Anthropology News UK

Changing Education Paradigms - Does the current educational system need to be updated?

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:44:00 +0000

Very interesting video about updating the education system.

Also absolutely amazing design and imagery!

Strangers influence our dating preferences

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:41:00 +0000

Like birds and fish, we let others influence our choice of mates

Many people like to think they have discriminating tastes when it comes to romantic interests. An Indiana University study, however, found that men and women are greatly influenced not only by what their friends think of their potential fling or relationship partner, but also by the opinions of complete strangers.

"Humans don't exist in a vacuum. From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense that we have evolved mechanisms that let us take advantage of the additional social information in our environment," said Skyler Place, a researcher in IU's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and lead author of the study along with Peter M. Todd, professor in IU's Cognitive Science Program.

"We might think that searching for mates is a process best done individually, that we can best gather the appropriate information by ourselves," Place said. But humans, like many other animals, also pay attention to the preferences of others, to make for a more efficient search process. Who others like might also be a good choice for ourselves."

The concept of "mate choice copying", where an individual copies the mate selections of others, has been widely documented in other species, particularly birds and fish, and has recently been looked for in humans as well. Place's study, published online and in an upcoming issue of the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, is unique in that it exposed study participants to real mate choice scenarios via video of speed-dating couplings.

For the current study, 40 men and 40 women each watched video of eight speed-dating interactions. Speed dating involves sessions in which men and women have numerous "mini dates," each date lasting about three minutes. After every date, the men and women checked a box on a card noting whether they would like to see the other person again. Place and Todd describe such speed-dating events as a realistic microcosm of mate choice behavior.

The study participants were IU students and the speed-dating was conducted in Germany. The students were asked to predict whether they thought the dates were successful as part of the study. The researchers then looked at how the participants own desires to become romantically involved with the individuals going speed-dating changed based on what the participants thought happened on the speed-dates.

The men's interest in the women generally increased after watching the videos but it increased significantly more if their male peer in the video appeared to be interested in the women and if the men were considered as attractive or more so than the study participant.

With the female study participants, their interest in the men in the video increased if their peers in the video appeared interested; but unlike their male counterparts, their interest in the men decreased if the women in the video appeared uninterested. Place said interest shown by the men and women was no different when they were asked whether they were interested in a short affair or long-term relationship.

An intriguing finding involved the sway men had on each other. Place found that the interest of his male study participants in the women in the videos increased in relation to the good looks of the men in the video.

"For men, relative attractiveness of the people they're watching matters -- not just anyone can influence their behavior, just other men they think are at least as attractive as they are," Place said. "We have also seen signs of this influence for women in a larger study still being analyzed."

Place said the influence of strangers is also an important addition to mate choice research.

"Of course people care about what friends and family think of their potential romantic partners. Surprisingly, we showed that complete strangers also matter," he said. "If you walk into a party and don't know anyone, you might think, 'Why do I care what anyone here thinks?' In reality, we're paying close attention to what others in our social environment are thinking and doing."

Co-authors include Peter M. Todd, IU Cognitive Science Program; Lars Penke, Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology and the Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, U.K.; and Jens B. Asendorpf, Department of Psychology, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.

Tracy James
812-855-0084
traljame@indiana.edu.

Stop or Speed Through a Yellow Light? That Is the Question

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:38:00 +0000

Engineering graduate student Zhixia Li was attracted to UC because of the real-world education and experience the university provides. In return, he’s headed a real-world project that every driver can relate to: the "yellow light dilemma." Are you, as a driver, more likely to stop or speed through a yellow light?

In return, he’s headed a real-world project that every driver can relate to. It’s a project on which he has presented and published nationally, and it looks at what he calls the “yellow light dilemma.” Are you, as a driver, more likely to stop or to speed through a yellow light?

Here’s what he found when conducting research, in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Transportation, at intersections in Akron, Cleves and Fairfield, Ohio: Certain factors make it more likely that you’ll opt to speed through an intersection rather than stop at the light.

The results of his research with his advisor Prof. Heng Wei, “Analysis of Drivers' Stopping Behaviors Associated with the Yellow Phase Dilemma Zone — An Empirical Study in Fairfield, OH,” will be presented at the 2010 American Society of Highway Engineers National Conference on June 9-13, 2010, in Cincinnati, at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza.

So what are the factors that make us run the yellow? These include

Lane position: Drivers in the right lane are 1.6 times more likely to speed through a yellow light as compared to drivers in the left lane.
Type of vehicle: Drivers in heavy trucks are more likely to “pass through” a yellow light versus drivers of automobiles, SUVs, vans or pickup trucks.
Travel speed and speed limit: The greater the traveling speed of a vehicle at the onset of a yellow light, the more likely that vehicle is to pass through a yellow light. Another finding: the higher the posted speed limit, the more likely vehicles are to pass through a yellow light.
Timing of light: Yellow lights are typically set to persist between 3 to 5 seconds (Ohio law dictates 5 seconds). Drivers coming upon an intersection where the yellow light persists longer are more likely to pass through the yellow light. For each “additional” second a yellow light persists, drivers are more than three times as likely to pass through an intersection. So, for example, a driver is more than three times as likely to pass through a yellow light set to persist for 5 seconds versus a yellow light set to persist for 4 seconds. Ditto for a yellow light that persists for 4 seconds versus a yellow light that persists for 3 seconds.

Li's research has won many awards, including the 2009 Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Daniel B. Fambro Best Student Paper Award (one winner internationally); first place, 2009 ITE Great Lakes District Student Paper Competition (Great Lakes District includes Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and West Virginia); and the 2009 Ohio Transportation Consortium (OTC) Best Graduate Student Paper Award.

This UC research will help traffic engineers consider and test safety and traffic efficiency measures, including the positioning of sensors that time traffic lights.

And it just might help drivers consider their own actions when in the yellow light dilemma zone.

By: Wendy Beckman
Phone: (513) 556-1826

Video conferencing with family members enriches the lives of nursing home residents

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:32:00 +0000

Initiative could easily be replicated in other residential care settings

Nursing home residents who used videoconferencing to keep in touch with family members felt it enriched their lives, according to a study in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Thirty-four residents from ten nursing homes took part in the study. The 18 women and 16 men had an average age of 75.

All of them said the experience enriched their lives, just under two-thirds said it was the second-best option to family visiting and a third said it gave them a true picture of family life.

"A trained research assistant helped the residents speak to their spouse, child or grandchild using SKYPE or MSN" explains co-author Professor Yun-Fang Tsai, Chair of the School of Nursing at Chang Gung University in Taiwan. "At the end of the three-month study period, all the participants took part in in-depth interviews."

The average videoconferencing session lasted just under 12 minutes. Twelve per cent took place daily, 47 per cent weekly, 23 per cent monthly and 18 per cent occasionally.

The residents were very positive about the experience. They said it gave them a chance to be part of family life, see relatives who had moved abroad and allay anxieties if relatives were unable to visit. Comments included:

"It is a fun and helpful activity. Although it took me a little time to interact with my family I feel fabulous every time after talking with my son. Sometimes he plays a song I like on the violin, which he would never bring here. He also shared some photos with me, the pets in the house and so on."
"My daughter-in-law owns a pet store. She always shows me what's new in her store, such as a new pet. It's really interesting."
"If my family could come to visit me in person, that would be the best way since I can see them more clearly…But they are very busy and have no time to visit every day. This may sometimes replace their in-person visits."
"My son lives in America and has his own business. He only has time to visit me once or twice a year. Via videoconference, I have the chance to see my son, grandson and so on."
"I feel less anxiety. If my son does not visit some week I would not be anxious, worrying about the status of his family and clamouring to go home. This is better than the telephone for I can see the real thing. I wouldn't think my son is lying to me that everyone in the family is OK. I can see their rosy faces, which are very believable and real."
"Since my son emigrated to America my grandson seldom comes back to Taiwan due to his school life. Via the videoconference programme I can see how tall he has become."

Some of the residents felt slightly anxious or self-conscious about using the equipment as they were unfamiliar with computers and found it strange to see their family on a screen rather than in person. Comments included:

"When I first used the setup, it felt very strange to talk with a computer even though my son was on the other side."
"Sometimes I have no idea what to say, but it is fine since I can see my children. That part is good."
"I hope I can deal with my teeth. It would help me to say more. Otherwise my dental problems would interfere with my family understanding what I am saying."

"We were very pleased with the positive reactions this initiative received" says Professor Tsai. "In fact, the researchers often arrived to find the residents had been waiting for them for half an hour, keen to ensure they didn't miss their slot!

"It proved a simple way to enrich the lives of people in nursing homes and enable them to be part of family life. We would also be keen to see this expanded so that families could also become part of their relative's nursing home life.

"Residents needed some time to get used to the programme, and had to have help to use the equipment, but the benefits were considerable and could easily be replicated in a wide range of residential care settings."

Contact: Annette Whibley
wizard.media@virgin.net
Wiley-Blackwell

Direction and ideas for the blog

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:00:00 +0000

So now the site is back up and running in some form I would love to here some comments about design, types of posts etc.

Feel free to email me at info (at) scicornwall (dot) com - Remove the spaces and words etc and put the correct characters in there!

I am still looking for a new layout - something with a bit of class so that I can integrate fantastic imagery with a more professional look.

So yeh for those few that do hit the website comments are very welcome.

Virginity rates among students by major

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:44:00 +0000

Cool chart that shows the virginity rates among students at Wellesley College according to the student's major. I found some things particularly interesting:

1. 0% of students with 'studio arts' major are virgins

2. Virginity rates for Anthropology majors (20%) is much lower than virginity rates for Spanish, English and French majors (43%, 50% and 50% respectively)

3. This shows that the geekier subjects such as Mathamatics (83% virginity rates) dont get laid as much. To be fair this isnt much of a surprise but still makes me think life could have been alot worse if I made different choices at school!

Source: Counterpoint magazine at Wellesley College

Shyness negatively affects marital quality

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:31:00 +0000

Los Angeles, CA (May 18, 2010) Shyness can influence the quality of an ongoing relationship – even one as important as marriage – according to a study in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (published by SAGE).

A key question in psychology, and everyday life is the extent to which a person's personality determines the shape and quality of his or her social relationships. In two studies, the research explored the specific impact of shyness on marital quality.

In one of the studies, researchers Levi Baker and James K. McNulty found that shyness was linked both to more severe marital problems among newlyweds and to overall lower marital quality. Shyer people reported more problems with issues like trust, jealousy, money, and household management. In the second study, the researchers explicitly showed that it was prior shyness that was linked to marital difficulties later—even declines in marital satisfaction—and not early marital difficulties that were linked to later shyness.

The authors suggest that shyness makes it more difficult for people to enter into social relationships and, because shy people feel more social anxiety, they are less confident in dealing with the inevitable problems that marriage entails.

"There is hope even though shyness itself might be resistant to change," write the authors. "People can be taught to have more efficacy in how to resolve the specific marital problems they face. As a consequence, any marital difficulties prompted by personality can be prevented by explicit training on dealing with marital problems."

Contact: Jim Gilden
media.inquiries@sagepub.com
SAGE Publications

Study finds macho men a liability on roads

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:20:00 +0000

University of Montreal research on hyper-masculinity and driving

"Catch that car!," was the instruction given to 22 men sitting in a driving simulator. The more "macho" the man, the more risks he took on the road, according to a study by Julie Langlois, a graduate student at the University of Montreal Department of Psychology, who presented her findings at the annual conference of the Association francophone pour le savoir (ACFAS).

"Our hypothesis was that hyper-masculine drivers, often referred to as macho, were more likely to take risks in order to catch a car," says Langlois. "We didn't tell test subjects to disobey the law, yet they knew others had accomplished the same task in seven minutes."

So what is a macho man? In 2004, an American researcher developed the Auburn Differential Masculinity Inventory, a questionnaire to identify such men. It comprised 60 statements such as "men who cry are weak," or "generally speaking, men are more intelligent than women." Men had to answer questions on a scale of one (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree).

Results of the car simulator exam highlighted men's slight tendency for risk. Still, it was during interviews that a link between macho men and speed revealed itself. "Previous studies had shown that hyper-masculine men were more aggressive on the road," says Langlois. "But we wanted to take it further."

"Some men develop a passion for driving that can verge on the obsessive," says Langlois. "They consider cars to be an extension of themselves and they become extremely aggressive if they are honked at or cut off."

During testing, some participants disregarded how they were being evaluated on their degree of masculinity and caught the car within five minutes. Others caught the car in 12 minutes and were much less dangerous on the road.

Langlois' study found that aggressive behavior is deeply rooted in the male stereotype. Aggressive driving allows some men to express their masculinity, which could serve as a predictor of dangerous driving. Cars are often a vehicle by which character traits are expressed and preventing risky behavior is an issue of public safety.

Contact: Sylvain-Jacques Desjardins
sylvain-jacques.desjardins@umontreal.ca
514-343-7593
University of Montreal

New study finds racial wealth gap quadrupled since mid-1980s

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:46:00 +0000

National data reveal the effects of policies that benefit the wealthiest, persistent discrimination in housing, credit and labor markets.

WALTHAM, Mass. – The wealth gap between white and African-American families increased more than four times between 1984-2007, and middle-income white households now own far more wealth than high-income African Americans, according to an analysis released on Monday by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy (IASP) at Brandeis University.

IASP, in a research brief, also reported that many African Americans hold more debt than assets and at least 25 percent of African-American families had no assets to turn to in times of economic hardship. The fourfold increase in the wealth gap, it said, reflects public policies, such as tax cuts on investment income and inheritances, which benefit the wealthiest and persistent discrimination in housing, credit and labor markets.

"Our study shows a broken chain of achievement. Even when African Americans do everything right -- get an education and work hard at well-paying jobs -- they cannot achieve the wealth of their white peers in the workforce, and that translates into very different life chances," said Thomas Shapiro, IASP director and co-author of the research brief.

"A U-turn is needed. Public policies have and continue to play a major role in creating and sustaining the racial wealth gap, and they must play a role in closing it," said Shapiro, author of The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality and the co-author of Black Wealth/White Wealth.

Wealth, what you own minus what you owe, allows people to start a business, buy a home, send children to college and ensure an economically secure retirement. Using economic data from the same nationally representative set of families from 1984 to 2007, the IASP analysis found that the real wealth gains and losses over the time demonstrate an escalating racial gap.

Over those 23 years, it said, the racial wealth gap increased by $75,000 – from $20,000 to $95,000. Financial assets, excluding home equity, among white families grew from a median value of $22,000 to $100,000 during that period while African Americans saw very little increase in assets in real dollars and had a median wealth of $5,000 in 2007.

Summing up all assets and debt, one in 10 African Americans owed at least $3,600 in 2007, nearly doubling their debt burden in real terms since 1984, IASP said.

The growth of the racial wealth gap significantly affects the economic future of American families, it said. The current gap is so large that it would pay tuition at a four-year public university for two children, purchase or make a solid down payment on a house, or provide a nest egg to draw upon in times of job loss or crisis.

"The gap is opportunity denied and assures racial economic inequality for the next generation," said Tatjana Meschede, a co-author of the policy brief.

Notably, IASP's analysis found that by 2007, the average middle-income white household had accumulated $74,000 in wealth, an increase of $55,000 over the 23-year period, while the average high-income African-American family owned $18,000, a drop of $7,000. That resulted in a wealth gap of $56,000 for an African-American family that earned more than $50,000 in 1984 compared to a white family earning about $30,000 that same year.

Those figures, IASP said, make it clear that higher income alone will not lead to increased wealth, security and economic mobility for African Americans. Consumers of color face a gauntlet of barriers -- in credit, housing and taxes -- that dramatically reduce the chances of economic mobility, it said.

Indeed, the data indicate that the general trend in lending, in which consumers of color pay more for accessing credit, increases their debt and blocks opportunities to move forward, putting them at a severe economic disadvantage. These are concerns that must be addressed through the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, now being debated in Congress, and other policy changes, IASP said.

"The data suggests we need renewed attention to public policies that provide real opportunities for advancement by reducing barriers to mobility inherent in our tax system and increasing transparency, regulation and access in our housing and credit markets," said Laura Sullivan, another co-author.

Several factors help explain why improving targeted public policies would reduce the racial wealth gap and lessen the increased reliance on debt. One factor is that over the period studied there was an increasing dependence on credit markets to make ends meet. Among those with no financial assets, credit is often an emergency resource to help cover a job loss or medical emergency.

A second factor is that deregulation of the lending market brought a proliferation of high-cost credit, including securitized subprime and predatory loans, payday lending and check-cashing stores. Consumers of color were targeted in this market and resorted more frequently to credit cards and other forms of high-cost debt in the absence of assets or extended family resources to draw upon.

"The data make a critical contribution to the debate today about how to ensure greater economic security and opportunity for all our citizens. A racial wealth gap affects all of us because it means that a large portion of the population cannot contribute to building the wealth and strength of our nation, and that is a drain on us all," said Meizhu Lui, director of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development's "Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative."

Contact: Laura Gardner
gardner@brandeis.edu
781-736-4204
Brandeis University

The role of nurses in physician-assisted dying

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:26:00 +0000

Nurses in Belgium who administer life-ending drugs in euthanasia and in cases without explicit patient request often act outside of the law, according to a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Euthanasia is legal in Belgium if performed by physicians under strict requirements of due care, one of which is that they discuss the request with the nurses involved. Little is known about the role of nurses in euthanasia and in the use of life-ending drugs without a patient's request.

The study looked at the experiences of nurses in Belgium with euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions. The study, with 1265 respondents, had a response rate of 75.8%. Of this number 128 nurses reported that the last patient in their care who had a life-shortening end-of-life decision received euthanasia and 120 nurses reported on a patient who received life-ending drugs without the patient posing an explicit request.

In using life-ending drugs without explicit request, 48% of nurses helped prepare drugs, 56% were present during administering and 45% administered the drugs, mostly without the physician co-administering (82%) but under physician orders (98%). In euthanasia where the law states that it has to be performed by a physician, 12% of nurses administered the drugs, also mostly without the physician co-administering (86%) but always under physician orders.

"Particularly when due care criteria are not fulfilled, such as the patient poses no explicit request, nurses, next to the physician, risk legal prosecutions," write Els Inghelbrecht, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and coauthors. "Nurses stand in a vulnerable position as they can get stuck between performing a physician's orders and performing illegal acts."

The authors recommend further research as well as professional regulation and guidelines to clarify nurses' involvement in euthanasia and other end-of-life practices.

Contact: Kim Barnhardt
kim.barnhardt@cmaj.ca
613-520-7116 x2224
Canadian Medical Association Journal

Children with epilepsy say their quality of life is better than their parents think

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Thu, 13 May 2010 22:41:00 +0000

Children with epilepsy often face multiple challenges — not only seizures but learning, cognitive and school difficulties, side effects from medication, and, not surprisingly, social stigma from their peers.

It's no wonder parents say their children with epilepsy have a substantially worse quality of life than their other, healthy children. But ask a child with epilepsy about his or her life, and the answer? Not so bad.

Reporting in the current online edition of the journal Value in Health, lead study author Dr. Christine Bower Baca, a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and a clinical instructor in the UCLA Department of Neurology, and her colleagues found that children with epilepsy say their quality of life is comparable to that of their healthy siblings.

Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological condition that can negatively impact physical, social and psychological function. The burden of epilepsy is large. Overall, approximately 3 million people in the United States have epilepsy, and for half of this population, the disorder first occurred during childhood.

Approximately 45,000 children under the age of 15 develop epilepsy each year. There are many causes of epilepsy in children, including problems with brain development before birth, lack of oxygen during or following birth, head injuries, tumors, prolonged seizures with fevers, genetics, or infections in the brain.

In the study, researchers assessed 143 children with epilepsy, matching each to a healthy, non-epileptic sibling as a control, and to their parents or guardians. The assessment was done by conducting personal interviews eight to nine years after a child's initial diagnosis, using the Child Health Questionnaire, a generic and well-established measure with both child and parent versions. The average age of the children with epilepsy when interviewed was 12.

The researchers found that parents' ratings of their children's quality of life were significantly lower for their children with epilepsy on 10 of 12 scales measuring such things as behavior, general health, self-esteem and physical function. In contrast, children with epilepsy rated their own quality of life on a par with their siblings.

Why such a difference? One possible explanation, Baca said, is known as the "disability paradox," the idea that having a chronic disease or a disability does not necessarily mean that a person is unsatisfied with his or her life, despite what others may think.

"In this regard, parental perception of their epileptic child may be distorted because of their perception that they have a child that is 'sick,'" Baca said. "Such a distortion could lead to an underestimate of the child's quality of life."

Also, the concerns of a child with epilepsy may differ from those of a parent.

"Children and parents may draw on different values and perspectives to evaluate quality of life and may not be aware of these different perspectives," Baca said.

Recognizing both perspectives is important in assessing outcomes in research studies, Baca noted, particularly in clinical trials evaluating anti-epileptic medications, and also in trials measuring outcomes after epilepsy surgery. Additionally, quality-of-life evaluations are an essential part of developing clinical disease-management programs that provide comprehensive treatment and education for children with epilepsy and families. Lastly, Baca said, understanding these potentially different, yet valuable, perspectives is important for developing appropriate support services targeted for children as they make the transition into adulthood.

Contact: Mark Wheeler
mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2265
University of California - Los Angeles

It was brawn over beauty in human mating competition

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Thu, 13 May 2010 22:37:00 +0000

Male physical competition, not attraction, was central in winning mates among human ancestors, according to a Penn State anthropologist.

"There is sexual competition in many species, including humans," said David A. Puts, assistant professor of biological anthropology.

Many researchers have considered mate choice the main operator in human sexual selection. They thought that people's mating success was mainly determined by attractiveness; but for men, it appears that physical competition among males was more important. Puts sees humans as similar to many of the apes in using male competition to determine access to mates, the winning male choosing the women of his dreams. He reports his findings in the current issue of Evolution and Human Behavior.

"On average men are not all that much bigger than women, only about 15 percent larger," said Puts. "But, the average guy is stronger than 99.9 percent of women."

The problem is that men and women do not appear sexually dimorphic – different sexes having radically different sizes and weights. But Puts notes that women tend to store more body fat, while men have 60 percent more muscle mass than women.

Other traits indicate physical prowess was the major force in human mate competition through history. Men are far more aggressive than women, and approximately 30 percent of men in small-scale foraging communities die violently. Puts suggests that while a deep voice has been considered an appealing trait to women, it actually signals dominance.

"A deep voice makes men look dominant and older," said Puts. "A low voice's effect on dominance is many times greater than its effect on sexual attraction."

The main sticking point with human male competition compared to other species is that male humans do not possess inherent weapons.

"Other animals have antlers or long canines and claws," said Puts. "Why don't we have them?"

According to Puts, men do have weapons. They make them. Bows and arrows, spears, knives -- men have always manufactured weapons.

Other male traits also seem to imply competition. Males have thicker jawbones, which may have come from men hitting each other and the thickest-boned men surviving. Competition may explain why males have more robust skulls and brow ridges than women.

Another argument for male competition focuses on the environment. Puts suggests that species that live in three-dimensional space – birds and insects in the air or swimming creatures in the sea – tend not to compete for mates using physical competition because it would be very difficult for a male to defend females while fighting other males on all fronts. Species that live on the ground or the sea floor have it easier because there are only two dimensions to defend. Some insects that live in tunnels or burrows exhibit the most intense competition because it is impossible for the other male to get to the females except through the defender.

Male competition is rare among birds, occurring to a greater degree among large terrestrial species. Tree-living primates also show less physical competition. Humans living in a two-dimensional environment would experience substantial physical competition for mates.

According to Puts, humans and chimpanzees create male coalitions that are often strengthened by kinship. Coalitions can help males defend females from other males. However, when external forces are absent, these same males can compete with each other for mates.

These ideas may seem to paint a rather bleak picture of human nature with men duking it out among themselves for most of human evolution.

"Things are different for us now in many ways," said Puts. "It's heartening to think that human behavior is flexible enough that the right social institutions can increase equality and peace."

Contact: A'ndrea Elyse Messer
aem1@psu.edu
814-865-9481
Penn State

Space technology revolutionizes archaeology, understanding of Maya

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:43:00 +0000

Laser beams penetrating thick canopy detect thousands of new structures, show Maya adept at 'building green'

A flyover of Belize's thick jungles has revolutionized archaeology worldwide and vividly illustrated the complex urban centers developed by one of the most-studied ancient civilizations -- the Maya.

University of Central Florida researchers led a NASA-funded research project in April 2009 that collected the equivalent of 25 years worth of data in four days.

Aboard a Cessna 337, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) equipment bounced laser beams to sensors on the ground, penetrating the thick tree canopy and producing images of the ancient settlement and environmental modifications made by the inhabitants of the Maya city of Caracol within 200 square kilometers (77 square miles).

UCF anthropology professors Arlen and Diane Chase have directed archaeological excavations at Caracol for more than 25 years. The hard work of machete-wielding research scientists and students has resulted in the mapping of some 23 square kilometers (9 square miles) of ancient settlement.

The NASA technology aboard the Cessna saw beyond the rainforest and detected thousands of new structures, 11 new causeways, tens of thousands of agricultural terraces and many hidden caves – results beyond anyone's imagination. The data also confirm the size of the city (spread over 177 square kilometers or 68 square miles) and corroborate the Chases' previous estimates for the size of the population (at least 115,000 people in A.D. 650).

Until now, Maya archeologists have been limited in exploring large sites and understanding the full nature of ancient Maya landscape modifications because most of those features are hidden within heavily forested and hilly terrain and are difficult to record. LiDAR effectively removes these obstacles.

"It's very exciting," said Arlen Chase. "The images not only reveal topography and built features, but also demonstrate the integration of residential groups, monumental architecture, roadways and agricultural terraces, vividly illustrating a complete communication, transportation and subsistence system."

UCF Biology Professor John Weishampel designed the unique LiDAR approach. He has been using lasers to study forests and other vegetation for years, but this was the first time this specific technology fully recorded an archeological ruin under a tropical rainforest.

"Further applications of airborne LiDAR undoubtedly will vastly improve our understanding of ancient Maya settlement patterns and landscape use, as well as effectively render obsolete traditional methods of surveying," Chase said.

The images taken at the end of the dry season in Belize last April took about 24 hours of flight time to capture and then three weeks to analyze by remote sensing experts from the University of Florida. Now Caracol's entire landscape can be viewed in 3-D, and that already offers new clues that promise to expand current understanding of how the Maya were able to build such a huge empire and what may have caused its destruction.

"The ancient Maya designed and maintained sustainable cities long before 'building green' became a modern term," said Diane Chase, who has worked as co-director of the Caracol Archaeological Project beside her husband for the past 25 years. Her conclusion is based on the extensive agricultural terracing LiDAR revealed.

In addition to the UCF researchers, partners include Jason Drake with the U.S. Forest Service in Tallahassee and an adjunct professor at UCF; Ramesh Shrestha, K. Slatton and William Carter of the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping; and Jaime Awe, director of the Institute of Archaeology in Belize.

Much more powerful information is anticipated from the data collected. UCF's Weishampel said rainforests play an important role in understanding and managing global warming today. The team's results also give him a snapshot of forest vegetation in that part of the world and how it was influenced by land-use practices 1,000 years ago. This may help scientists understand past human-environment interactions and changes that should be made today.

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UCF Stands For Opportunity: The University of Central Florida is a metropolitan research university that ranks as the 3rd largest in the nation with more than 53,500 students. UCF's first classes were offered in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research environments that power the region's economic development. UCF's culture of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy.

For more information, visit http://news.ucf.edu.

Contact: Chad Binette
cbinette@mail.ucf.edu
407-823-6312
University of Central Florida

The return of SciCornwall

noreply@blogger.com (The greater power) — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:41:00 +0000

Well here it is, SciCornwal is back! I had some problems with hosting and lost all the data i had previously posted which to be honest sucked quite a bit.

Will be starting this back up again with the old host, which isnt as good but what can you do.

Enjoy