The 26th annual SLSA meeting, titled “Nonhuman”, will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from Sept 27-30, 2012. From its inception, SLSA has distinguished itself from other humanistic scholarly societies through its sustained interest in the nonhuman. Not only does SLSA concern itself with nonhuman actants like tools, bodies, networks, animals, climate, media, or biomes but it is also engaged with such nonhumanistic…
Researchers working on the ENCODE project show that “what has been called junk DNA is actually teeming with an intricate web of molecular switches that play crucial roles in regulating genes”. NPR covers the story.
Scientists, lawyers and politicians have raised new concerns over the quality of forensic evidence testing – so is the criminal justice system too reliant on lab tests without realising their limitations? BBC covers the story.
ISG Director Dr. Eric Vilain writes an article for the NYTimes addressing gender testing for athletes. He writes, “When men are more talented than others, it is an expression of the beauty of sports. But when women outcompete others, suspicions about eligibility and arguments for a level playing field often arise. Sports officials are faced with an impossible quandary: a…
ISG Faculty Joan Silk recently published “Stability Of Partner Choice Among Female Baboons” in the journal of Animal Behavior, June 2012. Abstract: In a wide range of taxa, including baboons, close social bonds seem to help animals cope with stress and enhance long-term reproductive success and longevity. Current evidence suggests that female baboons may benefit from establishing and maintaining highly…
ISG Faculty Janet Sinsheimer recently published “Rooting Gene Trees without Outgroups: EP Rooting” in the journal of Genome Biology and Evolution, May 2012. Abstract: Gene sequences are routinely used to determine the topologies of unrooted phylogenetic trees, but many of the most important questions in evolution require knowing both the topologies and the roots of trees. However, general algorithms for calculating rooted trees from…