In The NEWS

Terrible Lizards
Dinosaurs, 101
Dinosaurs are terrestrial reptiles that lived on Earth during the Mesozoic Era, from about 245 million to 66 million years ago. While humans have encountered fossilized dinosaurs for millennia, they were not identified as a group of extinct creatures until 1842. This sparked an interest in fossil hunting that has led to the discovery of about 1,000 species as of 2025—though scientific models suggest that as many as 500,000 species may have existed.

Early dinosaurs' feather coats and ability to walk upright facilitated their adaptation to changing environments after two mass extinction events wiped out most other species, including their amphibious competitors. Research suggests dinosaurs exhibited many characteristics of modern-day animals, including herd-like social structures, varied diets, and visual and auditory communication.

The age of dinosaurs ended when an asteroid larger than Mount Everest struck Earth in what is now the Yucatán Peninsula, producing a mass extinction event endured by small nonavian dinosaurs that evolved into today's birds.

... Read our full explainer on dinosaurs here.

Also, check out ...
> Dinosaurs ranged from the size of chickens to multistory buildings. (More)
> Explore the origins of dinosaur names. (More)
> Dinosaur portrayals in film mistakenly limit them to only living in tropical climates. (More)
> Explore an interactive timeline and map of dinosaurs across the globe. (More)



The Firm
What is consulting?
Consulting is a broad industry focused on helping organizations solve a wide range of problems they lack the ability to address on their own, also known as professional services. These may include launching a new product, guiding large-scale organizational changes, or advising on critical business decisions around growth strategy, organizational structure, and digital transformation.

Consulting firms have a significant amount of influence, working with clients from Fortune 50 businesses to the federal government. But despite the global consulting industry’s size (it was valued at roughly $710B as of 2023), its inner workings can be opaque. Consulting firms’ clients and the problems they help solve are typically kept confidential, and their efforts are often largely invisible to the general public.

The “Big Three”—McKinsey, BCG, and Bain—and the accounting-focused “Big Four”—Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, and EY—consulting firms are often considered the world’s most prestigious and well-known consulting firms. They collectively made up about 20% of the global consulting market by revenue in 2023.

... Read our full write-up on consulting here.

Also, check out ...
> How McKinsey became one of the most powerful firms in the world. (More)
> Firms often work for both a company and its regulators simultaneously. (More)
> Critics argue US corporations are too dependent on the industry. (More)
> Consulting jobs are some of the most sought-after by Ivy grads. (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS