Groupthink: A Recipe for Disaster or a Beneficial Strategy?

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Social scientists have noticed an interesting trend in the last few decades. Groupthink is blamed when something goes wrong, whether it’s a military failure, technological disaster or even an advertising campaign in poor taste.Some social scientists say groupthink is also used to explain everyday healthcare and corporate management failures.If groupthink is so bad, why do humans do it so much?What is Groupthink?Groupthink occurs when people go along with a group’s irrational ideas. The m ...read more

New Dinosaur Joins an Illustrious, Yet Little-Understood Family

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

A new raptor-like dinosaur discovered in Spain helps to tell the backstory of a little-understood, semi-aquatic family of predators that likely originated in Europe, researchers have concluded.The Spinosaurids were a family of long, scrappy dinosaurs that branched into many different species, including the new Protathlitis cinctorrensis, which was believed to measure 10 to 11 meters long and possess long, conical teeth. Past studies have concluded that the family most likely ate fish – wading ...read more

Why Is Darwin Island in the Galapagos Off-Limits to Visitors?

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Like many famous men over the course of history, Charles Darwin gets his name attached to a lot of things that he had nothing to do with. The great naturalist certainly never came up with the Darwin Awards. And he didn’t coin the phrase “survival of the fittest.” So, what are we to make of his relationship to Darwin Island, exactly? Did he even set foot on the Galápagos island that bears his name? What Did Charles Darwin Do?Darwin traveled to the Galápagos, of course. He remains the most ...read more

Why We Believe That the Supernatural Causes Natural Events

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Supernatural, religious and mythical beliefs are a normal part of human culture.In every society, for as long as human history has been recorded, people have explained all manner of phenomena in the world by way of divine intervention or some supernatural agenda.Ancient societies believed they had to sacrifice innocent people to please gods to bring rain, while today, some people blame natural disasters on the perceived moral indiscretions of their peers. Why do we do this?God of the Gaps IdeaSc ...read more

How To Identify An AI With A Single Question

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

ChatGPT and other AI systems have emerged as hugely useful assistants. Various businesses have already incorporated the technology to help their employees, such as assisting lawyers draft contracts, customer service agents deal with queries and to support programmers developing code. But there is increasing concern that the same technology can be put to malicious use. For example, chatbots capable of realistic human responses could perform new kinds of denial service attacks, such tying up all t ...read more

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