How to Cure Groupthink
"Groupthink" describes the systematic errors groups can make when facing important collective decisions. How can it be avoided?
The Amazing Eyes of the Archerfish
The archerfish has an unusual skill: it spits water directly at its prey, knocking the bugs out of the sky. But how?
When Foster Care Meant Farm Labor
Before current foster care programs were in place, Americans depended on farmers to take care of kids in exchange for hard labor.
Camouflage Gets Weird
Some animals use chemical camouflage, even altering the way they smell in order to avoid predation.
The Revolutionary Past of Plastics
When plastics were first invented, they seemed to promise a utopian future.
How War Revolutionized Ireland’s Linen Industry
During the Napoleonic Wars, Irish women, who had traditionally only spun flax into thread, took over the traditionally male job of weaving linen as well.
Is Burnout Really a Disease?
Perhaps, instead of thinking of burnout as a disease to be dealt with at the individual level, we might collectively address it as a social problem.
![Design 513, Damask, 1956 and Design 104, Printed Silk and Fortisan Casement [curtain fabric], 1955, by Frank Lloyd Wright](https://daily.jstor.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/frank_lloyd_wrights_fraught_attempt_at_mass_production_1050x700-600x400.jpg)
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fraught Attempt at Mass Production
The famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright famously loathed commercialism, and yet he (reluctantly) designed commercial homewares to be mass produced.
Artificial Photosynthesis
What is artificial photosynthesis, how does it work, and why would we need it?
The Weather Forecast That Saved D-Day
Operation Overlord launched the invasion of German-occupied Europe during WWII. But the right weather, tides, and moonlight were essential for it to work.