MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'evolutionary biology'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:28:27 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4025659&cid=t_105095_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F02%2Feven-monkeys-know-when-theyre-being-treated-unfairly%2F Discussion about (In)Equality,”“Inequality and the Unequal Situation of Mental and Physical Health, “The Situational Effects of (In)Equality,” “The Situational Consequences of Poverty on Brains,” “The Interior Situation of Intergenerational Poverty,” “Rich Brains, Poor Brains?,” “The Toll of Discrimination on Black Women,” “Miscalculating Welfare - Abstract” “Cheering for the Underdog,” “The Physical Pains of Discrimination,” and “The Cognitive Costs of Interracial Interactions.” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4025659 Sat, 02 Oct 2010 04:01:33 +0100 4025659 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3750043&cid=t_105095_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBajCOojQbZg%2F By Jason KuznickiPolitical scientist Larry Arnhart heads this month’s Cato Unbound. He argues that libertarians need to integrate biological evolution into their thinking about human cultures and even politics. More provocatively, he claims that the “a Darwinian science of human evolution supports classical liberalism.” This is the case, he argues, even though market competition differ[s] radically from biological competition. Biological competition is a zero-sum game where the survival of one organism is at the expense of others competing for the same scarce resources. But market competition is a positive-sum game where all the participants can gain from voluntary exchanges with one another. In a liberal society of free markets based on voluntary exchanges, success dep... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3750043 Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:10:48 +0100 3750043 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3318451&cid=t_105095_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F01%2Fthe-situation-of-political-and-religious-beliefs%2F Science Daily summarized an intriguing (and, no doubt, soon-to-be-very-controversial study) finding that “Intelligent People Have Values Novel in Human Evolutionary History,” (such as liberalism and atheisim).  Here are some excerpts from that summary. * * * More intelligent people are statistically significantly more likely to exhibit social values and religious and political preferences that are novel to the human species in evolutionary history.  Specifically, liberalism and atheism, and for men (but not women), preference for sexual exclusivity correlate with higher intelligence, a new study finds. The study, published in the March 2010 issue of the peer-reviewed scientific journal Social Psychology Quarterly, advances a new theory to explain why people form particular pr... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3318451 Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:59:45 +0100 3318451 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1883377&cid=t_105095_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2FCafePeuTdPs%2F Genes that cause disease have been traced back to the origin of the first cell, scientists from Max Planck found. A novel method of genomic phylostratigraphy has recontructed the evolutionary origin of disease-causing genes in humans, and the results have surprising implications. Tomislav Domazet-Lošo and Diethard Tautz from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön (Germany) applied genomic phylostratigraphy to determine that most disease genes originated with the ‘first cell’, and other large groups of genes emerged around the appearance of multi-cellular organisms. BUT no disease-associated genes emerged after the origin of mammals. What exactly do these results mean? According to the researchers - all living things will be affected by similar g... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1883377 Fri, 17 Oct 2008 05:56:02 +0100 1883377 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1443299&cid=t_105095_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F05%2F14%2Fthe-endowment-effect-in-chimpanzees-abstract%2F Sarah F. Brosnan, Owen D. Jones, Susan P. Lambeth, Mary Catherine Mareno, Amanda S. Richardson, and Steven Schapiro, posted their article, “Endowment Effects in Chimpanzees” 17 Current Biology, 1704-1707 (October 9, 2007) on SSRN. Here’s the abstract. * * * Human behavior is not always consistent with standard rational choice predictions. The much-investigated variety of apparent deviations from rational choice predictions provides a promising arena for the merger of economics and biology. Although little is known about the extent to which other species also exhibit these seemingly irrational patterns of human decision-making and choice behavior, similarities across species would suggest a common evolutionary root to the phenomena. The present study investigated whether ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1443299 Thu, 15 May 2008 02:42:29 +0100 1443299 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1400771&cid=t_105095_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F04%2F26%2Fa-new-theory-of-the-endowment-effect-abstract%2F Owen Jones and Sarah Brosnan have posted their article, “Law, Biology, and Property: A New Theory of the Endowment Effect” 48 William & Mary Law Review (2008) on SSRN. We’ve included the abstract below. * * * Recent work at the intersection of law and behavioral biology has suggested numerous contexts in which legal thinking could benefit by integrating knowledge from behavioral biology. In one of those contexts, behavioral biology may help to provide theoretical foundation for, and potentially increased predictive power concerning, various psychological traits relevant to law. This Article describes an experiment that explores that context. The paradoxical psychological bias known as the endowment effect puzzles economists, skews market behavior, impedes effi... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1400771 Sat, 26 Apr 2008 04:01:55 +0100 1400771 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1234661&cid=t_105095_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F235691266%2Fboys-suck-science-proves-it.html Evolutionary biologist Virpi Lummaa has discovered that Finnish women in previous generations suffered a variety of adverse effects when they bore and raised sons. Among the impacts: a reduced... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1234661 Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:10:10 +0100 1234661 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=676116&cid=t_105095_122_f&fid=35077&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurophilosophy.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F06%2F09%2Fsea-sponges-have-the-makings-of-a-nervous-system%2F Sea sponges are sedentary organisms that attach themselves to the sea bed and filter nutrients from the water that they force through their porous bodies with flagella. They are the most primitive of all multicellular animals, with just four different types of cells making up partially differentiated tissues in a simply organized body. Because [...] (Source: Neurophilosophy) Neurophilosophy blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=676116 Sat, 09 Jun 2007 13:59:04 +0100 676116 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=612378&cid=t_105095_122_f&fid=35077&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurophilosophy.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F05%2F16%2Fdarwins-letters-go-online%2F The Darwin Correspondence Project is a database of 5,000 letters written by and to the great naturalist Charles Darwin. The database, which was compiled by researchers at the University of Cambridge, has just gone online. It includes all the letters written by Darwin during his voyage on the H. M. S. Beagle, as well as [...] (Source: Neurophilosophy) Neurophilosophy blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=612378 Wed, 16 May 2007 14:39:37 +0100 612378 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=557436&cid=t_105095_122_f&fid=35077&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurophilosophy.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F04%2F20%2Fwe-may-have-inherited-our-brain-from-an-ancient-worm%2F Despite their differences, vertebrates, worms and insects are all believed to be descended from a common ancestor - a worm-like organism, named Urbilateria, which lived some 600 million years ago. Urbilateria displayed bilateral symmetry - its body was symmetrical along its longitudinal axis - and this body plan was inherited by the diverse array of [...] (Source: Neurophilosophy) Neurophilosophy blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=557436 Fri, 20 Apr 2007 22:31:44 +0100 557436 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=486911&cid=t_105095_122_f&fid=35077&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurophilosophy.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F03%2F09%2Frobo-salamander-provides-clues-about-evolution-of-vertebrate-locomotion%2F The phrase “running around like a headless chicken” is based on the observation that a chicken can flap its wings or run around frantically for several seconds after being decapitated. These movements are executed by the brain, and controlled by neural circuitry in the spinal cord, where networks of neurons, called central pattern generators (CPGs), [...] (Source: Neurophilosophy) Neurophilosophy blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=486911 Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:21:53 +0100 486911