Volume I - Issue 17 - 9th June, 2001
News in Brain and Behavioural Sciences
http://human-nature.com/nibbs/issue17.html

A few of the items in the latest issue

NEWS AND VIEWS

Economic Darwinism - John Klima's ecosystem2000 uses animated birds and trees
on a giant screen to represent the turbulence of global markets.

Polygamy - Tom Green is a polygamist—one of thousands of so-called Mormon
fundamentalists who insist on living in accordance with the church's original
practice. And that is what led to his recent conviction on four counts of
bigamy, which could send him to prison for 25 years.

Deception - We can tell you if you're guilty or innocent. You can't fool the
lie detector that knows what you are thinking. John McCrone investigates.

'Swarm intelligence' - Vince Darley and David Gregg scheduled software "ants"
to lay pheromone trails (just like real ants) and find the best locations for
and movements between the storage tanks, mixers and packing lines in a large
Unilever factory.

Sexual behaviour - Cuddles, affection and hugs are more important than sex, say
many women in long term relationships. A survey suggests the "Sex and the City"
image of promiscuous women jumping from bed to bed does not reflect real life,
with the average woman having eight partners before settling down at the age of
27.

PAPERS AND COMMENTARY

'Mind and body' - For years, mind-body research has been conducted at the
perimeters of the scientific mainstream, but that marginalization appears to
have ended, as the National Institutes of Health funnels money and personnel
into interdisciplinary investigations of the relationship between mental states
and physical health.

Personality - Differences between people in many attitudes are also partly
attributable to genetic factors. These include attitudes as diverse as whether
one likes roller coaster rides to controversial social issues such as attitudes
toward abortion and the death penalty for murder.

Archaeology - Technology for making body ornaments such as beads and pendants
emerged simultaneously in Europe, Asia and Africa more than 40,000 years
ago—perhaps as a new form of communication among the expanding populations in
these regions.

Neuroscience - Scientists have come up with proof that too much thinking can be
exhausting. The impact of straining the grey matter is likely to be more
pronounced in older people.

REVIEWS AND DISCUSSION

Disease - cognitive science - Julia Lowe reviews How Scientists Explain Disease
by Paul Thagard.

Bioethics - Terri Peterson reviews Bioethics in America: Origins and Cultural
Politics by M. L. Tina Stevens.

GM food - 'If the nineteen recent books and fifteen-pound stack of articles
that confront me as I write are any measure, then nothing is more productive of
food for thought than thoughts about the production of food', says Richard
Lewontin.

Links and many other items, including an Internet research guide at
http://human-nature.com/nibbs/issue17.html

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