All posts; Tags Include "Evolutionary Anthropology"
- July 25, 2013
- 04:18 PM
- 930 views
Self through the mirror (neurons) and default mode network: what neuroscientists found and what can still be found there
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
A search for the word self in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy finds 1187 entries: trying to give a complete definition of this concept is not so easy. It is a great puzzle that states who we are in the world, as Alice in Wonderland once argued, afraid she could not explain herself when she came across the Caterpillar.
Unfortunately, we cannot use such an excuse. Furthermore, as neuroscientists, trying to depict the self from a scientific perspective seems to get harder and harder the ........ Read more »
Stefano Sandrone. (2013) Self through the mirror (neurons) and default mode network: what neuroscientists found and what can still be found there. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00383
- July 24, 2013
- 07:23 AM
- 746 views
Dolphins respond to individual names
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Scientists at the University of St Andrews have shown that bottlenose dolphins can use copying of signature whistles as a way of addressing or labelling animals on an individual basis.... Read more »
The University of St Andrews Press Office. (2013) Dolphins respond to individual names. The University of St Andrews. info:/
- July 23, 2013
- 08:41 AM
- 894 views
Quantum Electrodynamics
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
A collection of four articles on quantum electrodynamics
written by Marianne Freiberger and Rachel Thomas
and originally appeared in plus magazine... Read more »
Marianne Freiberger, & Rachel Thomas. (2013) Let me take you down, cos we're going to .. quantum fields. plus magazine. info:/
- July 22, 2013
- 04:49 PM
- 976 views
World’s First IVF Baby Born after Preimplantation Genome Sequencing is Now 11 Months Old
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
The largest genomic institute of the world, BGI Shenzhen, China, together with Reproductive & Genetic Hospital CITIC-XIANGYA announced today that they have successfully applied Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to detect in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos with genetic abnormalities. The successful application of preimplantation sequencing (the most advanced form of preimplantation genetic screening, PGS) opens a new chapter in the field of human assisted reproduction, providing new hopes for IVF c........ Read more »
BGI News. (2013) World’s First IVF Baby Born after Preimplantation Genome Sequencing is Now 11 Months Old. BGI Shenzhen, China. info:/
- July 21, 2013
- 04:32 PM
- 867 views
The Surprising Origins of Life’s Complexity
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Conventional wisdom holds that complex structures evolve from simpler ones, step-by-step, through a gradual evolutionary process, with Darwinian selection favoring intermediate forms along the way.
But recently some scholars have proposed that complexity can arise by other means—as a side effect, for instance—even without natural selection to promote it.
Studies suggest that random mutations that individually have no effect on an organism can fuel the emergence of complexity in........ Read more »
Carl Zimmer. (2013) The Surprising Origins of Life’s Complexity. Quanta Magazine. info:/
- July 21, 2013
- 03:00 PM
- 834 views
Real talk: Everything is made of fields
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Theorist Sean Carroll thinks it’s time you learned the truth: All of the particles you know—including the Higgs—are actually fields.... Read more »
Kathryn Jepsen. (2013) Real talk: Everything is made of fields. Symmetry magazine. info:/
- July 19, 2013
- 06:12 AM
- 1,165 views
Earth's Gold Came from Colliding Dead Stars
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Observations of this GRB provide evidence that it resulted from the collision of two neutron stars – the dead cores of stars that previously exploded as supernovae. Moreover, a unique glow that persisted for days at the GRB location potentially signifies the creation of substantial amounts of heavy elements – including gold.... Read more »
E. Berger, W. Fong, & R. Chornock. (2013) Smoking Gun or Smoldering Embers? A Possible r-process Kilonova Associated with the Short-Hard GRB 130603B. Cornell University Library. DOI: arXiv:1306.3960v1
CfA Press Room. (2013) Earth's Gold Came from Colliding Dead Stars. HARVARD-SMITHSONIAN CENTER FOR ASTROPHYSICS. info:/
- July 18, 2013
- 04:08 PM
- 927 views
"Intelligent knife" tells surgeon if tissue is cancerous
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Scientists have developed an "intelligent knife" that can tell surgeons immediately whether the tissue they are cutting is cancerous or not.... Read more »
Sam Wong. (2013) "Intelligent knife" tells surgeon if tissue is cancerous. Imperial College of London. info:/
- July 17, 2013
- 03:47 PM
- 981 views
Cosmologist claims Universe may not be expanding
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
It started with a bang, and has been expanding ever since. For nearly a century, this has been the standard view of the Universe. Now one cosmologist is proposing a radically different interpretation of events — in which the Universe is not expanding at all.... Read more »
C. Wetterich. (2013) A Universe without expansion. Cornell University Library. DOI: arXiv:1303.6878v2
Jon Cartwright. (2013) Cosmologist claims Universe may not be expanding. Nature News. DOI: 10.1038/nature.2013.13379
- July 17, 2013
- 07:47 AM
- 783 views
Scientists solve a 14,000-year-old ocean mystery
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
At the end of the last Ice Age, as the world began to warm, a swath of the North Pacific Ocean came to life. During a brief pulse of biological productivity 14,000 years ago, this stretch of the sea teemed with phytoplankton, amoeba-like foraminifera and other tiny creatures, who thrived in large numbers until the productivity ended—as mysteriously as it began—just a few hundred years later.
(further reading on TK's page)... Read more »
WHOI Media Relations Office. (2013) Scientists solve a 14,000-year-old ocean mystery. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1873
- July 16, 2013
- 07:17 AM
- 767 views
Phytoplankton social mixers
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Tiny ocean plants, or phytoplankton, were long thought to be passive drifters in the sea — unable to defy even the weakest currents, or travel by their own volition. In recent decades, research has shown that many species of these unicellular microorganisms can swim, and do so to optimize light exposure, avoid predators or move closer to others of their kind.
Now scientists at MIT and Oxford University have shown that the motility of phytoplankton also helps them determine their fate i........ Read more »
Denise Brehm. (2013) Phytoplankton social mixers. MIT News Office. info:/
- July 15, 2013
- 09:33 AM
- 764 views
Deep-Sea Bioluminescence Blooms after Dense Water Formation at the Ocean Surface
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
The deep ocean is the largest and least known ecosystem on Earth. It hosts numerous pelagic organisms, most of which are able to emit light. Here we present a unique data set consisting of a 2.5-year long record of light emission by deep-sea pelagic organisms, measured from December 2007 to June 2010 at the ANTARES underwater neutrino telescope in the deep NW Mediterranean Sea, jointly with synchronous hydrological records.... Read more »
Tamburini C,, Canals M,, Durrieu de Madron X,, Houpert L,, Lefèvre D,, & et al. (2013) Deep-Sea Bioluminescence Blooms after Dense Water Formation at the Ocean Surface. PLoS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067523
- July 14, 2013
- 04:35 PM
- 1,386 views
Telescopic Contact Lens Could Improve Eyesight for the Visually Impaired
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
A team of engineers has designed a telescopic contact lens that can switch between normal and magnified vision by using slightly modified off-the-shelf 3D television glasses. The researchers, led by Joseph Ford, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of California, San Diego, built a prototype of the lens and tested it on a mechanical eye. Researchers report their findings in the June 27 online issue of Optics Express, an open-access journal of the Optical Society.... Read more »
Ioana Patringenaru. (2013) Telescopic Contact Lens Could Improve Eyesight for the Visually Impaired. UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering. info:/
- July 11, 2013
- 03:34 PM
- 970 views
Scientists Image Vast Subglacial Water System Underpinning West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
In a development that will help predict potential sea level rise from the Antarctic ice sheet, scientists from The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics have used an innovation in radar analysis to accurately image the vast subglacial water system under West Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier. They have detected a swamp-like canal system beneath the ice that is several times as large as Florida’s Everglades.... Read more »
Jackson School of Geosciences. (2013) Scientists Image Vast Subglacial Water System Underpinning West Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier. Jackson School of Geosciences. info:/
- July 11, 2013
- 04:34 AM
- 714 views
In subglacial lake, surprising life goes on
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Lake Vostok, buried under a glacier in Antarctica, is so dark, deep and cold that scientists had considered it a possible model for other planets, a place where nothing could live.
July 8, 2013 | By Bonnie Blankinship | Bowling Green State University
However, work by Dr. Scott Rogers, a Bowling Green State University professor of biological sciences, and his colleagues has revealed a surprising variety of life forms possibly living and reproducing in this most extreme of environments. A ........ Read more »
Bonnie Blankinship. (2013) In subglacial lake, surprising life goes on. Bowling Green State University. info:/
- July 9, 2013
- 04:01 PM
- 730 views
Location of upwelling in Earth's mantle discovered to be stable
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
A study published in Nature this week shares the discovery that large-scale upwelling within Earth's mantle mostly occurs in only two places: beneath Africa and the Central Pacific. More importantly, Clinton Conrad, Associate Professor of Geology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), and colleagues revealed that these upwelling locations have remained remarkably stable over geologic time, despite dramatic reconfigurations o........ Read more »
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. (2013) Location of upwelling in Earth's mantle discovered to be stable. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. info:/
- July 9, 2013
- 01:49 PM
- 730 views
Detecting DNA in space
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
If there is life on Mars, it’s not too farfetched to believe that such Martian species may share genetic roots with life on Earth.
More than 3.5 billion years ago, a blitz of meteors ricocheted around the solar system, passing material between the two fledgling planets. This galactic game of pingpong may have left bits of Earth on Mars, and vice versa, creating a shared genetic ancestry between the two planets.
Such a theory holds great appeal for Christopher Carr, a research scienti........ Read more »
Jennifer Chu. (2013) Detecting DNA in space. MIT News Office. info:/
- July 9, 2013
- 07:36 AM
- 948 views
Science and Philosophy: A Love-Hate Relationship
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
In this paper I review the problematic relationship between science and philosophy; in particular, I will address the question of whether science needs philosophy, and I will offer some positive (if incomplete) perspectives that should be helpful in developing a synergetic relationship between the two. I will review three lines of reasoning often employed in arguing that philosophy is useless for science: a) philosophy’s death diagnosis (‘philosophy is dead’) and what follows f........ Read more »
de Haro, Sebastian. (2013) Science and Philosophy: A Love-Hate Relationship. PhilSci Archive. DOI: 9864
- July 7, 2013
- 04:06 PM
- 718 views
The role of medial prefrontal cortex in early social cognition
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
One major function of our brain is to enable us to behave with respect to socially relevant information. Much research on how the adult human brain processes the social world has shown that there is a network of specific brain areas, also called the social brain, preferentially involved during social cognition.... Read more »
Grossmann T. (2013) The role of medial prefrontal cortex in early social cognition. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00340
- July 7, 2013
- 03:01 PM
- 665 views
A selective deficit in imageable concepts: a window to the organization of the conceptual system Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
by Perikis Livas in Chilon
Nissim, a 64 years old Hebrew-speaking man who sustained an ischemic infarct in the left occipital lobe, exhibited an intriguing pattern. He could hold a deep and fluent conversation about abstract and complex issues, such as the social risks in unemployment, but failed to retrieve imageable words such as ball, spoon, carrot, or giraffe.... Read more »
Aviah Gvion, & Naama Friedmann. (2013) A selective deficit in imageable concepts: a window to the organization of the conceptual system. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00226
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