Study sheds new light on the origin of civilization
Apr 2022, phys.org
"Only where the climate and geography favored cereals, was hierarchy likely to develop. Our data shows that the greater the productivity advantage of cereals over tubers, the greater the likelihood of hierarchy emerging."
Jared Diamond anyone? Eurasia had wheat, instead of corn, rice, or tubers. Wheat has the highest protein to gram ratio, so you get the best return-on-investment for your work.
via University of Warwick: Joram Mayshar et al, The Origin of the State: Land Productivity or Appropriability?, Journal of Political Economy (2021). DOI: 10.1086/718372
Image credit: C Elegans, MDI Biological Laboratory, 2020
Famine and disease drove the evolution of lactose tolerance in Europe
Jul 2022, phys.org
"Our study demonstrates how, in later prehistory, as populations and settlement sizes grew, human health would have been increasingly impacted by poor sanitation and increasing diarrheal diseases, especially those of animal origin. Under these conditions consuming milk would have resulted in increasing death rates, with individuals lacking lactase persistence being especially vulnerable. This situation would have been further exacerbated under famine conditions, when disease and malnutrition rates are increased. This would lead to individuals who did not carry a copy of the lactase persistence gene variant being more likely to die before or during their reproductive years, which would push the population prevalence of lactase persistence up.
via University of Bristol: Richard Evershed, Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05010-7
Social cohesion found to be key risk factor in early COVID infections
May 2022, phys.org
Social cohesion, normally associated with positive outcomes in physical and mental health, can be a liability during a pandemic.That's because social connections—which generally ensure access to support, information and resources—can also provide pathways to infection, especially for vulnerable individuals.
via University of California Irvine and University of Washington: Loring J. Thomas et al, Geographical patterns of social cohesion drive disparities in early COVID infection hazard, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2121675119
Cooperation among strangers has increased since the 1950s
Jul 2022, phys.org
- 511 ab experiments measuring cooperation among strangers in the United States between 1956 and 2017 with 63,000 participants.
- Found a small, gradual increase in cooperation across the 61-year period.
- Increase in cooperation was associated with increases in urbanization, societal wealth, income inequality and the number of people living alone.
- The study cannot prove those factors caused an increase in cooperation, only that there is a correlation.
via American Psychological Association: Did Cooperation Among Strangers Decline in the United States? A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis of Social Dilemmas (1956-2017), Psychological Bulletin (2022).
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