Facing Facts.

A recent study published in Nature suggests that remote collaboration may actually hinder innovative scientific research. The researchers analyzed 20 million research papers and four million patents and found that as the distance between authors' workplaces increased, the probability of their papers being disruptive (having a score above 0) decreased by roughly a quarter. The study also found that researchers working together in person were more likely to focus on conceptual tasks, which are more likely to produce disruptive new ideas. These findings challenge the assumption that online connections alone lead to the growth of new ideas and highlight the importance of in-person collaborations for encouraging radical innovation. [Extracted from the article]

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