The bird that came back from the dead

New research has shown that the last surviving flightless species of bird, a type of rail, in the Indian Ocean had previously gone extinct but rose from the dead thanks to a rare process called ‘iterative evolution’.

University of Portsmouth. (2019, May 9). The bird that came back from the dead.

A Sense of Place shortlink: https://bit.ly/2VhuG0q

Full Text:
https://uopnews.port.ac.uk/2019/05/09/the-bird-that-came-back-from-the-dead

Can Humans Sense Magnetic Fields?

A study of people’s brainwaves hints at their unconscious ability to perceive the Earth’s magnetic field.

Wilke, C. (2019, March 19). Can humans sense magnetic fields?. Full text: https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/can-humans-sense-the-magnetic-field–65611

A Sense of Place: https://lbwedes.wordpress.com/2019/05/10/can-humans-sense-magnetic-fields

The Speculative Neuroscience of the Future Human Brain

We now live in the age where our drive to hybridize has pushed us to the brink of a neuroscientific revolution, where for the first time we are in a position to willfully alter the brain and hence, our behavior and evolution.. The notion of self is becoming increasingly extended. All of this to say: are we in control of our brains, or are they in control of us?

Dielenberg, R.A. The Speculative Neuroscience of the Future Human Brain. Humanities 2013, 2(2), 209-252; doi:10.3390/h2020209

Full Text: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/2/2/209/htm

A Sense of Place webpage:  https://lbwedes.wordpress.com/2016/12/24/the-speculative-neuroscience-of-the-future-human-brain

Dimetrodon is Not A Dinosaur

If it looks like a dinosaur and walks like a dinosaur, do not assume it is a dinosaur. The Dimetrodon is closer to humans than dinosaurs based on evolutionary physical evidence.

A Sense of Place link: https://wordpress.com/post/lbwedes.wordpress.com/1217

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tdVPiyVDsQ

Graslie, E Dimetrodon is Not A Dinosaur (2014) You Tube

 

Perceived Diversity and Acceptance of Minority Ethnic Groups in Two Urban Contexts

“This paper investigates the relationship between perceived ethnic diversity at the neighbourhood level and acceptance of minority ethnic groups.” How does the qualitative perception of a diverse neighborhood  differ in tolerance from the objective actual diversity of an area; and how do these predictors measure future social behavior between these groups?

A Sense of Place page: https://lbwedes.wordpress.com/2016/05/07/perceived-diversity-and-acceptance-of-minority-ethnic-groups-in-two-urban-contexts

Full Text: http://esr.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/04/29/esr.jcw011

Aneta Piekut, Gill Valentine. Perceived Diversity and Acceptance of Minority Ethnic Groups in Two Urban Contexts. European Sociological Review, 2016; jcw011 DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcw011

 

 

Open Culture

Discover thousands of free online courses, audio books, movies, textbooks, eBooks, language lessons, and more.

A Sense of Place link: https://lbwedes.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/open-culture

Web Page: http://www.openculture.com

 

Neuroscience and Free Will Are Rethinking Their Divorce

These studies all point in the same, troubling direction: We don’t really have free will. In fact, until recently, many neuroscientists would have said any decision you made was not truly free but actually determined by neural processes outside of your conscious control.

A Sense of Place URL https://lbwedes.wordpress.com/2016/02/05/neuroscience-and-free-will-are-rethinking-their-divorce

Full text: http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/02/a-neuroscience-finding-on-free-will.html

Jarrett, C. (2016, February 3). Neuroscience, free will are rethinking divorce. Retrieved from http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/02/a-neuroscience-finding-on-free-will.html

 

Evolutionary Medicine and Future of Humanity: Will Evolution Have the Final Word?

Abstract: Evolutionary medicine in its classical form assumes that since cultural evolution is faster than biological evolution, ailments of modern people are a result of mismatch between adaptations to the past environments and current situations. A core principle is that we, humans, having evolved for millions of years in a specific natural environment (environment of evolutionary adaptation EEA) are biologically adapted to this past environment and the ancient lifestyle. This adaptation to the past produces major mismatch of our bodies with the present, highly anthropic and thus “artificial” living conditions. This article provides two areas of possible future evolution, diet and physical activity levels which have been dramatically altered in industrialised societies. Consequently, micro-evolution is an on-going process.

Full text: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/2/2/278

Evolution took many paths to building ‘pygmy’ bodies

These peoples are, or were until recently, hunter-gatherers and so have also been the subject of intense research about all sorts of questions surrounding human evolution, including today by evolutionary psychologists. We would be wise to be sceptical about this though: living hunter-gatherers don’t represent a snapshot of a lost world, or stage of humanity’s evolution, as such studies often imply.

A Sense of Place link http://wp.me/pISTJ-iq

Go to Full Text

 

The ‘We’ that Bear the Burden of the European Dilemma: Can ‘We’ Together?

Austerity measures are motivated by need to stop the decline in the European economy, and are preceded by peculiar political statements. For instance, Sweden’s Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, suggested that we will have to work longer to maintain the welfare state…,  Pedro Passos Coelho, Prime Minister of Portugal, when announcing austerity measures,said “People of Portugal, I know you are asking whether all the sacrifices will be worthwhile. I can assure you, they are”..

Someone will have to bear the burden of austerity measures. The first step in our investigation is to arrive at an interpretation of who that is – who the ‘we’ are…and whether the referent can act as a ‘we’.

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A Sense of Place Short Link http://wp.me/pISTJ-i9

Full Text: https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/41995/14_09_lopresti.pdf

Presti, P. L. (2013). We’ that Bear the Burden of the European Dilemma Can ‘We’ Together? Collegium, 14, 182-209.