New findings, published in the journal Ecology, describe a previously undocumented behaviour of Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis). For the first time, these have been reported to feed on the nectar of Ethiopian red hot poker flowers (Kniphofia foliosa) – the first large carnivore species ever to be documented feeding on…
The squirting cucumber (Ecballium elaterium, from the Greek ‘ekballein,’ meaning to throw out) is named for the ballistic method the species uses to disperse its seeds. When ripe, the ovoid-shaped fruits detach from the stem and eject the seeds explosively in a high-pressure jet of mucilage. This projectile launch –…
Stanford student traditions have helped define campus life since the university’s founding. But, as senior Sydney Kaminski learned this quarter, not all have had staying power.“There are a lot of Stanford traditions that have been lost to time,” she said.For months, the art history student has been investigating a Big…
Professor Anthony Harnden has been appointed as the new Chair of the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).Anthony is a Professor of Primary Care in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, having first joined the department in 1992. Until the end of…
Behind every failure is a team of people who were afraid to dissent and debate. But research shows that leaders can take specific actions to elicit constructive challenges. Celia Moore and Kate Coombs November 20, 2024 Reading Time: 7 min Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images The Research A team…
Quick Hits On November 20, 2024, OFCCP published a CSAL that identified 2,000 establishments of federal supply and service contractors and subcontractors for compliance reviews. The CSAL operates as a “courtesy notification” to a contractor that an OFCCP compliance review will be undertaken; the compliance review process begins when the…
Emerging technologies like big data, AI and blockchain are reshaping finance. New products, such as platform finance, peer-to-peer lending and robo-advisory services, are examples of this transformation. These developments raise important questions: How concerned should traditional financial institutions be? What strategies can fintech and “techfin” (technology companies that move into…
According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, nearly 70% of Americans view political discourse as a significant source of stress, and workplaces are no exception. In fact, SHRM reports that political and social tensions have driven workplace incivility to an all-time high this year. No wonder, the ripple…
Methane emission abatement and flaring reductions are central to global decarbonization, especially for the upstream oil and gas (O&G) sector. Upstream O&G accounts for roughly 7 percent of total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and half of that comes from methane.Since 2021, when many O&G players committed to the Global…
Modern literature on economic sanctions focuses on the effectiveness of their application. Scholars and practitioners are interested in the extent to which sanctions help achieve certain political goals – force a political change, cause damage, limit the development of the target country, etc. Much less attention is paid to the…
In September, the governor of China’s central bank was first to announce a series of monetary easing measures, triggering high levels of market volatility as initial enthusiasm about the eagerly awaited response from the authorities gave way to disappointment over the lack of a fiscal component. The measures announced, mainly…
The post-COVID-19 era has created lasting fissures in the supply chain. Amid increasing globalization, rising customer expectations, and double-digit shipping growth, supply chain organizations—not just manufacturers and suppliers but also the warehouses and transporters they rely on—are under duress. They grapple with issues related to operational efficiency, demand forecasting, inventory…
Explore six steps for using AI with external partners in new ways to drive product and business model innovations. Margherita Pagani and Thomas H. Davenport November 20, 2024 Reading Time: 8 min Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images In a time of constant change and evolving customer expectations, the ability…
Jen Gramolt, Partner of Q5 on building safer, more efficient workplaces Explore the early November Oil and Gas HSE podcast episode where host Russell Stewart interviews Jen Gramolt, Partner at Q5. They discuss the concept of organisational health, its impact on safety and efficiency, and practical strategies for fostering a…
The increasing adoption of AI technologies is presenting new challenges for our customers’ data estate and applications. Most organizations expect to deploy AI workloads across a hybrid mix of cloud, edge, and dedicated infrastructure, with privacy and security being more important than ever. Microsoft SQL Server 2025, now in preview,…
It has been nearly two years since the launch of ChatGPT and other generative AI (gen AI) tools that revolutionized the way AI is perceived and consumed by industries, businesses, and other users. In that time, McKinsey experts estimate the capabilities unlocked by gen AI have helped accelerate levels of…
The first three students to be supported by the Arm donation will begin their studies at the new research centre in the autumn of 2025. They will be followed by another three students each year for the following four years. Arm – the company building the future of computing with…
A growing body of research, including our own, has conclusively demonstrated that today’s managers find themselves squeezed between the strategic demands of senior leadership and the day-to-day needs of their teams. Perceptyx’s Center for Workforce Transformation special report, How to Build a Better Boss: What Leaders (and Their Teams) Need…
When federal agencies issue a research grant, they never know if their investment will reap rewards for society. This was almost certainly true in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research funded projects by James “Jay” McClelland, David Rumelhart, and…
Frontiers New tactics can boost profitability and satisfaction with subscription services. Stanley Frederick W.T. Lim November 19, 2024 Reading Time: 8 min Topics Frontiers An MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management. More in this series Neil Webb/theispot.com Costco and Amazon subscription services were just…
By: Adam Rongo, Andrew Scroggins, and Christopher DeGroff Seyfarth Synopsis: On November 15, 2024, the EEOC released its Agency Financial Report (“AFR”) for Fiscal Year 2024. The AFR is intended to provide a description of the Agency’s financial management and offer high-level performance information. This year’s edition marks the sixth…
Quick Hits Value of closeout conferences: Close-out conferences provide valuable insights into the basis for the violations and gravity cited, which are crucial for preparation and decision-making regarding future actions. Preparation and participation: Management may want to discuss observed conditions and issued citations, before and during the conference, and focus…
“Manifest” was looked up almost 130,000 times on the Cambridge Dictionary website, making it one of the most-viewed words of 2024. The word jumped from use in the self-help community and on social media to being widely used across mainstream media and beyond, as celebrities such as singer Dua Lipa, Olympic sprinter Gabby…
Much has been written on performance management. Why do so many employees still find it bureaucratic and unfair? On this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, talent experts Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle speak with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about new research on what drives performance: what motivates employees most, what matters…
People from Belfast proved most able to detect someone faking their accent, while people from London, Essex and Bristol were least accurate.The study, published today in Evolutionary Human Sciences found that the ability of participants from Scotland, the north-east of England, Ireland and Northern Ireland to tell whether short recordings…
For an industry focused on mitigating risk and providing protection, the world’s insurers are enduring a particularly volatile age. The macroeconomic picture is mixed, with inflation stubbornly high and interest rates uncertain. Consumer confidence remains shaky, even though the economic growth cycle appears to have bottomed out. Geopolitical instability remains…
Gary Bates/Ikon Images The Research The authors’ survey data was gathered from 2015 to 2023 via a questionnaire to which approximately 1,400 executives, representing 500 companies across industries and global regions, responded. Not all respondents replied to all questions. The authors also conducted 500 individual interviews at 45 companies in…
During the second Trump administration, we anticipate that the EEOC’s routine enforcement and litigation activities would continue, as would policy initiatives capable of garnering bipartisan support. Indeed, the vast majority of the EEOC's day-to-day enforcement and litigation activities are politically uncontroversial and enjoy strong bipartisan support. However, the EEOC is…
Quick Hits The New Jersey governor signed legislation that will require employers to provide the “hourly wage or salary, or a range of the hourly wage or salary” in postings for new jobs or transfer opportunities. The law will also require employers to make “reasonable efforts” to advertise promotion opportunities…
Toyota City, Japan – Cars are going through some of the most rapid engineering shifts in their 100-year history, putting intense pressure on global automakers to innovate more quickly. That includes the Toyota Motor Corporation, which last year sold more than 10 million vehicles, more than any other automaker in…
On 30 October 2024, chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her much-anticipated Budget to parliament. Prior to the announcement, the government had repeatedly spoken of a £22 billion “black hole” in the public finances and hinted at tax rises. As you saw in our recent Budget update, the chancellor revealed several changes…
Appearing as ‘bumps’ in the data from high-energy experiments, these signals came to be known as short-lived ‘XYZ states.’ They defy the standard picture of particle behaviour and are a problem in contemporary physics, sparking several attempts to understand their mysterious nature.But theorists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas…
Since the launch of ChatGPT at the latest, artificial intelligence has become part of everyday life for the general public. In a survey of computer users, 61% of respondents stated that they use the technology for their work (Deloitte 2023). In the first part of this blog series, we examined…
In briefli]:su-m-0">Overpumping groundwater has caused land in parts of the San Joaquin Valley to sink by over one foot per year in many years since 2006.Rapid and uneven sinking has forced multimillion-dollar infrastructure repairs and exacerbated water supply issues for one of the world’s most agriculturally productive regions. California has…
On November 5, 2024, Donald Trump was chosen to become the next president of the United States. An analysis of the activities of the first Trump administration (2017-2021) and his statements during this year’s election campaign allow us to outline the possible contours and dominant features of American policy towards…
19 November 2024By Luis de GuindosMeeting the EU’s climate neutrality targets calls for deep structural changes and significant private funding, requiring a healthy financial system. That’s why we’ve tested how resilient banks, investment funds and insurers are to stresses arising during the green transition. ECB Vice-President Luis de Guindos explains…
Research Highlight Generative AI tools promise to help leaders make better decisions. But they may also cause trouble by nudging leaders toward a control-based style, research shows. J. Mauricio Galli Geleilate and Beth K. Humberd November 18, 2024 Reading Time: 8 min As artificial intelligence technologies develop, managers are striving…
This article is an in-depth analysis of commercial property and casualty insurers, one of three sections in the Global Insurance Report 2025.In an industry that revolves around reducing uncertainty for customers, commercial property and casualty (P&C) insurers are themselves confronting macroeconomic uncertainty across multiple fronts. Inflation has remained stickier than…
On November 18, the Valdai Club hosted a presentation of an analytical Paper titled “Russia – Africa: Overcoming Difficulties”. Oleg Barabanov, the moderator of the discussion, noted that relations between Russia and Africa are currently on the rise. Russia works with African countries in many areas, including political dialogue, economic…
This article is an in-depth analysis of personal property and casualty insurers, one of three sections in the Global Insurance Report 2025.The personal lines property and casualty (P&C) industry writes about a quarter of the world’s insurance premiums. It protects people and their loved ones wherever they are, every day.…