Category Archives: science

biology, evolution, Ronin Institute, science

On ronin and the future

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So, for the past six years, I have been on the resident faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. As I am writing this, I am sitting at a laundromat in Santa Fe, preparing for a cross-country road trip to Montclair, New Jersey, where I am going to be founding my own research institute.

What does that mean? Well, technically speaking, I will be forming a non-profit dedicated to research. At least to start with, the non-profit will consist of me, so, practically speaking, it’s like I’m becoming a freelance scholar.

My new outfit will be called the Ronin Institute. Ronin refers to a masterless samurai. It may be familiar to you from this:

or maybe from this:

Since this is a career path that is a bit different from the one that most academics follow, I thought it might be interesting to write about it here. I’ll share some of the details of what is involved in establishing a non-profit, and the process of becoming an independent scholar. This is a new venture for me, one that is going to involve some trial and error. As I go along, I’ll let you know what’s working and what isn’t. Most of you are probably not going to start your own institutes (although I hope a few of you will), but many of you may be interested in thinking about alternatives to the archetypal academic career trajectory. I’m hoping that my experience will be helpful in thinking about your own plans.

Or maybe it will at least be comforting and entertaining to you in a schadenfreude kind of way.

biology, Darwin Eats Cake, evolution, evolutionary psychology, science, sex

On the nocturnal penile tumescence

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So, here’s the latest Darwin Eats Cake. Once again, Guillaume is gracing us with his adaptationist explanations. This time, he is answering a question from Bastian Greshake (@gedankenstuecke), champion of evolution, creative commons, and all sorts of other good stuff.

If you’re not familiar with Creative Commons, it is an alternative to traditional copyrights. It’s a great option if you’re committed to an open culture, where creations can be shared, but want to protect yourself against having your creations exploited.

For instance, all of the Darwin Eats Cake strips are published under a creative commons license explicitly stating that you are free to share them. You can e-mail them, copy them into your own blog, print them out, pretty much anything you want, just so long as you provide attribution. The only thing you can’t do is sell them.

Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=47
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Behavior, biology, Darwin Eats Cake, evolution, evolutionary psychology, genetics, science, sex

Why do we make odd faces when we orgasm? A romance in three parts

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So, Guillaume’s Mailbag has continued on its mission to provide an adaptive explanation for every existing trait. The most recent trait Guillaume has been tackling was submitted by John Wilkins, who asked, “Why do we make odd faces when we orgasm?”

In case you missed when I’ve plugged him before, JoHn Wilkins (no recent relation) is a philosopher of science in Australia. His most recent book is Species: A History of the Idea, and he runs an excellent blog called Evolving Thoughts. He recently concluded an excellent series of posts on “Atheism, agnosticism and theism” in which he discusses, among other things, what it means to have a belief. You can find the start of that series here.

But back to the face of orgasm. Guillaume took three full strips to answer this one, so I’ve waited until he was done to post them here. I think I’ve finally figured out how to make these full-page versions more readable on the blog, but it involved lowering the resolution of the JPEG, so, for higher-res versions of these three comics, head on over to Darwin Eats Cake. The first of the series of three can be found here.

Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=44
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Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=45
Permanent image URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/45.jpg
Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=46
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For those who are interested, a couple of vole and oxytocin citations are provided below to get you started. The vole literature is actually quite extensive and all interesting. I’ve included a relatively recent paper, which will contain citations to a lot of the other work. No peer-reviewed publications are yet available on the eating and mating habits of Ursus philorgasmii.

Ross HE, Cole CD, Smith Y, Neumann ID, Landgraf R, Murphy AZ, & Young LJ (2009). Characterization of the oxytocin system regulating affiliative behavior in female prairie voles. Neuroscience, 162 (4), 892-903 PMID: 19482070

Carmichael MS, Warburton VL, Dixen J, & Davidson JM (1994). Relationships among cardiovascular, muscular, and oxytocin responses during human sexual activity. Archives of sexual behavior, 23 (1), 59-79 PMID: 8135652

Although at least one study suggests that, in men, prolactin is actually more strongly correlated with orgasm than oxytocin is:

Krüger TH, Haake P, Chereath D, Knapp W, Janssen OE, Exton MS, Schedlowski M, & Hartmann U (2003). Specificity of the neuroendocrine response to orgasm during sexual arousal in men. The Journal of endocrinology, 177 (1), 57-64 PMID: 12697037

biology, culture, Darwin Eats Cake, evolution, evolutionary psychology, music, science, video

Guillaume explains the origins of armpit hair, with bonus items

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So, Guillaume has answered his second letter for Guillaume’s Mailbag. As usual, this will be much more readable at the Darwin Eats Cake site:

Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=43
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Hat-tips go to Alejandro Weinstein for his question, and to Lizzie Foley, for consulting with Guillaume on the answer.

Guillaume also wanted to point out that if armpit hair were not adaptive, then why would Kevin Grennan have included it in this artificial armpit?

The robotic armpit releases “Japanese standard artificial sweat,” which is apparently a thing. Image via CNET.

We leave you now with this music video, which, if Pop Up Video is to be believed, was referred to by its director as a “celebration of the armpit.” Enjoy.

biology, culture, evolution, Flying Spaghetti Monster, religion, science

An advance for Pastafarian rights

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So, Pastafarianism, the faith of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, is unquestionably the awesomest line of defense against intelligent design and the slippery slope to theocracy.

Created by Oregon State Physics grad student Brian Henderson in 2005 to protest Kansas’s decision to teach intelligent design in schools, the Flying Spaghetti Monster has spread around the world. If you’re not familiar, the basic idea is this: if you’re going to teach intelligent design in schools based on the Christian Bible, you have to give equal time to other religions, including one that believes that in a supernatural creator that looks like this:

Well, according to the BBC, atheist Niko Alm told Austrian authorities that he is a devout Pastafarian, and that his religion requires him to wear a spaghetti strainer on his head, including in his drivers license photo. It took three years, and Alm was required to undergo a medical interview to determine that he was psychologically fit to drive, but his request was finally honored:

FSM FTW!

biology, Darwin Eats Cake, evolution, evolutionary psychology, science

Guillaume’s Mailbag: Why do we close our eyes when we sneeze?

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So, as always, these full-page ones are hard to read on the blog. For a better image, go here.

Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=42
Permanent image URL for hotlinking or embedding: http://www.darwineatscake.com/img/comic/42.jpg

Thanks to Willemien Kets and Elais Kadeem Player, a.k.a. crashgroove for their excellent questions.

biology, Darwin Eats Cake, evolution, evolutionary psychology, science

Guillaume’s Mailbag

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So,

Best URL for sharing: http://www.darwineatscake.com/?id=40
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I’ve set up Guillaume’s e-mail: guillaume@darwineatscake.com now, and Guillaume confirms that he received the test message that my wife sent to him. You can also reach Dev, Eleonora, Brooke, Todd, iBall, Douchebert, Drillbit, and Tacey.

I can’t promise how quickly or appropriately any of them will respond, as some are much more responsible than others.