# behav: Calanoid copepods swim freely and jump in turbulence

AA << provide evidence for an active adaptation that allows these small organisms [Calanoid copepods] to adjust their motility in response to background flow >>

Francois-Gael Michalec, Itzhak Fouxon, et al. Zooplankton can actively adjust their motility to turbulent flow. PNAS. doi:10.1073/pnas.1708888114

http://m.pnas.org/content/early/2017/12/05/1708888114

<< These jumps enable the plankton to hunt their prey and the males to catch a female >> Markus Holzner.

Plankton swim against the current.
Dec 12, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-plankton-current.html

# soc: storytelling and cooperation

AA << explore the impact of storytelling on hunter-gatherer cooperative behaviour and the individual-level fitness benefits to being a skilled storyteller >>

Daniel Smith, Philip Schlaepfer, et al.   Cooperation and the evolution of hunter-gatherer storytelling. Nature Communications. 2017; 8 (1853). doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02036-8. Dec 5, 2017.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02036-8

Storytellers promoted cooperation among hunter-gatherers before advent of religion. Dec 5, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-storytellers-cooperation-hunter-gatherers-advent-religion.html

# behav: bizarre relationships

<< a group of fish known as pearlfish have evolved to live in the anuses of sea cucumbers >>

<< the group of pistol shrimp who’ve buddied up with the burrowing fish species, gobies. In this duo, gobies guard the entrance to the burrow of pistol shrimp to protect the shrimp. In return, the pistol shrimp digs and maintains a burrow for the pair to share—their own personal love den >>

<< the ultimate case of deception (..)  about the arid bronze azure butterfly >>

Samille Mitchell. Three of nature’s most bizarre relationships. Dec 11, 2017.

https://particle.scitech.org.au/earth/three-natures-bizarre-relationships/

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-nature-bizarre-relationships.html

# acad: gender gaps in grant success; women are valued less favorably as principal investigators.

<< Funding agencies around the world show gender gaps in grant success, with women often receiving less funding than men. However, these studies have been observational and some have not accounted for potential confounding variables, making it difficult to draw robust conclusions about whether gaps were due to bias or to other factors >>

In AA study << gender gaps in grant success rates were significantly larger when there was an explicit review focus on the principal investigator, supporting the hypothesis that gender gaps in grant funding are partly or wholly attributable to women being assessed less favourably as principal investigators >>

Holly O Witteman, Michael Hendricks, et al. Female grant applicants are equally successful when peer reviewers assess the science, but not when they assess the scientist. bioRxiv 232868; doi: 10.1101/232868. Dec 12, 2017.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/12/12/232868

https://twitter.com/biorxivpreprint/status/940718114861436928 

# evol: about 'identity' (2): the complex relationships of whales and dolphins

<< Whales and dolphins (Cetaceans) live in tightly-knit social groups, have complex relationships, talk to each other and even have regional dialects – much like human societies >>

<< (..) they won’t ever mimic our great metropolises and technologies because they didn’t evolve opposable thumbs >> Susanne Shultz

Whales and dolphins have rich 'human-like' cultures and societies.  Oct 16, 2017

http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/whales-and-dolphins-have-rich-human-like-cultures-and-societies/

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171016122201.htm

AA << results suggest that cetacean [whales and dolphins] social cognition might similarly have arisen to provide the capacity to learn and use a diverse set of behavioural strategies in response to the challenges of social living >>

Kieran C.R. Fox, Michael Muthukrishna, Susanne Shultz. The social and cultural roots of whale and dolphin brains. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2017; 1: 1699–705.  doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0336-y. Oct 16, 2017.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0336-y

# evol-ethno: the fuzzy dispersal and interaction dynamics of ancient (early) nomads

AA << evaluate single versus multiple dispersal models and southern versus the northern dispersal routes across the Asian continent. They also review behavioral and environmental variability and how these may have affected modern human dispersals and interactions with indigenous populations >>

Christopher J. Bae, Katerina Douka, Michael D. Petraglia. On the origin of modern humans: Asian perspectives. Science. 2017; 358 (6368): eaai9067
doi: 10.1126/science.aai9067. Dec 8, 2017

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6368/eaai9067

<< Homo sapiens reached distant parts of the Asian continent, as well as Near Oceania, much earlier than previously thought. Additionally, evidence that modern humans interbred with other hominins already present in Asia, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, complicates the evolutionary history of our species >>

Revising the story of the dispersal of modern humans across Eurasia. Technological advances and multidisciplinary research teams are reshaping our understanding of when and how humans left Africa - and who they met along the way. Dec 7, 2017

http://www.shh.mpg.de/742617/human-dispersals-africa

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171207141724.htm

<< Climate is a key factor determining the types of vegetation that can grow in an ecosystem. By recreating the plant foods and habitat available at a given time, it is possible to learn about changes that occurred during important transitions in the evolution of humans >>

Marie DeNoia Aronsohn. The Way We Were: Climate and Human Evolution. Dec 1, 2017.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-12-wereclimate-human-evolution.html 

http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2017/12/01/the-way-we-were-climate-and-human-evolution/

# gst: predicting the exact force needed to crumple a dented can

<< Dent an aluminum can and it will be easier to crush from top to bottom. But predicting the exact force needed to crumple a dented can is notoriously difficult, requiring knowledge of the exact dimensions and position of the flaw >>

Katherine Wright. Synopsis: Crumpling Coke Cans. Nov 28, 2017

https://physics.aps.org/synopsis-for/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.224101

AA << measure the response of cylindrical shells to poking and identify a stability landscape, which fully characterizes the stability of perfect shells and imperfect ones in the case where a single defect dominates >>

Emmanuel Virot, Tobias Kreilos, et al.  Stability Landscape of Shell Buckling. Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 224101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.224101.  Nov 28,  2017

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.224101