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August 31, 2008
Genetic map of Europe; genes vary as a function of distance permlink
Category: Genetics
My post The Genetic Map of Europe drew a lot of interest, but there's even a cooler paper on the same topic out, Genes mirror geography within Europe: ...Despite low average levels of genetic differentiation among Europeans, we find a...
Posted by Razib at 9:29 PM • 5 Comments
August 30, 2008
Barack Obama's answers to the top 14 science questions facing America permlink
Category: Politics
Sciencedebate 2008 got some answers from Barack Obama. Props to Chris and Sheril who put some labor hours into this.......
Posted by Razib at 4:03 PM • 1 Comments
Sarah Palin, 14% chance of Presidency 2009-2013? permlink
Category: Politics
Seems like there's a 14% chance that if the Republicans keep the White House this year that Sarah Palin will be President of the United States in the interval 2009-2013. Of course, you could modulate the probability up or down...
Posted by Razib at 1:48 AM • 11 Comments
August 29, 2008
War and the evolution of belligerence and bravery permlink
Category: Genetics
War and the evolution of belligerence and bravery: Tribal war occurs when a coalition of individuals use force to seize reproduction-enhancing resources, and it may have affected human evolution. Here, we develop a population-genetic model for the coevolution of costly...
Posted by Razib at 7:29 PM • 1 Comments
Women care more about abortion rights permlink
Category: Culture
In my post below I pointed out that there was no sex difference in terms of attitudes toward the legality of abortion on demand. But the question remains: is there a difference of intensity? Yes. Women care more. Specifically, pro-choice...
Posted by Razib at 3:28 PM • 0 Comments
Who supports abortion on demand? permlink
Category: Culture
Those with more education, wealth and intelligence. Those with less pigment in the skin and more liberal politics. There is no sex difference. Charts below....
Posted by Razib at 2:09 PM • 4 Comments
Atheist vs. Attend Religious Services Once a Week permlink
Category: Culture
A comment: In Canada, places in the far west like Alberta and British Columbia contain a higher percentage of atheists and other non-religious, but also a higher percentage of evangelical Christians. This is true in the USA to some extent...but...
Posted by Razib at 12:55 PM • 7 Comments
McCain is a maverick permlink
Category: Culture
At least when it comes to choosing his VP candidate. Joe Biden as a "safe" choice; Sarah Palin is not....
Posted by Razib at 12:03 PM • 24 Comments
Where are the seculars? permlink
Category: Culture
Over at Island of Doubt James Hrynyshyn says: As far as I can tell, North Carolina's no different from the rest of America when it comes to religion. About a tenth of the population is free of religious conviction.... Well,...
Posted by Razib at 3:28 AM • 3 Comments
August 28, 2008
Amazon was not always "pristine" permlink
Category: Science
'Pristine' Amazonian Region Hosted Large, Urban Civilization: The paper also argues that the size and scale of the settlements in the southern Amazon in North Central Brazil means that what many scientists have considered virgin tropical forests are in fact...
Posted by Razib at 6:11 PM • 10 Comments
War, rape and group selection permlink
Category: Genetics
Fortune favours the brave; but the brave are motivated by favours of another kind: If courage makes it significantly more likely that small bands of tribes-men will win military confrontations with their neighbours, its overall advantages can easily outweigh its...
Posted by Razib at 2:41 PM • 3 Comments
August 27, 2008
Genetics ∩ Sociology ∩ Evolution = Genomic Imprinting permlink
Category: Genetics
As I have said before biology is quite often the science of exceptions, of variation. Evolutionary biologists spend a great deal of time wondering about the origin of sex, but across vast swaths of the tree of life sex is...
Posted by Razib at 7:43 PM • 3 Comments
Earthquakes → progress? permlink
Category: History
Tectonic environments of ancient civilizations in the eastern hemisphere: The map distribution of ancient civilizations shows a remarkable correspondence with tectonic boundaries related to the southern margin of the Eurasian plate. Quantification of this observation shows that the association is...
Posted by Razib at 3:22 PM • 2 Comments
August 26, 2008
Refuting evolutionary materialism permlink
Category: Evolution
Update: Please read Sandman's response after you look over this post.... New Evidence Debunks 'Stupid' Neanderthal Myth: Blades were first produced by Homo sapiens during their colonization of Europe from Africa approximately 40,000 years ago. This has traditionally been thought...
Posted by Razib at 3:22 AM • 14 Comments
August 25, 2008
How I view religion permlink
Category: Religion
A lot of comments have revolved around whether I am a Post-Modernist when it comes to the definition of religion. This post is to make explicit and clarify my own position so I don't have to waste so much time...
Posted by Razib at 2:08 PM • 24 Comments
Democrat and Republican, by the numbers permlink
Category: Politics
Pew has a nice survey up right now, A Closer Look at the Parties in 2008. Here are three questions, and the Republican - Democrat difference on the responses: Do you think the US made the right or wrong decision...
Posted by Razib at 2:25 AM • 3 Comments
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