Monthly Archives: July 2017

July 26, 2017 Powerful new phylogenetic comparative methods can be applied to D-Place, a massive open-access database of places, language, culture and environment, and other databases in order to reconstruct the history of cultures and test theories about major transitions in human history. The map here shows the global distribution of independent vs. extended family living. Credit: Map taken from d-place.org

Over the past 10,000 years human cultures have expanded from small groups of hunter-gatherers to colossal and complexly organized societies. The secrets to how and why this major cultural transition occurred have largely remained elusive. In an article published on July 24 by Russell Gray and Joseph Watts in PNAS they outline how advances in computational methods and large cross-cultural datasets are beginning to reveal the broad patterns and processes underlying our cultural histories.

Ten thousand years ago most humans lived in small, kin based, relatively egalitarian groups. Today we live in colossal nation states with distantly related members, complex hierarchical organization, and huge social inequality. This change in size and structure of human social organization over this time represents a major transition in human's evolutionary history, one that we still know remarkably little about.

To date, most research on cultural evolution focuses on microevolution; changes that occur within cultural groups over relatively short periods of time. However, as Russell Gray, Director of the Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution at MPI-SHH points out "processes observed at the micro level do not necessarily explain the macroevolutionary patterns and major transitions we observed in deeper human history." In a new article by Russell Gray and Joseph Watts in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) present a "plea" for research on cultural macroevolution. The authors highlight the exciting potential to combined cutting edge statistical methods and comprehensive cross-cultural database to resolve longstanding debates about the major cultural transitions in human prehistory.

Recent years have seen the growth of large cross-cultural databases that document the features and diversity of human cultures. For example, the database called Lexibank contains data on 2,500 of languages, the Database of Religious History documents hundreds of different religious beliefs and practices, and D-Place documents our means of subsistence, kinship systems and a striking array of marital, sexual, and child-rearing norms. These databases are open access and allow anyone to visualize and download data on the diversity of human cultural systems.

Powerful new phylogenetic comparative methods can be applied to these databases in order to reconstruct the history of cultures and test theories about major transitions in human history. Gray, Watts and colleagues have begun to use these methods to reconstruct the ancestral history of Indo-European languages as well as test the role of Big Gods and human sacrifice in the evolution of large, complex societies. According to Watts "we're entering a new age of research in the humanities, one in which theories about the major transitions in human history are built and tested using powerful computational methods."

Explore further: Massive open-access database on human cultures created

More information: Russell D. Gray el al., "Cultural macroevolution matters," PNAS (2017). http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1620746114

Over the past 10,000 years human cultures have expanded from small groups of hunter-gatherers to colossal and complexly organized societies. The secrets to how and why this major cultural transition occurred have largely ...

Analysis of strontium isotopes in teeth from Neolithic cattle suggest that early Europeans used different specialized herding strategies, according to a study published July 26, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by ...

Using new methods to analyze stone projectile points crafted by North America's earliest human inhabitants, Smithsonian scientists have found that these tools show evidence of a shift toward more experimentation in their ...

The flexibility and ability to adapt to changing climates by employing various cultural innovations allowed communities of early humans to survive through a prolonged period of pronounced aridification.

A Bronze Age wooden container found in an ice patch at 2,650m in the Swiss Alps could help archaeologists shed new light on the spread and exploitation of cereal grains following a chance discovery.

Citizens depend on police to provide public safety while maintaining the trust of the community. How can democratic societies balance these two, often conflicting, aimsgiven citizens' often divergent views over basic tenets ...

Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more

Read more here:

Identifying major transitions in human cultural evolution - Phys.org - Phys.Org

Image: Jack Wallen

For the longest time, the Evolution groupware suite was given a bad rap; being dismissed because of the inclusion of the mono software, bugs, or a lack of stability. However, that ire mellowed considerably over the years and Evolution continued to, well, evolve.

It had been a while since I gave Evolution a go. Since my migration to Elementary OS, I'd been toying with various and sundry clients (Elementary Mail, Geary, Nylas, and Thunderbird to be specific), never to be completely satisfied. In fact, over the last few years, I've felt the email client was one of the weakest links in Linux.

Until I came back to Evolution.

I'm going to be completely honest here. One of the reasons why I left Evolution behind (years ago) in the first place, was because it too closely resembled Outlook. For the longest time, Linux was the anti-hero in the operating system worldfundamentally it functioned, but did so with enough variance to make it different. So when Evolution came out, looking (for all intents and purposes) like MS Outlook, I had a hard time accepting the very idea of using software on my Linux desktop that could have been mistaken for something created by "the competition."

Time passed. What was once important didn't exactly hold nearly the weight it originally did. Out of nowhere, what took over was a need to get things done with a modicum of efficiency. Instead of concerning myself about similarity with a Microsoft product, I simply needed an email client that would function in such a way that would help me through a busy day.

And so, I revisited Evolution and found it had evolved into just that.

SEE: 20 quick tips to make Linux networking easier

Business. Period. That's why. I shouldn't have to explain further, but I will.

If there's one area where the Linux desktop needs to continue to focus, it is within the realm of business. LibreOffice does an outstanding job of filling the office suite void, but the business desktop is incomplete without a solid email/calendaring/contacts/todo solution. Thunderbird has tried to fill that slot, but having to add various and sundry plugins, so that it can serve as a somewhat passable solution isn't enough. KMail is okay, but really needs to serve its purpose on KDE. Beyond that, where do you turn? Geary is dead, Elementary Mail is email-only, Nylas' calendar plugin isn't enough, and Claws Mail is far too complicated for the average user.

That's where Evolution really shines. For any Linux user looking for a business-capable email client (one that can easily connect to both your Google Mail account and Office 365), you will not find a more apt client than Evolution. And that, my friends, is one of the main reasons why Evolution should be considered as the distribution-wide default. If you're looking for an all-in-one groupware tool, one that doesn't require you install various plugins to get the functionality you require, your best bet is Evolution. End of story.

One thing Linux users have been guilty of is holding tight to a particular mindset (such as my refusing to use Evolution because it was too much like Outlook, or that the inclusion of Mono made it enemy of the open source state). Truth is, Evolution no longer depends upon Mono and the Outlook-like layout isn't really all that bad. The mindset of the Linux user has been a tough nut to crack. For instance, the idea that one can go their entire Linux lifetime and never open a terminal window is a reality...but it's one many of the Linux faithful refuse to accept. However, in order to win over the average user, that particular mindset must be set aside.

The same thing holds true with the email client. Take a look across the vast distribution landscape and count the number of "default" clients. This could easily become a point of contention for new users. Certainly you can install just about any supporting email client on nearly any distributionbut new users shouldn't have to do that. And that many Linux distributions default to an email client that is not ready for business prime time, is an issue that should be addressed. Consider this, for the longest time a Windows desktop could be deployed in either a home or business environment and (with little modification) it would function just fine. The same thing holds true for MacOS. Linux, on the other hand, needs some additional pieces such that it can pull off that same functionality within that same environment.

The good news on this front is that with Ubuntu returning to the GNOME desktop, it could possibly circumvent this issue by including Evolution as its default email client. However, that is no guarantee. Recently Canonical released a survey to find out what default applications should be used for Ubuntu 18.04. Reading through various threads on this subject, I was surprised to see how few people mentioned Evolution. Thunderbird received most of the attention, followed by the likes of Claws Mail.

Claws Mail?

Seriously?

Okay, I get it, Claws Mail is a very, very powerful email client. Years ago, it was my go-to for a long time. However (and this is a huge however), it's complicated enough that the average user would be absolutely lost in its setup. On top of that, it would look completely out of place (theme-wise) on the modern GNOME desktop.

This is what I'm talking about. Embracing what is actually best for the whole of Linux, instead of what is best for the individual user. If you consider what would be the most logical email client for the masses, there really is no reason to go beyond Evolution. And that every hardcore user can easily install their email of choice (in their sleep, nonetheless), means whatever is used as the default should make little matter. To the average user, on the other hand, it does make for a considerable matter. No new user wants to have to take the time to configure the likes of Claws Mail. No new user wants to have to walk through the process of adding a number of plugins to gain the standard functionality they are used to having.

Users just want things to work. Evolution works and it works quite well now. It's stable, reliable, and familiar. It is that last bit which should weigh heavily on the decision to select Evolution as the default client. Add to that the fact that it plays well with business environments and the decision should be a no brainer.

What do you think? What should be the default email client for Linux, and why?

More:

Why Evolution should be the default Linux email client - TechRepublic

Are you a dog person, or a cat person? The question is often treated as dichotomous: if you appreciate the solidity of a steadfast pooch, you cant also relish the coquettish companionship of a kitty. Recent studies suggest humankind could have been divided by their pet-preferences since the stone age. In evolutionary terms, however, the question is far from black and white. Cats and dogs belong together, related to one another by a common ancestor. They share this ancestry with a whole suite of other animals, large and small. One may as well ask: are you a badger person, or a hyaena-person? Do you prefer meerkats, or weasels?

Our beloved pets belong to the order Carnivora. This group includes bears, hyaenas, mongooses, civets, skunks, badgers and more, as well as marine members, the seals, walruses, and sea-lions. The name of the group is a little misleading: not all meat-chomping mammals are part of Carnivora, and not all members of Carnivora feast on flesh.

Carnivorans (animals belonging to the order Carnivora) share various features, but the key one is in their teeth. They all have blade-like carnassial teeth their fourth upper premolar and first lower molar which bite together to shear through food. This design is especially good for snipping flesh, and many carnivorans live a predatory lifestyle. Others are more omnivorous, such as the bears, which tackle huge ranges of food, but also bintourongs and red pandas, which thrive on a mostly plant-based diet. The so-called giant panda* has pushed the boat right out: becoming a fully-fledged, bamboo-specialist vegetarian (although it has been known to nom the occasional fish, egg or insect).

So what ancestral family photograph do all of these seemingly disparate animals have mounted on the wall at home? The ancestors of Carnivora are from a group of animals called miacids, once found across Eurasia and North America. They were small, long-bodied creatures, a little like a pine marten, and at home in the trees. The exact relationships among these miacids remains unclear, but we know they appeared only a few million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs, and persisted for over 25 million years. From among their slinky ranks, the earliest identifiable carnivorans emerged.

Carnivora havent always been the top-dogs when it comes to killing. Back in those heady days of mammal divergence after the asteroid had wiped the largest reptiles from the face of the earth, two other dominant mammal groups emerged with specialised shearing teeth to prey on animals.

The creodontans included the largest land mammal predators of all time. Their carnassial teeth comprised only molars (not premolars and molars, like the carnivorans). This suggests that they converged on the specialisation to hunt and eat flesh separately from Carnivora, and they did it across Eurasia, Africa and North America. The last known creodontan, Dissopsalis, only died out 8 million years ago, by which point carnivorans had taken over the predatory world.

Creodontans were not the only ones prowling the Palaeogene. An even stranger group of meat-eaters, hailing from Asia, spread across the northern hemisphere: the mesonychids. They didnt have carnassial teeth at all, but had their own unique shearing and crushing molars to process meat. While the earliest species walked on flat feet, some of the later ones walked on their toes like cats and dogs - except that they had hooves on each toe. Sharing many tooth and skull characteristics with whales and dolphins, scientists thought mesonychids may be these marine-mammals ancestors. More recent analysis suggests they are sister groups, sharing a common ancestor along with hippos.

Mesonychids and creodontans were the top-predators in their time, but both were replaced by Carnivora, one of the most successful animal groups on earth. Its unclear exactly why the carnivorans did so well at their cousins expense, but it has been suggested that a suite of unique adaptations including larger brains, more efficient locomotion, and more versatile teeth - gave them the ecological advantage, allowing them to replace their competitors.

There is a grain of truth in the cat versus dog question. Although they share a common ancestor, the Carnivora are split into two quite well-defined groups that are broadly dog-like, the caniformia, and broadly cat-like, the feliformia. This division has deep roots, around 43 million years.

The feliforms tend to be more specialised meat-eaters, have shorter faces and retractable claws. Many of them are ambush, pounce-predators, rather than runners (the cheetah is a notable exception). They include the carnivorans of Madagascar - such as the fossa - meerkats, mongooses, civets and genets (although some research suggests these may have split off from other carnivorans before the main feliformia/caniformia break up), as well as the larger true cats, and the hyaenas. Even a non-specialist can identify most of these animals as sharing a kitty-like demeanour. Now you know, its more than skin deep.

As you would expect, the caniformia includes the dogs, wolves and jackals, all of which split from their dog-like relatives early on. The rest of caniformia have a strikingly diverse profile: the bears are in there, another early split from the rest of the group. The marine carnivorans have really gone to town when it comes to physical specialisation, with their short flippered-limbs and rolls of fat. But the old slang name for seals, sea-dogs, suggests that even before the science of anatomy confirmed it, humankind could see a family resemblance. Perhaps less obvious, the skunks, weasels, badgers, otters, racoons and coatis are also part of this pooch-tastic branch of Carnivora.

So what of the loyal hound and humble puss? Recent research has been exploring the origins of our domesticated friends from their wild forebears. Dogs have received a lot of attention, tracing their origins to an ancestor shared with modern grey wolves. The first domestication (or domestications, it may have happened twice) of wolves occurred somewhere in Eurasia possibly even Europe - although there is still some disagreement. It took place perhaps by human design, or maybe by accident. The timing has also proven controversial, with a recent study in Nature Communications suggesting it may have occurred as long as 41,000 years ago.

It has even been suggested in another paper out this month, that first domesticated wolves suffered from a canine version of the developmental disorder Williams syndrome. This is caused by variations in the chromosome which, in humans, results in extremely friendly, trusting characteristics (hypersociability) and what are described as pixie-like facial features. The theory is that wolves with such a disorder may have readily interacted with humans due to their natural inclination to be mans best friend. More research is needed to explore this possibility, but one this is certain: weve been breeding dogs for friendliness ever since.

Kitties havent been studied as extensively, but its long been obvious their domestication took place later, and was less intense. Recently, an international team led by researchers at KU-Leuven University in Belgium, carried out DNA analyses on cats from across Europe, Asia and Africa, including modern cat samples, and ancient DNA from archaeological specimens. Their evidence suggests there have been crazy cat ladies since the Neolithic, with waves of cat appreciation starting in the near East and spreading across the old world during the Egyptian dynasties, via trade routes. Only after the Middle Ages did we begin breeding for more frivolous traits like coat colours, but weve long appreciated the usefulness of a dedicated mouser.

So, shall we pit the whole of dog-like Carnivora against the cat-like ones? Perhaps your preference for pooches extends to their cousins, and you find yourself naturally drawn to skunks over mongooses? Ill leave it to you to ponder your loyalties and pose your own who-would-win-in-a fight-between questions. But if you are a pet fence-sitter like me, youll know that there is much to appreciate in both branches of Carnivora. The huge diversity of cat and dog relatives pay testament to the successful evolutionary design shared by these two most popular pets.

* So-called, because the giant panda and red panda are not directly related. They belong to different branches of Carnivora; the giant panda is actually a bear (Ursidae), whereas the red panda is the only member of its own special branch, called Ailuridae. The red panda was first revealed to the western world in the 1820s, and almost 50 years later the giant panda was given its western-name and mistakenly thought to be related to it. So I ask you: are you a red-panda-person, or a giant-panda-person?

References

Flynn JJ, Finarelli JA, Zehr S, Hsu J, Nedbal MA. 2005. Molecular Phylogeny of the Carnivora (Mammalia): Assessing the Impact of Increased Sampling on Resolving Enigmatic Relationships. Journal of Systematic Biology 54:317-337.

Ottoni C, Neer WV, De Cupere B, Daligault J, Guimaraes S, Peters J, Spassov N, Prendergast ME, Boivin N, Morales-Muiz A, Blescu A, Becker C, Benecke N, Boroneant A, Buitenhuis H, Chahoud J, Crowther A, Llorente L, Manaseryan N, Monchot H, Onar V, Osypiska M, Putelat O, Quintana Morales EM, Studer J, Wierer U, Decorte R, Grange T, Geigl E-M. 2017. The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1:0139.

vonHoldt BM, Shuldiner E, Janowitz Koch I, Kartzinel RY, Hogan A, Brubaker L, Wanser S, Stahler D, Wynne CDL, Ostrander EA, Sinsheimer JS, Udell MAR. 2017. Structural variants in genes associated with human Williams-Beuren syndrome underlie stereotypical hypersociability in domestic dog. Science Advances 3:E1700398.

Read the original:

Cats vs dogs: in terms of evolution, are we barking up the wrong tree? - The Guardian

Either side of the recent passing of the 20th anniversary of Mike Tyson chomping on Evander Holyfields ear, a couple of clips of the former world champion went viral.

In their own way, each captured how far he has travelled from the Lecteresque caricature of the mid-90s. In the first video, Tyson is asked about Floyd Mayweather Jnr claiming to be greater than Muhammad Ali.

Hes very delusional, he replies in a calm, measured tone. If he was anywhere near the realm of the great Ali, hed be able to take his kids to school by himself. He cant take his kids to school by himself and hes talking about being great? Greatness is not guarding yourself from the people. Greatness is being accepted by the people.

An eloquent answer, equal parts pithy put-down and the voice of a man speaking from bitter experience about the expensive folly of entourages.

The second quote is of a very different timbre. An outtake from a recent interview with ESPNs Jeremy Schaap, Tyson recounts how, as a young boy in Brownsville, Brooklyn, he was dragged into a building by a stranger and molested. When Schaap presses for more details on its impact on him, a solitary bead of sweat forms on Tysons furrowed brow, his eyes give off a vulnerable, vacant stare and he tries to downplay its significance.

I think I outgrew that during my fighting years, he says.

Both moments offer further evidence that the evolution of Tyson continues to be one of the most compelling stories in American sport. A quarter of a century has passed since he was sentenced to six years in jail for the rape of Desiree Washington, an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant.

The character who subsequently emerged from prison into the arms of Don King, a move with a definite frying pan to fire vibe, cut a tormented figure as he struggled to replicate the fistic achievements of the first half of his career and to cope with normal life.

Yet, somehow, Tyson turned 51 last month, an age many might have predicted back in his hedonistic pomp (his drugs of choice included a cocktail of pot, morphine, cocaine, and Viagra) that hed never see. Battling alcoholism and bipolar disorder, lately he appears to have done more than survive the hard living years though. He has actually thrived.

Having squandered a $300 million fortune through his own profligacy and the venality of greedy handlers, he has morphed from one more clich of the down at heel ex-boxer with a criminal record into a peculiarly 21st century brand. He has a podcast, a one-man Broadway show that travels the world, a new book about his mentor Cus DAmato, and a growing resume of acting turns.

On this journey from one-time baddest man on the planet to baddest dad on the planet (as Sports Illustrated dubbed him), he has cultivated a whole new public persona. On primetime television, hes a goofy judge on a talent show called Superhuman, hamming it up for the cameras at every opportunity.

Late at night, he plays an even more comical version of himself in the adult cartoon series Mike Tyson Mysteries. As part of a crime-solving team that includes a perverted pigeon, an adopted Korean daughter, and the ghost of the Marquess of Queensbury, he tries to catch crooks in a funny if rather surreal riff on Scooby Doo. Hardly the kind of milieu where anybody expects a convicted rapist with a history of violent outbursts to end up.

Then again, nobody could have imagined Tyson turning into a middle-aged tennis parent either. His eight-year-old daughter Milan is regarded as something of a prodigy and trains at Mike Agassis academy in Las Vegas.

During one interview last summer, Tyson confessed he hadnt seen any Olympic boxing because he was busy watching Monica Puig taking gold on the court. When the stadium cam flashed him and his family up on the big screen at the BNP Paribas Tournament in Indian Wells, California in 2016, he and Milan put on quite a show. The grin that once portended inevitable doom for opponents in a boxing ring now belongs to a middle-aged man giddily dad-dancing in the bleachers.

While these days he lives in a Vegas suburb with his third wife Kiki (mother to Milan and her brother Rocco), he has seven children from previous relationships who remain in New York, Washington DC and Phoenix. In 2009, another daughter, Exodus, then four, died following an accident with a treadmill in Arizona.

Im anticipating that Im going to go to the hospital and raise hell, said Tyson of that day. Once I got there and saw other people who had children who already died or were dying, they were handling it with dignity and I didnt want to be the psycho parent.

The redemption song isnt without other discordant notes. No matter how much he earns from his various multi-media enterprises (a chain of worldwide fitness centres is another venture), Tyson claims he will always be broke because he owes so much in back taxes to the IRS from the bad old good old days.

That time of legend when he could afford to spend $1,500 a day on food for his trio of Bengal tigers. That time when he didnt know the joy of bringing his kids to school by himself.

View original post here:

Tyson's evolution one of American sport's most compelling tales - Irish Times

Collective Evolution

Trump Ends A Covert CIA Program Funding Rebels In Syria Collective Evolution The CIA has been creating, arming, and funding terrorists for a very long time. They were responsible for al Qaeda, and now they're in part responsible for ISIS. This isn't new information, though many people are completely unaware of these operations ... and more »

Here is the original post:

Trump Ends A Covert CIA Program Funding Rebels In Syria - Collective Evolution