linkfest – 03/24/13

extra-long [insert dongle joke here] linkfest this week since there wasn’t one last sunday (sorry, dog ate it…). note that there (probably) won’t be one next sunday either, ’cause i’ll be too busy hunting for easter eggs…. (^_^)

Common DNA Markers Can Account for More Than Half of the Genetic Influence on Cognitive Abilities – “In the same sample of 3,154 pairs of 12-year-old twins, we directly compared twin-study heritability estimates for cognitive abilities (language, verbal, nonverbal, and general) with GCTA estimates captured by 1.7 million DNA markers. We found that DNA markers tagged by the array accounted for .66 of the estimated heritability, reaffirming that cognitive abilities are heritable. Larger sample sizes alone will be sufficient to identify many of the genetic variants that influence cognitive abilities.” – via race/history/evolution notes.

Genotypes over-represented among college students are linked to better cognitive abilities and socioemotional adjustment – “The present study investigated … genotype frequencies of 284 SNPs covering major neurotransmitter genes in a sample of 478 Chinese college students, comparing these frequencies with those of a community sample (the 1000 Genomes dataset)…. Results showed that 24 loci showed Hardy–Weinberg disequilibrium among college students, but only two of these were in disequilibrium in the 1000 Genomes sample. These loci were found to be associated with mathematical abilities, executive functions, motivation, and adjustment-related behaviors such as alcohol use and emotion recognition.” – via … somebody … can’t remember who. sorry!

Genes and Smarts – from the derb.

Why Bacteria Commit Suicide – “[I]nfected individuals self-destructed before they could spread the virus to others.”

Evolution via Roadkill – “Cliff swallows that build nests that dangle precariously from highway overpasses have a lower chance of becoming roadkill than in years past thanks to a shorter wingspan that lets them dodge oncoming traffic. That’s the conclusion of a new study based on 3 decades of data collected on one population of the birds. The results suggest that shorter wingspan has been selected for over this time period because of the evolutionary pressure put on the population by cars.”

‘Out of Africa’ Story Being Rewritten Again – “Our early human ancestors may have left Africa more recently than thought, between 62,000 and 95,000 years ago, suggests a new analysis of genetic material from fossil skeletons.” – see also Mitochondrial DNA tree calibrated with ancient DNA @race/history/evolution notes and Revised timescale of human mtDNA evolution from dienekes.

How Social Darwinism Made Modern China – “A thousand years of meritocracy shaped the Middle Kingdom.” – good stuff from ron unz. see also the derb and peter frost and anatoly.

Does the Clark-Unz model apply to Japan and Korea? – from peter frost.

Did evolution give us inflammatory disease? – “[S]ome variants in our genes that could put a person at risk for inflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease or rheumatoid arthritis, have been the target of natural selection over the course of human history.” – original research article.

Genes may be reason some kids are picky about food – “The study looked at 66 pairs of twins between ages 4 and 7 years old, and found that genes explain 72 percent of the variation among children in the tendency to avoid new foods, while the rest was influenced by environment.”

A Tale of Three Maps – from jayman.

Dan Freedman’s babies and National Character – from greg cochran @west hunter (buy the e-book!).

HVGIQ: The Bahamas – from jason malloy.

The Personality of Tribalism – from staffan.

Remembering Stephen Jay Gould: Bully and Boob – from steve sailer.

Depicting reality or escaping from it? – the awesome epigone asks a good question/makes a good point about something in steven pinker’s Better Angels.

Assortative mating and shared life history strategy – from mr. mangan.

Uh-Oh… – malcolm pollack on why there’s not so much “diversity” in silicon valley: “It’s because Silicon Valley … *is* a meritocracy — you just can’t fake being good at writing code, solving complex engineering problems, or designing high-tech gadgetry….”

Was inbreeding common among early humans? 100,000-year-old deformed skull adds evidence to theory of ‘very small’ communities – “The discovery adds to growing evidence that early humans inbred often” – prolly because populations were small. see also Abnormalities in Pleistocene Homo from dienekes.

Moral Matter – the neuroscience of morality.

Crime and punishment: From the neuroscience of freewill to legal reform

Men programmed to avoid sex with best friends’ wives: study – “Researchers suggest guys may have a biological predisposition against hitting on their best friends’ partners…. A University of Missouri study has found that adult males’ testosterone levels dropped when they were interacting with the marital partner of a close friend.”

Downton Abbey: Earl of Grantham maximizes inclusive fitness – @occam’s razor.

Experts Say Food May Contribute To Anger, Violent Behavior – “Pace and other nutritionists say if you eat plenty of fish, eggs, beans, fruits and green leafy vegetables, you should have the nutrients you need. However, people who tend to eat a diet loaded with processed or packaged foods could find themselves more easily irritated.”

Women abused as children likelier to bear autistic child

One of Us – animals are people, too.

Text mining uncovers British reserve and US emotion – “An analysis of the digitized texts of English-language books over the past century concludes that, since the 1980s, words that carry emotional content have become significantly more common in US books than in British ones.”

Evolution and Existentialism, an Intellectual Odd Couple – “On the basis of evolutionary existentialism, I would therefore like to suggest the heretical and admittedly paradoxical notion that, in fact, we need to teach more disobedience. Not only disobedience to political and social authority but especially disobedience to some of our troublesome genetic inclinations.” – hmmmm….

Forbidden City – “The left-wing stranglehold on academia.”

bonus: Life found deep under the sea – “Oceanic-crust microbes survive on hydrogen and carbon dioxide.” in other microbial news: Mariana Trench: Deepest ocean ‘teems with microbes’ – “The deepest place in the ocean is teeming with microscopic life, a study suggests.”

bonus bonus: Palestinian Mother Speaks Out About Daughter’s Honor Killing – “[H]onor killing defendants [are] usually given light sentences. Three years in prison was the stiffest in these cases. Life sentences or execution were never a consideration…. Offenders receive reduced sentences pursuant to Article 18 of Penal Code no. 74 of 1936, which is entitled ‘Necessity.’ The article provides for ‘leniency in punishment for crimes that offenders have committed in order to avert consequences, which could cause irreparable damage to their honor, money, or the honor of those such offenders are obliged to protect.’”

bonus bonus bonus: The Hate List – “[T]he [$]PLC’s site explains that it counts counted ’1,007 active hate groups in the United States in 2012,’ including ‘organizations and their chapters.’ But ‘The Year in Hate and Extremism’ did not make the ‘chapter’ distinction explicit. It is rarely drawn out in the organization’s frequent media appearances, nor was it mentioned in a letter from the SPLC to the Justice Department warning of the growing threat.” – see also What’s hate got to do with it? @bad data, bad!

bonus bonus bonus bonus: Amazing photographs reveal the lost world of the Omo tribes of Ethiopia

bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus: A Tiny Village Where Women Chose to Be Single Mothers – “30 years ago in this bucolic village in northern Vietnam, the fierce determination of one group of women to become mothers upended centuries-old gender rules….”

bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus: Cannibals of the Past Had Plenty of Reasons to Eat People

bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus: Phallus-shaped fossils identified as new species [insert dongle joke here]

bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus: Global Internet Porn Habits Infographic – ‘sup finnish people?! and romanians and hungarians (“mom and son”?!)?!

bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus: i love the ukrainian parliament. no, i really do! (~_^)

_{(note: comments do not require an email. double dongle.)}

linkfest – 07/08/12

Genes May Play Role in Educational Achievement, Study Finds – “Researchers have identified genetic markers that may influence whether a person finishes high school and goes on to college, according to a national longitudinal study of thousands of young Americans…. The three genes identified in the study – DAT1, DRD2 and DRD4 – have been linked to behaviors such as attention regulation, motivation, violence, cognitive skills and intelligence, according to the study.”

Racial bias colours visual perception – “Prejudiced people slowest to recognize faces from other races.” – or maybe people who are slowest to recognize faces from other races are the most “prejudiced”?

Cross-national IQ, inequality, and homicide – from the inductivist.

Research shows endowment effect in chimpanzees can be turned on and off – “‘These results strongly support the idea that the endowment effect reflects the deep influence of evolutionary processes – notably natural selection – on psychological predispositions that affect how brains ascribe value to objects.’”

A scientific study reveals that individuals cooperate according to their emotional state and their prior experiences – “[P]eople do not act thinking in their own reward, as had been previously believed, but rather individuals are more influenced by their own mood at the time and by the number of individuals with whom they have cooperated before.”

Baby makers scorn porn? – from the awesome epigone.

Chronic pain is determined by emotions, scientists believe – “The more emotionally the brain reacted to the initial injury, the more likely it was that pain will persist after the injury has healed, he said. Prof Apakarian added: ‘It may be that these sections of the brain are more excited to begin with in certain individuals, or there may be genetic and environmental influences that predispose these brain regions to interact at an excitable level.’”

‘Cat ladies’ more likely to commit suicide, scientists claim – “Researchers found women infected with the Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) parasite, which is spread through contact with cat faeces or eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables, are at increased risk of attempting suicide.”

Autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may share common underlying factors, study suggests – “New research led by a medical geneticist at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine points to an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) among individuals whose parents or siblings have been diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.”

O Brother, Who Art Thou? – review of Born Together – Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota Twin Study.

23andMe Contributes to Genetic Discoveries Related to Breast Size and Breast Cancer – “23andMe … has identified seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with breast size, including three SNPs also correlated with breast cancer in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) now published online in BMC Medical Genetics. These findings make the first concrete genetic link between breast size and breast cancer risks.” – they looked at data from women of european ancestry.

Researchers Find a Brain Center for Social Choices – “Poker-playing subjects seen weighing whether to bluff.”

bonus: the higgs! (maybe/probably)

bonus bonus: The ‘appetite-suppressing’ effect of proteins explained

bonus bonus bonus: Plants that feed on animals underground discovered – “Three species of carnivorous plant that feed on worms underground have been discovered in the Brazilian savannah.”

bonus bonus bonus bonus: Women ‘deliberately post ugly photos of friends online’ – heh.

bonus bonus bonus bonus bonus: Dogs May Mourn as Deeply as Humans Do – dogs are people, too.

_{(note: comments do not require an email. boobies!)}

linkfest – 10/30/11

The Taíno are extinct – dienekes asks, “How timorous has the modern scientific culture become…?” heh.

Orangutans develop different cultures like humans

Conservatives ARE more squeamish than liberals: Study finds right-wingers are more easily disgusted – “[P]eople like to imagine their political views are rational, rather than physical. But they [the researchers] pointed out that it’s far more likely that the disgust response could influence a person’s politics than the other way round.”

Bringing reproductive maturity into line with the age of marriage – @evoandproud.

Childhood poverty leaves its mark on adult genetics – “Genes can be reset during early life in profoundly different ways depending on whether children grow up in privileged or deprived households, a landmark study has shown.”

Porn is Addictive — from dennis mangan.

Few Chinese Americans Hold Non-Mortgage Debt? — from parapundit.

Local Knowledge — from greg cochran.

bonus: Ricardo Duchesne’s Intellectual Defense of the West – from kevin macdonald.

bonus bonus: Study Finds Every Style Of Parenting Produces Disturbed, Miserable Adults

linkfest – 10/09/11

A Moral Gene? — one of ‘em.

Copping a Latitude: Genetics Supports Idea Cultural Interaction Was More East to West Than North to South — not to mention genetic interaction.

Study finds crows can distinguish symbols representing quantities

Racial differences in narcissistic tendencies — higher levels of narcissism in black than in whites.

Cannibalism Confirmed Among Ancient Mexican Group – “Eating humans ‘crucial’ to spiritual life of the Xiximes people.” – ancient? we’re talking about 1425 a.d. here.

Chinese Kids Feel More Obliged Toward Parents? — from parapundit.

5 Things That Internet Porn Reveals About Our Brains – no big surprises here. except maybe for the number of guys searching for granny pr0n!

Climbing up the social ladder — Mouse study may tell how. — that’s some geeky looking chinese people there! not that there’s anything wrong with that. (~_^)

‘Dumb’ Neanderthals Likely Had a Smart Diet

Birth Order and the Big Five – “A new study reports that there is no connection between birth order and Big 5 personality traits.” – @the inductivist.

bonus: Charles Darwin, Economist

bonus bonus: Afghanistan Holds Enormous Bounty of Rare Earths, Minerals – “Geologists actually mapping the country’s mineral bounty suspect its prime cache of coveted rare earth elements is considerably larger than the latest estimate lets on”

bonus bonus bonus: Is the Present Better Than the Past? — from everyone’s favorite über-pessimist, john derbyshire.

_{(note: comments do not require an email. counting crows!)}

african-american porn stars

(<< seo! oh, yeah.)

there's something of a discussion over @dennis' about the popularity (or lack, thereof) of african-american women in porn. (i know, i know. the standards over @dennis' are just dropping daily…. (~_^) ) some are claiming that white females dominate (*ahem*) in porn, while others are saying that anything goes.

well, i decided to check it out for you (so that you wouldn't have to).

here (NSFW. really NSFW!) are the top 100 most popular porn stars for 2010, according to some site called porn-star.com (which i’ve never seen before, i swear!). now, i dunno if porn-star.com is reliable, but they have been around since 1997 … and claim to have 250,000 uniques per day. if that’s true, then … yeah … that prolly means it’s a good sample size (which is prolly also global).

afaics, there’s only one african-american woman on the list — jada fire @ #67:

one out of a hundred. that’s not much.

now the rest aren’t all white — there’s an indian (from india) woman @ #5 and an asian woman @ #25, but that’s about it, i think.

attractiveness in women (at least in porn) = white women.

btw — here’s a list of porn actresses by decade. and here’s a list of african-american porn stars, which only has 23 female actresses listed (if i counted right). these include actresses going back to the ’70s.

p.s. – of course, the top 100 list could be totally bogus, i.e. not really based on (*ahem*) hits. but presumably the site does try to cater to the interests of its viewers, soooo….

previously: the offensive mr. kanazawa

_{(note: comments do not require an email. oh, my eyes, my eyes! i need some bleach….)}

your cheatin’ heart

good stuff here:

“Mind Reading: The Researchers Who Analyzed All the Porn on the Internet”

“Why are cheating wives so popular? You’d expect that would not be something men would like to think about.

“It’s one of the top interests all around the world. Men are wired to be sexually jealous. And, certainly, men can fly into murderous rages, but simultaneously they’re also sexually aroused.

“This is an example of what biologists call a sperm competition cue. Across the animal kingdom, when males see other males mating, it tends to provoke arousal. If he is going to compete with the other male, he has to produce more sperm

“Human men also respond like this, if a man sees a woman — including his partner — with another man, he becomes more aroused….”

_____
_{(note: comments do not require an email. or correct spelling.)}

linkfest – 02/06/11

He’s Just Not That Into Anyone – “How Porn Is Affecting the Libido of the American male” (“sexual attention deficit disorder”)

Whites who don’t feel close to blacks are not more likely to vote Republican from inductivist.

Spring-Loaded Heels Gave Extra Step to Early Humans

Physiological impacts of homophobia – “Individuals who experienced more LGB-related stress – arguments about sexual identity, bullying or discrimination – had higher internalized homophobia and showed increased production of the stress hormone cortisol compared to peers in more positive environments.”

Men are the real romantics – @vox popoli – “Men (31%) are a bit more likely than women (26%) to say that every person has only one true love.” see also Men Are Now From Venus, Women From Mars.

Vegetarian “Men” – from onestdv – “[V]egetarian men are seen as wimps and less macho than those who like tucking into a steak – even by women who do not eat meat themselves, research shows.”

Biology teachers often dismiss evolution – *facepalm*

Wild Chimps Outwit Hunters – “Chimps in Bossou, Guinea, have learned to deactivate traps that can cause injury or even death.” see also No Mental Chumps: Chimps Decipher What Others Are Thinking

Polygamous Mice Are Better Breeders – “After only 12 generations, mice brought up in a polygamous mating group developed stronger and faster sperm and had better mating success than their monogamous counterparts.”

Gene protects U.S. blacks from heart disease: study

linkfest 10/31/10

“Researchers find a ‘liberal gene’” – more from randall “parapundit” parker.

“W.D. Hamilton on Dysgenics, Eugenics, and Educational Romanticism” @vdare.com.

“The Other ‘G’ Spot” – (via diversityischaos) “[D]o people who score high on IQ tests use the frontal and parietal areas of their brains differently from people who score lower? The answer, discovered by other researchers, turns out to be yes.”

“Ich bin Mittel-Ostländer?” @evoandproud.

from inductivist: “Three dopaminergic genes predict grades in school” – “I should note that the multivariate model includes race and gender, and the effect of race on grades remains when genes are entered into the equation. In fact, the impact of race is stronger than the three genes together.”

“Stories vs. Statistics”

“The tea party warns of a New Elite. They’re right.” – Charles Murray on the bobos in paradise.

“How taking the Pill can bring out a woman’s jealous and possessive side”

“Asian Neanderthals, Humans Mated” – in east asia.

“Stone Age DIY: How Neolithic man decorated his house with homemade paint” – “It is the earliest ever example of man using paint to decorate their properties in Britain, if not in Europe.”

“Rising to the occasion” – “Electoral victory brings a surprising consequence: the winners look at smut”