Editorial from Science. To disseminate the idea of self-correction as an essence of science to the general public, put more HPS into the carriculum of scientific education.
American Ornithologist Society plans to establish a committee to discuss and change the common names of the bird named after person so that they can expel offensive names.
Discussion in taxonomy over whether to change offensive names of species and other taxonomic groups, like the one named after Hitler. ICZN do not allow change based on this now, but some taxonomists call for change.
History of Japan's unsuccessful attempts to spur research (World Premier International Research Center Initiative, etc.). Pessimistic about top-down initiatives. Recommend a bottom-up approach.
The research team found 9900 genetic markers to height among people of European descent. Although it doesn't solve the "missing heritability" problem, it gives a hope that we could find genes responsible for the trait, since the markers are concentrated to 30% of genome.
Link between gum disease bacteria and Alzheimer's. Bacteria found in the brains of many deceased Alzheimer's, although not clear whether bacteria causes the disease. Large-scale clinical trial is about to happen.
Among those entered into grad program in UNC and another one (those w/ 3.0 GPA or the above-average GRE score), there is little correlation between their performance as researchers and GPA & GRE. But students w/ a strong letter did better than otherwise.
High energy consumption of human brain --> inefficiency of mitochondria producing genes and the production of oxygen-containing molecules --> human brain shrinks faster than chimps as they age.
There are many types of interactions between those that eat and those eaten. A multitude of theoretical equations describe these dynamics, from predator and prey to parasite and host. Lafferty et al. show that all forms of these relationships come down to fundamental consumer-resource interactions.
Slit-eyed animals have either vertical or horizontal pupils.Until now it was unclear what benefit/cost the orientation of pupils. Found that vertical pupils are good for detecting distance to the preys, while horizontal ones are good for finding anything on the horizon, which is good for preys.
Neuroplasticity causes a critical period in visual and somatosensory systems. Found that plasticity itself has a critical period. The protein for this is related to the one responsible for schizophrenia.
Diversity and vulnerability to pathogens in ecosystems. The more diverse the ecosystem is, the less vulnerable to pathogens, even though the diversity of pathogens increases as the ecosystem get more diverse.
de Waal. Two levels of the sense of equality: Assessment of current equality and expectation of future equality. Authors say that even the second level of the sense of E is found in primates and may have fostered the evolution of rich sense of equality found in human beings.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp7153
https://www.science.org/content/article/bisexual-behavior-genetically-tied-risk-taking-controversial-dna-analysis-finds
https://www.science.org/content/article/why-are-we-naming-birds-after-people-behind-plan-scrap-many-bird-names
https://www.science.org/content/article/should-beetles-be-named-after-adolf-hitler
https://www.science.org/content/article/worldwide-survey-kills-myth-man-hunter
Science | AAAS
Science | AAAS
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Science | AAAS
Science | AAAS
Science | AAAS
Science | AAAS
Science | AAAS
Science | AAAS
Science | AAAS
Science | AAAS
Science | AAAS
Science | AAAS
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