Social cellular aggregations need to be highly related to cooperate
Posted 16 Jan 2012 / 0Science “High Relatedness Is Necessary and Sufficient to Maintain Multicellularity in Dictyostelium“
Punishment + Social Structure = Cooperation?
Posted 16 Jan 2012 / 0Evolutionary Computation “Punishment Leads to Cooperative Behavior in Structured Societies“
Bruce Wightman on why scientific literacy is important
Posted 16 Jan 2012 / 0The Chronicle of Higher Education “A Better Rationale for Science Literacy” I particularly like what Wightman has written about the slippery slope of pairing science education with directly-utilizable and/or economically-valuable skills: science literacy is as important for the health of of civil society as it is for the practical needs of individuals.
Laurie Fendrich on the Darwinian Dilemma
Posted 16 Jan 2012 / 0The Chronicle of Higher Education “Darwin’s Not So Cuddly Ideas: A Reply to Michael Ruse“
Sturgeon overfishing on the Leonard Lopate Show
Posted 05 Jan 2012 / 0WNYC The Leonard Lopate Show “Backstory: Saving the Sturgeon“
Is teen-parent arguing really just play in preparation for future social interaction?
Posted 04 Jan 2012 / 1All Things Considered “Why A Teen Who Talks Back May Have A Bright Future” What is really cool about the study described in this valuable radio piece is that it reinforces the idea that much of what children and adolescents do is “playful”: even arguing! Teens who enjoy arguing with their parents are just like Read More
Does hydraulic fracturing cause earthquakes?
Posted 03 Jan 2012 / 0New York Times “Ohio: Sites of Two Earthquakes Nearly Identical” New York Times “Disposal Halted at Well After New Quake in Ohio” New York Times “Add Quakes to Rumblings Over Gas Rush” All Things Considered “Fracking Byproducts May Be Linked To Ohio Quakes“
Christopher Hitchens, writer-skeptic-critic and one of the “four horsemen of new atheism”, is dead at 62
Posted 16 Dec 2011 / 0New York Times “Polemicist Who Slashed All, Freely, With Wit” National Public Radio “Writer Christopher Hitchens Dies At 62” The New Yorker “Postscript: Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011” Vanity Fair “In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011“
Tunisian collaborative painting produces emergent masterpieces through cooperative creativity
Posted 09 Dec 2011 / 0WNYC The Fishko Files “Tunisian Collaborative Painting“
Underwhelming expectations of a critical meeting: Durban climate talks unlikely to produce meaningful climate cooperation
Posted 29 Nov 2011 / 0NPR All Things Considered “As Kyoto Protocol Ends, An Uncertain Climate Future” and “Stern Discusses Possible Outcomes Of Climate Talks” New York Times “At Meeting on Climate Change, Urgent Issues but Low Expectations” How depressing that we cannot get an agreement that would preserve civilization as we know it for future generations. What will it Read More