It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, March 03, 2023
When election winners are announced, their Twitter supporters respond quicker, are more engaged and use less toxic language than supporters of the losing candidate, according to analysis in the US, UK, Brazil and Argentina
IMAGE: TOXICITY DURING THE 2019 UK GENERAL ELECTION.view more
CREDIT: CALVO ET AL., 2023, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0/)
When election winners are announced, their Twitter supporters respond quicker, are more engaged and use less toxic language than supporters of the losing candidate, according to analysis in the US, UK, Brazil and Argentina
IMAGE: THE PETSAS WELL, WITH BONES HIGHLIGHTED.view more
CREDIT: MEIER ET AL., 2023, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0 (HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0/)
A large Bronze Age debris deposit in Mycenae, Greece provides important data for understanding the history of animal resources at the site, according to a study published March 1, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Jacqueline Meier of the University of North Florida and colleagues.
Animals were an important source of subsistence and symbolism at the Late Bronze Age site of Mycenae in Greece, as evidenced by their depictions in art and architecture, but more research is needed on the animals that actually lived there. In this study, researchers performed a detailed analysis of a large deposit of animal remains inside a well within Petsas House, a household in Mycenae that also included a ceramics workshop.
Excavations into the well recovered ceramics, metal, stone, and other materials alongside abundant animal remains, the most common of which were remains from pigs, sheep and goats, cattle, and dogs. Based on the study of the condition of these animal remains, including evidence that many of these animals were used as food, in association with the other finds, especially pottery, the researchers reconstruct that this well was used to collect debris post destruction.
The contents of the well vary across the vertical layers within it, indicating variation in the source formation processes and in the availability of animal resources, both locally sourced and externally provided. These changes might also reflect hardships in the wake of a natural disaster, as the debris within the well appears to have come from cleanup efforts after a destructive earthquake.
The dog remains were more intact than those of the farm animals, and were deposited in the well at a different time. The authors believe this to be tentative evidence that dogs may have been treated differently in death than other animals.
This study demonstrates how detailed analysis of animal remains in well-preserved assemblages can provide insights into social dynamics of ancient settlements. Further investigation into this site will potentially elucidate patterns of food provisioning, trading, and responses to natural disasters at this important archaeological locality.
The authors add: “This study presents new insights about ancient animals recovered from the renowned archaeological site of Mycenae in Greece—a major political center in the Late Bronze Age, famous for references in Homer’s Iliad. Research at Petsas House, a domestic building in Mycenae's settlement used in large part as a ceramics workshop, revealed how the remains of meaty meals and pet dogs were cleaned and disposed of in a house well following a major destructive earthquake. Study of the archaeologically recovered bones, teeth, and shells from the well yielded a more nuanced picture of the diverse and resilient dietary strategies of residents than previously available at Mycenae.”
Citation: Meier JS, Price GC, Shelton K (2023) “Well” off in animals: A taphonomic history of faunal resources and refuse from a well feature at Petsas House, Mycenae (Greece). PLoS ONE 18(3): e0280517. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280517
Author Countries: USA
Funding: NEH (Summer Stipend Grant FT-278594-21), the University of North Florida (COAS Research Enhancement Grant), the American School of Classical Studies (Wiener Lab Travel Grant), and the University of Connecticut (Anthropology Department Research Fellowships).
Mythic, worshipped in ancient Greece, dates vary, beginning circa 1600 B.C.E.
Hecate originated in Thrace, an area that today covers parts of Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, as a goddess of wilderness and childbirth, but as a Greek deity she evolved into a goddess of crossroads and the underworld. She is generally depicted with three heads—a dog, a horse, and a snake—as well as two accompanying ghost dogs which do her bidding. Since she was originally an ancient mother goddess and not of the Greek pantheon, she lacks the typical relations of the Greek gods and goddesses, although by some accounts she is the daughter of Zeus, Perses and Asteria, or Demeter and Pheraia.
What distinguishes fans from celebrity stalkers?
New analysis highlights several factors linked to increased likelihood of being a celebrity stalker
IMAGE: THE AUTHORS HIGHLIGHT CERTAIN FACTORS THAT WERE ASSOCIATED WITH A GREATER LIKELIHOOD OF AN INDIVIDUAL TO ENGAGE IN CELEBRITY STALKING, SUCH AS HAVING FREQUENT PERSONAL THOUGHTS ABOUT A FAVORITE CELEBRITY, FEELING DRIVEN TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM, AND PERSISTENTLY PURSUING THEM.view more
A survey study of U.S. college students provides new insights into factors associated with the tendency to engage in celebrity stalking behaviors. Maria Wong (Idaho State University, U.S.), Lynn McCutcheon (North American Journal of Psychology, U.S.), Joshua Rodefer (Mercer University, U.S.) and Kenneth Carter (Emory University, U.S.) present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on March 1, 2023.
Celebrities around the world deal with the threat of unwanted and threatening or intimidating attention or harassment—commonly known as stalking. A growing body of research is exploring and identifying factors that are associated with the tendency to engage in stalking or to condone celebrity stalking behaviors by others.
To help improve understanding of celebrity stalking, Wong, McCutcheon, Rodefer and Carter presented a series of questionnaires to 596 American college students. A few of the questionnaires had been developed in prior studies to measure people’s attitudes and behaviors—including stalking behaviors—towards celebrities. Other questionnaires measured factors hypothesized to be associated with celebrity stalking, such as anger, thrill seeking, and relationship attachment styles.
Statistical analysis of the students’ answers revealed certain factors that were associated with a greater likelihood of an individual to engage in celebrity stalking. These included having frequent personal thoughts about a favorite celebrity, feeling driven to learn more about them, persistently pursuing them, threatening to harm them and being prone to boredom. Anger, thrill seeking, and relationship attachment styles were not associated with a greater likelihood to engage in celebrity stalking.
The analysis also showed that people were less likely to engage in celebrity stalking if their admiration for a favorite celebrity was almost entirely based on the celebrity’s ability to entertain.
These findings are in line with results from earlier studies on celebrity stalking and provide new insights into what might distinguish a fan from a celebrity stalker.
The authors add: “Individuals who think about their favorite celebrity frequently, feel compelled to learn more about them, pursue them consistently, threaten to harm them and are prone to boredom are more likely to stalk their celebrity.”
Citation: Wong MM, McCutcheon LE, Rodefer JS, Carter K (2023) Predicting the stalking of celebrities from measures of persistent pursuit and threat directed toward celebrities, sensation seeking and celebrity worship. PLoS ONE 18(3): e0281551. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281551
Author Countries: USA
Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.
Predicting the stalking of celebrities from measures of persistent pursuit and threat directed toward celebrities, sensation seeking and celebrity worship
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
1-Mar-2023
Waxing and waning of environment influences hominin dispersals across ancient Iran
IMAGE: UPLAND TERRAIN IN THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS DURING SPRING DEMONSTRATING THE ‘GREENING’ OF LANDSCAPES.view more
CREDIT: GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY
A world-first model of paleoclimate and hydrology in Iran has highlighted favourable routes for Neanderthals and modern human expansions eastwards into Asia.
Published in PLOS ONE, the findings reveal for the first time that multiple humid periods in ancient Iran led to the expansions of human populations, opening dispersal route across the region, and the possible interactions of species such as Neanderthals and our own Homo sapiens.
Professor Michael Petraglia, a key researcher in the study, said historic humid periods resulted in massive changes to ecosystems and led the team to identify large lakes in areas that were formerly deserts.
“Conversely, during glacial periods this increased aridity would have led to the expansion of deserts, led to contractions, and the isolation of hominin populations,” said Professor Petraglia, who is the Director of Griffith’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution.
“This cycle of wetting and drying is shown for the first time in Iran.”
The research team, led by PhD candidate Mohammad Javad Shoaee from the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology in Germany, found that during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, a warm, humid period beginning roughly 130,000 years ago, lakes and rivers enabled two pathways for human groups.
One was a northern route through the Alborz and Kopet Dagh Mountains and north of the Dasht-I Kavir desert. The other route, first identified here, ran south along the Zagros Mountains before extending eastwards towards Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The researchers also found evidence for a potential northern route during MIS 3, beginning about 57,000 years ago, which, given artifacts attributed to multiple tool making groups, could have permitted interactions between modern humans and Neanderthals.
“These findings highlight the importance of Iran for our species’ dispersals out of Africa and ultimately around the globe,” said Professor Petraglia.
“As in other regions long considered too arid for early human occupations, such as the Arabian Peninsula, recent palaeoclimatic research is changing how we understand the human story and the role that changing climates have played.”
“We recognised a new southern route along the Zagros Mountains and extending eastwards towards Pakistan and Afghanistan. We found evidence for a potential northern route during MIS 3, which would have permitted hominin movements and species interactions in Southwest Asia,” Shoaee said.
To find out how human groups made their way into Iran, the team developed the first spatially comprehensive, high resolution palaeohydrological model for Iran.
They then compared their model, which showed when and where water was available, to the distribution of previously documented archaeological sites.
The result was a clear relationship between the availability of water and the evidence of human presence.
Not only does the current study help to explain the presence of previously documented sites, it also serves as a guide for future archaeological surveys in the region.
“Our paleohydrological analyses identified 145,354km of rivers and 115 paleolakes calculated from 6380 paleolake deposits. Only a handful of these paleolakes have so far been studied,” Shoaee said.
By focusing on regions where water once made human occupations possible, Professor Petraglia said “researchers could maximize the potential of finding archaeological sites".
Stone tools recovered during a recent survey of the Central Zagros Mountains,
indicating that this zone would have been a favorable habitat for human
IMAGE: INSERTION OF THE BIRTH-ALERT-TAG (BAT) VIA A SPECIALIZED APPLICATOR INTO THE CLOACAL OPENING OF A PREGNANT TIGER SHARKview more
CREDIT: CREDIT: TANYA HOUPPERMANS / BLUE ELEMENTS IMAGING
Most people find sharks threatening. Who doesn’t have an image in their mind of a menacing shark fin racing through the ocean in search of its next meal?
But it is the shark that is threatened.
According to Defenders of Wildlife, a national nonprofit dedicated to protecting imperiled species, 75% of shark species are threatened with extinction and up to 73 million sharks are being killed each year for their fins.
Habitats that were once secure places for sharks to give birth have also been affected. And the fact that sharks have long gestation periods, giving birth to relatively few young, and maturing late in life — complicates efforts at repopulation.
And that’s a problem.
In a new paper published today (March 1) in Science Advances, authors James Sulikowski, a professor at Arizona State University and Neil Hammerschlag, a marine ecologist at the University of Miami, describe a new technology they developed capable of remotely documenting the location and time of birth of shark pups. This type of data will enable scientists to create ways to protect the sharks’ most vulnerable habitats, where they give birth.
The device is making waves in the scientific community — and for good reason.
“We've been trying to do this since we started studying sharks. This is our holy grail. We have really advanced shark science, 20, 30, 40 years,” said Sulikowski. “This novel, satellite-based technology will be especially valuable for the protection of threatened and endangered shark species, where protection of pupping and nursery grounds is a conservation priority.”
The paper outlines the deployment and results of an intrauterine satellite tag on two highly mobile sharks — a scalloped hammerhead and a tiger shark –,to detect when birth occurs, leading to its name, birth-alert-tags (BAT).
Here’s how BAT works.
First the BAT is inserted into a pregnant shark. The egg-shaped technology is approximately 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. When the shark gives birth, the BAT pops out along with the pups and reaches the ocean surface. Once there, the device switches to transmitter mode sending messages announcing the time and location of the birth.
The BAT has already yielded remarkable results. Where it was once assumed that sand sharks gave birth inland, the scientists have learned that they are most comfortable having their pups in abandoned shipwrecks on the ocean floor.
“It was a total surprise,” Sulikowski said. “For most shark species we have no idea where they give birth or how far they must travel to habitats that are essential to their survival.”
Once habitats are discovered, efforts will be made to protect those areas, either by creating sanctuaries or expanding areas already set aside for this purpose.
The ultimate goal is to go global with the BAT.
Sulikowski wants to create a worldwide network of shark scientists to determine areas that are important to sharks and figure out how to protect them.
Persistence pays off
Sulikowski is enjoying his current success. “We've had every sort of failure that can happen,” he said. “We had battery failures. We had firmware failures, we had antenna failures. I felt like giving up multiple times. But thanks to my co-author, Neil Hammerschlag, we kept forging ahead and we didn't give up.”
“Honestly, it feels incredible to have created technology that is going to revolutionize the way that we study sharks,” Sulikowski added.
Image of the Birth-Alert-Tag (BAT)
CREDIT
Credit: James Sulikowski
In a new study, researchers used new technologies to remotely document, for the first time in the wild, the location and timing of shark birth. Ultrasounds were used to identify pregnant sharks. During pregnancy in sharks, the entrance to the uterus remains semi-permeable to allow for water exchange between the uterus and outside. So, with the aid of a specialized applicator and guided by the ultrasound, the team inserted a new type of satellite tag through the shark’s cloaca (akin to a vaginal opening) and into its uterus, where the tag was then deposit among developing embryonic sharks. Named the Birth-Alert-Tag (BAT), this new satellite tag remained inside the uterus, along with the developing shark pups, until the mother shark gave birth and expelled the newborn pups, along with the BAT, into the surrounding water. The BAT then floated to the surface and transmitted to satellites the location of where the shark birth took place. The first of its kind, the BATs were successfully deployed in a tiger shark and scalloped hammerhead shark, documenting the location birth.
CREDIT
Infographic by Bianca Rangel. Shark by Kelly Quinn / Canvas of the Wild.
A novel intrauterine satellite transmitter to identify parturition in large sharks
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
1-Mar-2023
‘Chunky dunk?’ Cleveland’s prehistoric sea monster may have been shorter, stouter, than once believed
Case Western Reserve University scientist PhD student applies new calculations to reveal downsizing and chunky details about species from Devonian Period
IMAGE: GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT SHOWING THE RELATIVE SIZE OF DUNKLEOSTEUS COMPARED TO A HUMAN FIGURE--BEFORE AND AFTER THE NEW CALCULATIONS.view more
CREDIT: RUSSELL ENGELMAN/CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
CLEVELAND—About 360 million years ago, in the shallow subtropical waters above what is now the city of Cleveland, an armor-plated fish many believed to be up to 30 feet long ruled the seas.
The species Dunkleosteus terrelli was Earth’s first vertebrate “superpredator” and lived during the Age of Fishes (Devonian Period)—when North America was near the latitude of what is now Rio de Janeiro.
But in nearly 150 years of research since fossilized remains of the prehistoric big fish were discovered on the shores of Lake Erie in 1867, scientists may have made some incorrect assumptions about Dunkleosteus’ size and shark-like shape.
In research published this month, a Case Western Reserve University scientist suggests the length of this prehistoric predator may have been greatly exaggerated—that it was much shorter and chunkier.
Cleveland mascot and Ohio’s top fossil fish
“Dunkleosteus is already a strange fish, but it turns out the old size estimates resulted in us overlooking a lot of features that made this fish even stranger, like a very tuna-like torso,” said Russell Engelman, a Case Western Reserve PhD student in biology and lead author on a study published in the journal Diversity in February. “Some colleagues have been calling it ‘Chunky Dunk’ or ‘Chunkleosteus’ after seeing my research.”
Engelman said he recognizes downsizing the iconic Dunkleosteus may not be welcome news because the big fish “is essentially Cleveland's mascot when it comes to paleontology” (The species even had a Twitter account for a few years). As a native Clevelander, he said he originally had similar feelings.
Even so, little research has been done on the fish since the 1930s, Engelman said.
“Without reliable size estimates, not much could be said about Dunkleosteus scientifically beyond ‘look at the big, scary fish!’” Engelman said. “These length estimates were an example of something that just slipped by everyone's notice because it was assumed this fish has been well-studied.”
Short head, short body
Most estimates of the species’ length weren’t based on hard evidence, Engelman said.
That’s because Dunkleosteus was a type of extinct fish called an arthrodire. Unlike modern fishes, arthrodires like Dunkleosteus had bony, armored heads but internal skeletons made of cartilage. This means only the heads of these animals were preserved as fossils, leaving the size and shape a mystery.
The new study proposes estimating the length based on the 24-inch-long head, minus the snout—considered a way to measure that’s consistent among groups of living fishes and smaller relatives of Dunkleosteus known from complete skeletons.
“The reasoning behind this study can be summed up in one simple observation,” Engelman said. “Short fish generally have short heads and long fish generally have long heads.”
Based on that method, Engelman concluded Dunkleosteus was only 11 to 13 feet long—much shorter than any researcher had proposed before.
‘Wrecking balls’ of the deep
“Dunkleosteus has often been reconstructed assuming it had a body shape like a shark,” Engelman said.
But a shorter body and shape of the body armor also meant Dunkleosteus was likely much chunkier.
“An 11-foot Dunkleosteus is essentially the same weight as a 15-foot great white shark,” Engelman said. “These things were built like wrecking balls. The new proportions for Dunkleosteus may look goofy until you realize it has the same body shape as a tuna…and a mouth twice as large as a great white shark.”
These new size estimates also help put Dunkleosteus in a broader scientific context. Dunkleosteus is part of a larger evolutionary story, in which vertebrates went from small, unassuming bottom-dwellers to massive giants.
“Although the reduced sizes for Dunkleosteus may seem disappointing,” Engelman said, “it was still probably the biggest animal that existed on Earth up to that point in time. And these new estimates make it possible to do so many types of analyses on Dunkleosteus that it was thought would never be possible. This is the bitter pill that has to be swallowed, so that now we can get to the fun stuff.”
Patricia Princehouse, associate director of CWRU's Institute for the Science of Origins said it was exciting to see the new work.
"This fresh take on the legendary Dunkleosteus 'sea monster' shows there's still lots of brand-new breakthroughs waiting to be discovered in the world of paleontology, even with famous species," Princehouse said. The multidisciplinary institute initiates and conducts scientific research in origins-related sciences and has promoted work undertaken by Engelman and other students.
Engelman conducted his research under advisor Darin Croft, professor of anatomy at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, who also advises students in biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Haptic holography promises to bring virtual reality to life, but a new study reveals a surprising physical obstacle that will need to be overcome.
A research team at UC Santa Barbara has discovered a new phenomenon that underlies emerging holographic haptic displays, and could lead to the creation of more compelling virtual reality experiences. The team’s findings are published in the journal Science Advances.
Holographic haptic displays use phased arrays of ultrasound emitters to focus ultrasound in the air, allowing users to touch, feel and manipulate three-dimensional virtual objects in mid-air using their bare hands, without the need for a physical device or interface. While these displays hold great promise for use in various application areas, including augmented reality, virtual reality and telepresence, the tactile sensations they currently provide are diffuse and faint, feeling like a “breeze” or “puff of air.”
“Our new research explains why such holograms feel much more diffuse or indistinct than would be expected,” said Yon Visell, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, whose research focus is on interactive technologies with an emphasis on haptics, robotics and electronics.
The study led by Visell and Gregory Reardon, a doctoral student researcher, used high resolution optical imaging, simulations and perception experiments to study ultrasound-excited waves that are excited in the skin during haptic holography. They discovered that holographic displays excite widespread vibration patterns — shear shock waves — in the skin.
In haptic holography, Visell explained, shock waves are created when ultrasound waves are focused and scanned in mid-air, causing vibrations in the skin. These vibrations can interfere with each other in a way that amplifies their strength at some locations, a phenomenon known as constructive interference. The formation of shock waves creates a trailing wake pattern that extends beyond the intended focal point, reducing the spatial precision and clarity of the tactile sensations. As an analogy, according to the researchers, if the focused sound beam is a fast-moving boat on the water, the shock wave pattern is a wake trailing the boat. Current holographic haptic displays excite shock wave patterns that are so spread out in the skin that the sensations feel very diffuse.
“Our study reveals how holographic haptic displays, which are a promising new technology for virtual reality and telepresence, require new knowledge in acoustics innovations in design,” Visell said. “By understanding the underlying physics of ultrasound-generated shear shock waves in the skin, we hope to improve the design of haptic holographic displays and make them more realistic and immersive for users. Such haptic displays could enable us to augment our physical surroundings with a limitless variety of virtual objects, interactive animated characters, or graspable tools that can be not only seen, but also touched and felt with the hands.”
The team’s discovery of the previously unknown shock wave phenomena that underlie haptic holography provides an important step forward in creating haptic holographic displays that may enable users to more realistically and immersively interact in the future metaverse.
