Blogs
While male reproductive success varied more than female reproductive success overall, huge variability was found between populations; for instance, in monogamous societies, variances in male and female reproductive success were very similar.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2...
And it's not even true. In Denmark, considered a monogamous society, 1 in 4 men will never have children while only 1 in 8 women never will.
Bateman stands.
Biologists and computer scientists have developed the robo-scientist Adam. The researchers from the universities of Aberystwyth and Cambridge in the United Kingdom describe in a new paper in Science, how Adam has developed a hypothesis on the encoding of specific growth genes in yeast and then tested this hypothesis. Following the same procedure as a human scientist.
Adam consists of a central computer that automatically controls a cell growth chamber and complicated analysing and measuring devices. The computer is equipped with advanced software that allows Adam to develop hypotheses and then design and carry out experiments to test these hypotheses.
If the Modern Sexist Scale is in any way representative of modern social science, these "sciences" are in deep trouble.
The only thing the Modern Sexist Scale really measures it the extent to which the surveyed agrees with the authors of the survey about som gender political issues.
Nonetheless the scale is used seriously in social psychology "research".
The Scale relies on the false assumpation that Modern Western societies are pervaded by hostility towards and only towards women.
So anyone who dares critizise or oppose this idea in answering the scale is labeled a modern sexist.
Basically it goes like this:
Agree with us that there is pervasive sexism against women and that women are being unfairly treated or you are a sexist.
Proufoundly stupid.
Hardly a day passes without a new social networking site appears inspired by the success of Facebook. Not even scientists are forgotten. I have previously mentioned social networks for scientists such as ResearcherID and Nature Networks.
Now yet another social site aimed at the scientific community has appeared. ResearchGATE, however, is in contrat to the former sites developed and run by younger scientists from the United States and Germany. During the first year of the site, they have already built an impressive list of partnerships including the Max Planck Institute and EURAXESS, the European Union run portal for science jobs and information.
A new study by American engineers has shown how biting behaviour and the anatomy of the proboscis of the mosquito Aedes egypti, can be used to develop painless biomimetic micro-needles.
The main finding is that the elastic mateial at the base of the proboscis seem to the main reason why the proboscis, which is a long and thin hollow tube, does not buckle while penetrating the skin and tissue.
Read the full story here.
Source:
Ramasubramanian, MK, Barham, OM and Swaminathan, V (2008). Mechanics of a mosquito bite with applications to microneedle design. Bioinspiration & Biomimetic 3. doi:10.1088/1748-3182/3/4/046001.
A new website Ullbe.com claims to have the biggest database of universities in the world.
And true enough if you look at a small country like Denmark, then it lists not less than 146 universities (compared to Wikipedia which lists 8). Ullbe.com seems to include all small vocational educational facilities as well as musical schools. Although you can sort the search after popularity (defined how??) then the database gives a disorganised and chaotic impression.
However, it not so indiscriminate for other countries. In the United Kingdom it lists 200 universities compared to the 325 institutions recognised by the UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admission Service). In Panama it lists only 12, which also seems to be an underestimate considering all the small private universities in the capital alone.
An ethanol-fueled spike in grain prices will likely hold, yielding the first sustained increase for corn, wheat and soybean prices in more than three decades, according to new research by two University of Illinois farm economists.
Corn, an ethanol ingredient that has driven the recent price surge, could average $4.60 a bushel in Illinois, nearly double the average $2.42 a bushel from 1973 to 2006, said Darrel Good and Scott Irwin, professors of agriculture and consumer economics.
Here is some interesting "research":
Some people have trouble indulging, and they regret it later. There's hope for those people, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
While many people have no trouble treating themselves to luxury items or relaxing vacations, others have trouble spending on anything they don't perceive is a necessity. Those people are called "hyperopic," because they focus so much on the future they don't see the present. Authors Kelly L. HawsTexas A&M Universityversity) and Cait Poynor (University of Pittsburgh) took a close look at hyperopia and found that, contrary to what's commonly thought, hyperopia is distinct from self-control.
"Past research characterizes behavior as hyperopic if it involves the choice of a restrictive or necessity option over an indulgent but potentially life-enriching choice," explain the authors. "For example, a consumer might choose to study rather than go on a trip with friends over spring break or might use a windfall to pay bills rather than to provide themselves with personally rewarding experiences."
Gender of supervisor influences workers' mental and physical health
A person's gender in a leadership role is associated with their subordinate's mental and physical health according to new research out of the University of Toronto.
The Nobel Dynamite Factory in Stockholm, Sweden will host a very interesting little one-day conference at the 17th of October 2008 entitled ‘Unfolding value – communicating biodiversity’.
The meeting aspires to be a cross-disciplinary platform for discussions between scientists, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, designers and artists on the importance of biodiversity and the value of the natural world that surrounds us.
There will be a special topic on biomimetics in the afternoon, where Swedish secondary school students will present ideas on what can be derived from nature and used by technological designers and engineers.
The keynote speaker is James L. Edwards, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. He is the Executive Director of the ambitious Encyclopedia of Life (eol) project, which aims to develop an online database with information on all known species on Earth.
To get more information on the Swedish conference, click here.
