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LINKSThe Evolution of Modern Behaviour
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When, how and why did modern human behaviour develop? It's a crucial set of questions for anthropologists - and a topic of much debate among scientists. Somewhere around fifty thousand years ago, our ancestors left Africa and replaced the neanderthals that had been living in Europe.
Dr. Richard Klein from Stanford University thinks there was a fundamental change in our biology at around this time that led to modern human behaviour. This change in behaviour is what gave modern humans the advantage they needed to take over Europe.
Dr. Pamela Willoughby from the University of Alberta disagrees. She thinks modern behaviour evolved much earlier, at about the same time humans became biologically modern (between 100 and 70 thousand years ago), . She thinks there was a change in the environment that forced modern humans to move out of Africa.
For Dr. Ariane Burke of the University of Manitoba the picture is different from what either of the other two are proposing. She agrees that some modern behaviour started earlier than fiftry thousand years ago, but there was a big change at this point in history. However, she doesn't think it was a change in human biology, instead it was the embracing of some kind of new idea.
 Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel Photo: Mark Chappell, Stanford University |
Dr. Brian Prendergast has made the curious discovery that, during hibernation, golden-mantled ground squirrels apparently disable their immune systems. This, it turns out, might help explain a mystery about hibernation.
Hibernating animals come out of hibernation about every week for about half a day. It may be that these arousal periods exist so that the animals can fight infections they may have encountered while dormant. Dr. Prendergast is with the departments of psychology and neuroscience of Ohio State University in Columbus.
Rock climbing has been a popular sport in Canada for more than fifty years. it's a great way to get outdoors and get closer to nature. But it may be adversely affecting the cliffs where people climb.
Michele McMillan from the University of Guelph studied the rocks of the Niagara escarpement in Ontario. She found the ecology was being dramitically changed in areas where rock climbing was common, introducing new species and killing off the native plants. |
Having trouble with your putting? Maybe Ray Penner from Malaspina University-College in Nanaimo BC can offer you a few tips. He's a physicist who's studied the physics of golf.
His most recent work has been on putting, and he's come up with a set of equations that let him calculate the best way to cut across the green. Of course, you need a very steady arm to make use of the math.
Bob said we'd never been able to find the answer to the question "Why do birds such as pigeons bob their heads back and forth when they walk?"
But Dr. Geoffrey Melville-Jones, a research professor in neurosciences at the University of Calgary, sent us an email telling us he had the answer.
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