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리마실전-405
One use remains to astronomy: it continues to play a crucial role in our discovery of the laws of nature. It was the problem of the motion of the planets that led Newton to the discovery of his laws of motion and gravitation. The fact that atoms emit and absorb light at only certain wavelengths, which in the twentieth century led to the development of quantum mechanics, was discovered in the early nineteenth century in observations of the spectrum of the Sun. Later in the nineteenth century, these solar observations revealed the existence of new elements, such as helium, that were previously unknown on Earth. Early in the twentieth century, Einstein's General Theory of Relativity was tested astronomically, at first by comparison of his theory's predictions with the observed motion of the planet Mercury, and then through the successful prediction of the deflection of starlight by the gravitational field of the Sun.

리마실전-406
As might be true in any big family, the Galloanserae clan has some gorgeous and some plain-looking members. Interestingly, the most colorful Galloanserae males may not be passing on the best genes to offspring, according to a recent study. "There have been lots of theories that the ornaments, the beautiful colors and big tails, are owned by the most fit males," says evolutionary biologist Judith Mank. "We were testing that theory." Mank and her colleagues analyzed genetic materials from six species of birds, both gorgeous and plain. In the gorgeous-looking birds they found a rapidly evolving genome marked by mild gene mutations, which can cause inferior characteristics; in the plain-looking ones they didn't find that. When females mate with gorgeous-looking males, those genetic flaws are passed on. That may affect the species' prospects in the future.

리마실전-407
How does "batching" tasks work? Suppose the issue on your mind right now is the excessive workload your team's currently facing. Everyone's worn down. You're catching your breath while having dinner in a buzzing restaurant with an open kitchen, and you reflect on those analogy-seeking questions while you're waiting for your food. First, you notice that the kitchen staff are deluged with customer orders, like your own team. What's different is that the restaurant staff seems pretty calm, despite the demands they're facing. And while your team allocates work depending on who's got spare capacity, each person in the kitchen has a clear job to do: some make salads, others hot food or desserts. What does that make you think? You consider that maybe you could do more to tag each team member to particular types of requests, so that everyone isn't flipping from one thing to another all the time. You think that this might reduce people's stress. An idea takes shape in your mind.

리마실전-408
The first clue that something is amiss in the world of elephants is the lack of older group members. In a species whose wild longevity is easily 50 or 60 years, poachers slaughtering the animals for their tusks has driven the median age of the African elephant down to 35.9 years. The animals that manage to survive poaching are likely to be orphans, belonging to shattered family units that no longer have a matriarchal leader. These leaderless groups tend to gather, perhaps turning to their instinct of ganging up to defend themselves against primitive humans. In ages past, these aggregations were temporary, and elephants dispersed when the danger was gone. In modern-day Africa, however, where elephants are under continual stress, the groups no longer break up.

리마실전-409
If we want to rein in the power of our belief biases, and our blind trust in our own intuition, we have to be aware of the psychological phenomenon of belief perseverance. Once we have decided that we believe something, we will tend to keep on believing it, even in the face of disconfirming evidence. In 1979, the psychologist Charles Lord and his colleagues provided a classic study illustrating how difficult it is to change beliefs. They studied people with opposing views on capital punishment. They gave both groups two sets of research findings: one set that supported the claim that the death penalty deters crime and the other set refuting that position. The subjects ended up being more impressed with the studies that supported their original beliefs. Thus, instead of leading to a more mindful consideration of the issue, the mix of studies on both sides showed that the pro- and anti-death-penalty groups strengthened their original convictions.