This is a great article in National Geographic called Animal Minds.
Certain skills are considered key signs of higher mental abilities: good memory, a grasp of grammar and symbols, self-awareness, understanding others’ motives, imitating others, and being creative. Bit by bit, in ingenious experiments, researchers have documented these talents in other species, gradually chipping away at [...]
Posted by Deb in Academia, Animals, Cosmetically Enhanced Vertebrates, Evolution, Language on March 14th, 2008 | 3 Comments »
You read that right. Steven Pinker thinks so and I’m inclined to agree with much of his reasoning. “We’re Getting Nicer Every Day” is an html version of a pdf, so a bit messy, but you can always download it if you prefer…
Posted by Deana in Academia, Crime, Culture, History, Oddly Enough, Politics, Religion, Science on September 8th, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Those of you with an interest in things Chinese and para-Chinese (I’m looking at you. Ahem.) might be interested in reading the blog that anthropologist David K. Jordan has been maintaining while spending a semester teaching in Asia. It’s chock full of linguistic and religious observations, all with that pleasant snarkiness that DKJ has mastered.
Posted by Deana in Academia, Blog, Culture, Fun, Humor, Language, Religion, Travel on April 26th, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Well here’s something interesting, and in Newsweek, no less. Getting along, social bonding and using their wits are what helped our ancient ancestors to survive:
The realization that early humans were the hunted and not hunters has upended traditional ideas about what it takes for a species to thrive. For decades the reigning view had [...]
Posted by Deb in Academia, Cosmetically Enhanced Vertebrates, Education, Evolution, Science on March 12th, 2007 | No Comments »
…well, to their OpenCourseWare site, at least. According to a recent article in Information World Review:
The entire catalogue of information from 1,800 courses at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will be available free online by the end of the year. Once uploaded, it will represent one of the internet’s most important resources.
Seriously, though, [...]
Posted by Chris in Academia, Education, Technology on March 5th, 2007 | No Comments »
Ghent, Belgium, is apparently considering naming a street after one of the Filipino Igarot tribe members abandoned by my great-grandfather there, circa 1913. Here’s a recent news story from the Philippines about my mother’s father’s father, Richard Schneidewind, and Timicheg, one of the tribespeople he displayed. Oh, great-grandfather Richard. Sigh.
Posted by Deana in Academia, Anthropology, Business, Crime, Culture, History, Oddly Enough, You have got to be kidding on December 12th, 2006 | No Comments »
I am also a big winner, and I finished my story. I shall not hide it because I like attention. It can use a ton of editing, though, and input from people who know more about space science than I do. Anyway,
I hope that works!!
Posted by Deana in Academia, Animals, Culture, Language, Science on November 28th, 2006 | 1 Comment »
This is the coolest 90 seconds I’ve spent on world history.
Posted by Deb in Academia, Alien Invasions, Culture, Education, History, Politics, Travel, World on October 19th, 2006 | 1 Comment »
It’s all about us us us! I know, annoying. But I thought I’d share our official wedding website as well as this happy news (second article listed in Vol. 13, number 3).
Posted by Deana in Academia, Fun, Holiday! Celebrate!, Space, Travel on July 27th, 2006 | 1 Comment »
This article from the San Jose Mercury News, Seeing the World from Both Sides, is worth a read:
When a Stanford University neurobiologist made a case this week that discrimination, not genetics, keeps women out of science, his comments carried more weight than usual.
Ben A. Barres spent most of his life — and his career as [...]
Posted by Chris in Academia, Culture, Education, Feminism, Science on July 16th, 2006 | 4 Comments »
