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Adam Scott and Tramell Tillman in Severance
While remote work has been a mainstay since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more companies are attempting to mandate that employees return to the office, on a full or part-time basis, including one now-infamous effort from JPMorgan Chase. The company announced that as of March 2025, all employees were required to return to the office five days per week. Their CEO even ditched the policy that allowed employees to work-from-home two days per week.
To mark the occasion, welcome everyone back ( and perhaps twist the knife a bit deeper?) the United State's largest bank unveiled a plan for a massive $3 billion, 2.5 millions square foot tower on New York's famous Park Avenue—which would house 14,000 workers and feature state of the art architecture and technology—in addition to loading up its new corporate headquarters with perks to help employees transition back to office life.
Some of these "perks" were truly great and truly enticing. Others were... questionable, to say the least.
Grace Tallon on LinkedIn even noticed that some of the benefits of working in the JPMorgan Office seemed like they were yanked right out of one of the most popular current TV shows on the planet: Severance.
If you don't know it, Severance is a psychological thriller on Apple TV that doubles as a dark and biting satire of corporate office culture and capitalism. Employees at a mysterious company called Lumon are "severed" — meaning their brains, memories, and personalities are literally split in half. While at work, they are a different person and retain no memories when they leave the office every night. In return for their sacrifice and for hitting key milestones, the employees receive ludicrous rewards like short dance parties with their boss, melon parties with carved watermelons, and handfuls of balloons. Employees are also expected to marvel at bizarre pieces of art that line the hall, featuring stoic images of Lumon's revered (and more than a bit creepy) founders.
Conversely, JPMorgan's new tower boasted 19-restaurants with at-your-desk delivery, an Irish pub, and on-site physical therapy and yoga. But that's not all!
Tallon notes, however, that JPMorgan also tried to entice employees with things like "personalized climate" in rooms and offices, a "signature scent" that wafts through the halls and somehow reinforced the brand, and, get this, even a "corporate art collection" that celebrates the company's history and values. Be more on the nose next time, will you JPMorgan? That's to say nothing of design elements that support worker's circadian rhythms and coffee machines that learn your favorites over time.
"Let’s stop pretending this is about connecting and doing better work," she writes.
Read Tallon's full post below on the striking similarities:
While some folks defended the corporation for doing their best to make employees feel cared for and taken care of, others didn't quite see it that way, especially when they compared it to the perks of WFH life.
"The climate in my own home office is just right. Along with my own coffee, artwork, lighting (window wide open), and other perks and it cost me zero dollars to drive there and I don't have to wear shoes! Way out of touch," wrote Alix Z.
"Those perks sound more like a high-tech museum experience than actual employee benefits. Instead of a 'signature scent,' how about giving employees real reasons to feel good about coming to work?" said Diana Alayon.
Some at-home perk simply can't be beat. Photo credit: Canva
"Working at home perks: My own candle collection, curated to suit my preferences, Coffee and tea on tap, from our favourite brands, Comfortable cushions and blankets to help regulate my temperature at my desk, A variety of lighting options, ranging from warm white lamps to 'the big light', Freedom to work anywhere I want, such as my office desk, sofa, kitchen table or a coffee shop near by, Personalised art with photos of family and pictures we enjoy, Working space decorated to my own specifications, Plenty of spaces nearby for fresh air and dog walks" wrote Eloise Todd in a mic-drop comment.
There are of course benefits to working together in-person with your colleagues. And sure, if you're required to be there, nothing offsets discomfort quite like delicious lunches and free yoga classes. But to take away even the option of occasionally working from home and duct-taping over it with an algorithm that tracks coffee orders and temperature preferences, and filling the halls with strange paintings that move when employees walk by? It kind of loses the thread, and it's exactly the kind of thinking that the creators of Severance are so good at skewering.
Mark (Adam Scott) at the infamous dance party scene in Severance. media0.giphy.com
According to Forbes, there are 6 distinct reason companies might push for a return to the office. One, corporate heads believe employees get more "immersed in the company’s values." Two, they think it's easier to monitor whether or not an employee is actually working. Three, to justify the cot of that expensive office space. Four, to foster "spontaneous collaboration." Five, to give new employees a chance to observe and interact with more seasoned worker. and six, to restore a sense of belonging within the company.
But of course, none of these things have anything to do with what people really want: Autonomy. That, in addition to fair pay, some level of flexibility, and good benefits. Perks are nice — even the kind of weird ones — but they can only go so far. It remains to be seen if companies that dictate back-to-the-office edicts are willing to follow through on the things that really matter. Please note how waffle parties did not make that list.
This article originally appeared in February
Cat have their reasons for doing what they do…even if they perplex us.
Cats have their fair share of quirks, from midnight zoomies to baking invisible biscuits to those weird alien chirps. But the one eccentricity that seems to go against their very nature as descendants of apex predators is their finickiness around food.
As any cat mom or dad will tell you, these critters take picky eating to Olympian levels, rivaling that of any toddler. To really put that into perspective, below is a delightful TikTok (shared by @thecutestcatseveryes) outlining the very logical “reasons” why on any given day, a cat might suddenly refuse to eat…despite yowling out of desperate hunger mere minutes before.
The “reasons not to eat your food if you're a cat," include:
Even the kitty featured in the video seemed to approve this message.
In the comments, other cat parents shared their purrfectly reasonable reasons to refuse noms noms, such as:
“Bowl was faced the wrong way.”
“Same flavor twice in a row.”
“I eat at 4:30pm, not 4:31pm.”
“I can see the center of the bowl is empty therefore there is no food, edges don’t count.”
“I want the other can, not the open one in the fridge. New can every feeding."
“I’d rather eat what my brother is eating, which is exactly the same as what I’ve got but I want his specifically.”
Listen, we can joke all we want, but it turns out that cats likely come by these picky eating habits naturally—and don’t do it simply to make our lives harder. As PetMD explains, wild cats subsisted on frequent meals of whatever smaller mammals they were lucky enough to catch while hunting, usually during dawn and dusk. Domestic kitties still might have this instinct, which manifests in a predilection to eat a variety of small meals, which feel fresh as to mimic a fresh catch, throughout the day.
Look at this wee little tiger munching on his meal. Photo credit: Canva
The site added that kitties could have learned to prefer a certain type of food thanks to their mother, or might have eaten a particular food during a moment of stress or illness, and thus maintain a negative association with it.
There are, however, certain things humans can do to make food more appetizing, PetMD explains. To mimic fresh prey, the site suggests warming up food to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit (same as a normal body temperature) and moisten dry food with a bit of water. Some cats might even respond better to food that has the specific shape and look of fresh prey.
And if there's a loud noise during dinnertime, forget about it. Photo credit: Canva
Of course, even if we follow all these steps to a T, we still might get some finickiness from time to time for reasons unbeknownst to us (though “vibes being off” is a good catchall excuse). Still, it won’t keep us from loving our furry little weirdos any more.
A woman in a hot car.
Cars can become unbearably hot in the summer. Even at a seemingly mild 80 degrees outside, the temperature inside can soar to a scorching 109°F within 20 minutes. According to the CDC, in just 40 minutes it can escalate to a blistering 118°F. After an hour, it can peak at a searing 123°F. And that’s just the air temperature; a dark dashboard or seat can reach a staggering 200°F.
"These objects (e.g., dashboard, steering wheel, child seat) heat the adjacent air by conduction and convection and also give off longwave radiation (red) which is very efficient at warming the air trapped inside a vehicle," the CDC explained in their report. It can take five to 10 minutes for your car to cool down on a hot day by turning on the air conditioning, which probably means you burn your buttocks and thighs on the hot seat. That’s why Hannah Fry shared an amazing hack on TikTok, demonstrating how to cool your car down in seconds using the laws of thermodynamics.
Fry is Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge. She is a mathematician, a best-selling author, an award-winning science host, and the host of numerous popular podcasts and television shows.
@fryrsquared That age-old dilemma of choosing between having a non-sweltering car or baffling a passerby because you look like a fool who doesn't know how to use a door
Fry suggests that instead of turning on the air conditioning, which she claims is “not worth it” because of the time it takes, open one of the windows on the opposite side of the door. Then, rapidly open and close the driver’s side door, so it moves back and forth like a fan.
“The reason why it works is that when you open and close the door, especially if you do it quickly, the door, as it's moving outwards, it sweeps out all of the air that's in its way, creating this sort of area of low pressure that you get here,” Fry said. “And then that sets up something called bulk flow, which is where all of the hot, sweaty, horrible air inside the car is drawn outwards.”
A man sweating in his car.via Canva/Photos
Fry’s super practical approach to a problem everyone deals with blew many people’s minds in the comments. “If I ever catch someone in real life doing this, I’m gonna know they’ve watched this exact video,” a commenter wrote. “I will give it a go, but while opening and closing the door, scream, ‘Be gone, heat demons! BE GONE!’” another added. “Going to remember this the next time my partner farts in the car,” someone joked.
The fact that the inside air temperature in a car and the outside temperature are often drastically different, especially in the summer, serves as a crucial reminder to dog owners everywhere to never leave their pet unattended in a parked car. "Most dog owners know that you can’t leave a pet in a hot car," the American Kennel Club writes. "Temperatures can rise to dangerous levels in just minutes, putting your dog at risk of heatstroke. But what if you open a window a little bit? Does that make it safe to leave your dog in the car? The answer is simple. You should never leave a dog alone in the car, even with the windows cracked. In some states, it’s even illegal."
The following video by The Dodo explains why leaving a dog in a hot car can be deadly, even when it doesn’t feel that hot outside.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Pittsburgh airport staff heroically finds woman's lost diamond
An engagement ring isn't the start of a journey with a partner—it's a promise to continue the journey you've already started. That's why engagement rings hold so much sentimental value to the person who receives it. The ring is something they cherish forever in most cases, which is exactly why when April Schmitt realized she lost the diamond out of her engagement ring she flew into a panic.
She knew the stone was lost somewhere near or in the baggage claim area at the Pittsburgh International Airport in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Schmitt has been married to her husband for more than 30 years, so she knows her engagement ring like the back of her hand (literally). The diamond was sitting in its pronged setting when she landed at the airport and made her way to the baggage claim area, but she noticed it was gone shortly after her husband picked her up from the airport.
Once she realized her stone was missing from her ring, she became panicked. She said in a statement, “I panicked and my heart sank. I truly didn’t think I was ever going to see it again.”
Travelers wait at the baggage claim carousel.Photo credit: Canva
The couple, who live in Sewickley, just a quick 30 minute or less drive down the road, immediately made their way back to the airport to find the missing diamond. Some diamonds may appear large when they're placed on a band but unless they turn into a strobe light, they're nearly impossible to see in an open, bustling space. Schmitt knew finding the diamond was a long shot but there was no way she was going to let the stone disappear without trying her best to locate it.
When the couple returned to the airport, Schmitt informed the staff about her missing diamond and was met with immense kindness. In this instance, it would've been easy to brush off looking for a clear stone in such a large space but that's not what happened. Instead, the staff member she alerted contacted airport maintenance. Suddenly, they had an entire team of people looking for the diamond.
Elegant diamond rings sparkling in warm light.Photo credit: Canva
The maintenance crew came with flashlights and searched over, under, and in between the baggage carousel for the diamond. They searched so long that the Schmitts had actually given up and returned home assuming that the sentimental stone was lost forever. But the crew they left behind was determined. Tom Riordan, a stationary engineer, assured the upset woman that the next shift would continue to look for the diamond between flights until it was located, and they did just that.
It was Sean Dempsey, a fellow stationary engineer, who eventually located the missing stone. He told ABC News, "I just was crawling with a flashlight, and we had paint sticks to scrape all the dirt away,” he said. “The diamond caught a little bit of light and I found it.”
Schmitt was thrilled to get the call that her missing diamond had been found. “There were so many ways this story could have ended, but these guys were committed to helping me. I travel a lot, and I go to a lot of airports. To have this experience here and to be treated like an important person—those staffers were so concerned about my happiness and doing the right thing for me. I was not just a random passenger. They went out of their way to take care of me.”
The staff at Pittsburgh International Airport was happy they could be of assistance. Elise Gomez, manager of customer experience at PIT tells Blue Sky News, We’ve really invested in our passenger experience and do everything we can to ensure seamless travel. We know travel can be stressful, which is why we have a variety of programs from our PIT Paws teams to amenities like Presley’s Place for travelers with sensory sensitivities. And of course, at the end of the day, it’s about people. Our team is dedicated to assisting passengers whether that’s helping them find the right gate or finding a lost diamond.”
Vibrant cityscape with a classic red funicular and riverfront views.Photo credit: Canva
This isn't the first time the PIT crew has helped locate a missing diamond. In 2023 Kristen Tunno lost her grandmother's diamond ring while at the airport. April Laukaitis, a customer care agent located the family heirloom lodged between the tiles of one of the bathroom floors.
Airports aren't known for their hospitality so it's always nice to hear when airport staff go above and beyond to be compassionate to travelers.
The color blue is not mentioned in Ancient Greek texts or other ancient writings, with one exception.
One of the first things we learn as small children is the names of colors—stop signs are red, lemons are yellow, the sky is blue. Color naming is such a fundamental element of early language development, we might assume that it's always been this way, but apparently, it has not.
In fact, ancient cultures didn't even have words for many colors that we have now, including the most basic blue. Despite the sky and bodies of water being visual backdrops since prehistoric times, having a word for "blue" is a surprisingly recent human development.
There was no word for blue in most ancient cultures, despite people seeing the sky and water all the time.Photo credit: Canva
As a video from AsapSCIENCE explains, ancient texts reveal that ancient cultures around the world lacked a word for blue. The one notable exception was the Egyptians, who were also the only people to develop a blue dye. We may think of blue as being ubiquitous in nature since the sky and water appear blue, but actual pigment-wise, it's not common at all. There are very few truly blue fruits, animals, or plants, so ancient art was created with earthy tones like browns, reds, yellows and greens. The Egyptians started mining the rare lapis lazuli, which is why they came up with a word for blue, and they figured out how to recreate the color with various minerals. But otherwise, across the board, blue simply wasn't a specified color.
In fact, when researchers looked into the historical record for words for specific colors, they found that color names emerged in the same order in all cultures worldwide. Black and white came first. Then red. Then yellow, then green (though a small percentage reversed the order of those two). And blue came last. This is across every culture, every language. The same order, with red being the first actual color named and blue being last. Isn't that wild?
Watch:
- YouTube youtu.be
Researchers have come up with two explanations for this order. The first is evolutionary. Black and white came first for the very basic differentiation between night and day, light and dark, etc. Red came next, most likely due to blood. Yellow and green helped differentiate between ripe and unripe fruits and vegetables. Blue didn't really have much usefulness as a name. The sky could be described in terms of lightness and darkness, cloudiness and clearness, and water can be described with similar terms.
The second theory has to do with our ability to create colors. Basically, the words for colors didn't enter the language until humans could make them. It was easy to make black, white, red, yellow, and green pigments. Blue, not so much. It's one of the hardest colors to create, which may be why humans didn't bother making a name for it earlier on.
The language we use affects how we perceive colors.Photo credit: Canva
Now we get into whether having a name for specific colors impacts our ability to perceive them. Early humans considered all colors as hues of black, white, and red, which is hard for us to conceptualize with our hyper-specific color names like fuchsia and turquoise and chartreuse.
But the Himba people of Namibia don't have a name for blue in their language, and it appears to affect their ability to differentiate blue from green. It takes them longer, for example, to note that a blue circle differs from a green one. However, they are able to more quickly identify a slightly lighter shade of green among darker greens because they have more words for green shades than we do in English. They literally see blues and greens differently because the language they have for various colors is different than other cultures.
Where does green end and blue begin? Photo credit: Canva
Our language shapes how we see color. As the video explains, the categories we place colors into influences our ability to perceive them as separate colors and not just part of a continuum or as a shade of something else.
"Language trains our brain to see colors differently. What this means is once we have a new word for a color, there's a feedback loop in the brain and this exaggerates the differences between those colors, especially at the border areas between them. We get used to calling these colors as distinct hues, and as a result, the brain more aptly sees them as distinct hues. Without the word, you would still see the color, but you wouldn't notice or contextualize it in the same way."
Who knew that color perception was such a language-specific thing? Check out more fascinating facts about how humans interact with our environment on AsapSCIENCE's YouTube channel.
