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
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
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
Strokes primarily impact the aged, but they can also strike the young, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One in seven affect people between the ages of 15 and 49.The agency recounts the case of Brooke Bergfeld of Bismark, North Dakota, a 29-year-old mom who suffered a stroke not long after giving birth to her son, Hudson. Bergefeld reported many common symptoms, including a terrible headache, a pain in her arm, slurred speech and a drooping face.She was later dia ...read more
In Alexandre Dumas’s classic novel The Count of Monte-Cristo, a character named Monsieur Noirtier de Villefort suffers a terrible stroke that leaves him paralyzed. Though he remains awake and aware, he is no longer able to move or speak, relying on his granddaughter Valentine to recite the alphabet and flip through a dictionary to find the letters and words he requires. With this rudimentary form of communication, the determined old man manages to save Valentine from being poisoned by her ste ...read more