UX.Implement and maintain backup and recovery processes.Monitor and apply security patches and updates to WordPress and associated technologies.EssentialsLocated anywhere in Asia Pacific or European union regions between the UTC+0 and UTC+12 timezones.English fluency is a must.Proven experience managing WordPress websites with strong technical proficiency.Expertise in Core Web Vitals and web performance optimisation (Google Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights, etc.).Experience with geotargeting solutions and cookie management tools.Strong knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP for customisations and troubleshooting.Familiarity with hosting environments, DNS management, and CDN solutions (e.g. Cloudflare).Experience with SEO best practices and their technical implementation.Ability to diagnose and fix website issues, optimise databases, and manage server-side configurations.Knowledge of accessibility best practices and compliance standards.Bonus: Experience with design tools (Figma, Axure, Adobe XD, Photoshop) and front-end styling.

Co-living scheme would be one of UKs narrowest residential buildings at just 8.5 metres wideThe tower would be clad in around 4,000sq m of PV panelsView of the proposed podium along the canalsideBroadway Malyan has redesigned its plans for a co-living tower in Birmingham which would be almost entirely covered in photovoltaic panels.Birmingham-based developer GNM Developments said the 29-storey scheme at 52 Gas Street is aspiring to be the worlds tallest energy positive building.Called the Narrowhouse, it would also be just 8.5 metres wide, making it one of the UKs slimmest residential buildings.The plans replace a similarly narrow but shorter 15-storey building containing 161 homes, also designed by Broadway Malyan, which was submitted for planning last year.Changes to the design include shortening the height of an adjoining podium block from nine to six storeys and the addition of a glass box on the podiums top level containing communal facilities for residents and access to roof terraces overlooking the neighbouring canal.Broadway Malyans previous proposals featured a taller podium but shorter main towerA spokesperson for GNM Developments said the firm had sought to reduce the massing of the building while increasing the height of its main component.Like the new proposals, the previous scheme would also have featured Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) on its facade with aims to become an energy positive building, feeding excess energy back into the local grid.The scheme will also include swift boxes incorporated into its facade and a dedicated space for beekeeping on the roof to encourage pollination of local plants.Broadway Malyan principal Hugo Fitzgerald said: The Narrowhouse is a pioneering proposal which we hope will set a new benchmark, both in terms of energy-positive and super slim building design.View of the proposed podium along the canalsideThe proposals ground the development in its history, taking design prompts from wharf building typology and creating an attractive vibrant frontage along an underused part of the citys extensive canal network.The project team, which has been retained during the redesign, includes heritage consultant Donald Insall Associates, planning consultant CBRE, structural and civil engineer HSP, landscape architect Bea and MEP engineer Syntegral.If approved, construction of the scheme is expected to start in the last quarter of next year and complete in 2028.

Empower your practice how to build your business profitabilityWhat makes for a profitable practice? This was the question at the heart of the AJs free webinar on 18 MarchThere are just two levers you can pull to increase business profitability, according to Simon Berry of business software specialist Fresh Projects: charge more, or spend less. The ins and outs of how to do this effectively were explored by Berry, along with a number of architects grappling with todays increasingly challenging market conditions, at a webinar run by The Architects Journal in association with Fresh Projects.With redundancies in the air and the RIBA reporting negative future workload trends for the third month in a row, its certainly a good time to tackle profitability, remarked chair Hattie Hartman.Participants were frank about their experiences. Al Scott of IF_DO shared the practices realisation, after it grew swiftly in 2018, that while it needed a 20 per cent minimum profit for directors to get paid and for the business to work properly, it was only just covering its increased costs. Aware that it needed to understand its business in a more data-driven way, it carried out a complete overhaul of its fees and realised that it was haemorrhaging money at Stages 4&5, the latter in particular. Our appointments were setting us up to fail, he said.AdvertisementIF_DOs response was to redesign its fees to better work for the practice, with closer monitoring of performance and fees based on data. This included, he said, exercising fee agreements to the max, capturing additional fees for additional work, and in particular charging on a weekly basis for Stages 5 & 6.Much of Scotts experiences resonated with Nick Hayhurst of 16-strong Hayhurst and Co, who said it was important to encourage clients to see architecture as a strategic investment rather than an expense.He talked about the challenges of not losing profit in the gaps between the work stages, especially since these services are usually carried out by senior staff. He advocated clearly defining these gap stages and time charging for the work, such as Stage 3+ (between planning application and starting detailed design) and Stage 4+ (between issuing tender information and starting on site). For Stage 5, he advised having a prolongation clause and setting out how such work should be charged, ie pro-rata per week or month. Otherwise, you are giving away your professional expertise for free.Another important area to address to improve profitability was avoiding gaps in practice workflow, Hayhurst said. Project programmes should be updated and reviewed each month, and his practice found it useful to do small projects alongside larger ones to help fill workflow gaps.Judith Stichtenoth, director of 45-strong practice dRMM, talked about the importance of establishing a decent fee agreement with the client from the outset, and of being taken seriously as business people as well as designers.AdvertisementIt was important to never buy a project there has to be a profit, she said. The practice also tries to establish a clause for fee agreements to be reviewed in line with inflation. Like Scott and Hayward, she identified Stage 5 as problematic for profitability. The only way to deal with it is to exactly know your scope, and dont shy away of issuing variations, she said, for example when there are changes to the programme.Stichtenoth advocated clarity and negotiation and open dialogue with the client during the project. If a client wants to reduce fees, propose the omission of certain deliverables accordingly, and issue clarification of scope. When it comes to getting paid on time, she advised clear payment protocols such as 30-day terms rather than two months, a pre-agreed monthly drawdown schedule, and clarity over invoice dates, addressees, purchase order numbers and payment terms. Practices should be prepared to talk to the client and keep telling them how important it is to get paid on time. On the rare occasion that dRMM has had to threaten to stand down when fees havent been paid, the practice does this after taking advice from lawyers, and finds that it does get swift results.For Berry, whose company provides project management tools for built environment professionals, architects need to get the fee right at the start, and that means being clear about their billing rates and the project scope.Not enough architects are brave enough to charge for changes, he said, adding that this can become a profit centre for the business. This was particularly important at the construction stages of a project, when it is better to go for time-based charging. As for the other profitability lever of spending less, Berry identified not just reducing overheads but optimising utilisation as the key move, so that cheaper resources are used to carry out non project work.Project tracking was essential. Berry said that while a spreadsheet was fine for practices with just a few people, it was worth investing in project management software when practices were above five or six people. Scott said this had been game-changing for fee efficiency and had paid for itself 100 times over. Hayward also praised the impact of such software on profitability.You have to have a system and you have to be militant about operating it, he said.Properly capturing levels of overtime was also important to get a true picture of project profitability, and help judge fee levels.Panellists were asked how to deal with an undercutting situation. It was important to stand your ground, said Scott, and ask for the scope of what others are providing in order to establish if there is a fair comparison. Berry suggested providing different fee options for different levels of service, and in doing so putting value to those extra services.Business profitability was not rocket science, said Berry in conclusion: Charge more than what youre paying to deliver the job, and have a system in place where you can track costs.The panelSimon Berry founder Fresh ProjectsNick Hayhurst principal, Hayhurst and Co.Al Scott director, IF_DOJudith Stichtenoth director dRMMHattie Hartman (chair) sustainability editor, The Architects JournalFresh Projects webinar 2025-03-26AJ news deskcomment and share

Colon cancer isn't the same as stomach or gastric cancer. These are the signs you should pay attention to.

How well do you really know your Apple Watch? These are nine features you may not be using right now.

OpinionMarch 26, 20255 min readPatience is a Process, Not a VirtueImpatience is an emotion we can all learn to tameBy Kate Sweeny Cars came to a standstill in Beijing on October 2, 2010. The snarl was one of several in China that year, making international headlines. STR/AFP via Getty ImagesYou had to be really unlucky to be on the China National Highway 110 on August 14, 2010. One of the longest traffic jams on record ensued, ensnaring thousands of vehicles over more than 100 kilometers and lasting more than 10 days. The unluckiest drivers were stuck for five full days. As the days dragged out, vendors popped up along the highway to keep people fed and hydratedoften for a high fee.Would sitting in traffic for five days make you impatient? I strongly suspect that even the calmest, most zen among us would answer with a resounding yes! Patience fails everyone at some point or another. It probably takes a lot less than a multiday traffic jam to send most of us into a spiral of impatience and defeat.And yet philosophers, religious scholars and poets alike tout patience as a virtue, imbuing the term with moral righteousness. Does that make it immoral to fidget in a long meeting, grumble and groan in line or want to hit the fast-forward button when someone drones on and on? To say that patience is a virtue implies that you either have it or dont and that having it is always a good thing.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.As a behavioral scientist, I think about patience differently. Sure, some people find it easier than others to calmly endure various insults to the value of their time. But Im not that interested in identifying saints and sinners, winners and losers in the human lottery of personality. To me, its far more interesting and useful to think about patience as something we do rather than something we havea process rather than a virtue. In recent research, Ive explored what we might learn by reframing patience as a process.Consider first what it means to be impatient. We all know the feeling: fingers drumming the table, leg bouncing, nearly jumping out of our seat with the desire to end whatever seemingly endless suffering the world has seen fit to dole out that day. In psychology, we call those tics psychomotor agitation.But why does this frustrating feeling arise? Most emotion researchers take whats known as a functionalist perspective, in which emotions motivate us to do specific things that are good for our survival. The prolific Dutch psychologist Marcel Zeelenberg coined the phrase feeling is for doing to get at this idea. In the case of impatience, our mind and body are trying to tell us to get moving, to find a way to bring the objectionable delay to an end. It motivates us to find a way around the traffic or to cut short a co-workers question that turned into a monologue. It can even be the engine that drives social change when pointed toward injustice or structural inequality.Of course, just because we evolved to feel impatient doesnt mean it always helps us. In cases where were truly stuck and have no way to accelerate progress, impatience is like the annoying child in the backseat asking, every few minutes, Are we there yet? It can even steer us away from our goals. In negotiations, for example, impatience is a recipe for failure, leading to impulsive decisions and subpar outcomes.In a series of recent studies with more than 1,400 participants, my colleagues and I presented people with a series of familiar but hypothetical scenarios to investigate why some situations trigger teeth-grinding impatience while others barely perturb people. For example, we asked them to imagine having to wait in a doctors office, sit in traffic on the way to a concert or endure a seemingly endless conversation with an annoying colleague. The participants then answered questions about how they were feeling.Across the various scenarios, a few factors seemed to clearly ramp up impatience. People were more impatient when the thing they imagined waiting for was very appealingand when the wait itself was unappealing. Being delayed for something you dread, such as an unpleasant work event, is easier than a similar delay for a much-anticipated performance by your favorite band. And if you have a comfortable car and a good audiobook cued up, thats easier than being stuck on the freeway in the summer with no air-conditioning and a broken stereo systemno matter where youre going. We also found that people were more impatient when someone was to blame for the delay. Traffic linked to a morning rush hour doesnt feel as bad as a backup caused by a reckless driver (or worse, by lookie-loos slowing down to see the accident).In follow-up studies that are still unpublished, we tested one particular predictor of patience, namely how a delay compares with an affected persons expectations. We figured that the length of a delay wouldnt matter as much as whether the person saw it coming. Are you going on a 10-hour road trip? No problem. Are you stuck in a 10-hour traffic jam? No fun at all. In one experiment, we told participants that a tedious taskessentially staring at a blank screenwould last either one, three or five minutes. In all cases, it actually took three minutes, but participants who expected just 60 seconds of aggravation felt far more impatient than those who knew they were in for a longer ordeal. And other studies that are currently underway are beginning to confirm that these experiences of impatience have all the qualities of an emotion, just like sadness, boredom, guilt or anger.If impatience is an emotion, what is patience? In my view, patience is simply our best response to impatience. In technical terms, its a form of emotion regulationa tactic to change how we feel, usually with the goal of feeling and doing better. When we take a deep breath instead of snapping at our spouse or remind ourselves that the scary movie isnt real, thats emotion regulation.Patience works the same way. When we start to feel impatient at the hassle or hardship or hanger-on, we can let that feeling rageor we can regulate it. Are you facing a long delay at the airport? Shift your focus toward the new book you brought along. Are you waiting weeks to find out if you got that job? Dive into your favorite hobby to distract yourself for a few hours. Are you at your wits end after a long day of childcare? Give yourself a grown-up time-out until youre ready to reengage with patience.What Ive just describedimpatience as an emotion and patience as a process that soothes the emotionoffers a new way for all of us, including scientists, to think about these concepts. Theres still a lot we dont know about patience, including why some people seem to find it easier than others and how we can get better at it. Fortunately, those are simpler questions to answer when we reduce the challenge from virtue acquisition to emotion regulation.Ultimately, it may seem like a stark contrast from poetic descriptions of virtue, but Ill take practical wisdom over virtue any day.Are you a scientist who specializes in neuroscience, cognitive science or psychology? And have you read a recent peer-reviewed paper that you would like to write about for Mind Matters? Please send suggestions to Scientific Americans Mind Matters editor Daisy Yuhas at dyuhas@sciam.com.This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

March 26, 20252 min readArtificial Nap Could Provide Benefits of SleepWithout SleepingDesynchronizing monkeys brain with electricity caused a performance boostBy Simon Makin edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier Thomas FuchsWhat if we could obtain the memory, learning and perception benefits of power naps without actually sleeping?A recent study in Science suggests that at least some of our primate cousins can. Researchers showed that brief naps (without rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep) improved macaques performance on a visual-perception task. The scientists then reproduced this boost by electrically stimulating the brains of awake monkeys in a way that mimicked sleeping brain activityinducing a kind of artificial nap. The process, if effective in humans, might one day help boost cognition and treat sleep disorders.The team first trained five monkeys on a task evaluating image orientations and tested them twice, with a 30-minute gap in which they either had non-REM sleep or merely rested. The monkeys that slept performed significantly better on the second test. The researchers recorded thousands of neurons activity in three brain regions: two visual areas and one associated with decision-making. In the monkeys that slept between tests, this activity was, oddly, less synchronized during the second task than the first.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Sleep is a synchronizing phenomenon in which neurons go up and down together, but the level of synchrony after sleep is reduced compared with before, says the studys senior author, Valentin Dragoi, a systems neuroscientist at Rice University. This is surprising. The size of this desynchronizing effect correlated with performance increases, suggesting that neurons firing more independently of one another may drive the improvement.Low-frequency delta brain waves are known to be involved in memory maintenance. These waves dominated the monkeys sleeping brain activity, and the team wondered whether they were behind the performance boost. To test it, the researchers conducted the experiment againbut instead of letting the monkeys sleep, they stimulated a visual brain region using a low-frequency electrical signal that mimicked delta waves. This stimulation also led to both reduced neural synchrony and better performance.These findings imply that brain stimulation could deliver some of the benefits of naps without sleep. The results in primates strongly suggest artificial nap effects will translate to humans, says Sara Mednick, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine, who studies the relation between napping and performance; evidence already exists that electrical stimulation during sleep can benefit humans memory. This work demonstrates that stimulating [when awake] at the delta frequency can mimic sleep benefits, Mednick says.The researchers used electrodes placed in the monkeys brains for stimulation, but they plan to test noninvasive techniques in people with sleep disorders in the near future, Dragoi says. They also plan to study other senses, cognitive functions and brain regions, he adds. Are different areas most effective for particular tasks? No one knows.

The Witcher 4 won't be out until after 2026, so could it be a next generation game?CDPR confirms it's not using generative AI.Image credit: CD Projekt Red News by Ed Nightingale Deputy News Editor Published on March 26, 2025 CD Projekt Red doesn't plan to release The Witcher 4 by the end of 2026, perhaps hinting it could be a next generation game.In its latest financial call, the company discussed its profit forecast for the next few years up to 2028, for which it expects a significant increase."Even though we do not plan to release The Witcher 4 by the end of 2026, we are still driven by this financial goal," the company said.The Witcher 4 Cinematic Reveal Trailer Behind the scenesWatch on YouTubeThe Witcher 4 was first revealed at last year's The Game Awards, though no release window was provided leaving fans to speculate. Though 2025 was very unlikely, some had hoped for a 2026 release. Now we know it will be 2027 at the earliest.This is also in-line with journalist Jason Schreier, who responded on ResetEra that both The Witcher 4 and Naughty Dog's Intergalactic won't be out next year.Does this mean The Witcher 4 will be a next generation game? Sony is no doubt already planning its PlayStation 6 console, while Xbox is reportedly targeting 2027 for its next console.Or perhaps the game could be a cross-generation release, though that didn't work out well for Cyberpunk 2077.Eurogamer previously spoke with CDPR's vice president of technology, Charles Tremblay, about a potential PC-only launch for The Witcher 4, with consoles following."It's something we discussed, actually," he said, "but we're not 100 percent sure. Maybe - so it's hard to say if we want to go this way at this stage. I would assume that as long as I understand, like, the strategy we want to do - I'm just trying not to say too much, bear with me - most likely, the launch, we will not have a PC-only launch, for example. I don't think this is a strategy we want to adopt right now. That being said, will it mean that we will have - let's say there were 20 platforms available - we'll have 20 at launch? Maybe not. But at least PC only, and then scattered, it's not necessarily the approach we want to go forward, for sure."From the same financial call, joint CEO Michał Nowakowski discussed not using generative AI in The Witcher 4 due to the legalities of ownership."I think we mentioned before that last year, we set up a team that's investigating the potential use of AI solutions in our future products, including development of our own customised AI models," he said. "And we have several research projects underway. However, they are really not necessarily focusing on generative AI."Gen AI, to be honest, is quite tricky when it comes to legal IP ownership and so on, and many other aspects. So when it comes to implementation of any gen AI in the actual games, we really have nothing happening when it comes to Witcher 4 or any projects in the near future."CD Projekt Red also confirmed a partnership with Saudi-backed mobile developer Scopely to create a game within one of CDPR's franchises.