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Governments around the world are drawing on behavioural insights to improve public policy outcomes: from automatic enrolment for pensions, to better tax compliance, to increasing the supply of organ donation.

 

But those very same policy makers are also subject to biases that can distort decision making. The Behavioural Insights Team has been studying those biases and what can be done to counter them, in collaboration with Jill Rutter and Julian McCrae of the Institute for Government.

 

The report was launched with remarks from Alex Chisholm, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.

 

Dr Michael Hallsworth, Director of the Behavioural Insights Team in North America presented the key findings.

 

The findings, their relevance to policy making today, and what they mean for the way governments make decisions were discussed by:

 

Polly Mackenzie, Director of Policy for the Deputy Prime Minister, 2010–15 and now Director of Demos

 

Dr Tony Curzon Price, Economic Advisor to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

 

The event was chaired by Jill Rutter, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.

 

#IfGBIT

 

Photos by Candice McKenzie

Some odd Sea Lion behaviour. One Sea Lion sat motionless in the water for perhaps an hour holding a fin/fluke in the air. Every few minutes it would raise its head and take a breath of air. A second Sea Lion was sitting beside it and would also raise its head occasionally. Mating behaviour?

 

Point Roberts.

"You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realise that you control your own destiny." Albert Ellis (via Twitter twitter.com/kimfishercbt/status/719221855517818881)

Neural control of metabolism and eating behaviour

Guerilla artist posts illustrations on the wall of an underpass that runs the Galloping Goose regional trail beneath the major road above in Saanich, a suburb of Victoria, BC.

 

November 2022

The osprey (Pandion haliaetus) — also called fish eagle, sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk — is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60 cm (24 in) in length and 180 cm (71 in) across the wings. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts.

 

The osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all continents except Antarctica, although in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.

 

As its other common names suggest, the osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It possesses specialised physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey. As a result of these unique characteristics, it has been given its own taxonomic genus, Pandion and family, Pandionidae. Four subspecies are usually recognized, one of which has recently been given full species status (see below). Despite its propensity to nest near water, the osprey is not classed as a sea eagle.

 

The osprey is 0.9–2.1 kg (2.0–4.6 lb) in weight and 50–66 cm (20–26 in) in length with a 127–180 cm (50–71 in) wingspan. It is, thus, of similar size to the largest members of the Buteo or Falco genera.

 

The subspecies are fairly close in size, with the nominate subspecies averaging 1.53 kg (3.4 lb), P. h. carolinensis averaging 1.7 kg (3.7 lb) and P. h. cristatus averaging 1.25 kg (2.8 lb). The wing chord measures 38 to 52 cm (15 to 20 in), the tail measures 16.5 to 24 cm (6.5 to 9.4 in) and the tarsus is 5.2–6.6 cm (2.0–2.6 in).

 

The upperparts are a deep, glossy brown, while the breast is white and sometimes streaked with brown, and the underparts are pure white. The head is white with a dark mask across the eyes, reaching to the sides of the neck. The irises of the eyes are golden to brown, and the transparent nictitating membrane is pale blue. The bill is black, with a blue cere, and the feet are white with black talons. A short tail and long, narrow wings with four long, finger-like feathers, and a shorter fifth, give it a very distinctive appearance.

 

The sexes appear fairly similar, but the adult male can be distinguished from the female by its slimmer body and narrower wings. The breast band of the male is also weaker than that of the female, or is non-existent, and the underwing coverts of the male are more uniformly pale. It is straightforward to determine the sex in a breeding pair, but harder with individual birds.

 

The juvenile osprey may be identified by buff fringes to the plumage of the upperparts, a buff tone to the underparts, and streaked feathers on the head. During spring, barring on the underwings and flight feathers is a better indicator of a young bird, due to wear on the upperparts.

 

In flight, the osprey has arched wings and drooping "hands", giving it a gull-like appearance. The call is a series of sharp whistles, described as cheep, cheep or yewk, yewk. If disturbed by activity near the nest, the call is a frenzied cheereek!

 

This image was taken in the J.N. "Ding" National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida.

The dark surroundings necessitated an highish iso low shutter speed combination.

Juvenile Dipper.

I couldn't get her to explain exactly what was going on here, but there's something fundamentally toddler-esque about it.

Muttamorphosis Dog Training & Behaviour Kennel Club Good Citizen Puppy Foundation Graduates March 2011

Nembrotha lineolata

(The Rubicon crossed yet again)

Some interesting ant behaviour that I observed here--this ant hung out over the small, circular plant (and this is where my plant anatomy fails me) structure.

 

My guess is that this is some structure that provided the Ant with food, and it was feeding from it. However, being more of an amateur entomologist rather than amateur botanist, I would be happy to learn more.

 

Kenko.?

Public Lecture on "Changing Consumer Behaviour: Are We Becoming More Demanding?" by Professor Moira Clark, Director, Henley Centre for Customer Management on 25 February 2015

Daniel Gross & Joris Maltha

 

foto: Pascal Lagarde

Public Lecture on "Changing Consumer Behaviour: Are We Becoming More Demanding?" by Professor Moira Clark, Director, Henley Centre for Customer Management on 25 February 2015

Some odd Sea Lion behaviour. One Sea Lion sat motionless in the water for perhaps an hour holding a fin/fluke in the air. Every few minutes it would raise its head and take a breath of air. A second Sea Lion was sitting beside it and would also raise its head occasionally. Mating behaviour?

 

Point Roberts.

The culture of misogyny, sexism and predatory behaviour towards members of the public and female colleagues persists across many UK police forces today. A report was commissioned by the Home Secretary in response to the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard. Enough. is a brand new play that focuses on the perspectives of female police officers and explores the various ways that misogyny manifests in the police force. How does this culture still exist in 2023? Enough is enough.

 

Tickets on sale now: manchester.ssboxoffice.com/events/enough/

Gannets and fulmars at RSPB Troup Head, March 2019

 

Look at that. Maisie's clippers fit perfectly in mine.

In discussion with BBC Newsnight presenter Evan Davis, Richard Thaler reflected on what behavioural economics had added to the policy maker toolkit, how far it had extend, its potential limitations and where economics might go next.

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