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Abstract Algorithms have begun to encroach on tasks traditionally reserved for human judgment and are increasingly capable of performing well in novel, difficult tasks. At the same time, social influence, through social media, online reviews, or personal networks, is one of the most potent forces affecting individual decision-making. In three preregistered online experiments, we found that people rely more on algorithmic advice relative to social influence as tasks become more difficult. All three experiments focused on an intellective task with a correct answer and found that subjects relied more on algorithmic advice as difficulty increased. This effect persisted even after controlling for the quality of the advice, the numeracy and accuracy of the subjects, and whether subjects were exposed to only one source of advice, or both sources. Subjects also tended to more strongly disregard inaccurate advice labeled as algorithmic compared to equally inaccurate advice labeled as coming from a crowd of peers.

Understanding the spatial context of animal movements is fundamental for the establishment and management of protected areas. We tracked, by telemetry devices, 31 captive-reared and 5 wild-rehabilitated Harpia harpyja and estimated the dispersal and space use after release in Mesoamerica. We evaluated the effectiveness of protected areas in the protection of home ranges and examined how individual traits, release methods and landscape features influenced the dispersal and home range using mixed-effects models. The mean post-release dispersal was 29.4 km (95% CI: 22.5–38.5), and the annual home ranges averaged 1039.5 km2 (95% CI: 627–1941). The home ranges were influenced by the release method, patch richness, patch and edge density and contagion. The currently protected areas in Mesoamerica may not be effective conservation units for this species. The Harpy Eagle average home range greatly exceeded the average size of 1115 terrestrial protected areas (52.7 ± 6.1 km2) in Mesoamerica. Due to their wide use of space, including transboundary space, Harpy Eagle conservation efforts may fail if they are not carefully coordinated between the countries involved. Future restoration efforts of umbrella forest-dwelling raptors should select release sites with highly aggregated and poorly interspersed forests. The release sites should have a buffer of approximately 30 km and should be located completely within protected areas.

Abstract Greenhouse agriculture is a highly efficient method of food production that can greatly benefit from supplemental electric lighting. The needed electricity associated with greenhouse lighting amounts to about 30% of its operating costs. As the light level of LED lighting can be easily controlled, it offers the potential to reduce energy costs by precisely matching the amount of supplemental light provided to current weather conditions and a crop’s light needs. Three simulations of LED lighting for growing lettuce in the south-east of the US using historical solar radiation data for the area were conducted. Lighting costs can be potentially reduced by approximately 60%.

In this paper an empirical investigation is reported of the attitudes of purchasing managers to the degree of wrongness of a range of ethically problematical issues and what the corresponding punishment should be for these actions. The study found a significant difference between what purchasing managers believe is wrong and how willing they are to punish transgressors. It is suggested that the largest difference between a wrongful action and its punishment occurs when the action is clearly wrong, but the financial impact upon the employer is minor. The paper concludes by suggesting areas for future research that could explore why there is a difference between a crime and its associated punishment.