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Sample records for argentina darwin initiative

  1. Capacity building for freshwater insect studies in northern Patagonia, Argentina: DARWIN Initiative programme

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stephen J. BROOKS

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Este proyecto fue financiado durante un período de tres años, desde septiembre de 2006 a través de la Iniciativa Darwin del gobierno Británico. El objetivo de este trabajo es el estudio de los insectos acuáticos del Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi (PNNHP, Patagonia, Argentina. El parque incluye una gran variedad de hábitats que comprenden arroyos, ríos y lagos los cuales se distribuyen desde el bosque siempreverde frío, hasta la zona árida de estepa. Todo el material será identificado y depositado en las colecciones del Museo La Plata y el Museo de Historia Natural de Londres. Los fondos de la Iniciativa Darwin han sido utilizados para equipar un laboratorio de biodiversidad en las oficinas del PNNHP en Bariloche y la estación de investigación en Puerto Blest. Toda la información de los insectos acuáticos y las distintas formaciones vegetales donde éstos se han encontrado, se incluirá en una base de datos (la primera de su tipo en Patagonia que utilizará la metodología GIS para analizar patrones de distribución de las especies en el parque. En estos momentos se están produciendo varias guías de campo para identificar los insectos acuáticos del PNNHP. Es nuestro deseo que los resultados obtenidos en este proyecto, contribuyan a la conservación de los sistemas acuáticos en Argentina y América del Sur

  2. Random unitary operations and quantum Darwinism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balaneskovic, Nenad

    2016-01-01

    We study the behavior of Quantum Darwinism (Zurek, Nature Physics 5, 181-188 (2009)) within the iterative, random unitary operations qubit-model of pure decoherence (Novotn'y et al, New Jour. Phys. 13, 053052 (2011)). We conclude that Quantum Darwinism, which describes the quantum mechanical evolution of an open system from the point of view of its environment, is not a generic phenomenon, but depends on the specific form of initial states and on the type of system-environment interactions. Furthermore, we show that within the random unitary model the concept of Quantum Darwinism enables one to explicitly construct and specify artificial initial states of environment that allow to store information about an open system of interest and its pointer-basis with maximal efficiency. Furthermore, we investigate the behavior of Quantum Darwinism after introducing dissipation into the iterative random unitary qubit model with pure decoherence in accord with V. Scarani et al (Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 097905 (2002)) and reconstruct the corresponding dissipative attractor space. We conclude that in Zurek's qubit model Quantum Darwinism depends on the order in which pure decoherence and dissipation act upon an initial state of the entire system. We show explicitly that introducing dissipation into the random unitary evolution model in general suppresses Quantum Darwinism (regardless of the order in which decoherence and dissipation are applied) for all positive non-zero values of the dissipation strength parameter, even for those initial state configurations which, in Zurek's qubit model and in the random unitary model with pure decoherence, would lead to Quantum Darwinism. Finally, we discuss what happens with Quantum Darwinism after introducing into the iterative random unitary qubit model with pure decoherence (asymmetric) dissipation and dephasing, again in accord with V. Scarani et al (Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 097905 (2002)), and reconstruct the corresponding

  3. Darwin's Eclipse Concerned Function versus Mechanism

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    Tryon, Warren W.

    2009-01-01

    Comments on a article by Dewsbury (February-March 2009) in which he stated, "Darwin provided a viable mechanism for evolutionary change, natural selection" (p. 67). Although this view is consistent with the modern synthesis, the author argues that (a) the natural selection "mechanism" provided by Darwin was not initially accepted by scientists…

  4. The Creativity of Natural Selection? Part I: Darwin, Darwinism, and the Mutationists.

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    Beatty, John

    2016-12-01

    This is the first of a two-part essay on the history of debates concerning the creativity of natural selection, from Darwin through the evolutionary synthesis and up to the present. Here I focus on the mid-late nineteenth century to the early twentieth, with special emphasis on early Darwinism and its critics, the self-styled "mutationists." The second part focuses on the evolutionary synthesis and some of its critics, especially the "neutralists" and "neo-mutationists." Like Stephen Gould, I consider the creativity of natural selection to be a key component of what has traditionally counted as "Darwinism." I argue that the creativity of natural selection is best understood in terms of (1) selection initiating evolutionary change, and (2) selection being responsible for the presence of the variation it acts upon, for example by directing the course of variation. I consider the respects in which both of these claims sound non-Darwinian, even though they have long been understood by supporters and critics alike to be virtually constitutive of Darwinism.

  5. Darwin taxonomist: Barnacles and shell burrowing barnacles Darwin taxónomo: cirrípedos y cirrípedos perforadores de conchas

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    JUAN CARLOS CASTILLA

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available This bibliographic review revisits circumstances in which the wharf, shell burrowing barnacle, Cryptophialus minutus, was first collected by Charles Darwin in southern Chile, in 1836. Further, explores how its collection marked Darwin's taxonomical interest in Cirripedia. A short review analyzes the initial number of extant species of Cirripedia, as described by Darwin and the present situation, with emphasis on recent collections of C. minutus in the southern tip of South America.Esta revisión bibliográfica describe las circunstancias en el que el cirrípedo enano, Crypophialus minutus, perforador de conchas, fue recolectado por Charles Darwin en el sur de Chile, en 1836. Además, cómo esta recolección marcó el interés taxonómico de Darwin en Cirripedia. Se presenta una revisión resumida sobre el número inicial de especies vivas de Cirripedia, como fueron descritas por Darwin, y la situación actual, con énfasis en recolecciones recientes de C. minutus en el cono sur de Suramérica.

  6. Darwin's legacy

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    Susskind, Leonard

    2009-07-01

    Charles Darwin was no theoretical physicist, and I am no biologist. Yet, as a theoretical physicist, I have found much to think about in Darwin's legacy - and in that of his fellow naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace. Darwin's style of science is not usually thought of as theoretical and certainly not mathematical: he was a careful observer of nature, kept copious notes, contributed to zoological collections; and eventually from his vast repertoire of observation deduced the idea of natural selection as the origin of species. The value of theorizing is often dismissed in the biological sciences as less important than observation; and Darwin was the master observer.

  7. Understanding phototropism: from Darwin to today.

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    Holland, Jennifer J; Roberts, Diana; Liscum, Emmanuel

    2009-01-01

    Few individuals have had the lasting impact on such a breadth of science as Charles Darwin. While his writings about time aboard the HMS Beagle, his study of the Galapagos islands (geology, fauna, and flora), and his theories on evolution are well known, less appreciated are his studies on plant growth responses to a variety of environmental stimuli. In fact, Darwin, together with the help of his botanist son Francis, left us an entire book, 'The power of movements in plants', describing his many, varied, and insightful observations on this topic. Darwin's findings have provided an impetus for an entire field of study, the study of plant tropic responses, or differential growth (curvature) of plant organs in response to directional stimuli. One tropic response that has received a great deal of attention is the phototropic response, or curvature response to directional light. This review summarizes many of the most significant advancements that have been made in our understanding of this response and place these recent findings in the context of Darwin's initial observations.

  8. Darwins begejstring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Peter C.

    2009-01-01

    Ingen anden videnskabelig teori har som Darwins evolutionsteori skabt så megen debat uden for videnskabelige kredse. I år kan vi fejre både Darwins 200 års fødselsdag og 150-året for hans hovedværk Om Arternes Oprindelse. Artiklen kan læses på: http://www.aktuelnat.au.dk/fileadmin/an/nr-1/an1......darwins-bg.pdf....

  9. Darwinism and environmentalism

    OpenAIRE

    Garvey, Brian

    2011-01-01

    What implications does Darwinism have for our attitude towards the environment? At first sight, it might look as though Darwinism is not friendly towards environmental concerns. Darwinism is often thought to paint a picture of ruthless competition between, as well as within, species. Moreover, Darwinism may be thought to encourage a view of the environment as something to be exploited for self-interested gain. The present paper proposes a more positive view. It will be argued that mutual bene...

  10. Systemic darwinism.

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    Winther, Rasmus Grønfeldt

    2008-08-19

    Darwin's 19th century evolutionary theory of descent with modification through natural selection opened up a multidimensional and integrative conceptual space for biology. We explore three dimensions of this space: explanatory pattern, levels of selection, and degree of difference among units of the same type. Each dimension is defined by a respective pair of poles: law and narrative explanation, organismic and hierarchical selection, and variational and essentialist thinking. As a consequence of conceptual debates in the 20th century biological sciences, the poles of each pair came to be seen as mutually exclusive opposites. A significant amount of 21st century research focuses on systems (e.g., genomic, cellular, organismic, and ecological/global). Systemic Darwinism is emerging in this context. It follows a "compositional paradigm" according to which complex systems and their hierarchical networks of parts are the focus of biological investigation. Through the investigation of systems, Systemic Darwinism promises to reintegrate each dimension of Darwin's original logical space. Moreover, this ideally and potentially unified theory of biological ontology coordinates and integrates a plurality of mathematical biological theories (e.g., self-organization/structure, cladistics/history, and evolutionary genetics/function). Integrative Systemic Darwinism requires communal articulation from a plurality of perspectives. Although it is more general than these, it draws on previous advances in Systems Theory, Systems Biology, and Hierarchy Theory. Systemic Darwinism would greatly further bioengineering research and would provide a significantly deeper and more critical understanding of biological reality.

  11. Darwin endures, despite disparagement.

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    Van Den Berg, Hugo A

    2018-03-01

    Evolution lies at the heart of the life sciences, and Charles Darwin is a towering historical figure within evolutionary science. One testimony to his lasting influence is that declaring Darwin to have been wrong all along remains a provocative way to command attention. The present paper discusses various strands of 'Darwin was wrong' partisans and their divergent views and motives: some are looking to Darwin to justify or condemn the political ideologies that they support or reject; others are concerned with the corrupting influence that the bleak cosmic outlook of evolution is deemed to exert on the moral or religious rectitude of impressionable minds, or regard Darwinism as a direct assault on religion; philosophers question the very coherence of the entire enterprise; and certain biologists aspire to go down in history as even greater than Darwin. It is sobering to reflect that this diverse group is united only by their poor grasp of Darwin's theory of natural selection.

  12. Darwin's Sacred Cause

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Peter C.

    2009-01-01

    As we are being flooded by Darwin lollipops, t-shirts, quills and stamps it is becoming increasingly difficult to be heard or seen in the commercialised celebration in 2009. Some are in the business for the science, but a lot are in it for profit. Accordingly, the Darwin industry has left the hands...... of scholarly specialists and been appropriated by money makers. One could not help thinking about this as, in the autumn of 2008, the publisher began hyping Darwin's Sacred Cause as ‘one of the major contributions to the worldwide Darwin anniversary celebrations in 2009' Udgivelsesdato: February...

  13. Danes commemorating Darwin

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hjermitslev, Hans Henrik

    2010-01-01

    This article analyses the Danish 1909 celebrations of the centenary of Charles Darwin's birth on 12 February 1809. I argue that the 1909 meetings, lectures and publications devoted to Darwin and his theory of evolution by natural selection can be characterised by ambivalence: On the one hand...... activities, focusing primarily on celebratory articles carried in widely circulated magazines and newspapers. I identify three types of interpretations of Darwin's ideas which I characterise as ‘radical', ‘evangelical' and ‘safe' science. These different positions were closely linked to the political...... and cultural divisions of the periodical press. Moreover, my analysis of the popular press offers a solid basis for asserting that to most people Darwinism was associated with human evolution, primarily the relationship between man and apes, while more sophisticated discussions about the crisis of Darwinism...

  14. Darwins øje

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    Hedin, Gry

    2012-01-01

    I artiklen diskuteres beskrivelsen af øjne og perception i J.P. Jacobsens roman Niels Lyhne (1880). Det analyseres det, hvordan Jacobsen håndterer de ændringer på dette felt, som Darwins udviklingshistorie bidrog til, og som udforskedes i detaljer af den tyske fysiolog Hermann von Helmholtz. Der...... forholdet mellem J.P. Jacobsens litterære værker og hans engagement som oversætter og formidler af Darwin fra en ny vinkel. I stedet for at se på tematiske sammenfald med Darwin undersøges de metodologiske og epistemologiske. Herved bliver det tydeligt, at Jacobsen ikke bare indoptager og formidler Darwin...

  15. Darwin the scientist.

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    Browne, J

    2009-01-01

    Charles Darwin's experimental investigations show him to have been a superb practical researcher. These skills are often underestimated today when assessing Darwin's achievement in the Origin of Species and his other books. Supported by a private income, he turned his house and gardens into a Victorian equivalent of a modern research station. Darwin participated actively in the exchange of scientific information via letters and much of his research was also carried out through correspondence. Although this research was relatively small scale in practice, it was large scale in intellectual scope. Darwin felt he had a strong desire to understand or explain whatever he observed.

  16. O show de Darwin

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    Steve Shapin

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available As comemorações dos 200 anos de nascimento de Charles Darwin revelaram menos sobre a figura histórica do cientista vitoriano do que sobre o lugar da ciência e do cientista na cultura moderna. O artigo explora os eventos do "Dia de Darwin" e a produção recente sobre o "pai da teoria da evolução" com a intenção de ligá-los à recepção contemporânea da obra (e da figura de Charles Darwin.The celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth were less about the historical figure of the Victorian scientist than about the place of science and the scientist in modern culture. The article explores the "Darwin Day" events and recent books on the "father of the theory of evolution" in order to relate them to the contemporary reception of Darwin's life and work.

  17. Charles Darwin's Theory of Moral Sentiments: What Darwin's Ethics Really Owes to Adam Smith.

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    Priest, Greg

    2017-01-01

    When we read the Origin, we cannot help but hear echoes of the Wealth of Nations. Darwin's "economy of nature" features a "division of labour" that leads to complexity and productivity. We should not, however, analyze Darwin's ethics through this lens. Darwin did not draw his economic ideas from Smith, nor did he base his ethics on an economic foundation. Darwin's ethics rest on Smith's notion from the Theory of Moral Sentiments of an innate human faculty of sympathy. Darwin gave this faculty an evolutionary interpretation and built on this foundation an ethics far removed from what is commonly supposed.

  18. Darwin as Metaphor

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    Emily Ballou

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available In response to Steven Shapin’s query in the 'London Review of Books', 'Why such homage?', 'I look at Darwin as a metaphor for creativity, and how Darwin, as evidenced in his own metaphysical notebooks, imagined and performed acts of creation in his pursuit of science. Many of Darwin’s ideas were first conceptualised imaginatively, instinctively almost. In this way, he created concepts, rather than simply discovering them. I include a brief discussion of my experience of rendering Darwin and his life into a portrait in 75 poems and also a discussion of the bio-pic Creation'. As species change over time, but are still related, so a portrait of Darwin is a descendent of the historical man and his words, but is no longer the historical man. 

  19. Charles Darwin: genius or plodder?

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    Wilkins, Adam S

    2009-11-01

    There is no doubt about the magnitude of Charles Darwin's contributions to science. There has, however, been a long-running debate about how brilliant he was. His kind of intelligence was clearly different from that of the great physicists who are deemed geniuses. Here, the nature of Darwin's intelligence is examined in the light of Darwin's actual style of working. Surprisingly, the world of literature and the field of neurobiology might supply more clues to resolving the puzzle than conventional scientific history. Those clues suggest that the apparent discrepancy between Darwin's achievements and his seemingly pedestrian way of thinking reveals nothing to Darwin's discredit but rather a too narrow and inappropriate set of criteria for "genius." The implications of Darwin's particular creative gifts with respect to the development of scientific genius in general are briefly discussed.

  20. Economic Darwinism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sloth, Birgitte; Whitta-Jacobsen, Hans Jørgen

    2011-01-01

    We define an evolutionary process of "economic Darwinism" for playing the field, symmetric games. The process captures two forces. One is "economic selection": if current behavior leads to payoff differences, behavior yielding lowest payoff has strictly positive probability of being replaced...... in the literature. Using this result, we demonstrate that generally under positive (negative) externalities, economic Darwinism implies even more under- (over-)activity than does Nash equilibrium....

  1. Darwins aktualitet

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Peter C.

    2009-01-01

    - han får os til at diskutere os selv. Uddrag af PETER C. KJÆRGAARDs tale ved åbningen af Darwin-udstillingen på Statens Naturhistoriske Museum d. 4. februar. Udgivelsesdato: Marts......- han får os til at diskutere os selv. Uddrag af PETER C. KJÆRGAARDs tale ved åbningen af Darwin-udstillingen på Statens Naturhistoriske Museum d. 4. februar. Udgivelsesdato: Marts...

  2. Race, language, and mental evolution in Darwin's descent of man.

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    Alter, Stephen G

    2007-01-01

    Charles Darwin was notoriously ambiguous in his remarks about the relationship between human evolution and biological race. He stressed the original unity of the races, yet he also helped to popularize the notion of a racial hierarchy filling the gaps between the highest anthropoids and civilized Europeans. A focus on Darwin's explanation of how humans initially evolved, however, shows that he mainly stressed not hierarchy but a version of humanity's original mental unity. In his book The Descent of Man, Darwin emphasized a substantial degree of mental development (including the incipient use of language) in the early, monogenetic phase of human evolution. This development, he argued, necessarily came before primeval man's numerical increase, geographic dispersion, and racial diversification, because only thus could one explain how that group was able to spread at the expense of rival ape-like populations. This scenario stood opposed to a new evolutionary polygenism formulated in the wake of Darwin's Origin of Species by his ostensible supporters Alfred Russel Wallace and Ernst Haeckel. Darwin judged this outlook inadequate to the task of explaining humanity's emergence. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Charles Darwin i 2009

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Peter C.

    2009-01-01

    Charles Darwin blev født d. 12. februar 1809. Hans mest berømte bog, 'Om arternes oprindelse', udkom d. 24. november 1859. Det gør 2009 til noget ganske særligt for både Darwin og evolutionsteorien. Det er nemlig i år både Darwins 200-års fødselsdag og 150-års jubilæet for en af de mest...

  4. Darwin i Danmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Klassiske danske oversættelser af Charles Darwins skrifter, bl.a. Om Arternes Oprindelse, Menneskets Afstamning, Rejse om Jorden og Live og Breve. Indeholder også forskellige 1800-tals reaktioner til Darwin sammen med en række introduktioner, bibliografier og andre ressourcer for studerende og...

  5. Beating the Turkish hollow in the struggle for existence: Darwin, social Darwinism and the Turks.

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    Bilgili, Alper

    2017-10-01

    Despite the vast literature on Darwinism and race, the way in which Darwin's opinions on race were received and used by non-Western circles has been little studied. In the case of the Turks, Darwin's comments have been related to British-Ottoman relations, and Darwin was blamed for stoking anti-Turkish sentiment within Europe. This allegedly resulted in the British occupation of Egypt in the 19th century, the demise of the Ottoman Empire, as well as contemporary Neo-Nazi arson attacks in Germany which targeted Turkish migrants. Consequently, Turkish anti-Darwinists perceive Darwinism to be not merely a false scientific theory, but also a political-ideological instrument of Western hegemony wielded against Turkey and the Islamic World. Turkish Darwinists who responded to those claims, on the other hand, presented Darwin as an egalitarian who could overcome the prejudices of his social class. Further scrutiny, however, proves both accounts to be over-simplistic. This paper aims to throw some light on the context within which Darwin expressed his opinions on Turks and thus contribute to the broader discussion of the relationship between Darwinism and race. More importantly, it aims to familiarise Western readers with one of the cultures of creationism which is very little known, despite its great impact on Muslim masses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Darwin without borders? Looking at 'generalised Darwinism' through the prism of the 'hourglass model'.

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    Levit, Georgy S; Hossfeld, Uwe

    2011-12-01

    This article critically analyzes the arguments of the 'generalized Darwinism' recently proposed for the analysis of social-economical systems. We argue that 'generalized Darwinism' is both restrictive and empty. It is restrictive because it excludes alternative (non-selectionist) evolutionary mechanisms such as orthogenesis, saltationism and mutationism without any examination of their suitability for modeling socio-economic processes and ignoring their important roles in the development of contemporary evolutionary theory. It is empty, because it reduces Darwinism to an abstract triple-principle scheme (variation, selection and inheritance) thus ignoring the actual structure of Darwinism as a complex and dynamic theoretical structure inseparable from a very detailed system of theoretical constraints. Arguing against 'generalised Darwinism' we present our vision of the history of evolutionary biology with the help of the 'hourglass model' reflecting the internal dynamic of competing theories of evolution.

  7. Did Jean François Barbe Anticipate Charles Darwin?

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    Drouin, Anne-Sophie; Drouin, Emmanuel; Pereon, Yann

    2016-12-01

    The publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species in 1859 is widely suppose to have initiated a revolution in science. In 1837, he broke with dogmatic fixism and argued that the adaptation of populations to their local environment was the cause of transmutation. Some contributors helped him start his reasoning: he indeed expressed his indebtedness to Samuel Rowley for having called his attention to Charles Wells' notions of natural selection. Darwin was certainly not the first to suggest the idea of evolution as an alternative to the creation of species by God. We report on a medical thesis published in 1837 being concluded by an unexpected and important statement related to the appearance of mammals on Earth. It remained unknown but it constitutes a link between the transformative thought of Lamarck and Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, and Darwin's work.

  8. Vitalism and the Darwin Debate

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    Henderson, James

    2012-01-01

    There are currently both scientific and public debates surrounding Darwinism. In the scientific debate, the details of evolution are in dispute, but not the central thesis of Darwin's theory; in the public debate, Darwinism itself is questioned. I concentrate on the public debate because of its direct impact on education in the United States. Some…

  9. Charles Darwin's earthquake reports

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    Galiev, Shamil

    2010-05-01

    As it is the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, 2009 has also been marked as 170 years since the publication of his book Journal of Researches. During the voyage Darwin landed at Valdivia and Concepcion, Chile, just before, during, and after a great earthquake, which demolished hundreds of buildings, killing and injuring many people. Land was waved, lifted, and cracked, volcanoes awoke and giant ocean waves attacked the coast. Darwin was the first geologist to observe and describe the effects of the great earthquake during and immediately after. These effects sometimes repeated during severe earthquakes; but great earthquakes, like Chile 1835, and giant earthquakes, like Chile 1960, are rare and remain completely unpredictable. This is one of the few areas of science, where experts remain largely in the dark. Darwin suggested that the effects were a result of ‘ …the rending of strata, at a point not very deep below the surface of the earth…' and ‘…when the crust yields to the tension, caused by its gradual elevation, there is a jar at the moment of rupture, and a greater movement...'. Darwin formulated big ideas about the earth evolution and its dynamics. These ideas set the tone for the tectonic plate theory to come. However, the plate tectonics does not completely explain why earthquakes occur within plates. Darwin emphasised that there are different kinds of earthquakes ‘...I confine the foregoing observations to the earthquakes on the coast of South America, or to similar ones, which seem generally to have been accompanied by elevation of the land. But, as we know that subsidence has gone on in other quarters of the world, fissures must there have been formed, and therefore earthquakes...' (we cite the Darwin's sentences following researchspace. auckland. ac. nz/handle/2292/4474). These thoughts agree with results of the last publications (see Nature 461, 870-872; 636-639 and 462, 42-43; 87-89). About 200 years ago Darwin gave oneself airs by the

  10. The Influence of Darwin on Evolutionary Algorithms from "Dinner with Darwin"

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    Overbye, David L.

    2009-01-01

    The "Dinner with Darwin" event held at the National Association of Biology Teachers Conference over several successive years represented an innovative forum for exploring the ways that the work of Charles Darwin has had an impact in fields quite far removed from biology. Through a wide-ranging discussion by panel participants, drawn from a number…

  11. Ferdinand von Mueller's interactions with Charles Darwin and his response to Darwinism.

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    Lucas, A M

    2010-01-01

    Although Ferdinand Mueller (later von Mueller), Government Botanist of Victoria, opposed Darwin's theories when "On the origin of species" was published, there has been little detailed study of the nature of Mueller's opposition from 1860, when he received a presentation copy of "Origin," to his death in 1896. Analysis of Mueller's correspondence and publications shows that he remained a theist and misunderstood key aspects of Darwin's theory. However, Mueller did come to accept that natural selection could operate within a species, although never accepting it could produce speciation. Despite these differences he retained a cordial relationship with Darwin.

  12. More than a Mentor: Leonard Darwin's Contribution to the Assimilation of Mendelism into Eugenics and Darwinism.

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    Serpente, Norberto

    2016-08-01

    This article discusses the contribution to evolutionary theory of Leonard Darwin (1850-1943), the eighth child of Charles Darwin. By analysing the correspondence Leonard Darwin maintained with Ronald Aylmer Fisher in conjunction with an assessment of his books and other written works between the 1910s and 1930s, this article argues for a more prominent role played by him than the previously recognised in the literature as an informal mentor of Fisher. The paper discusses Leonard's efforts to amalgamate Mendelism with both Eugenics and Darwinism in order for the first to base their policies on new scientific developments and to help the second in finding a target for natural selection. Without a formal qualification in biological sciences and as such mistrusted by some "formal" scientists, Leonard Darwin engaged with key themes of Darwinism such as mimicry, the role of mutations on speciation and the process of genetic variability, arriving at important conclusions concerning the usefulness of Mendelian genetics for his father's theory.

  13. Stability of congruent Darwin ellipsoids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tassoul, M.

    1975-01-01

    The problem of synchronous oscillations of congruent Darwin ellipsoids is reconsidered. Contrary to results obtained by Chandrasekhar, it is shown that along a Darwin sequence the configurations remain stable with respect to ellipsoidal disturbances until they become too closely spaced. The precise limit which separates stable from unstable systems is found. Apart from some minor differences the Darwin sequence is the exact analog of the Roche sequence

  14. Darwin and Darwinism: the (alleged) social implications of the origin of species.

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    Orr, H Allen

    2009-11-01

    Most scientific theories, even revolutionary ones, change the practice of a particular science but have few consequences for culture or society at large. But Darwinism, it has often been said, is different in this respect. Since the publication of The Origin of Species, many have claimed that Darwinism has a number of profound social implications. Here, I briefly consider three of these: the economic, the political, and the religious. I suggest that, for the most part, these supposed implications have been misconstrued or exaggerated. Indeed, it is reasonably clear that the chain of implication sometimes primarily ran in the opposite direction-from, for instance, economics and political theory to Darwinism.

  15. Commentary: Darwin at 200

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    Brandt, Danita

    2009-01-01

    2009 marked the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth (February 12) and the 150th anniversary (in November) of the publication of Darwin's "extended abstract" "On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection." Universities, scientific societies, and disciplinary journals anticipated this event by organizing meetings, theme…

  16. Darwinism: Evolution or Revolution?

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    Holt, Niles R.

    1989-01-01

    Maintains that Darwin's theory of evolution was more than a science versus religion debate; rather it was a revolutionary concept that influenced numerous social and political ideologies and movements throughout western history. Traces the impact of Darwin's work historically, utilizing a holistic approach. (RW)

  17. Darwin and his Mathematical Inspirations

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    Pugliese, Andrea

    2008-07-01

    I have been kindly asked by the organizers of the BIOCOMP2007 conference to provide a short sketch of Charles Darwin's contribution to science, and of the role mathematics has played in his discoveries and in subsequent developments. I felt flattered by the invitation but rather unfit to it, since I have no particular expertise in evolutionary theory, and even less in its history; eventually, I decided to accept the invitation, appreciating the opportunity to read some more about Darwin, and the importance of making his contribution better known, at a time where teaching at school the theory of evolution is coming under attack also in Italy (perhaps under American influence). I hope to be able here to give a glimpse of the history of Darwinian thought, and of some current research areas, that will lead some readers towards further reading. There are many excellent books available now about Darwin and Darwinian theory, and my presentation is based on many of them, listed in the Bibliography; I found especially illuminating the book by Gayon Darwinism's Struggle for Survival, a history of theoretical Darwinism illustrating the scientific content, and the philosophical implications, of the debates on evolutionary theory at Darwin's time and up to the "modern synthesis".

  18. Charles Darwin 1809-2009.

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    van Wyhe, John

    2009-02-01

    The year 2009 is the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. This article briefly surveys his life and work, dispelling some common myths and summarizes Darwin's achievement and legacy at his death in 1882.

  19. Darwin-industrien i højt gear

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Peter C.

    2008-01-01

    Darwin-industrien i højt gear. Næste år bliver et 'Darwin-år' - både tilhængere og kritikere gør sig klar. Udgivelsesdato: 12. december......Darwin-industrien i højt gear. Næste år bliver et 'Darwin-år' - både tilhængere og kritikere gør sig klar. Udgivelsesdato: 12. december...

  20. In praise of Darwin

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-07-01

    Charles Darwin, who was born 200 years ago, is rightly being celebrated as the founding father of modern biology with a series of events around the world this year. Just as Einstein revolutionized physics, so Darwin changed our understanding of life. He came to realize that "natural selection" could account for the huge diversity of life, with more-efficient groups-arising from random variation-always replacing less-efficient groups in a particular environment as a result of competition. After publishing his seminal book On the Origin of Species in 1859-exactly 150 years ago-Darwin, like Einstein, became the most noted scientist of his time.

  1. Darwinizing the Danes, 1859-1909

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gregersen, Niels Henrik; Kjærgaard, Peter C.; Hjermitslev, Hans Henrik

    2008-01-01

    Charles Darwin is a crucial figure in nineteenth-century science with an extensive and varied reception in different countries and disciplines. His theory had a revolutionary impact not only on biology, but also on other natural sciences and the new social sciences. The term ‘Darwinism', already...... popular in Darwin's lifetime, ranged across many different areas and ideological aspects. and his own ideas about the implications of evolution for human cognitive, emotional, social and ethical capacities were often interpreted in a way that did not mirror his own intentions. The implications...... for religious, philosophical and political issues and institutions remain as momentous today as in his own time. This volume conveys the many-sidedness of Darwin's reception and exhibit his far-reaching impact on our self- understanding as human beings....

  2. Charles Darwin: What Else Did He Write?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berra, Tim M.

    1980-01-01

    Lists a number of books written by Charles Darwin, selected to indicate the depth and breadth of Darwin's biological interests. Each entry is described with a short annotation. Also provides a reading list of references about Darwin's life. (CS)

  3. Darwin por Manoel Bomfim Darwin by Manoel Bomfim

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Celso Noboru Uemori

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available A noção de "luta pela existência" de Charles Darwin foi apropriada por diversas tendências intelectuais e serviu a vários propósitos políticos. Ela deu suporte para aqueles que queriam legitimar o capitalismo, fazer apologia do individualismo, do mercado, do fim dos monopólios e da competição. Ensejou concepções conservadoras como a prática da eugenia, a justificação do elitismo, da conquista e da colonização dos europeus sobre as populações asiáticas e africanas e o racismo. A idéia de luta pela existência foi trabalhada, também, por intelectuais que defendiam a idéia de que lutar pela vida relacionava-se à solidariedade e à cooperação. Manoel Bomfim sofreu influência de Darwin e beneficiou-se de suas idéias para elaborar argumentos, graças aos quais foi visto por seus intérpretes como um autor "radical" e original.Charles Darwin's notion of a 'struggle for existence' has been appropriated by several intellectual currents of opinion, and used for various political purposes. It has served to support free market capitalism, as an apologia of individualism, the market, the end of monopolies, and competition. Conservative conceptions have been based on it: the practice of eugenics, the justification of elitism, of the conquest and colonization of Asian and African peoples by the European, and of racism. On the other hand, the idea of a struggle for existence has been worked on by intellectuals who argued that it was related to solidarity and cooperation. Manoel Bomfim was influenced by Darwin and used his ideas to form arguments which have led his interpreters to see him as a 'radical' and original author.

  4. Race, Racism, and Darwinism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeynes, William H.

    2011-01-01

    This article examines the views of Darwinist evolution on issues regarding race and how this contributed to the spread of racism in the United States. The writings of Charles Darwin and a myriad of his followers are examined, including Herbert Spencer, Francis Galton, and others. The influence of Darwinism in contributing to the growth of…

  5. Darwin in disguise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derry, J F

    2009-02-01

    Darwinism appears in many more academic areas than just evolutionary biology. New disciplines are created out of its fusion with existing fields of study. However, this practise is criticised for a lack of evidence-based justification, and for adopting gene-oriented reductionism in the social sciences. This article briefly considers seven examples of new disciplines for which Darwinism has been appropriated. In each case, succinct background information precedes quotes provided for this purpose by a leading researcher.

  6. Darwin: German mystic or French rationalist?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghiselin, Michael T

    2015-01-01

    The notion that Charles Darwin embraced the German Romantic tradition seems plausible, given the early influence of Alexander von Humboldt. But this view fails to do justice to other scientific traditions. Darwin was a protégé of the Englishman John Stevens Henslow and was a follower of the Scott Charles Lyell. He had important debts to French scientists, notably Henri Milne-Edwards, Etienne and Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, and Alphonse de Candolle. Many Germans were quite supportive of Darwin, but not all of these were encumbered by idealistic metaphysical baggage. Both Darwin and Anton Dohrn treated science as very much a cosmopolitan enterprise.

  7. Lloyd Morgan's theory of instinct: from Darwinism to neo-Darwinism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richards, R J

    1977-01-01

    Darwin's proposal of two sources of instinct--natural selection and inherited habit--fostered among late nineteenth century evolutionists a variety of conflicting notions concerning the mechanisms of evolution. The British comparative psychologist C. Lloyd Morgan was a cardinal figure in restructuring the orthodox Darwinian conception to relieve the confusion besetting it and to meet the demands of the new biology of Weismann. This paper traces the development of Morgan's ideas about instinct against the background of his philosophic assumptions and the views of instinct theorists from Darwin and Romanes to McDougall and Lorenz.

  8. DARWIN: analogue circuit synthesis based on a genetic algorithms

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kruiskamp, M.W.; Leenaerts, D.M.W.

    1995-01-01

    DARWIN is a synthesis tool for generating sized net lists of CMOS op amps from performance specifications and process parameters. the synthesis process starts with an initial set of randomly generated op amps. Owing to genetic operator ‘crossover’ and ‘mutation’, the population of op amps evolves to

  9. Nietzsche’s reception of Darwinism

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mostert, Pieter

    1979-01-01

    It has been generally assumed that the influence of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution on Friedrich Nietzsche (1844- 1900) is to be understood in terms of Nietzsche's concept """"Obermensch"""" (overman). Hardly any attention has been paid to the question of the status of Darwin's theory in

  10. Vy jste Darwin! Yes, I am Darwin. Darwin českýma očima a darwinismus v českých zemích

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hermann, Tomáš

    2009-01-01

    Roč. 31, č. 2 (2009), s. 36-39 ISSN 0418-5129 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR KJB800630701 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z80630520 Keywords : Darwin´s theory * history of biology * reception of Darwinism Subject RIV: AB - History

  11. Darwin's Perplexing Paradox

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thorvaldsen, Steinar; Øhrstrøm, Peter

    2013-01-01

    from classical natural theology. When Darwin discovered the dynamic process of natural selection, he rejected the old teleological argument as formulated by William Paley. However, he was never able to ignore the powerful experience of the beauty and complexity of an intelligently designed universe......, as a whole. He corresponded with Asa Gray on religious themes, particularly touching the problem of pain and intelligent design in nature. The term “intelligent design” was probably introduced by William Whewell. Principally for theological and philosophical reasons, Darwin could only accept the concept...

  12. John Tweedie and Charles Darwin in Buenos Aires.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ollerton, Jeff; Chancellor, Gordon; van Wyhe, John

    2012-06-20

    The journey of exploration undertaken by Charles Darwin FRS during the voyage of HMS Beagle has a central place within the historical development of evolutionary theory and has been intensively studied. Despite this, new facts continue to emerge about some of the details of Darwin's activities. Drawing on recently published Darwin material and unpublished letters in the archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, we document a hitherto unexamined link between Darwin and John Tweedie (1775-1862), a relatively obscure Scottish gardener turned South American plant collector. All of the available evidence points to a meeting between the two men in Buenos Aires in 1832. Tweedie provided Darwin with information about the geography of the Rio Paraná, including the locality of fossilized wood eroding from the river bank. It also seems likely that Tweedie supplied Darwin with seeds that he later shipped back to John Stevens Henslow in Cambridge. Although this brief meeting was at the time relatively unimportant to either man, echoes of that encounter have resonated with Tweedie's descendants to the present day and have formed the basis for a family story about a written correspondence between Darwin and Tweedie. Local information supplied to Darwin by residents such as Tweedie was clearly important and deserves further attention.

  13. Neoliberalism, Social Darwinism, and Consumerism Masquerading as School Reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tienken, Christopher H.

    2013-01-01

    Education reform policies harvested from neoliberalism, social Darwinism, consumerism, and free-market ideologies have begun to replace the pragmatic progressivism of the pre-World War II era. In this article, I use three federal and state education reform policies and programs--No Child Left Behind Act, Common Core State Standards Initiative, and…

  14. Darwin as a plant scientist: a Southern Hemisphere perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopper, Stephen D; Lambers, Hans

    2009-08-01

    Events around the world this year celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and the sesquicentenary of publication of his most important work, The Origin of Species (Darwin 1859). The associated plethora of books and papers now appearing to commemorate Darwin's work continue the traditional emphasis on his zoological and geological contributions. There has been some recent attention directed towards Darwin's relatively unsung but significant accomplishments as a botanist. Here, we bring together a review of Darwin's botanical discoveries and experiments and relevant aspects of his geological investigations, with a focus on the Southern Hemisphere. This is a relatively unexplored aspect of Darwin's contributions that yields some new insights meriting future research.

  15. Charles Darwin in the Andes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bizzo, Nelio; Bizzo, Luis Eduardo Maestrelli

    2006-01-01

    Considering geological time as an important epistemological obstacle to the construction of ideas on biological evolution, a study was carried out on the so-called "Darwin Papers". The conclusion was that Charles Darwin's excursion in the Andes during March-April 1835 was a crucial step in this regard. An expedition was carried out in…

  16. The Darwins and Wells: from revolution to evolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wade, Nicholas J

    2010-04-08

    In the biography of his grandfather (Erasmus Darwin), Charles Darwin hinted that his father (Robert Darwin) had received parental assistance in conducting and writing his medical thesis (which concerned afterimages). The experiments also involved visual vertigo, and they were elaborated by the senior Darwin in his Zoonomia, published in 1794. Erasmus Darwin's interpretation was in terms of trying to pursue peripheral afterimages formed during rotation; it was at variance with one published two years earlier by William Charles Wells, who had investigated the visual consequences of body rotation when the body is subsequently still. Wells penned two retorts to the Darwins' theory; although they were not accepted by Erasmus, he did devise a human centrifuge, models of which were employed in later studies of vertigo. Wells's ideas on evolution were expressed in a paper delivered to the Royal Society (in 1813) but not published in its Transactions. Commenting on the case of a white woman, part of whose skin was black, he proposed a process of change that was akin to natural selection. His ideas were acknowledged by Charles Darwin in the fourth edition of On the Origin of Species.

  17. Quantum Darwinism in Quantum Brownian Motion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blume-Kohout, Robin; Zurek, Wojciech H.

    2008-12-01

    Quantum Darwinism—the redundant encoding of information about a decohering system in its environment—was proposed to reconcile the quantum nature of our Universe with apparent classicality. We report the first study of the dynamics of quantum Darwinism in a realistic model of decoherence, quantum Brownian motion. Prepared in a highly squeezed state—a macroscopic superposition—the system leaves records whose redundancy increases rapidly with initial delocalization. Redundancy appears rapidly (on the decoherence time scale) and persists for a long time.

  18. More on Darwin's illness: comment on the final diagnosis of Charles Darwin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheehan, William; Meller, William H; Thurber, Steven

    2008-06-20

    Without the possibility of confirmatory exhumation, diagnostic inferences about Darwin's illness must remain speculative. A diagnosis of Darwin's aggregate symptoms must account for not only gastrointestinal distress but also his predominant and excessive retching and the conglomerate of other heterogeneous symptoms. We opine that Crohn's disease, posited as the 'final diagnosis', is not sufficient for subsuming his pleiomorphic symptomatology. An additional proposal is outlined that may help to explain his presentation with heterogeneous symptoms. It incorporates constitutional vulnerabilities, psychosomatic influences and Pavlovian conditioning as explanatory variables.

  19. Beating Darwin-Bragg losses in lab-based ultrafast x-ray experiments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wilfred K. Fullagar

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The use of low temperature thermal detectors for avoiding Darwin-Bragg losses in lab-based ultrafast experiments has begun. An outline of the background of this new development is offered, showing the relevant history and initiative taken by this work.

  20. Darwin model in plasma physics revisited

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie, Huasheng; Zhu, Jia; Ma, Zhiwei

    2014-01-01

    Dispersion relations from the Darwin (a.k.a., magnetoinductive or magnetostatic) model are given and compared with those of the full electromagnetic model. Analytical and numerical solutions show that the errors from the Darwin approximation can be large even if phase velocity for a low-frequency wave is close to or larger than the speed of light. Besides missing two wave branches associated mainly with the electron dynamics, the coupling branch of the electrons and ions in the Darwin model is modified to become a new artificial branch that incorrectly represents the coupling dynamics of the electrons and ions. (paper)

  1. Controlling female cancer in Argentina. Divergent initiatives and the road to fragmentation

    OpenAIRE

    Eraso, Yolanda

    2014-01-01

    This article analyses the organisation of cancer control in Argentina, with a special focus on the initiatives, institutions, and models that targeted female or gynaecological cancers. It identifies and examines the main factors in the process of elaborating a national policy to control the disease drawing on a series of actors and instruments such as the state, medical professionals, institutions and services, and the use of technology (notably diagnostic tools) for the detection of the dise...

  2. Gilson, Darwin, and Intelligent Design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Desmond J. FitzGerald

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The article starts with stating the fact that today there is an increasing recognition of difficulties with Darwinism accompanied by vigorous responses on the part of Darwin’s defenders; among the instances of challenge to the dominant theory, one can find a book of Gilson, From Aristotle to Darwin and Back Again, and those behind the Intelligent Design movement. Inrelating the book of Gilson to the ID proponents, the author concludes that, while in some ways they are on the same side in opposing the anti-creation thrust of Darwinism, Gilson is neutral on the validity or truth of Darwin’s biological hypothesis. Gilson, however, whose book preceded the ID movement by some twenty years, seeks to analyze Darwinism from the perspective of the classical philosophy of nature. He well understands that, according to modern scientific method, final causes are excluded from consideration, but he calls for a biophilosophy which will be open to the reality of human experience as Aristotle was and recognize that teleology is present in nature. According to him, even if teleology seems to be a contestable explanation, chance as understood by Darwinists is the pure absence of explanation.

  3. Darwin's explanation of races by means of sexual selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millstein, Roberta L

    2012-09-01

    In Darwin's Sacred Cause, Adrian Desmond and James Moore contend that "Darwin would put his utmost into sexual selection because the subject intrigued him, no doubt, but also for a deeper reason: the theory vindicated his lifelong commitment to human brotherhood" (2009: p. 360). Without questioning Desmond and Moore's evidence, I will raise some puzzles for their view. I will show that attention to the structure of Darwin's arguments in the Descent of Man shows that they are far from straightforward. As Desmond and Moore note, Darwin seems to have intended sexual selection in non-human animals to serve as evidence for sexual selection in humans. However, Darwin's account of sexual selection in humans was different from the canonical cases that Darwin described at great length. If explaining the origin of human races was the main reason for introducing sexual selection, and if sexual selection was a key piece of Darwin's anti-slavery arguments, then it is puzzling why Darwin would have spent so much time discussing cases that did not really support his argument for the origin of human races, and it is also puzzling that his argument for the origin of human races would be so (atypically) poor. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Darwin in domineesland: een reconstructie van de wijze waarop geleerde Nederlanders Darwins evolutietheorie filosofisch beoordeelden, 1859-1877

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    B. Leeuwenburgh (Bart)

    2009-01-01

    textabstractIn zijn proefschrift Darwin in domineesland geeft Bart Leeuwenburgh een overzicht van het debat dat in Nederland ontstond over de evolutietheorie, na de publicatie van Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species in 1859. Hierbij trekt een bonte stoet voorbij van bedaarde wetenschappers,

  5. Formalizing Darwinism and inclusive fitness theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grafen, Alan

    2009-11-12

    Inclusive fitness maximization is a basic building block for biological contributions to any theory of the evolution of society. There is a view in mathematical population genetics that nothing is caused to be maximized in the process of natural selection, but this is explained as arising from a misunderstanding about the meaning of fitness maximization. Current theoretical work on inclusive fitness is discussed, with emphasis on the author's 'formal Darwinism project'. Generally, favourable conclusions are drawn about the validity of assuming fitness maximization, but the need for continuing work is emphasized, along with the possibility that substantive exceptions may be uncovered. The formal Darwinism project aims more ambitiously to represent in a formal mathematical framework the central point of Darwin's Origin of Species, that the mechanical processes of inheritance and reproduction can give rise to the appearance of design, and it is a fitting ambition in Darwin's bicentenary year to capture his most profound discovery in the lingua franca of science.

  6. Darwin på arabisk

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Riexinger, Martin Thomas

    2014-01-01

    Det var to revolutionære spor, som i begyndelsen af 1800-talet gødede jorden for introduktionen af Darwins evolutionsteori i Mellemøsten, og muslimer spillede stort set ingen rolle for den udviklingen. Ny bog om islam og evolutionsteorien.......Det var to revolutionære spor, som i begyndelsen af 1800-talet gødede jorden for introduktionen af Darwins evolutionsteori i Mellemøsten, og muslimer spillede stort set ingen rolle for den udviklingen. Ny bog om islam og evolutionsteorien....

  7. Charles Darwin and John Herschel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warner, B.

    2009-11-01

    The influence of John Herschel on the philosophical thoughts of Charles Darwin, both through the former's book, Natural Philosophy, and through their meeting in 1836 at the Cape of Good Hope, is discussed. With Herschel having himself speculated on evolution just a few months before he met Darwin, it is probable that he stimulated at least the beginnings of the latter's lifelong work on the subject.

  8. A unified approach to the Darwin approximation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krause, Todd B.; Apte, A.; Morrison, P. J.

    2007-01-01

    There are two basic approaches to the Darwin approximation. The first involves solving the Maxwell equations in Coulomb gauge and then approximating the vector potential to remove retardation effects. The second approach approximates the Coulomb gauge equations themselves, then solves these exactly for the vector potential. There is no a priori reason that these should result in the same approximation. Here, the equivalence of these two approaches is investigated and a unified framework is provided in which to view the Darwin approximation. Darwin's original treatment is variational in nature, but subsequent applications of his ideas in the context of Vlasov's theory are not. We present here action principles for the Darwin approximation in the Vlasov context, and this serves as a consistency check on the use of the approximation in this setting

  9. The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good

    OpenAIRE

    Robert Frank

    2013-01-01

    Who was the greater economist — Adam Smith or Charles Darwin? The question seems absurd. Darwin, after all, was a naturalist, not an economist. But Robert Frank, «The New York Times’» economics columnist and best-selling author of «The Economic Naturalist», predicts that within the next century Darwin will unseat Smith as the intellectual founder of economics. The reason, Frank argues, is that Darwin's understanding of competition describes economic reality far more accurately than Smith's. A...

  10. Charles Darwin, Richard Owen, and Natural Selection: A Question of Priority.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Curtis N

    2018-05-03

    No single author presented Darwin with a more difficult question about his priority in discovering natural selection than the British comparative anatomist and paleontologist Richard Owen. Owen was arguably the most influential biologist in Great Britain in Darwin's time. Darwin wanted his approbation for what he believed to be his own theory of natural selection. Unfortunately for Darwin, when Owen first commented in publication about Darwin's theory of descent he was openly hostile (Edinb. Rev. vol. 111, Article VIII, 1860, pp. 487-533, anonymous). Darwin was taken off-guard. In private meetings and correspondence prior to 1860 Owen had been nothing but polite and friendly, even helping Darwin in cataloguing and analyzing Darwin's zoological specimens from the Beagle voyage. Every early indication predicted a life-long friendship and collaboration. But that was not to be. Owen followed his slashing review with a mounting campaign in the 1860s to denounce and discredit both Darwin and his small but ascendant circle of friends and supporters. But that was not enough for Owen. Starting in 1866, perhaps by now realizing Darwin had landed the big fish, Owen launched a new campaign, to claim the discovery of "Darwin's theory" for himself. Darwin naturally fought back, mainly in the "Historical Sketch" that he prefaced to Origin starting in 1861. But when we peel back the layers of personal animus and escalating vituperation we discover in fact their quarrel was generated more by mutual misunderstanding than scientific disagreement. The battle ended only when Darwin finally penetrated to the crux of the matter and put an end to the rivalry in 1872, in the final version of the Sketch.

  11. Evolutionary ethics from Darwin to Moore.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allhoff, Fritz

    2003-01-01

    Evolutionary ethics has a long history, dating all the way back to Charles Darwin. Almost immediately after the publication of the Origin, an immense interest arose in the moral implications of Darwinism and whether the truth of Darwinism would undermine traditional ethics. Though the biological thesis was certainly exciting, nobody suspected that the impact of the Origin would be confined to the scientific arena. As one historian wrote, 'whether or not ancient populations of armadillos were transformed into the species that currently inhabit the new world was certainly a topic about which zoologists could disagree. But it was in discussing the broader implications of the theory...that tempers flared and statements were made which could transform what otherwise would have been a quiet scholarly meeting into a social scandal' (Farber 1994, 22). Some resistance to the biological thesis of Darwinism sprung from the thought that it was incompatible with traditional morality and, since one of them had to go, many thought that Darwinism should be rejected. However, some people did realize that a secular ethics was possible so, even if Darwinism did undermine traditional religious beliefs, it need not have any effects on moral thought. Before I begin my discussion of evolutionary ethics from Darwin to Moore, I would like to make some more general remarks about its development. There are three key events during this history of evolutionary ethics. First, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of the Species (Darwin 1859). Since one did not have a fully developed theory of evolution until 1859, there exists little work on evolutionary ethics until then. Shortly thereafter, Herbert Spencer (1898) penned the first systematic theory of evolutionary ethics, which was promptly attacked by T.H. Huxley (Huxley 1894). Second, at about the turn of the century, moral philosophers entered the fray and attempted to demonstrate logical errors in Spencer's work; such errors were alluded

  12. Wallace, Darwin and Ternate 1858.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Charles H

    2014-06-20

    Recent debates on the mailing date of Alfred Russel Wallace's 'Ternate essay' to Charles Darwin in the spring of 1858 have ignored certain details that, once taken into account, alter the matter considerably. Here, a closer look is taken at the critical question of whether Wallace's manuscript-accompanying letter represented a reply to the Darwin letter that arrived in Ternate on 9 March; it is concluded that it very probably did not.

  13. Revisiting the eclipse of Darwinism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowler, Peter J

    2005-01-01

    The article sums up a number of points made by the author concerning the response to Darwinism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and repeats the claim that a proper understanding of the theory's impact must take account of the extent to which what are now regarded as the key aspects of Darwin's thinking were evaded by his immediate followers. Potential challenges to this position are described and responded to.

  14. Edward B. Aveling: the people's Darwin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paylor, Suzanne

    2005-06-01

    By the late-19th century, evolutionary theory, known by most people as Darwinism, had earned a reputation as an atheistic theory that challenged religious orthodoxy. From recent historical work we now know a great deal about how those with religious convictions received Darwinian ideas, and the role that professional scientists played in styling and communicating 'Darwinism' to the wider public and between themselves. However, relatively little is known about how Darwinian ideas were received and used by avowedly irreligious groups, and how these groups set about communicating their own version of Darwinism to a public hungry for cheap and accessible science. The activities of the Secularist Edward Bibbins Aveling, a prolific popularizer of Darwinian ideas in the late-19th century, offer a unique insight into this relatively uncharted territory. His work helped to develop the polemic of popular irreligious groups and imbue Darwinism with overtly atheistic connotations; it also engendered unprecedented support for atheism from the general public, and challenged the monopoly that some professional scientists enjoyed over imparting serious scientific knowledge to them.

  15. Charles Darwin's Reception in Germany and What Followed.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Axel Meyer

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available 150 years ago, Heinrich Bronn provided in the first German translation of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species a rather liberal interpretation, even adding his own view of Darwin's ideas in an additional 15th chapter. Ernst Haeckel widely popularized his view of Darwinian evolution based on his reading of this translation. This was long seen - probably incorrectly - as the intellectual root of social Darwinism in Germany.

  16. Darwin's Book: On the Origin of Species

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodge, Jonathan

    2013-09-01

    This essay is an interpretation of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species. It focuses on the contents of the Origin as Darwin intended them to be understood and the background to the work, thus revealing the originality (or otherwise) of the work.

  17. Darwin and Religion: Correcting the Caricatures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooke, John Hedley

    2010-01-01

    Much has been written on the subject of Darwinism and religion, but rather less on the development of Darwin's own thinking on religious matters and how it changed over time. What were his religious, or anti-religious, beliefs? Did he believe that his theory of evolution by natural selection was incompatible with belief in a Creator? Was it his…

  18. Exploring the nature of science through courage and purpose: a case study of Charles Darwin's way of knowing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Joel I

    2016-01-01

    In 1836, Charles Darwin returned to England with finches classified and seemingly showing little resemblance. However, subsequent examination by John Gould revealed 13 closely related species endemic to the Galápagos Islands. Despite initial confusion, and Darwin's overlooking to label these birds by island, some 100 years later they had become evolution's icon. The same could be said of Darwin's education and scientific pursuits, beginning in a rough, trial and error manner, lacking direction, but eventually benefitting from an unexpected opportunity that would lead to his theory of natural selection. This case study examines Darwin's way of learning and the reserve of courage and perseverance that he would need to see his treatise on evolution and natural selection published. To do this, themes from studying the "Nature of Science" are used to examine how Darwin's "way of knowing" advanced before and after his voyage upon HMS Beagle. Five themes from the "Nature of Science" were selected to illustrate Darwin's struggles and triumph: creating scientific knowledge is a human endeavor, such knowledge can explain an order and consistency in natural systems, knowledge comes from a scientist's way of knowing, is open to revision, and based on empirical evidence. The "Nature of Science" as applied to Charles Darwin is explored through the three above mentioned themes identified by the Next Generation Science Standards. Together, the themes help explain Darwin's way of knowing, from boyhood to manhood. This explanation helps humanize Darwin, allows students to see how he arrived at his theories, how the time taken to do so wore on his health and safety, and the risk Darwin had to weigh from their eventual publication. Each theme ends with a summary and related extension questions to draw students into the case, and facilitate inquiry. They relate Darwin's way of learning from the 1800s and his commitment to see his work published, to the learning environment of

  19. [Charles Darwin and the problem of evolutionary progress].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iordanskiĭ, N N

    2010-01-01

    According to Ch. Darwin's evolutionary theory, evolutionary progress (interpreted as morpho-physiological progress or arogenesis in recent terminology) is one of logical results of natural selection. At the same time, natural selection does not hold any factors especially promoting evolutionary progress. Darwin emphasized that the pattern of evolutionary changes depends on organism nature more than on the pattern of environment changes. Arogenesis specificity is determined by organization of rigorous biological systems - integral organisms. Onward progressive development is determined by fundamental features of living organisms: metabolism and homeostasis. The concept of social Darwinism differs fundamentally from Darwin's ideas about the most important role of social instincts in progress of mankind. Competition and selection play secondary role in socio-cultural progress of human society.

  20. Charles Darwin and the origin of life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peretó, Juli; Bada, Jeffrey L; Lazcano, Antonio

    2009-10-01

    When Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species 150 years ago he consciously avoided discussing the origin of life. However, analysis of some other texts written by Darwin, and of the correspondence he exchanged with friends and colleagues demonstrates that he took for granted the possibility of a natural emergence of the first life forms. As shown by notes from the pages he excised from his private notebooks, as early as 1837 Darwin was convinced that "the intimate relation of Life with laws of chemical combination, & the universality of latter render spontaneous generation not improbable". Like many of his contemporaries, Darwin rejected the idea that putrefaction of preexisting organic compounds could lead to the appearance of organisms. Although he favored the possibility that life could appear by natural processes from simple inorganic compounds, his reluctance to discuss the issue resulted from his recognition that at the time it was possible to undertake the experimental study of the emergence of life.

  1. Darwin and the divine experiment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gregersen, Niels Henrik; Kjærgaard, Peter C.

    2009-01-01

    In Denmark Darwin’s theory of evolution was known early on and viewed with respect, but did not make immediate scientific converts. In the 1870s, when Darwinism was promoted by free thinkers, public debates began to flourish, but religious reactions were remarkably few and mostly undramatic. Since...... natural theology was not assumed by Lutheran theologians, the issue of design vs. chance was not prevalent. Discussions focused rather on scripture and the general challenge of naturalism, and if Darwin’s name was included, the concern was human uniqueness and the social consequences of Darwinism....... Religious responses thus targeted the materialism of semi-popular Darwinism more than the substance of Darwin’s theory. Around 1900, however, many aspects of Darwin’s theory were accepted. At that time, however, leading biologists found that Darwin’s theory needed to be complemented by a Lamarckian emphasis...

  2. Galapagos: Darwin, evolution, and ENT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bluestone, Charles D

    2009-10-01

    This year is especially important in the history of the theory of evolution; 2009 is the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the sesquicentennial anniversary of his publication, The Origin of Species. Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands as a young man, which greatly influenced his thinking. My son Jim and I had the good fortune to visit these islands in January 2009 and see firsthand what led Darwin to arrive at his monumental insights into the origins of life on this planet. I have described my observations and related some of this experience to the ear, nose, and throat, albeit with whimsy in several instances. Nonetheless, some of the adaptations in the animals on these unique islands may have bearing on my hypotheses related to the incidence and pathogenesis of otitis media in humans. It is hoped the reader will share my enthusiasm for the experience we had on these fantastic islands and tour them in the future.

  3. Quantum Darwinism as a Darwinian process

    OpenAIRE

    Campbell, John

    2010-01-01

    The Darwinian nature of Wojciech Zurek's theory of Quantum Darwinism is evaluated against the criteria of a Darwinian process as understood within Universal Darwinism. The characteristics of a Darwinian process are developed including the consequences of accumulated adaptations resulting in adaptive systems operating in accordance with Friston's free energy principle and employing environmental simulations. Quantum theory, as developed in Zurek's research program and encapsulated by his theor...

  4. Darwin's Legacy to Comparative Psychology and Ethology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burghardt, Gordon M.

    2009-01-01

    Charles Darwin made numerous seminal contributions to the study of animal behavior over his long career. This essay places these contributions in the context of Darwin's life, showing his long-standing interest in psychological and behavioral issues encompassing all species, including humans. Ten areas are highlighted: natural history;…

  5. Defining Darwinism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hull, David L

    2011-03-01

    Evolutionary theory seems to lend itself to all sorts of misunderstanding. In this paper I strive to decrease such confusions, for example, between Darwinism and Darwinians, propositions and people, organisms and individuals, species as individuals versus species as classes, homologies and homoplasies, and finally essences versus histories. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  6. [Darwin and bacteria].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ledermann D, Walter

    2009-02-01

    As in 2009 the scientific world celebrates two hundreds years from the birthday of Charles Darwin and one hundred and fifty from the publication of The Origin of Species, an analysis of his complete work is performed, looking for any mention of bacteria. But it seems that the great naturahst never took knowledge about its existence, something rather improbable in a time when the discovery of bacteria shook the medical world, or he deliberately ignored them, not finding a place for such microscopic beings into his theory of evolution. But the bacteria badly affected his familiar life, killing scarlet fever one of his children and worsening to death the evolution of tuberculosis of his favourite Annie. Darwin himself could suffer the sickness of Chagas, whose etiological agent has a similar level to bacteria in the scale of evolution.

  7. The curious case of charles darwin and homeopathy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ullman, Dana

    2010-03-01

    In 1849, Charles Darwin was so ill that he was unable to work one out of every 3 days, and after having various troubling symptoms for 2-12 years, he wrote to a friend that he was 'going the way of all flesh'. He sought treatment from Dr James Manby Gully, a medical doctor who used water cure and homeopathic medicines. Despite being highly skeptical of these treatments, he experienced a dramatic improvement in his health, though some of his digestive and skin symptoms returned various times in his life. He grew to appreciate water cure, but remained skeptical of homeopathy, even though his own experiments on insectivore plants using what can be described as homeopathic doses of ammonia salts surprised and shocked him with their significant biological effect. Darwin even expressed concern that he should publish these results. Two of Darwin's sons were as incredulous as he was, but their observations confirmed the results of his experiments. Darwin was also known to have read a book on evolution written by a homeopathic physician that Darwin described as similar to his own but 'goes much deeper.'

  8. The Curious Case of Charles Darwin and Homeopathy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dana Ullman

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In 1849, Charles Darwin was so ill that he was unable to work one out of every 3 days, and after having various troubling symptoms for 2–12 years, he wrote to a friend that he was ‘going the way of all flesh’. He sought treatment from Dr James Manby Gully, a medical doctor who used water cure and homeopathic medicines. Despite being highly skeptical of these treatments, he experienced a dramatic improvement in his health, though some of his digestive and skin symptoms returned various times in his life. He grew to appreciate water cure, but remained skeptical of homeopathy, even though his own experiments on insectivore plants using what can be described as homeopathic doses of ammonia salts surprised and shocked him with their significant biological effect. Darwin even expressed concern that he should publish these results. Two of Darwin's sons were as incredulous as he was, but their observations confirmed the results of his experiments. Darwin was also known to have read a book on evolution written by a homeopathic physician that Darwin described as similar to his own but ‘goes much deeper.’

  9. Foreign bodies; or, how did Darwin invent the symptom?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowlinson, Matthew

    2010-01-01

    Beginning with a discussion of the sources in Darwin's writing for Freud's theory of the hysterical symptom, this essay proceeds to a symptomatic reading of Darwin himself. With reference to "The Origin of Species," "The Descent of Man," and "The Expression of the Emotions," this essay shows that Darwin's theories of involuntary expressive behavior and of aesthetic preference in sexual selection are linked by their role in his understanding of racial difference and also by their reliance on the idea that learned habits can be inherited as instincts, a view often identified with Lamarck. They are thus at once theories of the foreign body and theories that appear as foreigners within the body of Darwin's work.

  10. Is Darwinism Dead?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Futuyma, Douglas J.

    1985-01-01

    Outlines principles of evolutionary theory, including such recent changes as punctuated equilibria. Indicates that the incompleteness of Darwin's theory has been replaced with a conceptual framework and empirical information. Controversial issues remain, but the basic ideas still stand strong. (DH)

  11. Substantive uniformitarianism and Darwinism

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hsu, K.J.

    1985-01-01

    Darwin's theory of evolution has two themes: common descent and natural selection. The first has been controversial from the beginning to the present day, but is now well supported by geological and biological evidence. The idea of natural selection was inspired by Malthus' Essay on the Principle of Population and by the Weltanschauung of his time. Geological evidence, commonly negative, was dismissed as artifact of imperfect geological record. Variation, adaptation, and survival of the fittest are the three steps of natural selection. Adaptation implies the presence of stable environments as the goal; changes, if any, had to be gradual, slow enough for organisms to adapt. The definition of fitness also depends upon frame of reference; fitness has no meaning in a rapidly changing world. Recent geochemical, sedimentological, and paleontological studies revealed past occurrences of convulsive environmental changes as probably causes of biotic crises. Extinction was often not, as Darwin believed, the consequence of multiplication of species and selection of the fittest. Extinction could be the cause of several episodes of accelerated evolution when ecologic niches had been liberated after a catastrophe. The geological investigations of the century after Darwin indicated the inadequacy of those ideas which had been postulated on the basis of social philosophy.

  12. The Mastodon in the room: how Darwinian is neo-Darwinism?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooks, Daniel R

    2011-03-01

    Failing to acknowledge substantial differences between Darwinism and neo-Darwinism impedes evolutionary biology. Darwin described evolution as the outcome of interactions between the nature of the organism and the nature of the conditions, each relatively autonomous but both historically and spatially intertwined. Furthermore, he postulated that the nature of the organism was more important than the nature of the conditions, leading to natural selection as an inevitable emergent product of biological systems. The neo-Darwinian tradition assumed a creative rather than selective view of natural selection, with the nature of the organism determined by the nature of the conditions, rendering the nature of the organism and temporal contingency unnecessary. Contemporary advances in biology, specifically the phylogenetics revolution and evo-devo, underscore the significance of history and the nature of the organism in biology. Darwinism explains more biology better, and better resolves apparent anomalies between living systems and more general natural laws, than does neo-Darwinism. The "extended" or "expanded" synthesis currently called for by neo-Darwinians is Darwinism. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Quantum Darwinism in a Mixed Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zwolak, Michael; Quan, H. T.; Zurek, Wojciech H.

    2009-09-01

    Quantum Darwinism recognizes that we—the observers—acquire our information about the “systems of interest” indirectly from their imprints on the environment. Here, we show that information about a system can be acquired from a mixed-state, or hazy, environment, but the storage capacity of an environment fragment is suppressed by its initial entropy. In the case of good decoherence, the mutual information between the system and the fragment is given solely by the fragment’s entropy increase. For fairly mixed environments, this means a reduction by a factor 1-h, where h is the haziness of the environment, i.e., the initial entropy of an environment qubit. Thus, even such hazy environments eventually reveal the state of the system, although now the intercepted environment fragment must be larger by ˜(1-h)-1 to gain the same information about the system.

  14. Danes commemorating Darwin: apes and evolution at the 1909 anniversary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hjermitslev, Hans Henrik

    2010-10-01

    This article analyses the Danish 1909 celebrations of the centenary of Charles Darwin's birth on 12 February 1809. I argue that the 1909 meetings, lectures and publications devoted to Darwin and his theory of evolution by natural selection can be characterised by ambivalence: on the one hand, tribute to a great man of science who established a new view of nature and, on the other hand, scepticism towards the Darwinian mechanism of natural selection and the wider religious and political implications drawn from his theory. The article examines both professional and popular commemorative activities, focusing primarily on celebratory articles carried in widely circulated magazines and newspapers. I identify three types of interpretations of Darwin's ideas which I characterise as 'radical', 'evangelical' and 'safe' science. These different positions were closely linked to the political and cultural divisions of the periodical press. Moreover, my analysis of the popular press offers a solid basis for asserting that to most people Darwinism was associated with human evolution, primarily the relationship between man and apes, while more sophisticated discussions about the crisis of Darwinism prominent among naturalists played only a secondary role in the public arena. This article demonstrates the value of using newspapers as historical sources when looking for public images of Darwin, popular receptions of Darwinism and representations of science in general.

  15. Darwin at Orchis Bank: Selection after the Origin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabb, Kathryn

    2016-02-01

    Darwin's first publication after the Origin of Species was a volume on orchids that expanded on the theory of adaptation through natural selection introduced in his opus. Here I argue that On the Various Contrivances by which British and Foreign Orchids are Fertilised by Insects (1862) is not merely an empirical confirmation of his theory. In response to immediate criticisms of his metaphor of natural selection, Darwin uses Orchids to present adaptation as the result of innumerable natural laws, rather than discrete acts analogous to conscious choices. The means of selection among polliniferous plants cannot be neatly classed under the Origin's categories of artificial, natural, or sexual selection. Along with Darwin's exploration of sexual selection in his later works, Orchids serves to undo the restrictive metaphor so firmly established by the Origin and to win over those of Darwin's contemporaries who were committed advocates of natural law but suspicious of evolution by natural selection. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. [Does Darwinism really contribute to ecology].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirkin, B M

    2003-01-01

    The author questions Ghilarov's (2003) claim that Darwinism has high explanatory power in ecology. He is agree with S.V. Meyen who believed that beside synthetic theory of evolution (the popular variant on Darwinism) other explanations of evolution are possible. It is emphasized that several processes (e.g., diversification and unification of species at one trophic level, as well as individual and diffusive coadaptations of species of different levels) can contribute to community evolution. Communities cannot be considered as units of natural selection.

  17. Charles Darwin and psychology at the bicentennial and sesquicentennial: an introduction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewsbury, Donald A

    2009-01-01

    This article provides an introduction to the special issue on Darwin and psychology at the bicentennial of his birth and the sesquicentennial of his publication of On the Origin of Species. His core contributions, as viewed today, were his theory of natural selection, his naturalistic philosophy, and his mass of evidence for evolutionary change. A brief summary of Darwin's life is also presented. Among Darwin's contributions to psychology were his demonstration of the continuity of species, a model for the study of instinct, a book on the expression of the emotions, and a baby biography. Previous celebrations of Darwin and the changing perceptions of his work since its publication are described. Darwin's theory remains an important part of psychology. 2009 APA, all rights reserved

  18. Stratigraphy and paleogeographic significance of a Late Pennsylvanian to Early Permian channeled slope sequence in the Darwin Basin, southern Darwin Hills, east-central California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevens, Calvin H.; Stone, Paul; Magginetti, Robert T.; Ritter, Scott M.

    2015-01-01

    The complex stratigraphy of late Paleozoic rocks in the southern Darwin Hills consists of regionally extensive Mississippian and Early to Middle Pennsylvanian rocks overlain by latest Pennsylvanian to Early Permian rocks, herein called the Darwin Hills sequence. Deposition of this latter sequence marked the beginning of the Darwin Basin. In Mississippian time, a carbonate platform prograded westward over slightly older slope deposits. In the Late Mississippian this platform was exposed to erosion and siliciclastic sediments were deposited. In Early to Middle Pennsylvanian time the area subsided, forming a west-facing ramp that was subjected to deformation and erosion in Middle or early Late Pennsylvanian time. Later this area was tilted westward and deep-water sediments were deposited on this slope. In latest Pennsylvanian to earliest Permian time, a major channel was cut through the older Pennsylvanian rocks and into the Upper Mississippian strata. This channel was gradually filled with increasingly finer grained, deep-water sediment as the area evolved into a basin floor by Early Permian (Sakmarian) time. Expansion of the Darwin Basin in Artinskian time led to a second phase of deposition represented by strata of the regionally extensive Darwin Canyon Formation. The geology in this small area thus documents tectonic events occurring during the early development of the Darwin Basin.

  19. Neutrino physics with DARWIN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benabderrahmane, M. L.

    2017-09-01

    DARWIN (DARk matter WImp search with liquid xenoN) will be a multi-ton dark matter detector with the primary goal of exploring the entire experimentally accessible parameter space for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) over a wide mass-range. With its 40 tonne active liquid xenon target, low-energy threshold and ultra-low background level, DARWIN can also search for other rare interactions. Here we present its sensitivity to low-energy solar neutrinos and to neutrinoless double beta decay. In a low-energy window of 2-30 keV a rate of 105/year, from pp and 7Be neutrinos can be reached. Such a measurement, with 1% precision will allow testing neutrinos models. DARWIN could also reach a competitive half-life sensitivity of 8.5 · 1027 y to the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) of 136Xe after an exposure of 140 t×y of natural xenon. Nuclear recoils from coherent scattering of solar neutrinos will limit the sensitivity to WIMP masses below 5 GeV/c2, and the event rate from 8B neutrinos would range from a few to a few tens of events per tonne and year, depending on the energy threshold of the detector. Deviations from the predicted but yet unmeasured neutrino flux would be an indication for physics beyond the Standard Model

  20. The Voyage of the Beagle: Field Work Lessons from Charles Darwin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Louis M.

    1987-01-01

    Analyzes Charles Darwin's letters to his family during his voyage on H.M.S. Beagle. Relates the information to the development of Darwin's professional identity and the degree to which the concepts, field methods, and research methods revealed in Darwin's personal correspondence are useful to students of educational administration. (MD)

  1. Streamlined Darwin simulation of nonneutral plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hewett, D.W.; Boyd, J.K.

    1987-01-01

    Efficient, new algorithms that require less formal manipulation than previous implementations have been formulated for the numerical solution of the Darwin model. These new procedures reduce the effort required to achieve some of the advantages that the Darwin model offers. Because the Courant--Friedrichs--Lewy stability limit for radiation modes is eliminated, the Darwin model has the advantage of a substantially larger time-step. Further, without radiation modes, simulation results are less sensitive to enhanced particle fluctation noise. We discuss methods for calculating the magnetic field that avoid formal vector decomposition and offer a new procedure for finding the inductive electric field. This procedure avoids vector decomposition of plasma source terms and circumvents some source gradient issues that slow convergence. As a consequence, the numerical effort required for each of the field time-steps is reduced, and more importantly, the need to specify several nonintuitive boundary conditions is eliminated. copyright 1987 Academic Press, Inc

  2. Darwin as a student of behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thierry, Bernard

    2010-02-01

    In The Expression of the Emotions, Charles Darwin documents evolutionary continuity between animals and humans, emphasizing the universality of expressions in man. Most of the book addresses human behavior, and its influence on the study of animal behavior has been weak. The issue of natural selection is remarkably absent from this book, which relies on the inheritance of acquired characters rather than on a genuine Darwinian logic. Yet Konrad Lorenz considered Darwin to be a forerunner of behavioral biology. The reason was to be found in The Descent of Man and chapter VIII of The Origin of Species, where Darwin provides an explanation of behavior through selection, stating that the same mechanisms explaining morphological changes also account for gradual improvements in instincts. He assessed the accuracy of his evolutionary theory by directly studying animal behavior, hence laying the foundations of behavioral research for the next century. 2009 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

  3. Social Darwinism: from reality to myth and from myth to reality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Becquemont, Daniel

    2011-03-01

    Considering the variety of contradictory definitions which have been attributed to the term in the course of more than a century, one may be tempted to admit that 'Social Darwinism' can be reduced to a social myth. But it seems nevertheless necessary to answer the question: what has been called 'Social Darwinism' for more than one century and why was the expression used in a negative way to express contradictory opinions which sometimes have nothing to do with Darwin's theory. What we still call 'Social Darwinism' is the result of a misunderstanding: the theories expressed under that phrase have little to do with the Darwinian concepts of natural selection or descent with modification. They have their origin in a pre-darwinian conception of the struggle for existence, which Darwin used in a metaphorical sense. This confusion will then appear to refer clearly to the relationship we establish between biology and society, whether biological laws are directly prolonged in society, or more or less intermingle in a close network. The issue of the definition of Social Darwinism depends obviously on the possible answers to this question, and so does the issue of redefining Darwinism at large. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. And of Darwin that?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pinzon Lopez, Jaime

    2002-01-01

    The article is about the investigations and contributions of Darwin related with the evolution of the species. Material that gathered through their trips along everybody and the comparison that he makes with the man

  5. Work plan for improving the DARWIN2.3 depleted material balance calculation of nuclides of interest for the fuel cycle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rizzo Axel

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available DARWIN2.3 is the reference package used for fuel cycle applications in France. It solves the Boltzmann and Bateman equations in a coupling way, with the European JEFF-3.1.1 nuclear data library, to compute the fuel cycle values of interest. It includes both deterministic transport codes APOLLO2 (for light water reactors and ERANOS2 (for fast reactors, and the DARWIN/PEPIN2 depletion code, each of them being developed by CEA/DEN with the support of its industrial partners. The DARWIN2.3 package has been experimentally validated for pressurized and boiling water reactors, as well as for sodium fast reactors; this experimental validation relies on the analysis of post-irradiation experiments (PIE. The DARWIN2.3 experimental validation work points out some isotopes for which the depleted concentration calculation can be improved. Some other nuclides have no available experimental validation, and their concentration calculation uncertainty is provided by the propagation of a priori nuclear data uncertainties. This paper describes the work plan of studies initiated this year to improve the accuracy of the DARWIN2.3 depleted material balance calculation concerning some nuclides of interest for the fuel cycle.

  6. Work plan for improving the DARWIN2.3 depleted material balance calculation of nuclides of interest for the fuel cycle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rizzo, Axel; Vaglio-Gaudard, Claire; Martin, Julie-Fiona; Noguère, Gilles; Eschbach, Romain

    2017-09-01

    DARWIN2.3 is the reference package used for fuel cycle applications in France. It solves the Boltzmann and Bateman equations in a coupling way, with the European JEFF-3.1.1 nuclear data library, to compute the fuel cycle values of interest. It includes both deterministic transport codes APOLLO2 (for light water reactors) and ERANOS2 (for fast reactors), and the DARWIN/PEPIN2 depletion code, each of them being developed by CEA/DEN with the support of its industrial partners. The DARWIN2.3 package has been experimentally validated for pressurized and boiling water reactors, as well as for sodium fast reactors; this experimental validation relies on the analysis of post-irradiation experiments (PIE). The DARWIN2.3 experimental validation work points out some isotopes for which the depleted concentration calculation can be improved. Some other nuclides have no available experimental validation, and their concentration calculation uncertainty is provided by the propagation of a priori nuclear data uncertainties. This paper describes the work plan of studies initiated this year to improve the accuracy of the DARWIN2.3 depleted material balance calculation concerning some nuclides of interest for the fuel cycle.

  7. Like grandfather, like grandson: Erasmus and Charles Darwin on evolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, C U M

    2010-01-01

    Last year (2009) marked the bicentenary of Charles Darwin's birth and the sesquicentenary of The Origin of Species. This article examines the influence of Erasmus Darwin on Charles's evolutionary thought and shows how, in many ways, Erasmus anticipated his much better-known grandson. It discusses the similarity in the mindsets of the two Darwins, asks how far the younger Darwin was exposed to the elder's evolutionary thought, examines the similarities and differences in their theories of evolution, and ends by showing the surprising similarity between their theories of inheritance. Erasmus's influence on Charles is greater than customarily acknowledged, and now is an opportune time to bring the grandfather out from behind the glare of his stellar grandson.

  8. Darwin's Revolution in Thought: An Illustrated Lecture. Teaching Guide and Videotape.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gould, Stephen Jay

    "Darwin's Revolution in Thought" is Stephen Jay Gould's definitive treatise on Charles Darwin. This 50-minute classroom edition videotaped lecture is structured in the form of a paradox and three riddles about Darwin's life. Each is designed to shed light on one of the key features of the theory of natural selection, its philosophical…

  9. Darwin and Evolution Indian Academy of Sciences, 3 July 2009 (mid ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2009-07-03

    Jul 3, 2009 ... Darwin and Evolution Indian Academy of Sciences, 3 July 2009 (mid-year meeting, Hyderabad) · Darwin, 1840 · Slide 3 · Natural Selection · Why does natural selection occur? What does natural selection lead to? Slide 7 · Complexity · Slide 9 · Slide 10 · Darwin on mind · Features of natural selection.

  10. Inspiration in the harness of daily labor. Darwin, botany, and the triumph of evolution, 1859-1868.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bellon, Richard

    2011-09-01

    Charles Darwin hoped that a large body of working naturalists would embrace evolution after the Origin of Species appeared in late 1859. He was disappointed. His evolutionary ideas at first made painfully little progress in the scientific community. But by 1863 the tide had turned dramatically, and within five years evolution became scientific orthodoxy in Britain. The Origin's reception followed this peculiar trajectory because Darwin had not initially tied its theory to productive original scientific investigation, which left him vulnerable to charges of reckless speculation. The debate changed with his successful application of evolution to original problems, most notably orchid fertilization, the subject of a well-received book in 1862. Most of Darwin's colleagues found the argument of the Origin convincing when they realized that it functioned productively in the day-to-day work of science-and not before. The conceptual force of the Origin, however outwardly persuasive, acquired full scientific legitimacy only when placed "in the harness of daily labour".

  11. Did Darwin change his mind about the Fuegians?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radick, Gregory

    2010-06-01

    Shocked by what he considered to be the savagery he encountered in Tierra del Fuego, Charles Darwin ranked the Fuegians lowest among the human races. An enduring story has it, however, that Darwin was later so impressed by the successes of missionaries there, and by the grandeur they discovered in the native tongue, that he changed his mind. This story has served diverse interests, religious and scientific. But Darwin in fact continued to view the Fuegians as he had from the start, as lowly but improvable. And while his case for their unity with the other human races drew on missionary evidence, that evidence concerned emotional expression, not language. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Humanos salvajes y monos altruistas. Reflexiones sobre Darwin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Martinez Contreras

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available RESUMEN   Darwin propuso en 1871 que preferiría descender de un mono que de los “salvajes”. El mono es un babuino hamadryas que, en un relato de Brehm, salva a un infante de una jauría. Los “salvajes” son los fueguinos a los que visitó en los años 1830. ¿Por qué Darwin fue tan buen observador del comportamiento animal y por qué no dudo discernir en qué consistía la sociedad de cazadores-recolectores de los cuatro grupos de Tierra del Fuego?. Esto es lo que tratamos de dilucidar en este trabajo.   Palabras clave: Darwin, fueguinos, hamadryas, altruismo, egoísmo.

  13. Economic Darwinism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sloth, Birgitte; Whitta-Jacobsen, Hans Jørgen

    We define an evolutionary process of “economic Darwinism” for playing-the-field, symmetric games. The process captures two forces. One is “economic selection”: if current behavior leads to payoff differences, behavior yielding lowest payoff has strictly positive probability of being replaced...... in the literature. Using this result, we demonstrate that generally under positive (negative) externalities, economic Darwinism implies even more under- (over-) activity than does Nash equilibrium...

  14. Ecoimmunity in Darwin's finches: invasive parasites trigger acquired immunity in the medium ground finch (Geospiza fortis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarah K Huber

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Invasive parasites are a major threat to island populations of animals. Darwin's finches of the Galápagos Islands are under attack by introduced pox virus (Poxvirus avium and nest flies (Philornis downsi. We developed assays for parasite-specific antibody responses in Darwin's finches (Geospiza fortis, to test for relationships between adaptive immune responses to novel parasites and spatial-temporal variation in the occurrence of parasite pressure among G. fortis populations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs for the presence of antibodies in the serum of Darwin's finches specific to pox virus or Philornis proteins. We compared antibody levels between bird populations with and without evidence of pox infection (visible lesions, and among birds sampled before nesting (prior to nest-fly exposure versus during nesting (with fly exposure. Birds from the Pox-positive population had higher levels of pox-binding antibodies. Philornis-binding antibody levels were higher in birds sampled during nesting. Female birds, which occupy the nest, had higher Philornis-binding antibody levels than males. The study was limited by an inability to confirm pox exposure independent of obvious lesions. However, the lasting effects of pox infection (e.g., scarring and lost digits were expected to be reliable indicators of prior pox infection. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first demonstration, to our knowledge, of parasite-specific antibody responses to multiple classes of parasites in a wild population of birds. Darwin's finches initiated acquired immune responses to novel parasites. Our study has vital implications for invasion biology and ecological immunology. The adaptive immune response of Darwin's finches may help combat the negative effects of parasitism. Alternatively, the physiological cost of mounting such a response could outweigh any benefits, accelerating population decline. Tests

  15. Darwin's Book: "On the Origin of Species"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodge, Jonathan

    2013-01-01

    This essay is an interpretation of Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species". It focuses on the contents of the "Origin" as Darwin intended them to be understood and the background to the work, thus revealing the originality (or otherwise) of the work.

  16. Darwin Core: An Evolving Community-Developed Biodiversity Data Standard

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wieczorek, John; Bloom, David; Guralnick, Robert; Blum, Stan; Döring, Markus; Giovanni, Renato; Robertson, Tim; Vieglais, David

    2012-01-01

    Biodiversity data derive from myriad sources stored in various formats on many distinct hardware and software platforms. An essential step towards understanding global patterns of biodiversity is to provide a standardized view of these heterogeneous data sources to improve interoperability. Fundamental to this advance are definitions of common terms. This paper describes the evolution and development of Darwin Core, a data standard for publishing and integrating biodiversity information. We focus on the categories of terms that define the standard, differences between simple and relational Darwin Core, how the standard has been implemented, and the community processes that are essential for maintenance and growth of the standard. We present case-study extensions of the Darwin Core into new research communities, including metagenomics and genetic resources. We close by showing how Darwin Core records are integrated to create new knowledge products documenting species distributions and changes due to environmental perturbations. PMID:22238640

  17. The first Charles Darwin (1758-78).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Stuart

    2009-11-01

    The paper places the first Charles Darwin in his family context: the eldest son of Dr Erasmus Darwin and Mary Howard. Mention is made of Charles's upbringing and education, with illustrative material taken from his father's writings and from Anna Seward's Memoirs of the Life of Dr Darwin (1804). The part played by Dr Andrew Duncan of the Edinburgh Medical School is established. The award to Charles in March 1778 of the first medal by the Aesculapian Society of Edinburgh is described. The involvement of Dr William Cullen and Dr Joseph Black in the treatment of Charles's fatal infection is evidenced from Erasmus' letters. Attention is given to 'An Elegy on the much-lamented death of a most ingenious young gentleman who lately died in the College at Edinburgh where he was a student' which was written jointly by Duncan and Erasmus in 1778. The Elegy's curious publishing history will be glanced at. The paper concludes with a statement of Charles's great promise as a medical student and of Erasmus' efforts to ensure that his son's achievements were memorialised.

  18. From Charles Darwin's botanical country-house studies to modern plant biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kutschera, U; Briggs, W R

    2009-11-01

    As a student of theology at Cambridge University, Charles Darwin (1809-1882) attended the lectures of the botanist John S. Henslow (1796-1861). This instruction provided the basis for his life-long interest in plants as well as the species question. This was a major reason why in his book On the Origin of Species, which was published 150 years ago, Darwin explained his metaphorical phrase 'struggle for life' with respect to animals and plants. In this article, we review Darwin's botanical work with reference to the following topics: the struggle for existence in the vegetable kingdom with respect to the phytochrome-mediated shade avoidance response; the biology of flowers and Darwin's plant-insect co-evolution hypothesis; climbing plants and the discovery of action potentials; the power of movement in plants and Darwin's conflict with the German plant physiologist Julius Sachs; and light perception by growing grass coleoptiles with reference to the phototropins. Finally, we describe the establishment of the scientific discipline of Plant Biology that took place in the USA 80 years ago, and define this area of research with respect to Darwin's work on botany and the physiology of higher plants.

  19. The explanatory logic and ontological commitments of generalized Darwinism

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stoelhorst, J.W.

    2008-01-01

    The recent debate about the value of Darwinism as a source of ontological foundations for evolutionary economics reduces to a disagreement about whether or not the causal logic of Darwinism applies to economic evolution. However, this logic has not yet been fully specified. While the explanantia of

  20. Aspects of three field approximations: Darwin, frozen, EMPULSE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boyd, J.K.; Lee, E.P.; Yu, S.S.

    1985-01-01

    The traditional approach used to study high energy beam propagation relies on the frozen field approximation. A minor modification of the frozen field approximation yields the set of equations applied to the analysis of the hose instability. These models are constrasted with the Darwin field approximation. A statement is made of the Darwin model equations relevant to the analysis of the hose instability

  1. Darwin, Veblen and the problem of causality in economics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hodgson, G M

    2001-01-01

    This article discusses some of the ways in which Darwinism has influenced a small minority of economists. It is argued that Darwinism involves a philosophical as well as a theoretical doctrine. Despite claims to the contrary, the uses of analogies to Darwinian natural selection theory are highly limited in economics. Exceptions include Thorstein Veblen, Richard Nelson, and Sidney Winter. At the philosophical level, one of the key features of Darwinism is its notion of detailed understanding in terms of chains of cause and effect. This issue is discussed in the context of the problem of causality in social theory. At least in Darwinian terms, the prevailing causal dualism--of intentional and mechanical causality--in the social sciences is found wanting. Once again, Veblen was the first economist to understand the implications for economics of Darwinism at this philosophical level. For Veblen, it was related to his notion of 'cumulative causation'. The article concludes with a discussion of the problems and potential of this Veblenian position.

  2. Combating plant diseases--the Darwin connection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hollomon, Derek W; Brent, Keith J

    2009-11-01

    Although Darwin knew of plant diseases, he did not study them as part of his analysis of natural selection. Effective plant disease control has only been developed after his death. This article explores the relevance of Darwin's ideas to three problem areas with respect to diseases caused by fungi: emergence of new diseases, loss of disease resistance bred into plants and development of fungicide resistance. Darwin's concept of change through natural or artificial selection relied on selection of many small changes, but subsequent genetic research has shown that change can also occur through large steps. Appearance of new diseases can involve gene duplication, transfer or recombination, but all evidence points to both host plant resistance and fungicide susceptibility being overcome through point mutations. Because the population size of diseases such as rusts and powdery and downy mildews is so large, all possible point mutations are likely to occur daily, even during moderate epidemics. Overcoming control measures therefore reflects the overall fitness of these mutants, and much resource effort is being directed towards assessment of their fitness, both in the presence and in the absence of selection. While recent developments in comparative genomics have caused some revision of Darwin's ideas, experience in managing plant disease control measures clearly demonstrates the relevance of concepts he introduced 150 years ago. It also reveals the remarkable speed and the practical impact of adaptation in wild microorganism populations to changes in their environment, and the difficulty of stopping or delaying such adaptation. (c) 2009 Society of Chemical Industry.

  3. JAMSTEC DARWIN Database Assimilates GANSEKI and COEDO

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomiyama, T.; Toyoda, Y.; Horikawa, H.; Sasaki, T.; Fukuda, K.; Hase, H.; Saito, H.

    2017-12-01

    Introduction: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) archives data and samples obtained by JAMSTEC research vessels and submersibles. As a common property of the human society, JAMSTEC archive is open for public users with scientific/educational purposes [1]. For publicizing its data and samples online, JAMSTEC is operating NUUNKUI data sites [2], a group of several databases for various data and sample types. For years, data and metadata of JAMSTEC rock samples, sediment core samples and cruise/dive observation were publicized through databases named GANSEKI, COEDO, and DARWIN, respectively. However, because they had different user interfaces and data structures, these services were somewhat confusing for unfamiliar users. Maintenance costs of multiple hardware and software were also problematic for performing sustainable services and continuous improvements. Database Integration: In 2017, GANSEKI, COEDO and DARWIN were integrated into DARWIN+ [3]. The update also included implementation of map-search function as a substitute of closed portal site. Major functions of previous systems were incorporated into the new system; users can perform the complex search, by thumbnail browsing, map area, keyword filtering, and metadata constraints. As for data handling, the new system is more flexible, allowing the entry of variety of additional data types. Data Management: After the DARWIN major update, JAMSTEC data & sample team has been dealing with minor issues of individual sample data/metadata which sometimes need manual modification to be transferred to the new system. Some new data sets, such as onboard sample photos and surface close-up photos of rock samples, are getting available online. Geochemical data of sediment core samples will supposedly be added in the near future. Reference: [1] http://www.jamstec.go.jp/e/database/data_policy.html [2] http://www.godac.jamstec.go.jp/jmedia/portal/e/ [3] http://www.godac.jamstec.go.jp/darwin/e/

  4. Redundant information from thermal illumination: quantum Darwinism in scattered photons

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jess Riedel, C; Zurek, Wojciech H, E-mail: criedel@physics.ucsb.edu [Theory Division, LANL, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States)

    2011-07-15

    We study quantum Darwinism, the redundant recording of information about the preferred states of a decohering system by its environment, for an object illuminated by a blackbody. We calculate the quantum mutual information between the object and its photon environment for blackbodies that cover an arbitrary section of the sky. In particular, we demonstrate that more extended sources have a reduced ability to create redundant information about the system, in agreement with previous evidence that initial mixedness of an environment slows-but does not stop-the production of records. We also show that the qualitative results are robust for more general initial states of the system.

  5. Redundant information from thermal illumination: quantum Darwinism in scattered photons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jess Riedel, C.; Zurek, Wojciech H.

    2011-07-01

    We study quantum Darwinism, the redundant recording of information about the preferred states of a decohering system by its environment, for an object illuminated by a blackbody. We calculate the quantum mutual information between the object and its photon environment for blackbodies that cover an arbitrary section of the sky. In particular, we demonstrate that more extended sources have a reduced ability to create redundant information about the system, in agreement with previous evidence that initial mixedness of an environment slows—but does not stop—the production of records. We also show that the qualitative results are robust for more general initial states of the system.

  6. Quantum Darwinism and non-Markovian dissipative dynamics from quantum phases of the spin-1/2 X X model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giorgi, Gian Luca; Galve, Fernando; Zambrini, Roberta

    2015-08-01

    Quantum Darwinism explains the emergence of a classical description of objects in terms of the creation of many redundant registers in an environment containing their classical information. This amplification phenomenon, where only classical information reaches the macroscopic observer and through which different observers can agree on the objective existence of such object, has been revived lately for several types of situations, successfully explaining classicality. We explore quantum Darwinism in the setting of an environment made of two level systems which are initially prepared in the ground state of the XX model, which exhibits different phases; we find that the different phases have different abilities to redundantly acquire classical information about the system, the "ferromagnetic phase" being the only one able to complete quantum Darwinism. At the same time we relate this ability to how non-Markovian the system dynamics is, based on the interpretation that non-Markovian dynamics is associated with backflow of information from environment to system, thus spoiling the information transfer needed for Darwinism. Finally, we explore mixing of bath registers by allowing a small interaction among them, finding that this spoils the stored information as previously found in the literature.

  7. From Darwin's Origin of Species toward a theory of natural history.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boero, Ferdinando

    2015-01-01

    Darwin is the father of evolutionary theory because he identified evolutionary patterns and, with Natural Selection, he ascertained the exquisitely ecological ultimate processes that lead to evolution. The proximate processes of evolution he proposed, however, predated the discovery of genetics, the backbone of modern evolutionary theory. The later discovery of the laws of inheritance by Mendel and the rediscovery of Mendel in the early 20th century led to two reforms of Darwinism: Neo-Darwinism and the Modern Synthesis (and subsequent refinements). If Darwin's evolutionary thought required much refinement, his ecological insight is still very modern. In the first edition of The Origin of Species, Darwin did not use either the word "evolution" or the word "ecology". "Ecology" was not coined until after the publication of the Origin. Evolution, for him, was the origin of varieties, then species, which he referred to as well-marked varieties, whereas, instead of using ecology, he used "the economy of nature". The Origin contains a high proportion of currently accepted ecological principles. Darwin labelled himself a naturalist. His discipline (natural history) was a blend of ecology and evolution in which he investigated both the patterns and the processes that determine the organization of life. Reductionist approaches, however, often keep the two disciplines separated from each other, undermining a full understanding of natural phenomena that might be favored by blending ecology and evolution through the development of a modern Theory of Natural History based on Darwin's vision of the study of life.

  8. Darwin's goldmine is still open: variation and selection run the world

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forterre, Patrick

    2012-01-01

    The scientific contribution of Darwin, still agonized in many religious circles, has now been recognized and celebrated by scientists from various disciplines. However, in recent years, several evolutionists have criticized Darwin as outdated, arguing that “Darwinism,” assimilated to the “tree of life,” cannot explain microbial evolution, or else was not operating in early life evolution. These critics either confuse “Darwinism” and old versions of “neo-Darwinism” or misunderstand the role of gene transfers in evolution. The core of Darwin explanation of evolution (variation/selection) remains necessary and sufficient to decipher the history of life. The enormous diversity of mechanisms underlying variations has been successfully interpreted by evolutionists in this framework and has considerably enriched the corpus of evolutionary biology without the necessity to kill the father. However, it remains for evolutionists to acknowledge interactions between cells and viruses (unknown for Darwin) as a major driving force in life evolution. PMID:22919695

  9. Our Way to Understand the World: Darwin's Controversial Inheritance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmidt-Salomon, Michael

    Shortly after he had completed the first draft of his theory of evolution in 1844, Charles Darwin wrote to his friend Joseph Hooker, the botanist, that publishing the theory seemed to him "like confessing a murder" (Glaubrecht 2009, p. 161). Right from the beginning, Darwin was aware of the far-reaching impact his theory would have. And this was probably one of the main reasons for his postponing the publication of his ideas for such a long time. After the completion of the 230 page text in 1844, it was another 15 years (!) before his famous book On the Origin of Species was published. Since that time 150 years have passed, but the theory of evolution is as controversial as ever. Darwin's dangerous idea is still putting many traditional world views through some very hard tests. This is the central theme to which I have devoted the following thoughts. I have divided my study into three parts: I shall start by shedding some light on the conflict between Darwin's challenging idea and traditional (Christian) beliefs, a conflict that has lasted till this very day. In the second part, I want to focus on the ideological abuse of the theory of evolution. The third and final part introduces Julian Huxley's concept of 'evolutionary humanism', which links Darwin's scientific inheritance with a distinctly humanist ethic.

  10. Darwin and the origin of life: public versus private science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strick, James E

    2009-12-01

    In the first twenty years after the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, an intense debate took place within the ranks of Darwin's supporters over exactly what his theory implied about the means by which the original living organism formed on Earth. Many supporters of evolutionary science also supported the doctrine of spontaneous generation: life forming from nonliving material not just once but many times up to the present day. Darwin was ambivalent on this topic. He feared its explosive potential to drive away liberal-minded Christians who might otherwise be supporters. His ambivalent wording created still more confusion, both among friends and foes, about what Darwin actually believed about the origin of life. A famous lecture by Thomas H. Huxley in 1870 set forth what later became the 'party line' Darwinian position on the subject.

  11. The theory of Darwin

    CERN Multimedia

    Thuillier,P

    1984-01-01

    Biographie de Charles Darwin, naturaliste anglaise (1809 - 1882), qui demeurait fameux dans l'histoire des sciences, parce qu'il a inventé une théorie qui permet de rendre compte rationnellement en principe de la formation des diverses formes vivantes que nous voyons

  12. Darwin: Dose monitoring system applicable to various radiations with wide energy ranges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, T.; Satoh, D.; Endo, A.; Yamaguchi, Y.

    2007-01-01

    A new radiation dose monitor, designated as DARWIN (Dose monitoring system Applicable to various Radiations with Wide energy ranges), has been developed for real-time monitoring of doses in workspaces and surrounding environments of high-energy accelerator facilities. DARWIN is composed of a Phoswitch-type scintillation detector, which consists of liquid organic scintillator BC501A coupled with ZnS(Ag) scintillation sheets doped with 6 Li, and a data acquisition system based on a Digital-Storage-Oscilloscope. DARWIN has the following features: (1) capable of monitoring doses from neutrons, photons and muons with energies from thermal energy to 1 GeV, 150 keV to 100 MeV and 1 MeV to 100 GeV, respectively, (2) highly sensitive with precision and (3) easy to operate with a simple graphical user-interface. The performance of DARWIN was examined experimentally in several radiation fields. The results of the experiments indicated the accuracy and wide response range of DARWIN for measuring dose rates from neutrons, photons and muons with wide energies. It was also found from the experiments that DARWIN enables us to monitor small fluctuations of neutron dose rates near the background level because of its high sensitivity. With these properties, DARWIN will be able to play a very important role for improving radiation safety in high-energy accelerator facilities. (authors)

  13. As teorias de Lamarck e Darwin nos livros didáticos de Biologia no Brasil Lamarck's and Darwin's theories in text books of Biology in Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Argus Vasconcelos de Almeida

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available As teorias de Lamarck e Darwin são analisadas numa amostra de livros didáticos brasileiros de biologia, num período de sessenta anos. A de Darwin ocupa, nos livros didáticos, uma área maior do que a de Lamarck. Nestes é variável a extensão do conteúdo de Lamarck. Dentre os livros, destacam-se as edições do BSCS. Nestas, pela primeira vez, é apresentado o exemplo da figura do alongamento do pescoço da girafa, para ilustrar as diferenças de abordagem entre as teorias, e reproduzido desde então na maioria dos livros didáticos. Na teoria de Darwin, o principal conceito referenciado pelos autores é o da seleção natural, e, na de Lamarck, a herança dos caracteres adquiridos. As duas teorias são diferentemente apresentadas nos livros didáticos de biologia no Brasil. Darwin é apresentado como modelo de cientista e Lamarck como um teórico especulativo, tendo a sua teoria consideravelmente deformada, distante da formulação original.Theories formulated by Lamarck and Darwin are analyzed in a sample of Brazilian textbooks on biology published in a period of sixty years. Darwin's theory is covered more than Lamarck's theory. Among the analyzed books, an important mention must be addressed for BSCS editions, since the example of the elongation of the giraffes" necks for illustrating differences between both theories is presented in this series for the first time, and since then has been adopted by the majority of other textbooks on biology. The main concepts presented as representative of Darwin's and Lamarck's theories by all textbooks are natural selection and the inheritance of acquired characters, respectively. Not only theories but also the authors are differently presented in reviewed textbooks: while Darwin is presented as a model of scientist, Lamarck appears as a speculative theoretician, his theoretical propositions being remarkably deformed and changed from their original formulations.

  14. The Evolution of Darwinism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stebbins, G. Ledyard; Ayala, Francisco J.

    1985-01-01

    Recent developments in molecular biology and new interpretations of the fossil record are gradually altering and adding to Charles Darwin's theory, which has been the standard view of the process of evolution for 40 years. Several of these developments and interpretations are identified and discussed. (JN)

  15. Empathy's purity, sympathy's complexities; De Waal, Darwin and Adam Smith.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Weele, Cor

    2011-07-01

    Frans de Waal's view that empathy is at the basis of morality directly seems to build on Darwin, who considered sympathy as the crucial instinct. Yet when we look closer, their understanding of the central social instinct differs considerably. De Waal sees our deeply ingrained tendency to sympathize (or rather: empathize) with others as the good side of our morally dualistic nature. For Darwin, sympathizing was not the whole story of the "workings of sympathy"; the (selfish) need to receive sympathy played just as central a role in the complex roads from sympathy to morality. Darwin's understanding of sympathy stems from Adam Smith, who argued that the presence of morally impure motives should not be a reason for cynicism about morality. I suggest that De Waal's approach could benefit from a more thorough alignment with the analysis of the workings of sympathy in the work of Darwin and Adam Smith.

  16. Developing of the future: scaffolded Darwinism in societal evolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersson, Claes; Törnberg, Anton; Törnberg, Petter

    2014-08-01

    We sympathize with the project of a synthetic approach for devising a "theory of intentional change" and agree that Darwinism should be central in such a theory. But Darwinism is not the only process of evolution that needs to be included. Evolutionary biology itself has taken such a turn recently, with the emergence of developmental evolutionary approaches.

  17. Charles Darwin's Botanical Investigations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harley, Suzanne M.

    2010-01-01

    Charles Darwin's botanical studies provide a way to expose students to his work that followed the publication of "On the Origin of Species." We can use stories from his plant investigations to illustrate key concepts in the life sciences and model how questions are asked and answered in science.

  18. Bravo Emma! Music in the life and work of Charles Darwin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derry, J F

    2009-03-01

    The long-term marital dance of Emma and Charles Darwin was set to the routine beat of an almost daily piano recital. Emma was a proficient pianist, and so a quality instrument was a welcome and appropriate house-warming present for their first marital home in London. That same piano accompanied the Darwins on their move to Downe before being upgraded for a newer model, which is still there, whilst another, cheaper piano may have played in Charles Darwin's work, particularly on earthworms. Whilst he lamented his own lack of musicality, Darwin revelled in his wife's prowess, a capacity that he recognised could be inherited, not least through observation of his own children. The evolution of musicality, he reasoned, was rooted in sexual attraction as a form of communication that preceded language.

  19. Getting to Darwin: Obstacles to Accepting Evolution by Natural Selection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thagard, Paul; Findlay, Scott

    2010-01-01

    Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is central to modern biology, but is resisted by many people. This paper discusses the major psychological obstacles to accepting Darwin's theory. Cognitive obstacles to adopting evolution by natural selection include conceptual difficulties, methodological issues, and coherence problems that…

  20. An Ottoman response to Darwinism: İsmail Fennî on Islam and evolution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bilgili, Alper

    2015-12-01

    The Scopes trial (1925) fuelled discussion in the United States on the social and political implications of Darwinism. For the defenders of the 1925 Tennessee law - which prohibited the teaching of Darwinism in schools - Darwinism was, amongst other things, responsible for the German militarism which eventually led to the First World War. This view was supported by İsmail Fennî, a late Ottoman intellectual, who authored a book immediately after the trial which aimed to debunk scientific materialism. In it, he claimed that Darwinism blurred the distinction between man and beast and thus destroyed the foundations of morality. However, despite his anti-Darwinist stance, İsmail Fennî argued against laws forbidding the teaching of Darwinism in schools, and emphasized that even false theories contributed to scientific improvement. Indeed, because of his belief in science he claimed that Muslims should not reject Darwinism if it were supported by future scientific evidence. If this turned out to be the case, then religious interpretations should be revised accordingly. This article contributes to the literature on early Muslim reactions to Darwinism by examining the views of İsmail Fennî, which were notably sophisticated when compared with those of the anti-religious Darwinist and anti-Darwinist religious camps that dominated late Ottoman intellectual life.

  1. Classical system boundaries cannot be determined within quantum Darwinism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fields, Chris

    Multiple observers who interact with environmental encodings of the states of a macroscopic quantum system S as required by quantum Darwinism cannot demonstrate that they are jointly observing S without a joint a priori assumption of a classical boundary separating S from its environment E. Quantum Darwinism cannot, therefore, be regarded as providing a purely quantum-mechanical explanation of the "emergence" of classicality.

  2. Darwin and Reductionisms: Victorian, Neo-Darwinian and Postgenomic Biologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angelique Richardson

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available This article compares the open-ended Darwinism of Charles Darwin, George Lewes, George Eliot and Thomas Hardy with reductive post-Weismann and early eugenist views and more recent neo-Darwinian ideas including literary Darwinism. It argues that some Victorians had a clear sense of the complexities of the natural world, and of the centrality of environment to life. This awareness contrasts with the processes of divorce and isolation that underpin neo-Darwinian understandings of evolutionary development. But biologists and philosophers of biology are now emphasising the complex and dynamic relations between organism and environment in ways that would have appealed to Darwin’s contemporaries. The article establishes that there are significant parallels between mid-Victorian and postgenomic thought.

  3. Darwin-Bali Exchange School Visits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, T.

    1974-01-01

    Describes an exchange program between Indonesian language students and teachers from Darwin and a group of students and teachers from Bali. The visits related to the subject areas of history, geography, Asian studies, and Bahasa Indonesia. (RM)

  4. An appreciation of Christiane Groehen: the correspondence between Charles Darwin and Anton Dohrn.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Browne, Janet

    2015-01-01

    Anton Dohrn was introduced to Darwinism by Ernst Haeckel during his student years at Jena, and became an eager disciple of Charles Darwin's work. He founded the Stazione Zoologica in 1872. Darwin became a patron of Dohrn's Stazione, and the two naturalists corresponded regularly. This article discusses their relationship and the contributions of Christiane Groeben to its elucidation.

  5. "How nationality influences Opinion": Darwinism and palaeontology in France (1859-1914).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Claudine

    2017-12-01

    This paper discusses the "non-reception" of Darwin's works and concepts in French palaeontology and palaeoanthropology between 1859 and 1914. Indeed, this integration was difficult, biased and belated, for ideological, intellectual and epistemological reasons: Clémence Royer's biased 1862 translation of Darwin's Origin of Species pulled its ideas toward "social darwinism", making them less attractive to the natural sciences. - French nationalism and the authority of religion, which imposed Cuvier's thinking until late into the century - the dominance of Lamarckian and neo-Lamarckian transformism in France, both in biology and in paleontology, which proposed the notion of orthogenetic laws and environmental determinations, and refused darwinian evolutionary mechanisms - obstacles inherent to the application of Darwin's concepts to palaeontology, namely the impossibility to identify evolutionary mechanisms through the fossil record, which was stressed by Darwin himself and underlined in turn by 19th century French palaeontologists. However, as I argue, in the course of the examined period, French palaeontology grew from refusal to a better understanding and evaluation of Darwin's thinking. The quest for intermediary forms, the construction of branching evolutionary trees and the attempts to reconstruct human biological and cultural evolution were important efforts toward an integration of some aspects of Darwinian views and practices into French palaeontology and plaeoanthropology. The 1947 Paris conference which brought together American Neo-darwinists and French paleontologists made Darwinian concepts better understood and triggered a revival of French palaeontology from the 1960s. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  6. Argentina-Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative (Arg-ADNI: neuropsychological evolution profile after one-year follow up

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patricio Chrem Méndez

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT The Argentina-Alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative (Arg-ADNI study is a longitudinal prospective cohort of 50 participants at a single institution in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Longitudinal assessments on a neuropsychological test battery were performed on 15 controls, 24 mild cognitive impairment (MCI patients and 12 Alzheimer's disease (AD dementia patients. In our study population, there was a high prevalence of positive AD biomarkers in the AD group, 92.3% (12/13; and a low prevalence in the normal controls, 20%; almost half (48% of the patients diagnosed with MCI had positive amyloid detection. After a one year, the significant differences found at baseline on neuropsychological testing were similar at the follow-up assessment even though the AD group had significantly altered its functional performance (FAQ and CDR. The exception was semantic fluency, which showed greater impairment between the AD group and MCI and normal controls respectively. For these tests, the addition of AD biomarkers as a variable did not significantly alter the variations previously found for the established clinical group's model. Finally, the one-year conversion rate to dementia was 20% in the MCI cohort.

  7. Prospect for Development of Open Access in Argentina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miguel, Sandra; Bongiovani, Paola C.; Gomez, Nancy D.; Bueno-de-la-Fuente, Gema

    2013-01-01

    This perspective article presents an overview of the Open Access movement in Argentina, from a global and regional (Latin American) context. The article describes the evolution and current state of initiatives by examining two principal approaches to Open Access in Argentina: "golden" and "green roads". The article will then…

  8. Protestant Responses to Darwinism in Denmark, 1859-1914

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hjermitslev, Hans Henrik

    2011-01-01

    The clergyman N.F.S. Grundtvig's followers, who constituted a major fraction within the Danish Evangelical-Lutheran Established Church, were the most vocal Danish commentators on the religious consequences of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution from 1859 to 1914. While evangelicals and high......-churchmen within the church remained critical of evolution throughout the period, the Grundtvigians were divided over the issue. Orthodox Grundtvigians criticized Darwinism on philosophical and biblical grounds, while liberal neo-Grundtvigians came to terms with evolution by combining Grundtvig's critique...

  9. 'This excellent observer ...': the correspondence between Charles Darwin and James Crichton-Browne, 1869-75.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearn, Alison M

    2010-06-01

    Between May 1869 and December 1875, Charles Darwin exchanged more than 40 letters with James Crichton-Browne, superintendent of the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, Wakefield, Yorkshire. This paper charts their relationship within the context of Darwin's wider research networks and methods; it analyses the contribution that Crichton-Browne made to the writing of Expression, arguing that the information he provided materially affected Darwin's thesis, and that it was partly the need to assimilate this that led Darwin to publish Expression separately from Descent. The letters help to reconstruct Crichton-Browne's early research interests, and document Darwin's little-explored role as a patron. Both men are revealed within a collaborative scientific network, with each of them at various times a beneficiary or a promoter.

  10. Mechanisms of adaptive evolution. Darwinism and Lamarckism restated.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aboitiz, F

    1992-07-01

    This article discusses the conceptual basis of the different mechanisms of adaptive evolution. It is argued that only two such mechanisms may conceivably exist, Lamarckism and Darwinism. Darwinism is the fundamental process generating the diversity of species. Some aspects of the gene-centered approach to Darwinism are questioned, since they do not account for the generation of biological diversity. Diversity in biological design must be explained in relation to the diversity of interactions of organisms (or other higher-level units) with their environment. This aspect is usually overlooked in gene-centered views of evolution. A variant of the gene-selectionist approach has been proposed to account for the spread of cultural traits in human societies. Alternatively, I argue that social evolution is rather driven by what I call pseudo-Lamarckian inheritance. Finally, I argue that Lamarckian and pseudo-Lamarckian inheritance are just special cases of faithful replication which are found in the development of some higher-order units, such as multicellular organisms and human societies.

  11. Spanish Darwinian iconography: Darwin and evolutionism portrayed in Spanish press cartoons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domínguez, Martí; Mateu, Anna

    2013-11-01

    The theory of evolution has played a major role in the press since it was put forward by Charles Darwin in 1859. Its key role in biology and human philosophy is reflected by its presence in press cartoons, sections where the image of social reality is depicted in a more direct and satirical light. Through cartoons, artists have used their ingenuity or wit to portray one of the most controversial scientific figures of the past two centuries. This study examines the views portrayed by Spanish cartoonists about Charles Darwin and evolutionary theory in 2009, the bicentenary of the naturalist's birth and the celebration of 150 years since the publication of On the Origin of Species. These cartoons show how the controversy between Darwinism and religion remain latent in the heart of Spanish society, and how the figure of Darwin has become one of the main icons of science.

  12. Quantum Darwinism in hazy environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zwolak, Michael; Quan, H. T.; Zurek, Wojciech

    2010-03-01

    Quantum Darwinism provides an information-theoretic framework for the emergence of the classical world from the quantum substrate. It recognizes that we - the observers - acquire our information about the ``systems of interest'' indirectly from their imprints on the environment. Objectivity, a key property of the classical world, arises via the proliferation of redundant information into the environment where many observers can then intercept it and independently determine the state of the system. After a general introduction to this framework, we demonstrate how non-ideal initial states of the environment (e.g., mixed states) affect its ability to act as a communication channel for information about the system. The environment's capacity for transmitting information is directly related to its ability to increase its entropy. Therefore, environments that remain nearly invariant under the Hamiltonian dynamics, such as very mixed states, have a diminished ability to transmit information. However, despite this, the environment almost always redundantly transmits information about the system.

  13. Getting Our History Right: Six Errors about Darwin and His Influence

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    Hiram Caton

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The Darwin Exhibition created by the American Museum of Natural History is the centerpiece of the bicentennial of Darwin's birth. It opened in November 2005 and will circulate to a number of museums before terminating at the London Natural History Museum in February 2009. The Exhibition is also a major contributor to online instruction about evolution for schools. The quality of the Exhibition's narrative is accordingly of some significance. This paper argues that the narrative is the legendary history that dominates public opinion. The legend has been thoroughly disassembled by historical research over recent decades. My criticism is organized as six theses. (1 Publication of the Origin was not a sudden (“revolutionary” interruption of Victorian society's confident belief in the traditional theological world-view. (2 The Origin did not “revolutionize” the biological sciences by removing the creationist premise or introducing new principles. (3 The Origin did not revolutionize Victorian public opinion. The public considered Darwin and Spencer to be teaching the same lesson, known today as “Social Darwinism”, which, though fashionable, never achieved dominance. (4 Many biologists expressed significant disagreements with Darwin's principles. (5 Darwin made little or no contribution to the renovation of theology. His public statements on Providence were inconsistent and the liberal reform of theology was well advanced by 1850. (6 The so-called “Darwinian revolution” was, at the public opinion level, the fashion of laissez-faire economic beliefs backed by Darwin and Spencer's inclusion of the living world in the economic paradigm.

  14. Darwinism in Context: An interdisciplinary, highly contextualized course on nature of science

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    Kostas Kampourakis

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available In this article, we describe a course, titled Darwinism in Context, which focuses on the social, cultural and scientific influences on the development of Darwin's theory. This was an interdisciplinary, highly contextualized nature of science course that aimed to help students learn about a core nature of science aspect: that there are historical, cultural and social influences on the practice and directions of science. For this purpose, the course was based on a well-documented historical case study: the development of Darwin's theory. The course consisted of five classes that focused on: (a Victorian society, (b the views and beliefs of scholars that had an impact on Darwin's thinking (historical influences, (c aspects of Darwin's personal and social life that influenced the publication of his theory (social influences, (d the reception of Darwin's theory and the relationship between religion and science (cultural influences and (e the relationship between science and literature. In all cases, teaching included presentations of the historical events but was mostly based on the analysis and discussion of excerpts from the respective original writings. During the classes only a few examples were presented; students were motivated to study further the original writings and identify some key concepts and ideas after the classes. It is concluded that this kind of highly contextualized nature of science instruction can provide students with a more authentic view of science.

  15. Darwin and Emotion Expression

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    Hess, Ursula; Thibault, Pascal

    2009-01-01

    In his book "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals," Charles Darwin (1872/1965) defended the argument that emotion expressions are evolved and adaptive (at least at some point in the past) and serve an important communicative function. The ideas he developed in his book had an important impact on the field and spawned rich domains of…

  16. Scientific Cousins: The Relationship between Charles Darwin and Francis Galton

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    Fancher, Raymond E.

    2009-01-01

    This article traces the personal as well as the intellectual and scientific relationship between Charles Darwin and his younger half-cousin Francis Galton. Although they had been on friendly terms as young men, and Darwin had in some ways been a role model for Galton, the two did not share major scientific interests until after the publication of…

  17. Redundant imprinting of information in non-ideal environments: Quantum Darwinism via a noisy channel

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    Zwolak, Michael; Quan, Haitao; Zurek, Wojciech

    2011-03-01

    Quantum Darwinism provides an information-theoretic framework for the emergence of the classical world from the quantum substrate. It recognizes that we - the observers - acquire our information about the ``systems of interest'' indirectly from their imprints on the environment. Objectivity, a key property of the classical world, arises via the proliferation of redundant information into the environment where many observers can then intercept it and independently determine the state of the system. While causing a system to decohere, environments that remain nearly invariant under the Hamiltonian dynamics, such as very mixed states, have a diminished ability to transmit information about the system, yet can still acquire redundant information about the system [1,2]. Our results show that Quantum Darwinism is robust with respect to non-ideal initial states of the environment. This research is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through the LANL/LDRD Program.

  18. Chinese paleontology and the reception of Darwinism in early twentieth century.

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    Yu, Xiaobo

    2017-12-01

    The paper examines the social, cultural and disciplinary factors that influenced the reception and appropriation of Darwinism by China's first generation paleontologists. Darwinism was mixed with Social Darwinism when first introduced to China, and the co-option of Darwinian phrases for nationalistic awakening obscured the scientific essence of Darwin's evolutionary theory. First generation Chinese paleontologists started their training in 1910s-1920s. They quickly asserted their professional identity by successfully focusing on morphology, taxonomy and biostratigraphy. Surrounded by Western paleontologists with Lamarckian or orthogenetic leanings, early Chinese paleontologists enthusiastically embraced evolution and used fossils as factual evidence; yet not enough attention was given to mechanistic evolutionary studies. The 1940s saw the beginning of a new trend for early Chinese paleontologists to incorporate more biological and biogeographical components in their work, but external events such as the dominance of Lysenkoism in the 1950s made the Modern Synthesis pass by without being publicly noticed in Chinese paleontology. Characterized by the larger goal of using science for nation building and by the utilitarian approach favoring local sciences, the reception and appropriation of Darwinism by first generation Chinese paleontologists raise important questions for studying the indigenizing efforts of early Chinese scientists to appropriate Western scientific theories. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Charles Darwin: um observador do desenvolvimento humano

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    Eloisa Helena Rubello Valler Celeri

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Os autores traduzem, pela primeira vez para o português, o artigo de Charles Darwin "A Biographical Sketch of an Infant", publicado no periódico Mind em julho de 1877. Utilizando anotações de observações do desenvolvimento de seus filhos, especialmente de seu filho mais velho William Erasmus (Doddy, Darwin descreve e estuda, a partir de seu enfoque naturalista, o filhote humano, narrando os primeiros indicativos comportamentais de emoções tais como raiva e medo, curiosidade e senso moral, o brincar e o prazer envolvido nesta atividade, a capacidade de imitação e os primeiros indícios daquilo que hoje conhecemos como "teoria da mente". Colocando-se questões sobre as capacidades do bebê, como eles aprendem e como se comunicam e levantando hipóteses sobre possíveis significados de certos comportamentos, questões ainda hoje fundamentais para o estudo do desenvolvimento humano, Darwin mostra-se também um pioneiro no estudo do bebê e da criança pequena, numa época na qual as capacidades dos bebês eram extremamente subestimadas e desconsideradas.

  20. Quantum Darwinism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zurek, Wojciech Hubert

    2009-03-01

    Quantum Darwinism describes the proliferation, in the environment, of multiple records of selected states of a quantum system. It explains how the quantum fragility of a state of a single quantum system can lead to the classical robustness of states in their correlated multitude; shows how effective `wave-packet collapse' arises as a result of the proliferation throughout the environment of imprints of the state of the system; and provides a framework for the derivation of Born's rule, which relates the probabilities of detecting states to their amplitudes. Taken together, these three advances mark considerable progress towards settling the quantum measurement problem.

  1. The teacher taught? What Charles Darwin owed to John Lubbock

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearn, Alison

    2014-01-01

    The period around the publication of John Lubbock's Origin of civilisation in 1870 and Charles Darwin's Descent of man and selection in relation to sex the following year is key to a re-evaluation of the relationship between the two men, usually characterized as that of pupil and master. It is in the making of Descent that Lubbock's role as a scientific collaborator is most easily discerned, a role best understood within the social and political context of the time. Lubbock made Darwin—both the man and his science—acceptable and respectable. Less obvious is Darwin's conscious cultivation of Lubbock's patronage in both his private and public life, and Lubbock's equally conscious bestowal, culminating in his role in Darwin's burial in Westminster Abbey.

  2. On Darwin's 'metaphysical notebooks'. I: teleology and the project of a theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calabi, L

    2001-01-01

    Huxley's essay On the Reception of the 'Origin of Species' brings us close to the issue of cause and of why- and how-questions in the understanding of the living world. The present contribution, which is divided into two parts, reviews the problem of Teleology as conceived by Huxley and re-examines Darwin as the author who revealed the existence of a 'foundations problem' in the explanation of an entire realm of nature, i.e., the problem of explaining such realm in terms of its own, specific legality, or iuxta sua propria principia. In the first part the enquiry is mainly focused on the secularization of natural history after Paley; in the second part it is mainly focused on the desubjectivization of the inquiry into natural history after Erasmus Darwin and Lamarck. The second part will be published in the next issue of Rivista di Biologia/Biology Forum. In the first part below an analysis is made of Notebooks M and N. The author disputes the correctness of conceiving them only as the works where Darwin envisages the 'metaphysical' themes later to become the subject of The Expression of the Emotions. He suggests to conceive of them also as the works where Darwin defines the terms of the general project of his own, peculiar evolutionary theory. The author then outlines the intellectual progress of Darwin from the inosculation to the transmutation hypotheses. Darwin's reading of Malthus appears to be analytically decisive, because it offers him the vintage point to attack the metaphysical and theological citadels on the morphological side. Darwin is thus able to re-consider Erasmus' comprehensive zoonomic project, by displacing it, however, from the old idea of the scala naturae to the new one of the "coral of life", and by emphasising the distinction between "the fittest" and "the best" vs. the tradition of Natural Theology.

  3. Phylogenetic inertia and Darwin's higher law.

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    Shanahan, Timothy

    2011-03-01

    The concept of 'phylogenetic inertia' is routinely deployed in evolutionary biology as an alternative to natural selection for explaining the persistence of characteristics that appear sub-optimal from an adaptationist perspective. However, in many of these contexts the precise meaning of 'phylogenetic inertia' and its relationship to selection are far from clear. After tracing the history of the concept of 'inertia' in evolutionary biology, I argue that treating phylogenetic inertia and natural selection as alternative explanations is mistaken because phylogenetic inertia is, from a Darwinian point of view, simply an expected effect of selection. Although Darwin did not discuss 'phylogenetic inertia,' he did assert the explanatory priority of selection over descent. An analysis of 'phylogenetic inertia' provides a perspective from which to assess Darwin's view. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. The "Annie hypothesis": did the death of his daughter cause Darwin to "give up Christianity"?

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    Van Wyhe, John; Pallen, Mark J

    2012-01-01

    This article examines one of the most widely believed episodes in the life of Charles Darwin, that the death of his daughter Annie in 1851 caused the end of Darwin's belief in Christianity, and according to some versions, ended his attendance of church on Sundays. This hypothesis, it is argued, is commonly treated as a straightforward true account of Darwin's life, yet there is little or no supporting evidence. Furthermore, we argue, there is sufficient evidence that Darwin's loss of faith occurred before Annie's death.

  5. The DARWIN mission: Search for extra-solar planets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaltenegger, L.; Fridlund, M.

    The direct detection of a planet close to its parent star is challenging because the signal detected from the parent star is between 109 and 106 times brighter than the signal of a planet in the visual and IR respectively. Future space based missions like DARWIN and TPF concentrate on the region between 6μ m to 18μ m, a region that contains the CO2, H2O, O3 spectral features of the atmosphere. The presence or absence of these spectral features would indicate similarities or differences with the atmosphere of telluric planets. The Infra Red Space Interferometer DARWIN is an integral part of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2020 plan, intended for a launch towards the middle of next decade. It is constructed around the new technique of `nulling interferometry', which exploits the wave nature of light to extinguish light from an on-axis bright object (the central star in this case), while at the same time light from a nearby source (the planet) is enhanced. An overview and update of the science of the DARWIN mission is given.

  6. William Keith Brooks and the naturalist's defense of Darwinism in the late-nineteenth century.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nash, Richard

    2015-06-01

    William Keith Brooks was an American zoologist at Johns Hopkins University from 1876 until his death in 1908. Over the course of his career, Brooks staunchly defended Darwinism, arguing for the centrality of natural selection in evolutionary theory at a time when alternative theories, such as neo-Lamarckism, grew prominent in American biology. In his book The Law of Heredity (1883), Brooks addressed problems raised by Darwin's theory of pangenesis. In modifying and developing Darwin's pangenesis, Brooks proposed a new theory of heredity that sought to avoid the pitfalls of Darwin's hypothesis. In so doing he strengthened Darwin's theory of natural selection by undermining arguments for the inheritance of acquired characteristics. In later attacks on neo-Lamarckism, Brooks consistently defended Darwin's theory of natural selection on logical grounds, continued to challenge the idea of the inheritance of acquired characteristics, and argued that natural selection best explained a wide range of adaptations. Finally, he critiqued Galton's statistical view of heredity and argued that Galton had resurrected an outmoded typological concept of species, one which Darwin and other naturalists had shown to be incorrect. Brooks's ideas resemble the "biological species concept" of the twentieth century, as developed by evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr and others. The late-nineteenth century was not a period of total "eclipse" of Darwinism, as biologists and historians have hitherto seen it. Although the "Modern Synthesis" refers to the reconciliation of post-Mendelian genetics with evolution by natural selection, we might adjust our understanding of how the synthesis developed by seeing it as the culmination of a longer discussion that extends back to the late-nineteenth century.

  7. The Most Important of All the Organs: Darwin on the Brain

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    Jacyna, Stephen

    2009-01-01

    This article discusses Charles Darwin's interest in topics that may broadly be defined as "neurological" in character. Using published and manuscript materials, it examines the sources of Darwin's knowledge of neurological matters and seeks to explain why questions concerning the relation of mind and brain both in humans and other animals were…

  8. Correspondence of Charles Darwin on James Torbitt's project to breed blight-resistance potatoes.

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    DeArce, M

    2008-01-01

    The most prolific of Darwin's correspondents from Ireland was James Torbitt, an enterprising grocer and wine merchant of 58 North Street, Belfast. Between February 1876 and March 1882, 141 letters were exchanged on the feasibility and ways of supporting one of Torbitt's commercial projects, the large-scale production and distribution of true potato seeds (Solan um tuberosum) to produce plants resistant to the late blight fungus Phytophthora infestans, the cause of repeated potato crop failures and thus the Irish famines in the nineteenth century. Ninety-three of these letters were exchanged between Torbitt and Darwin, and 48 between Darwin and third parties, seeking or offering help and advice on the project. Torbitt's project required selecting the small proportion of plants in an infested field that survived the infection, and using those as parents to produce seeds. This was a direct application of Darwin's principle of selection. Darwin cautiously lobbied high-ranking civil servants in London to obtain government funding for the project, and also provided his own personal financial support to Torbit.

  9. Random unitary evolution model of quantum Darwinism with pure decoherence

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    Balanesković, Nenad

    2015-10-01

    We study the behavior of Quantum Darwinism [W.H. Zurek, Nat. Phys. 5, 181 (2009)] within the iterative, random unitary operations qubit-model of pure decoherence [J. Novotný, G. Alber, I. Jex, New J. Phys. 13, 053052 (2011)]. We conclude that Quantum Darwinism, which describes the quantum mechanical evolution of an open system S from the point of view of its environment E, is not a generic phenomenon, but depends on the specific form of input states and on the type of S-E-interactions. Furthermore, we show that within the random unitary model the concept of Quantum Darwinism enables one to explicitly construct and specify artificial input states of environment E that allow to store information about an open system S of interest with maximal efficiency.

  10. Charles Darwin, beetles and phylogenetics.

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    Beutel, Rolf G; Friedrich, Frank; Leschen, Richard A B

    2009-11-01

    Here, we review Charles Darwin's relation to beetles and developments in coleopteran systematics in the last two centuries. Darwin was an enthusiastic beetle collector. He used beetles to illustrate different evolutionary phenomena in his major works, and astonishingly, an entire sub-chapter is dedicated to beetles in "The Descent of Man". During his voyage on the Beagle, Darwin was impressed by the high diversity of beetles in the tropics, and he remarked that, to his surprise, the majority of species were small and inconspicuous. However, despite his obvious interest in the group, he did not get involved in beetle taxonomy, and his theoretical work had little immediate impact on beetle classification. The development of taxonomy and classification in the late nineteenth and earlier twentieth century was mainly characterised by the exploration of new character systems (e.g. larval features and wing venation). In the mid-twentieth century, Hennig's new methodology to group lineages by derived characters revolutionised systematics of Coleoptera and other organisms. As envisioned by Darwin and Ernst Haeckel, the new Hennigian approach enabled systematists to establish classifications truly reflecting evolution. Roy A. Crowson and Howard E. Hinton, who both made tremendous contributions to coleopterology, had an ambivalent attitude towards the Hennigian ideas. The Mickoleit school combined detailed anatomical work with a classical Hennigian character evaluation, with stepwise tree building, comparatively few characters and a priori polarity assessment without explicit use of the outgroup comparison method. The rise of cladistic methods in the 1970s had a strong impact on beetle systematics. Cladistic computer programs facilitated parsimony analyses of large data matrices, mostly morphological characters not requiring detailed anatomical investigations. Molecular studies on beetle phylogeny started in the 1990s with modest taxon sampling and limited DNA data. This has

  11. Evolutionary plant physiology: Charles Darwin's forgotten synthesis.

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    Kutschera, Ulrich; Niklas, Karl J

    2009-11-01

    Charles Darwin dedicated more than 20 years of his life to a variety of investigations on higher plants (angiosperms). It has been implicitly assumed that these studies in the fields of descriptive botany and experimental plant physiology were carried out to corroborate his principle of descent with modification. However, Darwin's son Francis, who was a professional plant biologist, pointed out that the interests of his father were both of a physiological and an evolutionary nature. In this article, we describe Darwin's work on the physiology of higher plants from a modern perspective, with reference to the following topics: circumnutations, tropisms and the endogenous oscillator model; the evolutionary patterns of auxin action; the root-brain hypothesis; phloem structure and photosynthesis research; endosymbioses and growth-promoting bacteria; photomorphogenesis and phenotypic plasticity; basal metabolic rate, the Pfeffer-Kleiber relationship and metabolic optimality theory with respect to adaptive evolution; and developmental constraints versus functional equivalence in relationship to directional natural selection. Based on a review of these various fields of inquiry, we deduce the existence of a Darwinian (evolutionary) approach to plant physiology and define this emerging scientific discipline as the experimental study and theoretical analysis of the functions of green, sessile organisms from a phylogenetic perspective.

  12. Darwin and Teacher: An Analysis of the Mentorship between Charles Darwin and Professor John Henslow.

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    McGreevy, Ann

    1990-01-01

    The paper examines the mentorship between Charles Darwin and his teacher, John Stevens Henslow of Cambridge University (England). The importance of a mentor in stimulating creative productivity is demonstrated through discussion of their teaching and learning styles, their interests, their time spent together, and Henslow's character traits.…

  13. Ciência e educação: a propósito do bicentenário do nascimento de Charles Darwin Science and education: about Charles Darwin's 200th birthday

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    Angel Pino

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Este artigo visa à evocação da memória do grande naturalista e cientista britânico Charles Darwin no bicentenário do seu nascimento. A melhor maneira de evocar sua memória é trazer à reflexão dos leitores as ideias de suas três obras maiores: A origem das espécies (1859, A descendência do homem (1871 e A expressão das emoções no homem e nos animais (1872. Após apresentar a importância e a oportunidade de Darwin no debate contemporâneo, o texto inicia com uma rápida referência aos antecedentes históricos da "teoria da evolução" e às reações que ela produz. Na sequência, a obra de Darwin é situada no contexto histórico da sua época. Apresenta-se também um breve histórico das três obras maiores e uma análise das suas principais ideias. Conclui-se o texto com uma indicação sumária de algumas questões que as ideias de Darwin colocam à ciência contemporânea e, em especial, à reflexão no campo da Educação.This paper evokes the memory of the British naturalist and scientist, Charles Darwin on his 200th birthday. The best way to do so is to invite our readers to reflect on some ideas of three books of his: The origin of species (1859, Descent of man (1871 and The expression of emotions in man and animals (1872. After presenting the importance and appropriateness of Darwin in the contemporaneous debate, the text rapidly explores the historical precedents of the so called "theory of evolution" and the reactions to it. It then situates Darwin's works in its historical context and presents a brief history of these three books and an analysis of their main ideas. As a conclusion, it summarizes how Darwin's ideas question contemporary science and, more particularly, the reflection in the field of education.

  14. The many lives of Charles Darwin: early biographies and the definitive evolutionist.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lightman, Bernard

    2010-12-20

    This article focuses on the early book-length biographies of Darwin published from his death in 1882 up to 1900. By making 1900 the cutoff point I can examine the biographies produced when the iconic figure was not yet set in stone, and before the rediscovery of Mendel's work in the early twentieth century and the anniversary celebrations of 1909 changed the way in which Darwin was regarded. Darwin's biographers dealt with three major themes. First, several biographers emphasized his scientific abilities, in particular his powers of observation and his prowess in conducting experiments. Second, many biographers discussed his character, a key issue in determining whether or not he could be trusted as a scientific guide. Finally, his scientific theories and religious beliefs, and how they related to the evolutionary controversy, formed a topic taken up by most biographers. By focusing on these three themes, the biographies published before 1900 were important in shaping the image of Darwin that was forming in American and British culture.

  15. Environmental Education in the Galapagos: 2007 Report to the Charles Darwin Foundation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stepath, Carl M.

    2007-01-01

    Background: "Environmental education in the Galapagos: 2007 report to the Charles Darwin Foundation" is a report to the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF) about the researchers observations about the status of environmental education in the Galapagos in 2006 and 2007. Purpose: This paper reports on environmental education in the Galapagos…

  16. Charles Darwin havde et nuanceret syn på dyreforsøg

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alstrup, Aage Kristian Olsen

    2015-01-01

    Jeg har i en tidligere blog været inde på, hvordan Charles Darwins evolutionsteori har haft betydning for vores valg af forsøgsdyr. Men hvordan så Charles Darwin egentlig selv på dyreforsøg og dyrevelfærd? Faktisk var det et emne, der optog ham dybt. Allerede i 1838, over tyve år før...... offentliggørelsen af Arternes Oprindelse, gjorde han sig et notat om, at mennesket i sin arrogance føler sig hævet over andre skabninger, men at det snarere bør opfatte sig som skabt ud fra dyrene. Disse tanker kom dog først for alvor frem, da Charles Darwin i 1871 offentliggjorde bogen Menneskets Afstamning...

  17. Pro-Market Educational Governance: Is Argentina a Black Swan?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beech, Jason; Barrenechea, Ignacio

    2011-01-01

    In this article we explore ways in which pro-market discourses have been interpreted in policy initiatives in Argentina since the 1970s. Our argument is that even though pro-market discourses have guided reforms in many aspects of public policies in Argentina, the arena of education has overall been resistant to taking them up. The first part of…

  18. Helosis (Balanophoraceae en Argentina Helosis (Balanophoraceae in Argentina

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    José Luis Fontana

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available Se cita por primera vez para Argentina Helosis cayennensis (Swartz Sprengel var. cayennensis en base a colecciones hechas por los autores en la Isla argentina de Apipé Grande, Ituzaingó, provincia de Corrientes. Se describe e ilustra la especie, el desarrollo de la planta y su estado de conservación. Esta cita de Helosis corresponde a un género nuevo para la flora argentina.Helosis cayennensis var. cayennensis is reported for the first time for Argentina. The species is described and ilustrated. Developement and ecology are also given. Helosis is also a new generic record for Argentina.

  19. Is chytridiomycosis driving Darwin's frogs to extinction?

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    Claudio Soto-Azat

    Full Text Available Darwin's frogs (Rhinoderma darwinii and R. rufum are two species of mouth brooding frogs from Chile and Argentina that have experienced marked population declines. Rhinoderma rufum has not been found in the wild since 1980. We investigated historical and current evidence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd infection in Rhinoderma spp. to determine whether chytridiomycosis is implicated in the population declines of these species. Archived and live specimens of Rhinoderma spp., sympatric amphibians and amphibians at sites where Rhinoderma sp. had recently gone extinct were examined for Bd infection using quantitative real-time PCR. Six (0.9% of 662 archived anurans tested positive for Bd (4/289 R. darwinii; 1/266 R. rufum and 1/107 other anurans, all of which had been collected between 1970 and 1978. An overall Bd-infection prevalence of 12.5% was obtained from 797 swabs taken from 369 extant individuals of R. darwinii and 428 individuals representing 18 other species of anurans found at sites with current and recent presence of the two Rhinoderma species. In extant R. darwinii, Bd-infection prevalence (1.9% was significantly lower than that found in other anurans (7.3%. The prevalence of infection (30% in other amphibian species was significantly higher in sites where either Rhinoderma spp. had become extinct or was experiencing severe population declines than in sites where there had been no apparent decline (3.0%; x(2 = 106.407, P<0.001. This is the first report of widespread Bd presence in Chile and our results are consistent with Rhinoderma spp. declines being due to Bd infection, although additional field and laboratory investigations are required to investigate this further.

  20. Gehlen, Darwin e la salamandra

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    RASINI, VALLORI

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Gehlen, Darwin and the Salamander Arnold Gehlen creates a theory of man as “lacking being” that leads to a theory of a “superior being”. Man is radically different from animal, and Gehlen uses the biological idea of human neoteny to refuse the Darwinian theory of human evolution. However his arguments are preconceived and ineffectual.

  1. An Amphibious Being: How Maritime Surveying Reshaped Darwin's Approach to Natural History.

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    Sponsel, Alistair

    2016-06-01

    This essay argues that Charles Darwin's distinctive approach to studying distribution and diversity was shaped by his face-to-face interactions with maritime surveyors during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle (1831-1836). Introducing their hydrographic surveying methods into natural history enabled him to compare fossil and living marine organisms, to compare sedimentary rocks to present-day marine sediments, and to compare landscapes to submarine topology, thereby realizing Charles Lyell's fanciful ambition for a superior form of geology that might be practiced by an "amphibious being." Darwin's theories of continental uplift, coral reef formation, and the origin of species all depended on his amphibious natural history. This essay contributes to our understanding of theorizing in nineteenth-century natural history by illustrating that specific techniques of observing and collecting could themselves help to generate a particular theoretical orientation and, indeed, that such practical experiences were a more proximate source of Darwin's "Humboldtian" interest in distribution and diversity than Alexander von Humboldt's writings themselves. Darwin's debt to the hydrographers became obscured in two ways: through the "funneling" of credit produced by single-authorship publication in natural history and the "telescoping" of memory by which Darwin's new theories made him recall his former researches as though he had originally undertaken them for the very purpose of producing the later theory.

  2. The Darwin Core extension for genebanks opens up new opportunities for sharing genebank datasets

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    Dag Terje Filip Endresen

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available Darwin Core (DwC defines a standard set of terms to describe the primary biodiversity data. Primary biodiversity data are data records derived from direct observation of species occurrences in nature or describing specimens in biological collections. The Darwin Core terms can be seen as an extension to the standard Dublin Core metadata terms. The new Darwin Core extension for genebanks declares the additional terms required for describing genebank datasets, and is based on established standards from the plant genetic resources community. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF provides an information infrastructure for biodiversity data including a suite of software tools for data publishing, distributed data access, and the capture of biodiversity data. The Darwin Core extension for genebanks is a key component that provides access for the genebanks and the plant genetic resources community to the GBIF informatics infrastructure including the new toolkits for data exchange. This paper provides one of the first examples and guidelines for how to create extensions to the Darwin Core standard.

  3. Looking at Darwin: portraits and the making of an icon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Browne, Janet

    2009-09-01

    With increased attention on the visual in the history of science, there is renewed interest in the role of portraiture and other forms of personal imagery in constructing scientific reputation and the circulation of scientific ideas. This essay indicates some directions in which researchers could push forward by studying the dissemination of pictures and portraits of Charles Darwin. Selected portraits are discussed, with particular attention paid to their circulation. The mode of production and original intent of these portraits is briefly addressed, but the thrust of the argument is to highlight subsequent shifts in usage. While self-fashioning is an important part of the story, it is useful also to dwell on the rise and diversification of printed media in conjunction with escalating interest in Darwin as a celebrity figure. Historicizing the variety of opportunities that people have had of "looking"at Darwin adds considerably to our understanding of scientific fame.

  4. ECONOMIA EVOLUCIONISTA Y DARWIN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan Hernandez

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available A partir del siglo xix, se tomaron dos caminos distintos en la historia de la ciencia económica. Casi simultáneamente, la revolución darwiniana y la revolución marginalista tuvieron lugar pero sus intenciones ulteriores no pudieron ser más opuestas. Las grandes teorías Darwin acerca de la evolución de la vida en la tierra y la evolución de las especies por medio de la selección natural, se convirtieron en no menos que un desafío a la visión del mundo dominante: la newtoniana (Witt 1999. Este desafío al ideal newtoniano, fue influido, paradójicamente, por estímulos intelectuales de pensadores fuera de la biología. Estas influencias emanaron de la filosofía social del "dejar pasar, dejar hacer" liberal de los siglos xviii y de principios del siglo xix. De los diarios de Darwin se destaca la correspondencia con Herbert Spencer, en donde se denota una clara influencia del trabajo de economistas-filósofos como Adam Smith, de la llamada Escuela de Edimburgo, y Robert Malthus. Lo paradójico de esta situación es que ahora es Darwin quien, de vuelta, influye sobre los economistas modernos. La revolución darwiniana en la economía moderna consiste en mostrar al capitalismo como un proceso evolucionario explicado por procesos del cambio de patrones en las relaciones entre entidades. Pero gran parte de este estudio de influencia darwiniana no tiene que ver en sí  con el estudio de la biología. Está relacionado con los principios y conceptos que definen el mecanismo evolucionario que es fundamento del desarrollo de la teoría evolucionista moderna. Desde el estudio del sistema natural,y sus disciplinas ¿qué podemos aprender en el campo de lo social en los temas de adaptabilidad, ante la adversidad y bio- y sociodiversidad? El alto grado de emprenderismo en regiones y países latinoamericanos es síntoma de resiliencia social y adaptabilidad. Es en la adversidad donde mas variedad de comportamiento se encuentra y hay m

  5. Mate choice and sexual selection: what have we learned since Darwin?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Adam G; Ratterman, Nicholas L

    2009-06-16

    Charles Darwin laid the foundation for all modern work on sexual selection in his seminal book The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. In this work, Darwin fleshed out the mechanism of sexual selection, a hypothesis that he had proposed in The Origin of Species. He went well beyond a simple description of the phenomenon by providing extensive evidence and considering the far-reaching implications of the idea. Here we consider the contributions of Darwin to sexual selection with a particular eye on how far we have progressed in the last 150 years. We focus on 2 key questions in sexual selection. First, why does mate choice evolve at all? And second, what factors determine the strength of mate choice (or intensity of sexual selection) in each sex? Darwin provided partial answers to these questions, and the progress that has been made on both of these topics since his time should be seen as one of the great triumphs of modern evolutionary biology. However, a review of the literature shows that key aspects of sexual selection are still plagued by confusion and disagreement. Many of these areas are complex and will require new theory and empirical data for complete resolution. Overall, Darwin's contributions are still surprisingly relevant to the modern study of sexual selection, so students of evolutionary biology would be well advised to revisit his works. Although we have made significant progress in some areas of sexual selection research, we still have much to accomplish.

  6. Assessment of UK radioactive waste management strategies using DARWIN 2.1

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skennerton, S.K.

    1995-02-01

    This report summarises the analysis of a number of waste management strategies for the management of UK radioactive wastes using Version 2.1 of the computer code DARWIN (DoE Assessor of Radioactive Waste Inventory) and describes the key results identified. The DARWIN system, mounted on a personal computer, allows preliminary estimates of the likely waste storage and disposal implications of alternative scenarios to be calculated. (author)

  7. Darwin, Hume, Morgan, and the verae causae of psychology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clatterbuck, Hayley

    2016-12-01

    Charles Darwin and C. Lloyd Morgan forward two influential principles of cognitive ethological inference that yield conflicting results about the extent of continuity in the cognitive traits of humans and other animals. While these principles have been interpreted as reflecting commitments to different senses of parsimony, in fact, both principles result from the same vera causa inferential strategy, according to which "We ought to admit no more causes of natural things, than such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances". Instead, the conflict stems from Darwin's and Morgan's views about the true causes of human psychology. Darwin holds a thoroughly Humean philosophy of the human mind, from which he infers significant continuity between human and animal minds. In contrast, Morgan argues that Humean cognitive mechanisms cannot account for a class of uniquely human behaviors, and therefore, he concludes that there is a significant discontinuity between human and animal cognition. This historical debate is informative for current controversies in comparative psychology. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Numerical simulation of distorted crystal Darwin width

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Li; Xu Zhongmin; Wang Naxiu

    2012-01-01

    A new numerical simulation method according to distorted crystal optical theory was used to predict the direct-cooling crystal monochromator optical properties(crystal Darwin width) in this study. The finite element analysis software was used to calculate the deformed displacements of DCM crystal and to get the local reciprocal lattice vector of distorted crystal. The broadening of direct-cooling crystal Darwin width in meridional direction was estimated at 4.12 μrad. The result agrees well with the experimental data of 5 μrad, while it was 3.89 μrad by traditional calculation method of root mean square (RMS) of the slope error in the center line of footprint. The new method provides important theoretical support for designing and processing of monochromator crystal for synchrotron radiation beamline. (authors)

  9. Charles Robert Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace: their dispute over the units of selection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruse, Michael

    2013-12-01

    Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace independently discovered the mechanism of natural selection for evolutionary change. However, they viewed the working of selection differently. For Darwin, selection was always focused on the benefit for the individual. For Wallace, selection was as much something of benefit for the group as for the individual. This difference is traced to their different background political-economic views, with Darwin in favor of Adam Smith's view of society and Wallace following Robert Owen in being a socialist.

  10. Calculation of the two-electron Darwin term using explicitly correlated wave functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Middendorf, Nils; Höfener, Sebastian; Klopper, Wim; Helgaker, Trygve

    2012-01-01

    Graphical abstract: The two-electron Darwin term is computed analytically at the MP2-F12 level of theory using density fitted integrals. Highlights: ► Two-electron Darwin term computed analytically at the MP2-F12 level. ► Darwin two-electron integrals computed using density fitting techniques. ► Two-electron Darwin term dominated by singlet pair contributions. ► Much improved basis set convergence is achieved with F12 methods. ► Interference correction works well for the two-electron Darwin term. - Abstract: This article is concerned with the calculation of the two-electron Darwin term (D2). At the level of explicitly correlated second-order perturbation theory (MP2-F12), the D2 term is obtained as an analytic energy derivative; at the level of explicitly correlated coupled-cluster theory, it is obtained from finite differences. To avoid the calculation of four-center integrals, a density-fitting approximation is applied to the D2 two-electron integrals without loss of accuracy, even though the absolute value of the D2 term is typically about 0.1 mE h . Explicitly correlated methods provide a qualitatively correct description of the short-range region around the Coulomb hole, even for small orbital basis sets. Therefore, explicitly correlated wave functions remedy the otherwise extremely slow convergence of the D2 contribution with respect to the basis-set size, yielding more accurate results than those obtained by two-point basis-set extrapolation. Moreover, we show that the interference correction of Petersson’s complete-basis-set model chemistry can be used to compute a D2 basis-set correction at the MP2-F12 level to improve standard coupled-cluster singles-and-doubles results.

  11. Making a Theist out of Darwin: Asa Gray's Post-Darwinian Natural Theology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, T. Russell

    2012-01-01

    In March of 1860 the eminent Harvard Botanist and orthodox Christian Asa Gray began promoting the Origin of Species in hopes of securing a fair examination of Darwin's evolutionary theory among theistic naturalists. To this end, Gray sought to demonstrate that Darwin had not written atheistically and that his theory of evolution by natural…

  12. Why Darwin would have loved evolutionary game theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Joel S

    2016-09-14

    Humans have marvelled at the fit of form and function, the way organisms' traits seem remarkably suited to their lifestyles and ecologies. While natural selection provides the scientific basis for the fit of form and function, Darwin found certain adaptations vexing or particularly intriguing: sex ratios, sexual selection and altruism. The logic behind these adaptations resides in frequency-dependent selection where the value of a given heritable phenotype (i.e. strategy) to an individual depends upon the strategies of others. Game theory is a branch of mathematics that is uniquely suited to solving such puzzles. While game theoretic thinking enters into Darwin's arguments and those of evolutionists through much of the twentieth century, the tools of evolutionary game theory were not available to Darwin or most evolutionists until the 1970s, and its full scope has only unfolded in the last three decades. As a consequence, game theory is applied and appreciated rather spottily. Game theory not only applies to matrix games and social games, it also applies to speciation, macroevolution and perhaps even to cancer. I assert that life and natural selection are a game, and that game theory is the appropriate logic for framing and understanding adaptations. Its scope can include behaviours within species, state-dependent strategies (such as male, female and so much more), speciation and coevolution, and expands beyond microevolution to macroevolution. Game theory clarifies aspects of ecological and evolutionary stability in ways useful to understanding eco-evolutionary dynamics, niche construction and ecosystem engineering. In short, I would like to think that Darwin would have found game theory uniquely useful for his theory of natural selection. Let us see why this is so. © 2016 The Author(s).

  13. Superintegrability of the Fock-Darwin system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drigho-Filho, E.; Kuru, Ş.; Negro, J.; Nieto, L. M.

    2017-08-01

    The Fock-Darwin system is analyzed from the point of view of its symmetry properties in the quantum and classical frameworks. The quantum Fock-Darwin system is known to have two sets of ladder operators, a fact which guarantees its solvability. We show that for rational values of the quotient of two relevant frequencies, this system is superintegrable, the quantum symmetries being responsible for the degeneracy of the energy levels. These symmetries are of higher order and close a polynomial algebra. In the classical case, the ladder operators are replaced by ladder functions and the symmetries by constants of motion. We also prove that the rational classical system is superintegrable and its trajectories are closed. The constants of motion are also generators of symmetry transformations in the phase space that have been integrated for some special cases. These transformations connect different trajectories with the same energy. The coherent states of the quantum superintegrable system are found and they reproduce the closed trajectories of the classical one.

  14. Argentina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1986-06-01

    This discussion of Argentina covers geography, the people, history and political conditions, government, economy, foreign relations, and relations between the US and Argentina. In 1985, the population of Argentina was estimated to be 30.6 million with an estimated annual growth rate of 1.5%. The infant mortality rate is 34.1/1000, and life expectancy is 70.2 years. Argentina, which shares land borders with Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, is bounded by the Atlantic and the Antarctic Oceans. Descendants of Italian and Spanish immigrants predominate in Argentina, but many trace their origins to British and West and East European ancestors. In recent years, there has been a substantial influx of immigrants from neighboring Latin American countries. The native Indian population, estimated to be 50,000, is concentrated in the peripheral provinces of the north, northwest, and south. What is now Argentina was discovered in 1516 by the Spanish navigator Juan de Solia. The formal declaration of independence from Spain was made on July 9, 1816. In the late 19th century, 2 forces worked to create the modern Argentine nation: the introduction of modern agricultural techniques and the integration of Argentina into the world economy. Argentina has impressive human and natural resources, but political conflict and uneven economic performance since World War II have impeded full realization of its considerable potential. Yet, it is one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America. Among the reasons for the military coup of March 1976 was the deteriorating economy, caused by declining production and rampant inflation. Under the leadership of the Minister of the Economy, the military government focused attention on those immediate problems, and, in 1978, embarked on a new development strategy focusing on the establishment of a free market economy. There was little improvement in the economy, and a new economic plan was introduced in 1985 which has capped inflation by

  15. The paradoxical advantages and disadvantages of natural selection: the case history of Charles Darwin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lieb, J

    2007-01-01

    The biology of natural selection is an enduring mystery, as is the nature of Charles Darwin's chronic illness. Of the theories advanced to explain the latter, Oedipal conflicts and Chagas' disease are preeminent. Hypomania, however, propelled Darwin to the pinnacle of scientific achievement and good health, the depression that followed condemning him to intellectual stagnation, lethargy, impaired memory and concentration, and incapacitating gastrointestinal disorders. Examples of natural selection in humans are much sought after when, ironically, one need look no further than Darwin himself.

  16. Dog fight: Darwin as animal advocate in the antivivisection controversy of 1875.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feller, David Allan

    2009-12-01

    The traditional characterization of Charles Darwin as a strong advocate of physiological experimentation on animals was posited in Richard French's Antivivisection and medical science in Victorian England (1975), where French portrayed him as a soldier in Thomas Huxley's efforts to preserve anatomical experimentation on animals unfettered by government regulation. That interpretation relied too much on, inter alia, Huxley's own description of the legislative battles of 1875, and shared many historians' propensity to foster a legacy of Darwin as a leader among a new wave of scientists, even where personal interests might indicate a conflicting story. Animal rights issues concerned more than mere science for Darwin, however, and where debates over other scientific issues failed to inspire Darwin to become publicly active, he readily joined the battle over vivisection, helping to draft legislation which, in many ways, was more protective of animal rights than even the bills proposed by his friend and anti-vivisectionist, Frances Power Cobbe. Darwin may not have officially joined Cobbe's side in the fight, but personal correspondence of the period between 1870 and 1875 reveals a man whose first interest was to protect animals from inhumane treatment, and second to protect the reputations of those men and physiologists who were his friends, and who he believed incapable of inhumane acts. On this latter point he and Cobbe never did reach agreement, but they certainly agreed on the humane treatment of animals, and the need to proscribe various forms of animal experimentation.

  17. Vom Milch trinkenden Sonnentau (Drosera spec.) zum schlafenden Wassersalat (Pistia spec.): Charles Darwin als Botaniker

    OpenAIRE

    Rutishauser, R

    2009-01-01

    Charles Darwin wird oft nur mit der Evolutionstheorie in Verbindung gebracht. Die vorliegende Arbeit betont Darwins Verdienste bei der Erforschung von Pflanzen. Seine Beobachtungsgabe verbunden mit experimentellem Geschick verhalfen Darwin zu botanischen Entdeckungen, für die wir ihn am 200. Geburtstag ebenso ehren sollten wie für seine mit natürlicher und sexueller Selektion verbundene Evolutionstheorie. Für die Pflanzenzüchtung und damit für die Evolution bedeutsa...

  18. Darwin on Race, Gender, and Culture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shields, Stephanie A.; Bhatia, Sunil

    2009-01-01

    Darwin's theories of natural selection and sexual selection are significant scientific achievements, although his understanding of race and gender was defined and limited by his own life circumstances and the sociohistorical context within which he worked. This article considers the ways in which race, gender, and culture were represented and…

  19. Evolution by epigenesis: farewell to Darwinism, neo- and otherwise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balon, Eugene K

    2004-01-01

    In the last 25 years, criticism of most theories advanced by Darwin and the neo-Darwinians has increased considerably, and so did their defense. Darwinism has become an ideology, while the most significant theories of Darwin were proven unsupportable. The critics advanced other theories instead of 'natural selection' and the survival of the fittest'. 'Saltatory ontogeny' and 'epigenesis' are such new theories proposed to explain how variations in ontogeny and novelties in evolution are created. They are reviewed again in the present essay that also tries to explain how Darwinians, artificially kept dominant in academia and in granting agencies, are preventing their acceptance. Epigenesis, the mechanism of ontogenies, creates in every generation alternative variations in a saltatory way that enable the organisms to survive in the changing environments as either altricial or precocial forms. The constant production of two such forms and their survival in different environments makes it possible, over a sequence of generations, to introduce changes and establish novelties--the true phenomena of evolution. The saltatory units of evolution remain far-from-stable structures capable of self-organization and self-maintenance (autopoiesis).

  20. Darwin--a mission to detect and search for life on extrasolar planets.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cockell, C S; Léger, A; Fridlund, M; Herbst, T M; Kaltenegger, L; Absil, O; Beichman, C; Benz, W; Blanc, M; Brack, A; Chelli, A; Colangeli, L; Cottin, H; Coudé du Foresto, F; Danchi, W C; Defrère, D; den Herder, J-W; Eiroa, C; Greaves, J; Henning, T; Johnston, K J; Jones, H; Labadie, L; Lammer, H; Launhardt, R; Lawson, P; Lay, O P; LeDuigou, J-M; Liseau, R; Malbet, F; Martin, S R; Mawet, D; Mourard, D; Moutou, C; Mugnier, L M; Ollivier, M; Paresce, F; Quirrenbach, A; Rabbia, Y D; Raven, J A; Rottgering, H J A; Rouan, D; Santos, N C; Selsis, F; Serabyn, E; Shibai, H; Tamura, M; Thiébaut, E; Westall, F; White, G J

    2009-01-01

    The discovery of extrasolar planets is one of the greatest achievements of modern astronomy. The detection of planets that vary widely in mass demonstrates that extrasolar planets of low mass exist. In this paper, we describe a mission, called Darwin, whose primary goal is the search for, and characterization of, terrestrial extrasolar planets and the search for life. Accomplishing the mission objectives will require collaborative science across disciplines, including astrophysics, planetary sciences, chemistry, and microbiology. Darwin is designed to detect rocky planets similar to Earth and perform spectroscopic analysis at mid-infrared wavelengths (6-20 mum), where an advantageous contrast ratio between star and planet occurs. The baseline mission is projected to last 5 years and consists of approximately 200 individual target stars. Among these, 25-50 planetary systems can be studied spectroscopically, which will include the search for gases such as CO(2), H(2)O, CH(4), and O(3). Many of the key technologies required for the construction of Darwin have already been demonstrated, and the remainder are estimated to be mature in the near future. Darwin is a mission that will ignite intense interest in both the research community and the wider public.

  1. Lessons learnt from recent citizen science initiatives to document floods in France, Argentina and New Zealand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Le Coz Jérôme

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available New communication and digital image technologies have enabled the public to produce and share large quantities of flood observations. Valuable hydraulic data such as water levels, flow rates, inundated areas, etc., can be extracted from photos and movies taken by citizens and help improve the analysis and modelling of flood hazard. We introduce recent citizen science initiatives which have been launched independently by research organisations to document floods in some catchments and urban areas of France, Argentina and New Zealand. Key drivers for success appear to be: a clear and simple procedure, suitable tools for data collecting and processing, an efficient communication plan, the support of local stakeholders, and the public awareness of natural hazards.

  2. Expecting a boomtown? Exploring potential housing – related impacts of large scale resource developments in Darwin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gretchen Ennis

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Darwin is a city in the Northern Territory of Australia expecting a ‘boomtown’ scenario due to significant natural resource developments in the Greater Darwin area. The experience of ‘booming’ has a range of impacts upon communities. Housing is a key area of impact, particularly for the most vulnerable members of a population, who may not reap the benefits of the ‘boom’. In Darwin, new resource developments will begin in the context of record high house prices, high rents and high homelessness rates. This literature review explores what is known about the housing-related impacts of boomtowns and considers the likely housing-related impacts of a boomtown scenario in Darwin. While the city’s diverse economy and population size may provide some insulation from severe boomtown impacts, housing availability and affordability is likely to be negatively impacted. The implications of this for the most vulnerable members of the greater Darwin population require careful consideration.

  3. Darwin's "Mr. Arthrobalanus": Sexual Differentiation, Evolutionary Destiny and the Expert Eye of the Beholder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchanan, Roderick D

    2017-05-01

    Darwin's Cirripedia project was an exacting exercise in systematics, as well as an encrypted study of evolution in action. Darwin had a long-standing interest and expertise in marine invertebrates and their sexual arrangements. The surprising and revealing sexual differentiation he would uncover amongst barnacles represented an important step in his understanding of the origins of sexual reproduction. But it would prove difficult to reconcile these findings with his later theorizing. Moreover, the road to discovery was hardly straightforward. Darwin was both helped and hindered by the tacit expectations generated by his transformist theorizing, and had to overcome culturally-embedded assumptions about gender and reproductive roles. Significant observational backtracking was required to correct several oversights and misapprehensions, none more so than those relating to the chronically misunderstood "Mr. Arthrobalanus." With careful attention to chronology, this paper highlights some curious and overlooked aspects of Darwin's epic project.

  4. Nuclear Energy Stakeholders in Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gadano, Julian

    2017-01-01

    Mr Gadano, Undersecretary for Nuclear Energy, Argentina spoke from the perspective of a country looking forward to becoming a member of the NEA. He reviewed the place of nuclear energy in his country's energy mix and called attention to its role in positively addressing the global challenges of climate change and energy security. Mr Gadano also described the federal system which governs Argentina. Drawing on his expertise as a lawmaker and nuclear regulator but also as an academic sociologist, he stressed that reaching agreement on siting initiatives for example requires a sustainable relation with stakeholders, including regional governments. This is important because in the end, 'the best project is the one you can finish'

  5. Boltzmann, Gibbs and Darwin-Fowler approaches in parastatistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ponczek, R.L.; Yan, C.C.

    1976-01-01

    Derivations of the equilibrium values of occupation numbers are made using three approaches, namely, the Boltzmann 'elementary' one, the ensemble method of Gibbs, and that of Darwin and Fowler as well [pt

  6. Overview and perspectives for Open Access development in Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Miguel

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper provides an overview and perspectives for development of the Open Access movement in Argentina, within the global and regional (Latin American context. It outlines the evolution and current state of initiatives around the two main approaches to Open Access, the golden and green roads. The main Open Access policies and support of OA movement by governments in Latin American region, and particularly in Argentina, are highlighted, while recent studies on publishing practices and authors’ positions regarding Open Access are presented. The paper concludes that the prospects for development of OA in Argentina, both through golden and green roads are favorable, with their strengths and shortcomings

  7. La Regla de Darwin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gustavo Caponi

    2000-06-01

    Full Text Available Taking as a starting point Brandon's account of the principle of natural selection, we argue that it is possible to consider such a principle as bearing the same status of the principle of causation, to wit, that of a methodological rule whose function would be to introduce a "teleological mode of inquiring the living". This way of understanding the principle of natural selection will drive us into an interpretation of Darwinism that is close to that one argued for by Daniel Dennett.

  8. DARWIN. An evolution code system for a large range of applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsilanizara, A.; Diop, C.M.; Nimal, B.

    2000-01-01

    The aim of this article is to present the main capabilities of an evolution code system, DARWIN, developed at CEA (France). It is devoted to radioactivity studies in various application fields such as nuclear fuel cycle, dismantling, thermonuclear fusion, accelerator driven system, medecine etc. All types of nuclides are dealt with: actinides, fission products, activation products, spallation products. Physical quantities calculated by the code are isotope concentration, isotope mass, activity, radiotoxicity, gamma spectra, beta spectra, alpha spectra, neutron production by spontaneous fission and (α, n) reaction, residual heating, for any cooling times until geological times. Both analytical and numerical schemes are developed in the PEPIN2 depletion module of DARWIN to solve the generalized coupled differential depletion equations. The depletion module PEPIN2 is automatically linked to international evaluations (JEF2, ENDF/B6, EAF97...) both for decay data and cross-sections, and to some transport codes such as TRIPOLI, APOLLO2 and ERANOS. These transport codes provide neutronic data as self-shielded cross-sections and neutron fluxes. DARWIN includes a generator of radioisotope chain built automatically from decay modes and nuclear reaction types specified in the evaluation libraries. A 'search engine' allows to determine all formation ways of a considered isotope. Several examples are given for illustrating capabilities of DARWIN in different field applications. Some comparisons with other codes such as ORIGEN, FISPIN and FISPACT are also presented. (author)

  9. Mathematic study and numerical implantation of the Vlasov-Darwin model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sonnendrucker, E.

    1994-12-01

    Numerical simulation of some phenomena in plasma physics, or more generally in electromagnetism, can be more easily done using approximate models of Maxwell equations such as the Darwin model in which the transverse part of the displacement current in the Ampere equation is neglected, or such as the static model in which the time derivatives are neglected. In this note, the Darwin model is presented first, and then an asymptotic analysis of Maxwell equations is given with limit conditions of perfect conductor on one part of the side, and Silver-Muller absorbing conditions on the other part. This allows to obtain a variational formulation for the Darwin model which is a good approximation of Maxwell equations. A variational formulation for the quasi-static model is also obtained. In a second part this implantation is described using a 2-D finite element method coupled with a particulate method for the Vlasov equations which leads to numerical results allowing a determination of the different models application. (J.S.). 2 refs

  10. Streamlined Darwin methods for particle beam injectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boyd, J.K.

    1987-01-01

    Physics issues that involve inductive effects, such as beam fluctuations, electromagnetic (EM) instability, or interactions with a cavity require a time-dependent simulation. The most elaborate time-dependent codes self-consistently solve Maxwell's equations and the force equation for a large number of macroparticles. Although these full EM particle-in-cell (PIC) codes have been used to study a broad range of phenomena, including beam injectors, they have several drawbacks. In an explicit solution of Maxwell's equations, the time step is restricted by a Courant condition. A second disadvantage is the production of anomalously large numerical fluctuations, caused by representing many real particles by a single computational macroparticle. Last, approximate models of internal boundaries can create nonphysical radiation in a full EM simulation. In this work, many of the problems of a fully electromagnetic simulation are avoided by using the Darwin field model. The Darwin field model is the magnetoinductive limit of Maxwell's equations, and it retains the first-order relativistic correction to the particle Lagrangian. It includes the part of the displacement current necessary to satisfy the charge-continuity equation. This feature is important for simulation of nonneutral beams. Because the Darwin model does not include the solenoidal vector component of the displacement current, it cannot be used to study high-frequency phenomena or effects caused by rapid current changes. However, because wave motion is not followed, the Courant condition of a fully electromagnetic code can be exceeded. In addition, inductive effects are modeled without creating nonphysical radiation

  11. Darwinizing Gaia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doolittle, W Ford

    2017-12-07

    The Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock was co-developed with and vigorously promoted by Lynn Margulis, but most mainstream Darwinists scorned and still do not accept the notion. They cannot imagine selection for global stability being realized at the level of the individuals or species that make up the biosphere. Here I suggest that we look at the biogeochemical cycles and other homeostatic processes that might confer stability - rather than the taxa (mostly microbial) that implement them - as the relevant units of selection. By thus focusing our attentions on the "song", not the "singers", a Darwinized Gaia might be developed. Our understanding of evolution by natural selection would however need to be stretched to accommodate differential persistence as well as differential reproduction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Exploration and exploitation of Victorian science in Darwin's reading notebooks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murdock, Jaimie; Allen, Colin; DeDeo, Simon

    2017-02-01

    Search in an environment with an uncertain distribution of resources involves a trade-off between exploitation of past discoveries and further exploration. This extends to information foraging, where a knowledge-seeker shifts between reading in depth and studying new domains. To study this decision-making process, we examine the reading choices made by one of the most celebrated scientists of the modern era: Charles Darwin. From the full-text of books listed in his chronologically-organized reading journals, we generate topic models to quantify his local (text-to-text) and global (text-to-past) reading decisions using Kullback-Liebler Divergence, a cognitively-validated, information-theoretic measure of relative surprise. Rather than a pattern of surprise-minimization, corresponding to a pure exploitation strategy, Darwin's behavior shifts from early exploitation to later exploration, seeking unusually high levels of cognitive surprise relative to previous eras. These shifts, detected by an unsupervised Bayesian model, correlate with major intellectual epochs of his career as identified both by qualitative scholarship and Darwin's own self-commentary. Our methods allow us to compare his consumption of texts with their publication order. We find Darwin's consumption more exploratory than the culture's production, suggesting that underneath gradual societal changes are the explorations of individual synthesis and discovery. Our quantitative methods advance the study of cognitive search through a framework for testing interactions between individual and collective behavior and between short- and long-term consumption choices. This novel application of topic modeling to characterize individual reading complements widespread studies of collective scientific behavior. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. The necessity of Darwin: this journal's tribute to the most influential scientist of all time.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sessions, Stanley K; Macgregor, Herbert C

    2009-01-01

    Charles Darwin is considered by many to be one of the most influential scientists of all time. His theory of evolution via natural selection was astonishingly prescient in terms of what modern biology has revealed in the 150 years since the publication of The Origin of Species, especially since Darwin was unaware of even the most fundamental aspects of transmission genetics, not to mention molecular biology. Here we speculate what impact it would have had on Darwin's thinking if he had known what we now know about molecular biology and cytogenetics.

  14. Argentina 1967-70. Un tentativo fallito di stabilizzazione.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. MAYNARD

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Between 1950 and 1966 prices in Argentina rose at an average annual rate exceeding 25 percent. There have been several attempts to stabilise the situation, notably in 1966 when the military government took command. This attempt appeared to have considerable initial success, however, by 1970 the inflation rate began to accelerate again. This article describes the nature and characteristics of the stabilisation policy pursued in 1967-69. The author explains why, despite its initial success, in the end it broke down. Implications for the structuralist-monetarist controversy are then drawn. Finally, some conclusions that can be drawn for long-run development strategy and short-run stabilisation policy in Argentina are suggested.JEL: E31, E52, E60

  15. Aesthetic evolution by mate choice: Darwin's really dangerous idea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prum, Richard O

    2012-08-19

    Darwin proposed an explicitly aesthetic theory of sexual selection in which he described mate preferences as a 'taste for the beautiful', an 'aesthetic capacity', etc. These statements were not merely colourful Victorian mannerisms, but explicit expressions of Darwin's hypothesis that mate preferences can evolve for arbitrarily attractive traits that do not provide any additional benefits to mate choice. In his critique of Darwin, A. R. Wallace proposed an entirely modern mechanism of mate preference evolution through the correlation of display traits with male vigour or viability, but he called this mechanism natural selection. Wallace's honest advertisement proposal was stridently anti-Darwinian and anti-aesthetic. Most modern sexual selection research relies on essentially the same Neo-Wallacean theory renamed as sexual selection. I define the process of aesthetic evolution as the evolution of a communication signal through sensory/cognitive evaluation, which is most elaborated through coevolution of the signal and its evaluation. Sensory evaluation includes the possibility that display traits do not encode information that is being assessed, but are merely preferred. A genuinely Darwinian, aesthetic theory of sexual selection requires the incorporation of the Lande-Kirkpatrick null model into sexual selection research, but also encompasses the possibility of sensory bias, good genes and direct benefits mechanisms.

  16. Argentina set for privatization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chynoweth, E.

    1992-01-01

    Buyers are lining up for Argentina's two big state-controlled petrochemical groups, Buenos Aires-based Petroquimica General Mosconi (PGM) and Petroquimica Bahia Blance (PBB). However, feedstock supply contracts with government-owned oil group Yacientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPG) and gas group Gas del Estado hold the key to both sales. Shell Compania Argentina Petroleo SA (CAPSA), Perez Companc, and Global Petroleum have already bought PGM tender documentation. Shell says it will bid for PGM if the feedstock contract with YPF is acceptable. In addition to price and volume, Shell says the length is critical; it wants a 15-year deal, but would settle for 11. YPF initially sought a five-year contract. PGM, which produces 300,000 m.t./year of aromatics, plus oxo alcohols, methanol, and methyl tert-butyl ether, has sales of $150 million/year

  17. Modelling of Charles Darwin's tsunami reports

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galiev, Shamil

    2010-05-01

    Darwin landed at Valdivia and Concepcion, Chile, just before, during, and after a great 1835 earthquake. He described his impressions and results of the earthquake-induced natural catastrophe in The Voyage of the Beagle. His description of the tsunami could easily be read as a report from Indonesia or Sri Lanka, after the catastrophic tsunami of 26 December 2004. In particular, Darwin emphasised the dependence of earthquake-induced waves on a form of the coast and the coastal depth: ‘… Talcuhano and Callao are situated at the head of great shoaling bays, and they have always suffered from this phenomenon; whereas, the town of Valparaiso, which is seated close on the border of a profound ocean... has never been overwhelmed by one of these terrific deluges…' . He reports also, that ‘… the whole body of the sea retires from the coast, and then returns in great waves of overwhelming force ...' (we cite the Darwin's sentences following researchspace. auckland. ac. nz/handle/2292/4474). The coastal evolution of a tsunami was analytically studied in many publications (see, for example, Synolakis, C.E., Bernard, E.N., 2006. Philos. Trans. R. Soc., Ser. A, 364, 2231-2265; Tinti, S., Tonini, R. 205. J.Fluid Mech., 535, 11-21). However, the Darwin's reports and the influence of the coastal depth on the formation and the evolution of the steep front and the profile of tsunami did not practically discuss. Recently, a mathematical theory of these phenomena was presented in researchspace. auckland. ac. nz/handle/2292/4474. The theory describes the waves which are excited due to nonlinear effects within a shallow coastal zone. The tsunami elevation is described by two components: . Here is the linear (prime) component. It describes the wave coming from the deep ocean. is the nonlinear component. This component may become very important near the coastal line. After that the theory of the shallow waves is used. This theory yields the linear equation for and the weakly

  18. Creative Work: The Case of Charles Darwin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruber, Howard E.; Wallace, Doris B.

    2001-01-01

    Describes the evolving systems approach (ESA) to creative work, which emerged from a case study of Charles Darwin. Explains how the ESA differs from other approaches and describes various facets of creative work (networks of enterprise, uniqueness, insight, pluralism, and evolving belief systems and ensembles of metaphor). Emphasizes the…

  19. Congressional Social Darwinism and the American Indian

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blinderman, Abraham

    1978-01-01

    Summarizing a congressional report on civil and military treatment of American Indians, this article asserts that the social Darwinism of the day prevailed among all congressional committee members ("Even friends of the Indian... knew American expansionism, technology, and racial ideology would reduce the Indian to a pitiful remnant...) (JC)

  20. Darwin as a geologist in Africa – dispelling the myths and unravelling a confused knot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sharad Master

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Two myths persist concerning the role played by Charles Darwin as a geologist in Africa during his epic voyage around the world (1831–1836. The first myth is that Darwin was a completely self-taught geologist, with no formal training. The second myth is that it was Darwin who finally solved the problem of the granite–schist contact at the famous Sea Point coastal exposures in Cape Town, after deliberately setting out to prove his predecessors wrong. These myths are challenged by the now ample evidence that Darwin had excellent help in his geological education from the likes of Robert Jameson, John Henslow and Adam Sedgwick. The story of Darwin and his predecessors at the Sea Point granite contact has become confused, and even conflated, with previous descriptions by Basil Hall (1813 and Clark Abel (1818. Here, the historical record is unravelled and set straight, and it is shown from the evidence of his notebooks that Darwin was quite unaware of the outcrops in Cape Town. His erudite account of the contact was a result of the 8 years spent in writing and correspondence after his return to England and not because of his brilliant insights on the outcrop, as the myth would have it. While there has been little to indicate Darwin’s landfalls in Africa, a new plaque now explains the geology of the Sea Point Contact, and includes a drawing of Darwin’s ship, the Beagle, and quotes from his work.

  1. El camarote de Darwin: un Club de Lectura para aprender sobre la vida de Charles Darwin y su teoría de la evolución

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicolás Cuvi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Compartimos la experiencia y el análisis del Club de Lectura "El camarote de Darwin", realizado durante una semana en la isla Floreana, Galápagos, en un ámbito de educación no formal, para promover la alfabetización literaria y científica. Mezclamos la lectura del libro Darwin el viajero con actividades concretas de refuerzo, con el fin de cumplir con tres objetivos: divulgar la historia de Charles Darwin y su relación con Galápagos; familiarizar a los y las participantes con algunos aspectos de la teoría darwiniana de la evolución; y promover el hábito de la lectura y el gusto por los libros y las historias. Evaluamos el cumplimiento de estos objetivos mediante encuestas y observación, en las que incluimos preguntas sobre otros aspectos no considerados en los objetivos generales, como la relación entre ideas evolucionistas y creacionistas. Señalamos algunas modificaciones que requieren ser incorporadas en la actividad para ser replicada en otros contextos.

  2. Darwin's triggering mechanism of volcano eruptions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galiev, Shamil

    2010-05-01

    Charles Darwin wrote that ‘… the elevation of many hundred square miles of territory near Concepcion is part of the same phenomenon, with that splashing up, if I may so call it, of volcanic matter through the orifices in the Cordillera at the moment of the shock;…' and ‘…a power, I may remark, which acts in paroxysmal upheavals like that of Concepcion, and in great volcanic eruptions,…'. Darwin reports that ‘…several of the great chimneys in the Cordillera of central Chile commenced a fresh period of activity ….' In particular, Darwin reported on four-simultaneous large eruptions from the following volcanoes: Robinson Crusoe, Minchinmavida, Cerro Yanteles and Peteroa (we cite the Darwin's sentences following his The Voyage of the Beagle and researchspace. auckland. ac. nz/handle/2292/4474). Let us consider these eruptions taking into account the volcano shape and the conduit. Three of the volcanoes (Minchinmavida (2404 m), Cerro Yanteles (2050 m), and Peteroa (3603 m)) are stratovolcanos and are formed of symmetrical cones with steep sides. Robinson Crusoe (922 m) is a shield volcano and is formed of a cone with gently sloping sides. They are not very active. We may surmise, that their vents had a sealing plug (vent fill) in 1835. All these volcanoes are conical. These common features are important for Darwin's triggering model, which is discussed below. The vent fill material, usually, has high level of porosity and a very low tensile strength and can easily be fragmented by tension waves. The action of a severe earthquake on the volcano base may be compared with a nuclear blast explosion of the base. It is known, that after a underground nuclear explosion the vertical motion and the surface fractures in a tope of mountains were observed. The same is related to the propagation of waves in conical elements. After the explosive load of the base. the tip may break and fly off at high velocity. Analogous phenomenon may be generated as a result of a

  3. Darwin's legacy and the study of primate visual communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Waal, Frans B M

    2003-12-01

    After Charles Darwin's The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, published in 1872, we had to wait 60 years before the theme of animal expressions was picked up by another astute observer. In 1935, Nadezhda Ladygina-Kohts published a detailed comparison of the expressive behavior of a juvenile chimpanzee and of her own child. After Kohts, we had to wait until the 1960s for modern ethological analyses of primate facial and gestural communication. Again, the focus was on the chimpanzee, but ethograms on other primates appeared as well. Our understanding of the range of expressions in other primates is at present far more advanced than that in Darwin's time. A strong social component has been added: instead of focusing on the expressions per se, they are now often classified according to the social situations in which they typically occur. Initially, quantitative analyses were sequential (i.e., concerned with temporal associations between behavior patterns), and they avoided the language of emotions. I will discuss some of this early work, including my own on the communicative repertoire of the bonobo, a close relative of the chimpanzee (and ourselves). I will provide concrete examples to make the point that there is a much richer matrix of contexts possible than the common behavioral categories of aggression, sex, fear, play, and so on. Primate signaling is a form of negotiation, and previous classifications have ignored the specifics of what animals try to achieve with their exchanges. There is also increasing evidence for signal conventionalization in primates, especially the apes, in both captivity and the field. This process results in group-specific or "cultural" communication patterns.

  4. Darwin and the geological controversies over the steady-state worldview in the 1830s.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gohau, Gabriel

    2014-01-01

    In the first part of this paper, I will show that although Darwin's geological works only covered the first years of his scientific career, these played a non-negligible role in the earth sciences of the mid-nineteenth century. His intellectual proximity with Charles Lyell often made him his disciple. This is indeed the case with respect to debates over 'gradual' soil movements and 'catastrophic' soil movements, and for 'steady-state' cycles as opposed to 'directionalistic' ones. This being said, it is also true that in South America Darwin saw geological processes which were incompatible with Lyell's explanations. It must therefore be recognized that Darwin held a middle-of-the-road position between uniformitarianism (Lyell) and catastrophism (Humbolt and von Buch), at least as far as some geological questions were concerned. In the second part of the paper, debates on geological issues during Darwin's active years will be put in the methodological context of the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Simulations of electromagnetic effects in high-frequency capacitively coupled discharges using the Darwin approximation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eremin, Denis; Hemke, Torben; Brinkmann, Ralf Peter; Mussenbrock, Thomas

    2013-01-01

    The Darwin approximation is investigated for its possible use in simulation of electromagnetic effects in large size, high-frequency capacitively coupled discharges. The approximation is utilized within the framework of two different fluid models which are applied to typical cases showing pronounced standing wave and skin effects. With the first model it is demonstrated that the Darwin approximation is valid for treatment of such effects in the range of parameters under consideration. The second approach, a reduced nonlinear Darwin approximation-based model, shows that the electromagnetic phenomena persist in a more realistic setting. The Darwin approximation offers a simple and efficient way of carrying out electromagnetic simulations as it removes the Courant condition plaguing explicit electromagnetic algorithms and can be implemented as a straightforward modification of electrostatic algorithms. The algorithm described here avoids iterative schemes needed for the divergence cleaning and represents a fast and efficient solver, which can be used in fluid and kinetic models for self-consistent description of technical plasmas exhibiting certain electromagnetic activity. (paper)

  6. HENRY H. CHEEK AND TRANSFORMISM: NEW LIGHT ON CHARLES DARWIN'S EDINBURGH BACKGROUND.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jenkins, Bill

    2015-06-20

    Evidence for the transformist ideas espoused by Henry H. Cheek (1807-33), a contemporary of Charles Darwin's at the University of Edinburgh, sheds new light on the intellectual environment of Edinburgh in the late 1820s and early 1830s. Cheek was the author of several papers dealing with the transmutation of species influenced by the theories of Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844), Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) and the Comte de Buffon (1707-88). Some of these were read to student societies, others appeared in the Edinburgh Journal of Natural and Geographical Science, which Cheek edited between 1829 and 1831. His writings give us a valuable window onto some of the transformist theories that were circulating among Darwin's fellow medical students in the late 1820s, to which Darwin would have been exposed during his time in Edinburgh, and for which little other concrete evidence survives.

  7. Darwinism and the molecular revolution

    OpenAIRE

    Salzano, Francisco M.

    2001-01-01

    The main characteristics of Darwin's life and work will be examined, as well as the developments which occurred after his death, especially neodarwinism and the synthetic theory of organic change. In which ways the extraordinary progress made in the field of genetics and molecular biology in the last decades affected our ideas about evolution? This question will be considered using information recently obtained concerning the human genome, and the research performed by our group in a very int...

  8. Darwin and Wagner: Evolution and Aesthetic Appreciation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ostergaard, Edvin

    2011-01-01

    Two of the most influential works of the Western nineteenth century were completed in 1859: Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species" and Richard Wagner's opera "Tristan and Isolde." Although created within very different cultural traditions, these works show some striking similarities: both brought about a critical, long-lasting debate and caused…

  9. Los guisantes mágicos de Darwin y Mendel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Galera, Andrés

    2000-12-01

    Full Text Available

    Presently work analyzes the hereditary models proposed by Darwin and Mendel to explain the evolutionary history of the Earth. The comparison shows us two faced biological theories, governed, one, for the principle of the natural selection, the other for the mutation.



    En el presente trabajo analizamos los modelos hereditarios propuestos por Darwin y Mendel para explicar la historia evolutiva de la Tierra. De la comparación resultan dos teorías biológicas enfrentadas, regidas una por el principio de la selección natural y la otra por la mutación.

  10. [Anthropology and synthetic Darwinism in the Third Reich: The Evolution of Organisms (1943)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hossfeld, Uwe; Junker, Thomas

    2003-03-01

    This essay will analyse early attempts to base anthropology on the theoretical model provided by the emerging synthetic Darwinism of the 1940s. In the first section we will investigate the historical context of the publication of one of the central documents of synthetic Darwinism in Germany: Gerhard Heberer's Die Evolution der Organismen (1943). Anthropology was covered extensively in this book. The second section will give an impression of the live and work of the five anthropologists represented in Heberer's book: Christian von Krogh, Wilhelm Gieseler, Otto Reche, Hans Weinert, and Gerhard Heberer. The third part of our paper will clarify whether these anthropologists shared a common theoretical outlook with the founders of synthetic Darwinism, and to what degree they were committed to the racial ideas of the Third Reich.

  11. Bolivia's gas heads for Brazil as Argentina waits - and watches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knight, P.

    1998-01-01

    The first 1,800 km stretch of a 3,400 km natural gas pipeline from Bolivia to Brazil will start operating in December. First planned 50 years ago, the pipeline has long been expected to result in an immediate surge of gas use in Brazil. However, impending deep recession in Brazil makes this prospect less likely despite the power shortages which indicate the need for considerable gas imports. Initially, most Bolivian gas will flow through Brazil to Argentina. But gas production is expanding rapidly in Argentina and the supply contract with Bolivia ends in 1999. Plans are well advanced to build two gas lines into the south of the Brazil from Argentina. Ultimately, it is anticipated that Argentina, which has abundant reserves and a virtually saturated domestic market, will become the principal source of natural gas for Brazil. (UK)

  12. Darwin’s legacy to rove beetles (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae: A new genus and a new species, including materials collected on the Beagle’s voyage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stylianos Chatzimanolis

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available A species of xanthopygine rove beetles is described and figured here as Darwinilus sedarisi gen. n. and sp. n. The holotype was collected by Charles Darwin in Bahía Blanca, Argentina on the Beagle’s voyage. The contributions of Charles Darwin to rove beetle systematics are summarized briefly.

  13. Social Darwinism in modern China

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    XU Jilin; XIAO Zhiwei

    2012-01-01

    After evolutionary theory was introduced in China,Herbert Spencer's interpretation of it in the form of social Darwinism persuaded the Chinese that if they wanted to strengthen their nation,they would have to accept the brutal truth of natural selection,in which the principle of survival of the fittest rules.This version of evolutionary theory,when combined with the pragmatic thrust of Confucianism and the realpolitik of legalism from China's indigenous tradition,started a storm of materialism and utilitarianism in modern China.In the process,the traditional social order based on the rule of propriety (li) was completely subverted and replaced by a new order predicated on the rule of competition and power.This development produced a new mental outlook that privileged power over everything else,seriously undermined the rules of ethics and caused serious political consequences in the late Qing and early Republican period.This intellectual development may have contributed to ending the dynastic rule in China,but it was also responsible for ruining the newborn Republican China.The Chinese intellectuals of the May Fourth era critically reflected on this problematic legacy.While still believing in the notion of progress,they abandoned social Darwinism and embraced the idea of evolution through mutual assistance.Thus began a historical shift in modern China from focusing on wealth and power to focusing on civilization as China's salvation.

  14. Is Darwinism past its "sell-by" date? The Origin of Species at 150.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruse, Michael

    2011-03-01

    Many people worry that the theory of evolution that Charles Darwin gave in his Origin of Species is now dated and no longer part of modern science. This essay challenges this claim, arguing that the central core of the Origin is as vital today as it ever was, although naturally the science keeps moving on. Darwin provided the foundation not the finished product. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Los sabores del poder: eugenesia y biotipología en la Argentina del siglo XX

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vallejo, Gustavo

    2004-08-01

    Full Text Available Ethics establishes a divide between good and evil based on society-shared values, from which stems the legitimation of the norms derived therefrom, as well as their use as an expression of power. This reasoning bitterly resents, however, when its components are turned upside down. That is to say, when it is the expression of power that implements and normalizes an Ethics that is imposed over society. This happened in modern Argentina when a biopolitical amalgamation of science and power —operating through Social Darwinism, Eugenics and Biotypology— helped to re-create an alleged Ethics of exclusion.

    Si la ética establece una línea divisoria entre lo que está bien y lo que está mal a partir de valores compartidos por una sociedad, de donde deviene la legitimación de su posterior instrumentación normativa como expresión del poder; su sentido se resiente profundamente cuando los componentes de este razonamiento se invierten. Es decir, cuando la expresión del poder instrumenta normativamente una ética que se impone sobre la sociedad. Esto sucedió en la Argentina moderna cuando la amalgama biopolítica entre ciencia y poder operada a través del darwinismo social, la Eugenesia y la Biotipología, contribuyó a recrear permanentemente una pretendida ética de la exclusión.

  16. Generic emergence of classical features in quantum Darwinism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandão, Fernando G. S. L.; Piani, Marco; Horodecki, Paweł

    2015-08-01

    Quantum Darwinism posits that only specific information about a quantum system that is redundantly proliferated to many parts of its environment becomes accessible and objective, leading to the emergence of classical reality. However, it is not clear under what conditions this mechanism holds true. Here we prove that the emergence of classical features along the lines of quantum Darwinism is a general feature of any quantum dynamics: observers who acquire information indirectly through the environment have effective access at most to classical information about one and the same measurement of the quantum system. Our analysis does not rely on a strict conceptual splitting between a system-of-interest and its environment, and allows one to interpret any system as part of the environment of any other system. Finally, our approach leads to a full operational characterization of quantum discord in terms of local redistribution of correlations.

  17. Charles Darwin's emotional expression "experiment" and his contribution to modern neuropharmacology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snyder, Peter J; Kaufman, Rebecca; Harrison, John; Maruff, Paul

    2010-04-08

    In the late 1860s and early 1870s, Darwin had corresponded with the French physician and physiologist, G. B. A. Duchenne, regarding Duchenne's experimental manipulation of human facial expression of emotion, by applying Galvanic electrical stimulation directly to facial muscles. Duchenne had produced a set of over 60 photographic plates to illustrate his view that there are different muscles in the human face that are separately responsible for each individual emotion. Darwin studied this material very carefully and he received permission from Duchenne in 1871 to reproduce several of these images in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). Darwin had doubted Duchenne's view that there were individual muscle groups that mediate the expression of dozens of separable emotions, and he wondered whether there might instead be a fewer set of core emotions that are expressed with great stability worldwide and across cultures. Prompted by his doubts regarding the veracity of Duchenne's model, Darwin conducted what may have been the first-ever single-blind study of the recognition of human facial expression of emotion. This single experiment was a little-known forerunner for an entire modern field of study with contemporary clinical relevance. Moreover, his specific question about cross-cultural recognition of the cardinal emotions in faces is a topic that is being actively studied (in the twenty-first century) with the hope of developing novel biomarkers to aid the discovery of new therapies for the treatment of schizophrenia, autism, and other neuropsychiatric diseases.

  18. Darwin's Final Message: We Have No Honour.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miles, James

    2000-01-01

    Examines current views in Great Britain on the genetic basis of violence and crime. Argues that evolutionary heretics have a flawed understanding of genetics and defend an anti-scientific concept of free will. Maintains that arguments within Darwinism have allowed evolutionary heretics to promote their own agenda and to continue to abuse the most…

  19. Group adaptation, formal darwinism and contextual analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okasha, S; Paternotte, C

    2012-06-01

    We consider the question: under what circumstances can the concept of adaptation be applied to groups, rather than individuals? Gardner and Grafen (2009, J. Evol. Biol.22: 659-671) develop a novel approach to this question, building on Grafen's 'formal Darwinism' project, which defines adaptation in terms of links between evolutionary dynamics and optimization. They conclude that only clonal groups, and to a lesser extent groups in which reproductive competition is repressed, can be considered as adaptive units. We re-examine the conditions under which the selection-optimization links hold at the group level. We focus on an important distinction between two ways of understanding the links, which have different implications regarding group adaptationism. We show how the formal Darwinism approach can be reconciled with G.C. Williams' famous analysis of group adaptation, and we consider the relationships between group adaptation, the Price equation approach to multi-level selection, and the alternative approach based on contextual analysis. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2012 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

  20. Creative work. The case of Charles Darwin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruber, H E; Wallace, D B

    2001-04-01

    The evolving systems approach (ESA) addresses the need for direct study of the creative process in recognized creators at work, in contrast to indirect methods, such as those used in psychometric studies. The ESA emerged from H. E. Gruber's prolonged study of Charles Darwin's manuscripts, especially the notebooks he kept after the Beagle voyage. Gruber's interviews with J. Piaget about the latter's creative processes, as well as many doctoral dissertations, also helped shape the authors' approach. Using Gruber's (1974/1981) study of Darwin, the authors describe some facets of creative work identified in the course of their work. Among these are networks of enterprise, ensembles of metaphors, insights, and evolving belief systems. Although the ESA emphasizes cognitive processes, social, affective, and esthetic aspects of the case are not neglected. Each creative case is unique, otherwise the individual would not meet the criterion of originality. Uniqueness does not mean isolation; people who differ must and do work together. The integration of all these facets into a plausible system for each creator remains the authors' central task.

  1. Relativistic quantum Darwinism in Dirac fermion and graphene systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ni, Xuan; Huang, Liang; Lai, Ying-Cheng; Pecora, Louis

    2012-02-01

    We solve the Dirac equation in two spatial dimensions in the setting of resonant tunneling, where the system consists of two symmetric cavities connected by a finite potential barrier. The shape of the cavities can be chosen to yield both regular and chaotic dynamics in the classical limit. We find that certain pointer states about classical periodic orbits can exist, which are signatures of relativistic quantum Darwinism (RQD). These localized states suppress quantum tunneling, and the effect becomes less severe as the underlying classical dynamics in the cavity is chaotic, leading to regularization of quantum tunneling. Qualitatively similar phenomena have been observed in graphene. A physical theory is developed to explain relativistic quantum Darwinism and its effects based on the spectrum of complex eigenenergies of the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian describing the open cavity system.

  2. Friedrich Albert Lange on neo-Kantianism, socialist Darwinism, and a psychology without a soul.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teo, Thomas

    2002-01-01

    Friedrich Albert Lange was a German philosopher, political theorist, educator, and psychologist who outlined an objective psychology in the 1860s. This article shows how some of the most important worldviews of the nineteenth century (Kantianism, Marxism, and Darwinism) were combined creatively in his thought system. He was crucial in the development of neo-Kantianism and incorporated psycho-physiological research on sensation and perception in order to defend Kant's epistemological idealism. Based on a critique of phrenology and philosophical psychology of his time, Lange developed a program of a psychology without a soul. He suggested that only those phenomena that can be observed and controlled should be studied, that psychology should focus on actions and speech, and that for each psychological event the corresponding physical or physiological processes should be identified. Lange opposed introspection and subjective accounts and promoted experiments and statistics. He also promoted Darwinism for psychology while developing a socialist progressive-democratic reading of Darwin in his social theory. The implications of socialist Darwinism on Lange's conceptualization of race are discussed and his prominence in nineteenth century philosophy and psychology is summarized. Copyright 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Charles Darwin, Imperium Britannicum a Evropa. K Darwinovu dvojitému výročí

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hermann, Tomáš; Stella, M.

    2009-01-01

    Roč. 42, č. 2 (2009), s. 103-111 ISSN 0300-4414 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR KJB800630701 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z80630520 Keywords : Darwin´s theory * history of biology * reception of Darwinism Subject RIV: AB - History

  4. Impact of a power plant cooling system on copepod and meroplankton survival (Bahía Blanca estuary, Argentina Impacto del sistema de enfriamiento de una central termoeléctrica sobre la supervivencia de copépodos y meroplancton (estuario de Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mónica Susana Hoffmeyer

    2005-09-01

    Full Text Available The impact of a power plant cooling system in the Bahía Blanca estuary (Argentina on the survival of target zooplanktonic organisms (copepods and crustacean larvae and on overall mesozooplankton abundance was evaluated over time. Mortality rates were calculated for juveniles and adults of four key species in the estuary: Acartia tonsa Dana, 1849 and Eurytemora americana Williams, 1906 (native and invading copepods, and larvae of the crab Chasmagnathus granulata Dana, 1851 and the invading cirriped Balanus glandula Darwin, 1854. Mean total mortality values were up to four times higher at the water discharge site than at intake, though for all four species, significant differences were only registered in post-capture mortality. The findings show no evidence of greater larval sensitivity. As expected, the sharpest decrease in overall mesozooplankton abundance was found in areas close to heated water discharge.El impacto del sistema de enfriamiento de una planta termoeléctrica ubicada en el estuario de Bahía Blanca, Argentina, fue evaluado en el tiempo, sobre la supervivencia de especies zooplanctónicas seleccionadas (copépodos y larvas de crustáceos y la abundancia general del meso-zooplancton. Se calcularon tasas de mortalidad de juveniles y adultos de cuatro especies clave en el estuario: Acartia tonsa Dana,1849 y Eurytemora americana Williams,1906 (copépodos nativo e invasor, y larvas del cangrejo Chasmagnathus granulata Dana, 1851 y del cirripedio invasor Balanus glandula Darwin, 1854. Los valores medios hallados de la tasa de mortalidad total, fueron hasta cuatro veces más altos en la descarga que en el agua de entrada al sistema. Sin embargo sólo se registraron diferencias significativas entre estos dos sitios, en los valores de mortalidad post-captura obtenidos para las cuatro especies. Los resultados del estudio no demostraron una mayor sensibilidad larval. Como se esperaba, la disminución más pronunciada en la abundancia general

  5. Conmemoración de Charles Darwin (1882

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paolo Mantegazza

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Tres semanas después de la muerte del biólogo y naturalista inglés, Paolo Mantegazza pronunció el 21 de mayo de 1882 su "Conmemoración de Charles Darwin celebrada en el Real Instituto de Estudios Superiores en Florencia". Traducción de Juan Pérez Andrés.

  6. Bioturbation: a fresh look at Darwin's last idea

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meysman, F.J.R.; Middelburg, J.J.; Heip, C.H.R.

    2006-01-01

    Bioturbation refers to the biological reworking of soils and sediments, and its importance for soil processes and geomorphology was first realised by Charles Darwin, who devoted his last scientific book to the subject. Here, we review some new insights into the evolutionary and ecological role of

  7. Agency and space in Darwin's concept of variation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kwa, C.

    2010-01-01

    In Kwa's discussion of evolutionary time, he positions Darwin's "natural selection" as heir to an 18th Century mechanicist understanding of nature's history, even when taking to account the important innovations that he brought to it. The key to a modern historical understanding of nature was the

  8. Evolution beyond neo-Darwinism: a new conceptual framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noble, Denis

    2015-01-01

    Experimental results in epigenetics and related fields of biological research show that the Modern Synthesis (neo-Darwinist) theory of evolution requires either extension or replacement. This article examines the conceptual framework of neo-Darwinism, including the concepts of 'gene', 'selfish', 'code', 'program', 'blueprint', 'book of life', 'replicator' and 'vehicle'. This form of representation is a barrier to extending or replacing existing theory as it confuses conceptual and empirical matters. These need to be clearly distinguished. In the case of the central concept of 'gene', the definition has moved all the way from describing a necessary cause (defined in terms of the inheritable phenotype itself) to an empirically testable hypothesis (in terms of causation by DNA sequences). Neo-Darwinism also privileges 'genes' in causation, whereas in multi-way networks of interactions there can be no privileged cause. An alternative conceptual framework is proposed that avoids these problems, and which is more favourable to an integrated systems view of evolution. © 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  9. The industrial nuclear fuel cycle in Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koll, J.H.; Kittl, J.E.; Parera, C.A.; Coppa, R.C.; Aguirre, E.J.

    1977-01-01

    The nuclear power program of Argentina for the period 1976-85 is described, as a basis to indicate fuel requirements and the consequent implementation of a national fuel cycle industry. Fuel cycle activities in Argentina were initiated as soon as 1951-2 in the prospection and mining activities through the country. Following this step, yellow-cake production was initiated in plants of limited capacity. National production of uranium concentrate has met requirements up to the present time, and will continue to do so until the Sierra Pintada Industrial Complex starts operation in 1979. Presently, there is a gap in local production of uranium dioxide and fuel elements for the Atucha power station, which are produced abroad using Argentine uranium concentrate. With its background, the argentine program for the installation of nuclear fuel cycle industries is described, and the techno-economical implications considered. Individual projects are reviewed, as well as the present and planned infrastructure needed to support the industrial effort [es

  10. Charles Darwin, beetles and phylogenetics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beutel, Rolf G.; Friedrich, Frank; Leschen, Richard A. B.

    2009-11-01

    Here, we review Charles Darwin’s relation to beetles and developments in coleopteran systematics in the last two centuries. Darwin was an enthusiastic beetle collector. He used beetles to illustrate different evolutionary phenomena in his major works, and astonishingly, an entire sub-chapter is dedicated to beetles in “The Descent of Man”. During his voyage on the Beagle, Darwin was impressed by the high diversity of beetles in the tropics, and he remarked that, to his surprise, the majority of species were small and inconspicuous. However, despite his obvious interest in the group, he did not get involved in beetle taxonomy, and his theoretical work had little immediate impact on beetle classification. The development of taxonomy and classification in the late nineteenth and earlier twentieth century was mainly characterised by the exploration of new character systems (e.g. larval features and wing venation). In the mid-twentieth century, Hennig’s new methodology to group lineages by derived characters revolutionised systematics of Coleoptera and other organisms. As envisioned by Darwin and Ernst Haeckel, the new Hennigian approach enabled systematists to establish classifications truly reflecting evolution. Roy A. Crowson and Howard E. Hinton, who both made tremendous contributions to coleopterology, had an ambivalent attitude towards the Hennigian ideas. The Mickoleit school combined detailed anatomical work with a classical Hennigian character evaluation, with stepwise tree building, comparatively few characters and a priori polarity assessment without explicit use of the outgroup comparison method. The rise of cladistic methods in the 1970s had a strong impact on beetle systematics. Cladistic computer programs facilitated parsimony analyses of large data matrices, mostly morphological characters not requiring detailed anatomical investigations. Molecular studies on beetle phylogeny started in the 1990s with modest taxon sampling and limited DNA data

  11. 102 Revolutions in Evolutionary Thought: Darwin and After

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Admin

    Natural Selection, or the Preservation of. Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. Charles Darwin. 204. SERIES ARTICLES. 179 Snippets of Physics. The Power of Nothing. T Padmanabhan. 191 Aerobasics – An Introduction to Aeronautics. Airfoils and Wings in Subsonic Flow. S P Govinda Raju. 124. 203. Information and.

  12. [Charles Robert Darwin: the great founder of scientific evolutionism].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Qian-Jin; Bin, Jie; Zhang, Gen-Fa

    2009-12-01

    Today, we celebrated 200 years since Charles Darwin, one of the world's most creative and influential thinkers, was born. And there happens to be the 150th anniversary of the publication of his famous book, On the Origin of Species. It is verified that On the Origin of Species is an immortal classic book and is still guiding the study of anagenesis in life science as the development of natural science from then on, and even though most of the ideas in the book are well-known at the present age. In the article, we recall the brilliance and predomination life of Darwin, a great sage with rich scientific achievements, review briefly the novel discoveries and theories after him in the field, and then elucidate the focal points and perspectiveas in near future study of evolution.

  13. Lamarck's and Darwin's theories in text books of Biology in Brazil

    OpenAIRE

    Almeida, Argus Vasconcelos de; Falcão, Jorge Tarcísio da Rocha

    2010-01-01

    As teorias de Lamarck e Darwin são analisadas numa amostra de livros didáticos brasileiros de biologia, num período de sessenta anos. A de Darwin ocupa, nos livros didáticos, uma área maior do que a de Lamarck. Nestes é variável a extensão do conteúdo de Lamarck. Dentre os livros, destacam-se as edições do BSCS. Nestas, pela primeira vez, é apresentado o exemplo da figura do alongamento do pescoço da girafa, para ilustrar as diferenças de abordagem entre as teorias, e reproduzido desde então ...

  14. Non-Markovianity hinders Quantum Darwinism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galve, Fernando; Zambrini, Roberta; Maniscalco, Sabrina

    2016-01-01

    We investigate Quantum Darwinism and the emergence of a classical world from the quantum one in connection with the spectral properties of the environment. We use a microscopic model of quantum environment in which, by changing a simple system parameter, we can modify the information back flow from environment into the system, and therefore its non-Markovian character. We show that the presence of memory effects hinders the emergence of classical objective reality, linking these two apparently unrelated concepts via a unique dynamical feature related to decoherence factors.

  15. DARWIN E IL SUO PUBBLICO. LA TEORIA EVOLUZIONISTICA TRA COMPLESSITÀ E DIVULGAZIONE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ceccarelli David

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Why the idea of Darwin apparently suffers a lot of interpretative problems? Why the reception of the evolutionary theory is characterized by biases, misunderstandings and exploitations? Why the “false myths” about evolution seem to remain unchanged over decades? Why are they still rooted in our common sense? In this short article I have tried to analyze and describe the differential leak of information between Darwin and his audience, emphasizing the scientific, epistemological, historical, cultural and comunicative issues about the debate over evolutionary theory. At the origin of this leak an ahistorical complexity has been detected. Darwin’s idea, in fact, shows some anti-intuitive theoretic-argumentative characteristics. Along with this, the evolutionary theory determines a clear impact full of philosophical, moral, politic, religious and social implications. These “links” make the idea of Darwin something more than just a “scientific theory”. It is an unique case study, whereas its comunicative filtration, because of the several “epiphenomenal baggage”, becomes more problematic than ever.

  16. China Encounters Darwinism: A Case of Intercultural Rhetoric.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Xiaosui

    1995-01-01

    Explores how influential works of one culture are adapted to the needs, circumstances and thought patterns of another. Analyzes as a case study Yan Fu's "Heavenly Evolution," a rhetorical translation of Thomas Huxley's "Evolution and Ethics," whose publication resulted in a rapid spread of a version of Darwinism in Confucian…

  17. Darwinism Defined: The Difference Between Fact and Theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gould, Stephen Jay

    1987-01-01

    Discusses various developments in both science and theology following the work of Charles Darwin on evolution. Differentiates between the facts regarding evolution and the theory of natural selection as a mechanism for evolutionary change. Warns that the differences between facts and theory have not been adequately emphasized by scientists. (TW)

  18. Darwinism and cultural struggles in rural Askov and metropolitan Copenhagen in nineteenth-century Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hjermitslev, Hans Henrik

    In the 1870s, when Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species and Descent of Man were translated into Danish by the botanist-turned-poet J. P. Jacobsen, evolutionary thought played a seminal role in the modern breakthrough advocated by the freethinker and literary critic Georg Brandes. A group...... of students and artists assembled around Brandes in the capital of Copenhagen - the only Danish city hosting a university in the late nineteenth century - and used Darwinism in their cultural struggle against what they regarded as reactionary Christian and conservative values which dominated in the country....... At the same time in the village of Askov in rural Jutland, a liberal fraction of the Evangelical-Lutheran State Church, the Grundtvigians, had a stronghold at their high-profile folk high school. Here materialism and Darwinism associated with the Brandes circle were tabooed and later condemned. However...

  19. Quantum Darwinism in an Everyday Environment: Huge Redundancy in Scattered Photons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riedel, Charles; Zurek, Wojciech

    2011-03-01

    We study quantum Darwinism---the redundant recording of information about the preferred states of a decohering system by its environment---for an object illuminated by a blackbody. In the cases of point-source, small disk, and isotropic illumination, we calculate the quantum mutual information between the object and its photon environment. We demonstrate that this realistic model exhibits fast and extensive proliferation of information about the object into the environment and results in redundancies orders of magnitude larger than the exactly soluble models considered to date. We also demonstrate a reduced ability to create records as initial environmental mixedness increases, in agreement with previous studies. This research is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through the LANL/LDRD program and, in part, by the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi).

  20. DARWIN: towards the ultimate dark matter detector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aalbers, J.; Agostini, F.; Alfonsi, M.; Amaro, F. D.; Amsler, C.; Aprile, E.; Arazi, L.; Arneodo, F.; Barrow, P.; Baudis, L.; Benabderrahmane, M. L.; Berger, T.; Beskers, B.; Breskin, A.; Breur, P. A.; Brown, A.; Brown, E.; Bruenner, S.; Bruno, G.; Budnik, R.; Bütikofer, L.; Calvén, J.; Cardoso, J. M. R.; Cichon, D.; Coderre, D.; Colijn, A. P.; Conrad, J.; Cussonneau, J. P.; Decowski, M. P.; Diglio, S.; Drexlin, G.; Duchovni, E.; Erdal, E.; Eurin, G.; Ferella, A.; Fieguth, A.; Fulgione, W.; Gallo Rosso, A.; Di Gangi, P.; Di Giovanni, A.; Galloway, M.; Garbini, M.; Geis, C.; Glueck, F.; Grandi, L.; Greene, Z.; Grignon, C.; Hasterok, C.; Hannen, V.; Hogenbirk, E.; Howlett, J.; Hilk, D.; Hils, C.; James, A.; Kaminsky, B.; Kazama, S.; Kilminster, B.; Kish, A.; Krauss, L. M.; Landsman, H.; Lang, R. F.; Lin, Q.; Linde, F. L.; Lindemann, S.; Lindner, M.; Lopes, J. A. M.; Marrodán Undagoitia, T.; Masbou, J.; Massoli, F. V.; Mayani, D.; Messina, M.; Micheneau, K.; Molinario, A.; Morå, K. D.; Morteau, E.; Murra, M.; Naganoma, J.; Newstead, J. L.; Ni, K.; Oberlack, U.; Pakarha, P.; Pelssers, B.; de Perio, P.; Persiani, R.; Piastra, F.; Piro, M. C.; Plante, G.; Rauch, L.; Reichard, S.; Rizzo, A.; Rupp, N.; Dos Santos, J. M. F.; Sartorelli, G.; Scheibelhut, M.; Schindler, S.; Schumann, M.; Schreiner, J.; Scotto Lavina, L.; Selvi, M.; Shagin, P.; Silva, M. C.; Simgen, H.; Sissol, P.; von Sivers, M.; Thers, D.; Thurn, J.; Tiseni, A.; Trotta, R.; Tunnell, C. D.; Valerius, K.; Vargas, M. A.; Wang, H.; Wei, Y.; Weinheimer, C.; Wester, T.; Wulf, J.; Zhang, Y.; Zhu, T.; Zuber, K.

    2016-11-01

    DARk matter WImp search with liquid xenoN (DARWIN) will be an experiment for the direct detection of dark matter using a multi-ton liquid xenon time projection chamber at its core. Its primary goal will be to explore the experimentally accessible parameter space for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) in a wide mass-range, until neutrino interactions with the target become an irreducible background. The prompt scintillation light and the charge signals induced by particle interactions in the xenon will be observed by VUV sensitive, ultra-low background photosensors. Besides its excellent sensitivity to WIMPs above a mass of 5 GeV/c2, such a detector with its large mass, low-energy threshold and ultra-low background level will also be sensitive to other rare interactions. It will search for solar axions, galactic axion-like particles and the neutrinoless double-beta decay of 136Xe, as well as measure the low-energy solar neutrino flux with detect galactic supernovae. We present the concept of the DARWIN detector and discuss its physics reach, the main sources of backgrounds and the ongoing detector design and R&D efforts.

  1. DARWIN: towards the ultimate dark matter detector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aalbers, J.; Breur, P.A.; Brown, A. [Nikhef and the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Agostini, F. [Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Bologna and INFN-Bologna, Bologna (Italy); Alfonsi, M.; Beskers, B. [Institut für Physik and Exzellenzcluster PRISMA, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz (Germany); Amaro, F.D. [Department of Physics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra (Portugal); Amsler, C. [Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, Universität Bern, Bern (Switzerland); Aprile, E. [Physics Department, Columbia University, New York, NY (United States); Arazi, L.; Breskin, A.; Budnik, R. [Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot (Israel); Arneodo, F.; Benabderrahmane, M.L. [New York University Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates); Barrow, P.; Baudis, L. [Physik-Institut, Universität Zürich, Zürich (Switzerland); Berger, T.; Brown, E. [Department of Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY (United States); Bruenner, S. [Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Bruno, G., E-mail: lior.arazi@weizmann.ac.il, E-mail: laura.baudis@physik.uzh.ch, E-mail: amos.breskin@weizmann.ac.il, E-mail: decowski@nikhef.nl, E-mail: marc.schumann@lhep.unibe.ch [INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso and Gran Sasso Science Institute, L' Aquila (Italy); and others

    2016-11-01

    DARk matter WImp search with liquid xenoN (DARWIN) will be an experiment for the direct detection of dark matter using a multi-ton liquid xenon time projection chamber at its core. Its primary goal will be to explore the experimentally accessible parameter space for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) in a wide mass-range, until neutrino interactions with the target become an irreducible background. The prompt scintillation light and the charge signals induced by particle interactions in the xenon will be observed by VUV sensitive, ultra-low background photosensors. Besides its excellent sensitivity to WIMPs above a mass of 5 GeV/ c {sup 2}, such a detector with its large mass, low-energy threshold and ultra-low background level will also be sensitive to other rare interactions. It will search for solar axions, galactic axion-like particles and the neutrinoless double-beta decay of {sup 136}Xe, as well as measure the low-energy solar neutrino flux with < 1% precision, observe coherent neutrino-nucleus interactions, and detect galactic supernovae. We present the concept of the DARWIN detector and discuss its physics reach, the main sources of backgrounds and the ongoing detector design and R and D efforts.

  2. CHARLES R. DARWIN Y EL DESARROLLO DE LA CREATIVIDAD (

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miranda Garnier Ximena

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Resumen:Los 200 años del nacimiento de Charles R. Darwin y los 150 años de la publicación de su libro “El origen de las especies” recuerdan la importancia de la creatividad y de comprender cómo se desarrolla. En este ensayo, analizo la autobiografía de Charles Darwin y concluyo que la creatividad en su vida surgió por interacción entre cualidades personales y una serie de circunstancias. En el análisis, sobresalen elementos que incluyen curiosidad, crecer cerca de la naturaleza, gusto por la lectura y el aprendizaje autónomo, la presencia de buenos mentores, disciplina, experiencia en los métodos de trabajo científico, disposición para establecer una red de científicos, y pasión por lo que se hace. Estos fueron elementos clave para su impacto en biología, geología, psicología, filosofía e incluso en nuestra percepción general del mundo. Se hacen reflexiones para educadores con la intención de promover el desarrollo de la creatividad en nuestros niños, niñas y jóvenes.Abstract:The 200th anniversary of Charles R. Darwin´s birth and the 150th of the publication of his “Origin of Species” remind us of the importance of creativity, and of understanding its development. In this essay, I analyze the autobiography of Charles Darwin and conclude that his creativity resulted from a series of personal qualities and circumstances. The key elements I found include curiosity, growing near nature, passion for reading and for autonomous learning, the role of good mentors, discipline, a disposition to establish a network with other scientists, experience with scientific methods, and passion for what he did. The presence of these elements in his life resulted in his transforming biology, geology, psychology, philosophy, and even our general perception of the world. Reflections for educators are presented with the intention of promoting the development of creativity in our children and youth.

  3. The prominent absence of Alfred Russel Wallace at the Darwin anniversaries in Germany in 1909, 1959 and 2009.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hossfeld, Uwe; Olsson, Lennart

    2013-12-01

    It is well known that the contribution of Alfred Russell Wallace (1823-1913) to the development of the "Darwinian" principle of natural selection has often been neglected. Here we focus on how the three anniversaries to celebrate the origin of the Darwin-Wallace theory in Germany in 1909, in 1959 in the divided country, as well as in 2009, have represented Charles Robert Darwin's and Alfred Russell Wallace's contributions. We have analyzed books and proceedings volumes related to these anniversaries, and the main result is that Wallace was almost always ignored, or only mentioned in passing. In 1909, Ernst Haeckel gave a talk in Jena, later published under the title The worldview of Darwin and Lamarck (Das Weltbild von Darwin und Lamarck), but not as the Darwin-Wallace concept. Haeckel mentions Wallace only once. In two important proceedings volumes from the 1959 anniversaries, Wallace was ignored. The only fair treatment of Wallace is given in another book, a collection of documents edited by Gerhard Heberer, for which the author selected nine key documents and reprinted excerpts (1959). Three of them were articles by Wallace, including the Sarawak- and Ternate-papers of 1855 and 1858, respectively. An analysis of the dominant themes during the celebrations of 2009 shows that none of the six topics had much to do with Wallace and his work. Thus, the tendency to exclude Alfred Russell Wallace is an international phenomenon, and largely attributable to the "Darwin industry".

  4. Music, Play and Darwin's Children: Pedagogical Reflections of and on the Ontogeny/Phylogeny Relationship

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bannan, Nicholas

    2014-01-01

    This article explores the relationship between ideas about the role and purpose of music introduced in the major publications of Charles Darwin, and the fields of child development, music education and pedagogy. It also considers the significant influence on Darwin's work of his own biography and family life. In the global village of…

  5. Largest global shark biomass found in the northern Galápagos Islands of Darwin and Wolf

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pelayo Salinas de León

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Overfishing has dramatically depleted sharks and other large predatory fishes worldwide except for a few remote and/or well-protected areas. The islands of Darwin and Wolf in the far north of the Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR are known for their large shark abundance, making them a global scuba diving and conservation hotspot. Here we report quantitative estimates of fish abundance at Darwin and Wolf over two consecutive years using stereo-video surveys, which reveal the largest reef fish biomass ever reported (17.5 t ${\\mathrm{ha}}^{-1}$ ha − 1 on average, consisting largely of sharks. Despite this, the abundance of reef fishes around the GMR, such as groupers, has been severely reduced because of unsustainable fishing practices. Although Darwin and Wolf are within the GMR, they were not fully protected from fishing until March 2016. Given the ecological value and the economic importance of Darwin and Wolf for the dive tourism industry, the current protection should ensure the long-term conservation of this hotspot of unique global value.

  6. Darwinism in the Light of Orthodoxy: Scientific Transformism Based on Materialism and Naturalism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gheorghe Istodor

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Darwin and his transformism is the most serious challenge to the religious faith of the Church, initial being challenged the presence and God’s creative work in the living universe of the nature, and finally to challenge the existence of God as the Creator, being replaced by an eternal matters and by a blind and random natural process called natural selection. Darwinian theory proposes a dangerous road that starts from deism – with Anglican theistic accents – accepted in his time to an agnosticism and an atheism worst to strike materialism that have an ideological origins placing the foundations of ateization process of many generations starting with modernism, postmodernism and until today.

  7. Some of the Best Online Darwin Resources

    Science.gov (United States)

    la Velle, Linda

    2009-01-01

    Ask most men or women in the street who Charles Darwin was and the chances are that they will know something of the work he did: the work that has revolutionised our understanding of the living world and our place in it. The 200th centenary of his birth was in February 2009. Over the 150 years since the publication of his seminal work On the…

  8. On the validity of microscopic calculations of double-quantum-dot spin qubits based on Fock-Darwin states

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, GuoXuan; Wang, Xin

    2018-04-01

    We consider two typical approximations that are used in the microscopic calculations of double-quantum dot spin qubits, namely, the Heitler-London (HL) and the Hund-Mulliken (HM) approximations, which use linear combinations of Fock-Darwin states to approximate the two-electron states under the double-well confinement potential. We compared these results to a case in which the solution to a one-dimensional Schr¨odinger equation was exactly known and found that typical microscopic calculations based on Fock-Darwin states substantially underestimate the value of the exchange interaction, which is the key parameter that controls the quantum dot spin qubits. This underestimation originates from the lack of tunneling of Fock-Darwin states, which is accurate only in the case with a single potential well. Our results suggest that the accuracies of the current two-dimensional molecular- orbit-theoretical calculations based on Fock-Darwin states should be revisited since underestimation could only deteriorate in dimensions that are higher than one.

  9. Upgrades of DARWIN, a dose and spectrum monitoring system applicable to various types of radiation over wide energy ranges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Tatsuhiko; Satoh, Daiki; Endo, Akira; Shigyo, Nobuhiro; Watanabe, Fusao; Sakurai, Hiroki; Arai, Yoichi

    2011-05-01

    A dose and spectrum monitoring system applicable to neutrons, photons and muons over wide ranges of energy, designated as DARWIN, has been developed for radiological protection in high-energy accelerator facilities. DARWIN consists of a phoswitch-type scintillation detector, a data-acquisition (DAQ) module for digital waveform analysis, and a personal computer equipped with a graphical-user-interface (GUI) program for controlling the system. The system was recently upgraded by introducing an original DAQ module based on a field programmable gate array, FPGA, and also by adding a function for estimating neutron and photon spectra based on an unfolding technique without requiring any specific scientific background of the user. The performance of the upgraded DARWIN was examined in various radiation fields, including an operational field in J-PARC. The experiments revealed that the dose rates and spectra measured by the upgraded DARWIN are quite reasonable, even in radiation fields with peak structures in terms of both spectrum and time variation. These results clearly demonstrate the usefulness of DARWIN for improving radiation safety in high-energy accelerator facilities.

  10. Upgrades of DARWIN, a dose and spectrum monitoring system applicable to various types of radiation over wide energy ranges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, Tatsuhiko; Satoh, Daiki; Endo, Akira; Shigyo, Nobuhiro; Watanabe, Fusao; Sakurai, Hiroki; Arai, Yoichi

    2011-01-01

    A dose and spectrum monitoring system applicable to neutrons, photons and muons over wide ranges of energy, designated as DARWIN, has been developed for radiological protection in high-energy accelerator facilities. DARWIN consists of a phoswitch-type scintillation detector, a data-acquisition (DAQ) module for digital waveform analysis, and a personal computer equipped with a graphical-user-interface (GUI) program for controlling the system. The system was recently upgraded by introducing an original DAQ module based on a field programmable gate array, FPGA, and also by adding a function for estimating neutron and photon spectra based on an unfolding technique without requiring any specific scientific background of the user. The performance of the upgraded DARWIN was examined in various radiation fields, including an operational field in J-PARC. The experiments revealed that the dose rates and spectra measured by the upgraded DARWIN are quite reasonable, even in radiation fields with peak structures in terms of both spectrum and time variation. These results clearly demonstrate the usefulness of DARWIN for improving radiation safety in high-energy accelerator facilities.

  11. Laser-fusion 40Ar/39Ar Ages of Darwin Impact Glass

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lo, Ching-Hua; Howard, Kieren T.; Chung, Sun-Lin; Meffre, Sebastien

    2002-11-01

    Three samples of Darwin Glass, an impact glass found in Tasmania, Australia at the edge of the Australasian tektite strewn field were dated using the 40Ar/39Ar single-grain laser fusion technique, yielding isochron ages of 796-815 ka with an overall weighted mean of 816 ± 7 ka. These data are statistically indistinguishable from those recently reported for the Australasian tektites from Southeast Asia and Australia (761-816 ka; with a mean weighted age of 803 ± 3 ka). However, considering the compositional and textural differences and the disparity from the presumed impact crater area for Australasian tektites, Darwin Glass is more likely to have resulted from a distinct impact during the same period of time.

  12. A finite element formulation of the Darwin electromagnetic PIC model for unstructured meshes of triangles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sonnendrucker, E.; Ambrosiano, J.; Brandon, S.

    1993-01-01

    The Darwin model for electromagnetic simulation is a reduced form of the Maxwell-Vlasov system that retains all essential physical processes except the propagation of light waves. It is useful in modeling systems for which the light-transit timescales are less important than Alfven wave propagation, or quasistatic effects. The Darwin model is elliptic rather than hyperbolic as are the full set of Maxwell's equations. Appropriate boundary conditions must be chosen for the problems to be well-posed. Using finite element techniques to apply this method for unstructured triangular meshes, a mesh made up of unstructured triangles allows realistic device geometries to be modeled without the necessity of using a large number of mesh points. Analyzing the dispersion relation allows us to validate the code as well as the Darwin approximation

  13. Spin currents, relativistic effects and the Darwin interaction in the theory of hole superconductivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirsch, J.E.

    2005-01-01

    The existence of macroscopic spin currents in the ground state of superconductors is predicted within the theory of hole superconductivity. Here it is shown that the electromagnetic Darwin interaction is attractive for spin currents and repulsive for charge currents. It is also shown that the mere existence of spin currents implies that some electrons are moving at relativistic speeds in macroscopic superconductors, which in turn implies that the Darwin interaction plays a fundamental role in stabilizing the superconducting state

  14. The Southern Argentina Agile Meteor Radar Orbital System (SAAMER-OS): An Initial Sporadic Meteoroid Orbital Survey in the Southern Sky

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janches, D.; Close, S.; Hormaechea, J. L.; Swarnalingam, N.; Murphy, A.; O'Connor, D.; Vandepeer, B.; Fuller, B.; Fritts, D. C.; Brunini, C.

    2015-01-01

    We present an initial survey in the southern sky of the sporadic meteoroid orbital environment obtained with the Southern Argentina Agile MEteor Radar (SAAMER) Orbital System (OS), in which over three-quarters of a million orbits of dust particles were determined from 2012 January through 2015 April. SAAMER-OS is located at the southernmost tip of Argentina and is currently the only operational radar with orbit determination capability providing continuous observations of the southern hemisphere. Distributions of the observed meteoroid speed, radiant, and heliocentric orbital parameters are presented, as well as those corrected by the observational biases associated with the SAAMER-OS operating parameters. The results are compared with those reported by three previous surveys performed with the Harvard Radio Meteor Project, the Advanced Meteor Orbit Radar, and the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar, and they are in agreement with these previous studies. Weighted distributions for meteoroids above the thresholds for meteor trail electron line density, meteoroid mass, and meteoroid kinetic energy are also considered. Finally, the minimum line density and kinetic energy weighting factors are found to be very suitable for meteoroid applications. The outcomes of this work show that, given SAAMERs location, the system is ideal for providing crucial data to continuously study the South Toroidal and South Apex sporadic meteoroid apparent sources.

  15. Darwin's Invention: Inheritance & the "Mad Dream" of Pangenesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    McComas, William F.

    2012-01-01

    This article recounts the story of the development of pangenesis, a principle proposed by Charles Darwin to describe the rules of inheritance and the source of new variation, two concepts vital to his proposal of evolution by natural selection. Historical accounts such as this are infrequently included in texts and classroom discussions but can…

  16. Social Darwinism, Scientific Racism, and the Metaphysics of Race.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dennis, Rutledge M.

    1995-01-01

    Maintains that science is often used as a justification to propose, project, and enact racist social policies. The philosophy of Social Darwinism is reviewed, and its assumptions about race and human abilities is discussed. The consequences of scientific racism for dominant groups are analyzed. (GR)

  17. From Darwin to Internet at the speed of light

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-11-01

    Data moving around the Internet are like road traffic in that a car can be driven fast down a straight road but has to slow down a great deal when changing direction at a junction. The same thing happens on information highways. Beams of light carry data along fibre-optic cables at very high speeds. When the data arrive at computers, known as servers, the servers redirect them to their final destinations. Presently, you need to convert the light signals into electricity, and that slows everything down. Electrons move at a speed of a few kilometres per second through a circuit, whereas light travels at nearly 300 000 kilometres per second. Integrated optics would leave the data as light and simply channel it through the chip, in the right direction. Scientists call this area integrated optics, referring to the integrated circuit board on which chips are mounted. Instead of miniaturised electronics, however, miniaturised optics are placed on a microchip. ESA has a strategy to enable more sophisticated searches for extra-solar planets in the future. Two planned developments rely on combining the light from such planets in a number of different telescopes. These are the Darwin mission and its precursor, the ESA/ESO Ground-based European Nulling Interferometer Experiment (GENIE). When you combine light beams, you traditionally need moving mirrors and lenses to divert the light beams to where you want them. However, if the system moves, it can break. As Malcolm Fridlund, Project Scientist for Darwin and GENIE says, “To change to integrated optics, which is much smaller and has no moving parts, would be highly desirable.” Desirable certainly, but also difficult. At present, integrated optics is a science that is far behind integrated circuit technology. For this reason, ESA is funding two studies. Astrium has been asked to study a traditional optics approach and Alcatel is investigating an integrated-optics solution. “We shall take the decision on whether GENIE will

  18. Darwin and Lincoln: their legacy of human dignity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Earls, Felton

    2010-01-01

    The legacy of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln is to champion the dignity inherent in every human being. The moment of the bicentennial of their births provides an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on ways they have shaped our understanding and commitment to human rights. The naturalist and the constitutional lawyer, so different in circumstance and discipline, were morally allied in the mission to eradicate slavery. The profound lessons to be extracted from the lives of these two icons bind us to the agonizing reality that nearly 150 years after Gettysburg and the publication of the Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, there remains much work to do toward advancing the security, respect, and equality of our species. This article describes how Darwin and Lincoln's inspiring legacies guided the author's personal choices as a scientist and activist. The essay concludes with a set of questions and challenges that confront us, foremost among which is the need to balance actions in response to the violation of negative rights by actions in the pursuit of positive rights.

  19. Darwinian hydrology: can the methodology Charles Darwin pioneered help hydrologic science?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harman, C.; Troch, P. A.

    2013-05-01

    There have been repeated calls for a Darwinian approach to hydrologic science or for a synthesis of Darwinian and Newtonian approaches, to deepen understanding the hydrologic system in the larger landscape context, and so develop a better basis for predictions now and in an uncertain future. But what exactly makes a Darwinian approach to hydrology "Darwinian"? While there have now been a number of discussions of Darwinian approaches, many referencing Harte (2002), the term is potentially a source of confusion while its connections to Darwin remain allusive rather than explicit. Here we discuss the methods that Charles Darwin pioneered to understand a variety of complex systems in terms of their historical processes of change. We suggest that the Darwinian approach to hydrology follows his lead by focusing attention on the patterns of variation in populations, seeking hypotheses that explain these patterns in terms of the mechanisms and conditions that determine their historical development, using deduction and modeling to derive consequent hypotheses that follow from a proposed explanation, and critically testing these hypotheses against new observations. It is not sufficient to catalogue the patterns or predict them statistically. Nor is it sufficient for the explanations to amount to a "just-so" story not subject to critical analysis. Darwin's theories linked present-day variation to mechanisms that operated over history, and could be independently test and falsified by comparing new observations to the predictions of corollary hypotheses they generated. With a Darwinian framework in mind it is easy to see that a great deal of hydrologic research has already been done that contributes to a Darwinian hydrology - whether deliberately or not. The various heuristic methods that Darwin used to develop explanatory theories - extrapolating mechanisms, space for time substitution, and looking for signatures of history - have direct application in hydrologic science. Some

  20. Quantum Darwinism for mixed-state environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quan, Haitao; Zwolak, Michael; Zurek, Wojciech

    2009-03-01

    We exam quantum darwinism when a system is in the presence of a mixed environment, and we find a general relation between the mutual information for the mixed-state environment and the change of the entropy of the fraction of the environment. We then look at a particular solvable model, and we numerically exam the time evolution of the ``mutual information" for large environment. Finally we discuss about the exact expressions for all entropies and the mutual information at special time.

  1. Controlling female cancer in Argentina. Divergent initiatives and the road to fragmentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eraso, Yolanda

    2014-01-01

    This article analyses the organisation of cancer control in Argentina, with a special focus on the initiatives, institutions, and models that targeted female or gynaecological cancers. It identifies and examines the main factors in the process of elaborating a national policy to control the disease drawing on a series of actors and instruments such as the state, medical professionals, institutions and services, and the use of technology (notably diagnostic tools) for the detection of the disease. It traces the developments in the organisation highlighting its transformations from a centralising to a decentralised model of service provision. Using the concept of "path-dependence" the article examines the continuities and changes observed in the organisation of female cancer critically signalling the particular time at which a path was taken where "fragmentation" became consolidated within the health system. It also argues that it was within the field of cancer diagnosis that Argentinian doctors first sought to create the foundational structures of cancer organisation. The article contends that the path-dependence analytical approach helps us acknowledge the importance of historical analysis in the identification of factors that led to the lack of service coordination, including the persistent strain between national/provincial states that hampered the development of comprehensive programmes, aspects that have continued to mark efforts in the elaboration of cancer policies to the present day.

  2. The Comparative Reception of Darwinism: A Brief History

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glick, Thomas F.

    2010-01-01

    The subfield of Darwin studies devoted to comparative reception coalesced around 1971 with the planning of a conference on the subject, at the University of Texas at Austin held in April 1972. The original focus was western Europe, Russia and the United States. Subsequently a spate of studies on the Italian reception added to the Eurocentric…

  3. A history of altruism focusing on Darwin, Allee and E.O. Wilson.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Domondon, Andrew T

    2013-06-01

    The problem of altruism refers to the apparent difficulty in reconciling the existence of altruists, individuals who reduce their own fitness to increase the fitness of others, with natural selection. A historical and philosophical overview of solutions to this apparent contradiction is presented through a close reading of the key texts of Charles Darwin, Warder C. Allee and Edward O. Wilson. Following an analysis of Darwin's explanation for altruism, I examine the ideas of group selection and kin selection advanced by Allee and Wilson, respectively, Attention is also given to the philosophical implications each associated with their respective solutions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Claiming Darwin: Stephen Jay Gould in contests over evolutionary orthodoxy and public perception, 1977-2002.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheldon, Myrna Perez

    2014-03-01

    This article analyzes the impact of the resurgence of American creationism in the early 1980s on debates within post-synthesis evolutionary biology. During this period, many evolutionists criticized Harvard biologist Stephen Jay Gould for publicizing his revisions to traditional Darwinian theory and opening evolution to criticism by creationists. Gould's theory of punctuated equilibrium was a significant source of contention in these disputes. Both he and his critics, including Richard Dawkins, claimed to be carrying the mantle of Darwinian evolution. By the end of the 1990s, the debate over which evolutionary thinkers were the rightful heirs to Darwin's evolutionary theory was also a conversation over whether Darwinism could be defended against creationists in the broader cultural context. Gould and others' claims to Darwin shaped the contours of a political, religious and scientific controversy. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  5. The moral conscience from a neuroethcal Standpoint. From Darwin to Kant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adela Cortina

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The personal moral conscience is one of the keystones of moral life. Darwin went as far as to claim that this constitutes the most important difference between man and the lower animals. Yet the most relevant philosophical proposals of our times (Rawls, Habermas do not expressly deal with this, perhaps because, as Aranguren said, they gave priority to intersubjective ethics over intrasubjective ethics. Without reconstructing that intrasubjective ethics, however, both personal and social life is watered down. In this work an attempt is made to explain what personal moral conscience consists of, what its neurobiological foundations are, and whether these are enough to explain its irreplaceable role in moral life. To answer these questions we will have to go from Darwin to Kant.

  6. Looking for Darwin's footprints in the microbial world

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shapiro, B. Jesse; David, Lawrence A.; Friedman, Jonathan; Alm, Eric J.

    2009-03-30

    As we observe the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birthday, microbiologists interested in the application of Darwin's ideas to the microscopic world have a lot to celebrate: an emerging picture of the (mostly microbial) Tree of Life at ever-increasing resolution, an understanding of horizontal gene transfer as a driving force in the evolution of microbes, and thousands of complete genome sequences to help formulate and refine our theories. At the same time, quantitative models of the microevolutionary processes shaping microbial populations remain just out of reach, a point that is perhaps most dramatically illustrated by the lack of consensus on how (or even whether) to define bacterial species. We summarize progress and prospects in bacterial population genetics, with an emphasis on detecting the footprint of positive Darwinian selection in microbial genomes.

  7. Darwin and Spencer on the origin of music: is music the food of love?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleinman, Kim

    2015-01-01

    Finding an evolutionary explanation for the origins of music serves as a rich test of broader ideas on the emergence of mind and the evolution of mental processes. Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer both offered evolutionary explanations for the origins of music, indicating the importance of the question for these two leading nineteenth-century students of "descent with modification." Their discussion unfolded between the publication of Spencer's "The origin and function of music" in 1857 and Darwin's commentaries on music in The Descent of Man in 1871 with an addendum Spencer offered to his original article in light of Darwin's views. They had conflicting views on the lines of causation, asked differing questions, and had fundamentally different approaches. Their exchange laid the foundation for the discussion among contemporary adaptationists and nonadaptationists and contributed to the thinking of those who argue for Mixed Origins of Music or that it is a Transformative Technology of Mind. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Evolution in a fully constituted world: Charles Darwin's debts towards a static world in the Origin of Species (1859).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delisle, Richard G

    2014-01-01

    The Transformist Revolution was a long intellectual quest that has expanded from the 18th century to today. One area of inquiry after another has confronted the necessity of recasting its object of study under an evolutionary view: human history, geology, biology, astronomy, etc. No single scholar fully managed to make the transition from a static worldview to an evolutionary one during his or her own lifetime; Charles Darwin is no exception. Many versions of evolutionism were proposed during this revolution, versions offering all sorts of compromises between old and new views. Not sufficiently acknowledged in the historiography is the profoundness of Darwin's debts towards the old static view. As a dual child of the Scientific Revolution and natural theology, Darwin inherited key concepts such as stability, completeness, timelessness, unity, permanence, and uniformity. Darwin took these concepts into consideration while erecting his theory of biological evolution. Unsurprisingly, this theory was ill-equipped to embrace the directionality, historicity, and novelty that came along with a new evolutionary world. This paper analyses a fundamental idea at the heart of Darwin's Origins of Species (1859) inherited from a static, stable, and machine-like conception of the world: the notion of a fully constituted world. Although in principle antithetical to the very idea of evolution itself, Darwin found a way to 'loosen up' this notion so as to retain it in a way that allows for some kind of evolutionary change. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Cognitive reserve and Aβ1-42 in mild cognitive impairment (Argentina-Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harris P

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Paula Harris,1,2 Marcos Fernandez Suarez,1 Ezequiel I Surace,1,2 Patricio Chrem Méndez,1 María Eugenia Martín,1 María Florencia Clarens,1 Fernanda Tapajóz,1,2 Maria Julieta Russo,1 Jorge Campos,1 Salvador M Guinjoan,1,2 Gustavo Sevlever,1 Ricardo F Allegri1,2 1Instituto de Investigaciones Neurológicas, 2Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cognitive reserve and concentration of Aβ1-42 in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF of patients with mild cognitive impairment, those with Alzheimer’s disease, and in control subjects. Methods: Thirty-three participants from the Argentina-Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database completed a cognitive battery, the Cognitive Reserve Questionnaire (CRQ, and an Argentinian accentuation reading test (TAP-BA as a measure of premorbid intelligence, and underwent lumbar puncture for CSF biomarker quantification. Results: The CRQ significantly correlated with TAP-BA, education, and Aβ1-42. When considering Aβ1-42 levels, significant differences were found in CRQ scores; higher levels of CSF Aβ1-42 were associated with higher CRQ scores. Conclusion: Reduced Aβ1-42 in CSF is considered as evidence of amyloid deposition in the brain. Previous results suggest that individuals with higher education, higher occupational attainment, and participation in leisure activities (cognitive reserve have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Our results support the notion that enhanced neural activity has a protective role in mild cognitive impairment, as evidenced by higher CSF Aβ1-42 levels in individuals with more cognitive reserve. Keywords: amyloid, biomarkers, cerebrospinal fluid, Alzheimer’s disease 

  10. [Darwinism, materialism and the revolution of 1848 in Germany. On the interaction of politics and science].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Junker, T

    1995-01-01

    In recent years, the question of national styles in science has received increasing attention. The different forms of Darwinism that emerged in the nineteenth century provide an impressive example of the role of non-scientific factors in the development of scientific ideas. Although the reception of Darwinian theory has been acknowledged to differ according to distinct national traditions even in Darwin's time, there have been few systematic efforts to understand the underlying causal factors. Usually these explanations have conceived of the relationship of science to its social and political context as a distortion of science by ideology. In contrast to this picture, I attempt to demonstrate here how a scientific research program was situated in a concrete historical context. The German tradition of Darwinism in the nineteenth century will be described as a coalition of political liberalism, materialism, and morphology. Whereas the liberals used Darwinism to give their anti-religious and progressive program a naturalistic foundation, the morphologists appreciated that Darwinian theory allowed them to dispense with the idealistic origins of their research program, and the materialist were provided with a naturalistic explanation of the origin of organic form.

  11. Could Charles Darwin Teach Psychology in the 1980s?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rigby, Marilyn K.

    1988-01-01

    Discusses the implications of Charles Darwin's personal and professional history for an academic career in psychology. Relationships between his theoretical position and the content of an introductory psychology course he might teach and how he might fare in a contemporary academic environment are sketched in this fictionalized account.…

  12. Predicting Precipitation in Darwin: An Experiment with Markov Chains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boncek, John; Harden, Sig

    2009-01-01

    As teachers of first-year college mathematics and science students, the authors are constantly on the lookout for simple classroom exercises that improve their students' analytical and computational skills. In this article, the authors outline a project entitled "Predicting Precipitation in Darwin." In this project, students: (1) analyze…

  13. Darwin als Sehhilfe für die Psychologie - Evolutionspsychologie

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwab, Frank

    Im Folgenden geht es um Einäugige, stereoskopisches Sehen, weite und enge Horizonte, Monokel und Sonnenbrillen. Der Beitrag versucht die Metapher des Sehens und der Sehhilfen anzuwenden, um so zu verdeutlichen, welchen Gewinn die herkömmliche Psychologie durch die Verwendung einer Darwin'schen Brille erlangen kann.

  14. The New Outlook for Science. Science and Belief: from Copernicus to Darwin, Block VI, Units 15-16.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Open Univ., Walton, Bletchley, Bucks (England).

    This text contains units 15-16 in the Open University course, Science and Belief: from Copernicus to Darwin. It is an inter-faculty second level course in the history of science. Unit 15 is concerned with Nature and History and includes uniformitarianism, human history, evolutionism, and Darwinism. Unit objectives, readings, and questions with the…

  15. Integration of NASA-Developed Lifing Technology for PM Alloys into DARWIN (registered trademark)

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClung, R. Craig; Enright, Michael P.; Liang, Wuwei

    2011-01-01

    In recent years, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) have worked independently on the development of probabilistic life prediction methods for materials used in gas turbine engine rotors. The two organizations have addressed different but complementary technical challenges. This report summarizes a brief investigation into the current status of the relevant technology at SwRI and GRC with a view towards a future integration of methods and models developed by GRC for probabilistic lifing of powder metallurgy (P/M) nickel turbine rotor alloys into the DARWIN (Darwin Corporation) software developed by SwRI.

  16. Analysis of a voluntary initiative to reduce sodium in processed and ultra-processed food products in Argentina: the views of public and private sector representatives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castronuovo, Luciana; Allemandi, Lorena; Tiscornia, Victoria; Champagne, Beatriz; Campbell, Norm; Schoj, Verónica

    2017-07-03

    The Less Salt, More Life program was the first voluntary salt reduction initiative in Argentina. This article analyzes the perspectives of the stakeholders involved in this voluntary agreement between the Ministry of Health and the food industry to gradually reduce sodium content in processed foods. This exploratory case study used a qualitative approach including 29 in-depth interviews with stakeholders from the public and private sectors and identified the role of the different stakeholders and their perceptions regarding the challenges encountered in the policy process that contribute to the debate on public-private partnerships in health policies. The article also discusses the initiative's main challenges and controversies.

  17. Bayesian Methods and Universal Darwinism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, John

    2009-12-01

    Bayesian methods since the time of Laplace have been understood by their practitioners as closely aligned to the scientific method. Indeed a recent Champion of Bayesian methods, E. T. Jaynes, titled his textbook on the subject Probability Theory: the Logic of Science. Many philosophers of science including Karl Popper and Donald Campbell have interpreted the evolution of Science as a Darwinian process consisting of a `copy with selective retention' algorithm abstracted from Darwin's theory of Natural Selection. Arguments are presented for an isomorphism between Bayesian Methods and Darwinian processes. Universal Darwinism, as the term has been developed by Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and Susan Blackmore, is the collection of scientific theories which explain the creation and evolution of their subject matter as due to the Operation of Darwinian processes. These subject matters span the fields of atomic physics, chemistry, biology and the social sciences. The principle of Maximum Entropy states that Systems will evolve to states of highest entropy subject to the constraints of scientific law. This principle may be inverted to provide illumination as to the nature of scientific law. Our best cosmological theories suggest the universe contained much less complexity during the period shortly after the Big Bang than it does at present. The scientific subject matter of atomic physics, chemistry, biology and the social sciences has been created since that time. An explanation is proposed for the existence of this subject matter as due to the evolution of constraints in the form of adaptations imposed on Maximum Entropy. It is argued these adaptations were discovered and instantiated through the Operations of a succession of Darwinian processes.

  18. Darwin 101 (Enhanced): From Earth to Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothschild, Lynn J.

    2015-01-01

    Charles Darwin was a modest man, yet one of the great revolutionaries of intellectual history. Born into a culture wedded to Genesis, he brought biology into the realm of natural world. The implications range from of the "why" questions of biology, to our view societies to our ability to combat AIDS. In our era of genomics and space exploration, these insights are being applied to the age-old question: are we alone?

  19. Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, directional selection, and the evolutionary sciences today.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kutschera, Ulrich

    2009-11-01

    The book On the Origin of Species, published in November 1859, is an "abstract" without references, compiled by Charles Darwin from a much longer manuscript entitled "Natural Selection." Here, I summarize the five theories that can be extracted from Darwin's monograph, explain the true meaning of the phrase "struggle for life" (i.e., competition and cooperation), and outline Darwin's original concept of natural selection in populations of animals and plants. Since neither Darwin nor Alfred R. Wallace distinguished between stabilizing and directional natural selection, the popular argument that "selection only eliminates but is not creative" is still alive today. However, I document that August Weismann (Die Bedeutung der sexuellen Fortpflanzung für die Selektions-Theorie. Gustav Fischer-Verlag, Jena, 1886) and Ivan Schmalhausen (Factors of evolution. The theory of stabilizing selection. The Blackiston Company, Philadelphia, 1949) provided precise definitions for directional (dynamic) selection in nature and illustrate this "Weismann-Schmalhausen principle" with respect to the evolutionary development of novel phenotypes. Then, the modern (synthetic) theory of biological evolution that is based on the work of Theodosius Dobzhansky (Genetics and the origin of species. Columbia University Press, New York, 1937) and others, and the expanded version of this system of theories, are outlined. Finally, I document that symbiogenesis (i.e., primary endosymbiosis, a process that gave rise to the first eukaryotic cells), ongoing directional natural selection, and the dynamic Earth (plate tectonics, i.e., geological events that both created and destroyed terrestrial and aquatic habitats) were the key processes responsible for the documented macroevolutionary patterns in all five kingdoms of life. Since the evolutionary development of the earliest archaic bacteria more than 3,500 mya, the biosphere of our dynamic planet has been dominated by prokaryotic microbes. Eubacteria

  20. Charles Darwin's beagle voyage, fossil vertebrate succession, and "the gradual birth & death of species".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brinkman, Paul D

    2010-01-01

    The prevailing view among historians of science holds that Charles Darwin became a convinced transmutationist only in the early spring of 1837, after his Beagle collections had been examined by expert British naturalists. With respect to the fossil vertebrate evidence, some historians believe that Darwin was incapable of seeing or understanding the transmutationist implications of his specimens without the help of Richard Owen. There is ample evidence, however, that he clearly recognized the similarities between several of the fossil vertebrates he collected and some of the extant fauna of South America before he returned to Britain. These comparisons, recorded in his correspondence, his diary and his notebooks during the voyage, were instances of a phenomenon that he later called the "law of the succession of types." Moreover, on the Beagle, he was following a geological research agenda outlined in the second volume of Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology, which implies that paleontological data alone could provide an insight into the laws which govern the appearance of new species. Since Darwin claims in On the Origin of Species that fossil vertebrate succession was one of the key lines of evidence that led him to question the fixity of species, it seems certain that he was seriously contemplating transmutation during the Beagle voyage. If so, historians of science need to reconsider both the role of Britain's expert naturalists and the importance of the fossil vertebrate evidence in the development of Darwin's ideas on transmutation.

  1. Darwin's "strange inversion of reasoning".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dennett, Daniel

    2009-06-16

    Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection unifies the world of physics with the world of meaning and purpose by proposing a deeply counterintuitive "inversion of reasoning" (according to a 19th century critic): "to make a perfect and beautiful machine, it is not requisite to know how to make it" [MacKenzie RB (1868) (Nisbet & Co., London)]. Turing proposed a similar inversion: to be a perfect and beautiful computing machine, it is not requisite to know what arithmetic is. Together, these ideas help to explain how we human intelligences came to be able to discern the reasons for all of the adaptations of life, including our own.

  2. Sympathetic science: Charles Darwin, Joseph Hooker, and the passions of Victorian naturalists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Endersby, Jim

    2009-01-01

    This essay examines the complex tangle of emotional and scientific attachments that linked Darwin and botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker. Analyzing their roles as husbands, fathers, and novel readers demonstrates that possessing and expressing sympathy was as important for Victorian naturalists as it was for Victorian husbands. Sympathy was a scientific skill that Victorian naturalists regarded as necessary to fully understand the living world; although sympathy became increasingly gendered as feminine over the course of the century, its importance to male naturalists requires us to rethink the ways gender roles were negotiated in Victorian Britain. Botany was, for men like Darwin and Hooker, an acceptably masculine pursuit that nevertheless allowed--and even required--them to be sensitive and sympathetic.

  3. CHARLES DARWIN: INMORTALIZADO EN EPÓNIMOS DE GEA, FLORA Y FAUNA RECIENTES DE CHILE

    OpenAIRE

    Pérez, Vicente

    2009-01-01

    Se presentan epónimos de gea, flora y fauna de Chile, erigidos en honor de Charles Darwin, naturalista a bordo del H.M.S. Beagle (1831-1836), para denominar accidentes geográficos de territorio chileno y nuevas especies de flora y fauna descritas de ejemplares recolectados en Chile por él. Eponyms of gea, flora and fauna, erected in honour of Charles Darwin, naturalist on board of the H.M.S. Beagle (1831-1836), for desígnate geographic accidents and new species of flora and fauna described...

  4. THE SOUTHERN ARGENTINA AGILE METEOR RADAR ORBITAL SYSTEM (SAAMER-OS): AN INITIAL SPORADIC METEOROID ORBITAL SURVEY IN THE SOUTHERN SKY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Janches, D.; Swarnalingam, N. [Space Weather Laboratory, Mail Code 674, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Close, S. [Space Environment and Satellite Systems Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA (United States); Hormaechea, J. L. [Estacion Astronomica Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego (Argentina); Murphy, A.; O’Connor, D.; Vandepeer, B.; Fuller, B. [Genesis Software Pty Ltd, Adelaide (Australia); Fritts, D. C. [GATS Inc., Boulder CO (United States); Brunini, C., E-mail: diego.janches@nasa.gov, E-mail: nimalan.swarnalingam@nasa.gov, E-mail: sigridc@stanford.edu, E-mail: jlhormaechea@untdf.edu.ar, E-mail: amurphy@gsoft.com.au, E-mail: doconnor@gsoft.com.au, E-mail: bvandepe@gsoft.com.au, E-mail: bfuller@gsoft.com.au, E-mail: dave@gats-inc.com, E-mail: claudiobrunini@yahoo.com [Departmento de Astronomia y Geofísica, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata (Argentina)

    2015-08-10

    We present an initial survey in the southern sky of the sporadic meteoroid orbital environment obtained with the Southern Argentina Agile MEteor Radar (SAAMER) Orbital System (OS), in which over three-quarters of a million orbits of dust particles were determined from 2012 January through 2015 April. SAAMER-OS is located at the southernmost tip of Argentina and is currently the only operational radar with orbit determination capability providing continuous observations of the southern hemisphere. Distributions of the observed meteoroid speed, radiant, and heliocentric orbital parameters are presented, as well as those corrected by the observational biases associated with the SAAMER-OS operating parameters. The results are compared with those reported by three previous surveys performed with the Harvard Radio Meteor Project, the Advanced Meteor Orbit Radar, and the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar, and they are in agreement with these previous studies. Weighted distributions for meteoroids above the thresholds for meteor trail electron line density, meteoroid mass, and meteoroid kinetic energy are also considered. Finally, the minimum line density and kinetic energy weighting factors are found to be very suitable for meteroid applications. The outcomes of this work show that, given SAAMER’s location, the system is ideal for providing crucial data to continuously study the South Toroidal and South Apex sporadic meteoroid apparent sources.

  5. Trees and networks before and after Darwin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ragan Mark A

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract It is well-known that Charles Darwin sketched abstract trees of relationship in his 1837 notebook, and depicted a tree in the Origin of Species (1859. Here I attempt to place Darwin's trees in historical context. By the mid-Eighteenth century the Great Chain of Being was increasingly seen to be an inadequate description of order in nature, and by about 1780 it had been largely abandoned without a satisfactory alternative having been agreed upon. In 1750 Donati described aquatic and terrestrial organisms as forming a network, and a few years later Buffon depicted a network of genealogical relationships among breeds of dogs. In 1764 Bonnet asked whether the Chain might actually branch at certain points, and in 1766 Pallas proposed that the gradations among organisms resemble a tree with a compound trunk, perhaps not unlike the tree of animal life later depicted by Eichwald. Other trees were presented by Augier in 1801 and by Lamarck in 1809 and 1815, the latter two assuming a transmutation of species over time. Elaborate networks of affinities among plants and among animals were depicted in the late Eighteenth and very early Nineteenth centuries. In the two decades immediately prior to 1837, so-called affinities and/or analogies among organisms were represented by diverse geometric figures. Series of plant and animal fossils in successive geological strata were represented as trees in a popular textbook from 1840, while in 1858 Bronn presented a system of animals, as evidenced by the fossil record, in a form of a tree. Darwin's 1859 tree and its subsequent elaborations by Haeckel came to be accepted in many but not all areas of biological sciences, while network diagrams were used in others. Beginning in the early 1960s trees were inferred from protein and nucleic acid sequences, but networks were re-introduced in the mid-1990s to represent lateral genetic transfer, increasingly regarded as a fundamental mode of evolution at least for

  6. Psychotherapy in Argentina: a clinical case from an integrative perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez, Beatriz

    2007-08-01

    The article describes psychotherapy practice in Argentina. It outlines the main features of training and regulation of clinical psychologists. A brief description of the main treatment approaches and the major current challenges is presented. Subsequently it delineates the probable treatment locations and options for a 30-year-old woman, Mrs. A, seeking psychological help in Argentina. The case is then considered from an integrative perspective starting with the intake process, which includes a comprehensive pretreatment assessment followed by the treatment plan. Its course is described as composed of four stages: (1) psychoeducational initial intervention, (2) psychotherapy for symptom alleviation, (3) marital treatment, and (4) psychoeducational final intervention. Posttreatment evaluation and possible outcome and prognosis are presented, as well as factors that might prevent improvement. The article ends with a hopeful view of the future role of psychotherapy in Argentina. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Discovery of scientific correspondence of P.P.C. Hoek (1851—1914), including three unpublished letters by Charles Darwin

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pieters, Florence F.J.M.; Winthagen, Diny

    1990-01-01

    Recently the scientific correspondence of the Dutch zoologist P.P.C. Hoek (1851—1914) turned up in the Artis Library. This collection contains three hitherto unpublished letters from Charles Darwin. It appears that Charles Darwin recommended Hoek to the favour of Sir Charles Wyville Thomson upon

  8. Darwin vs. Wallace: When Poetry Dies and When Poetry Survives in the Not-so-Natural Selection of Memetic Evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christensen, Bryce

    2011-01-01

    The theory of memetic evolution--explaining the reproduction of cultural units called "memes"--illuminates the decline of poetry as a cultural presence by clarifying the contrasting attitudes towards poetry manifested by the co-discoverers of natural selection: Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. Darwin's eventual indifference to poetry…

  9. Deceived by orchids: sex, science, fiction and Darwin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Endersby, Jim

    2016-06-01

    Between 1916 and 1927, botanists in several countries independently resolved three problems that had mystified earlier naturalists - including Charles Darwin: how did the many species of orchid that did not produce nectar persuade insects to pollinate them? Why did some orchid flowers seem to mimic insects? And why should a native British orchid suffer 'attacks' from a bee? Half a century after Darwin's death, these three mysteries were shown to be aspects of a phenomenon now known as pseudocopulation, whereby male insects are deceived into attempting to mate with the orchid's flowers, which mimic female insects; the males then carry the flower's pollen with them when they move on to try the next deceptive orchid. Early twentieth-century botanists were able to see what their predecessors had not because orchids (along with other plants) had undergone an imaginative re-creation: Darwin's science was appropriated by popular interpreters of science, including the novelist Grant Allen; then H.G. Wells imagined orchids as killers (inspiring a number of imitators), to produce a genre of orchid stories that reflected significant cultural shifts, not least in the presentation of female sexuality. It was only after these changes that scientists were able to see plants as equipped with agency, actively able to pursue their own, cunning reproductive strategies - and to outwit animals in the process. This paper traces the movement of a set of ideas that were created in a context that was recognizably scientific; they then became popular non-fiction, then popular fiction, and then inspired a new science, which in turn inspired a new generation of fiction writers. Long after clear barriers between elite and popular science had supposedly been established in the early twentieth century, they remained porous because a variety of imaginative writers kept destabilizing them. The fluidity of the boundaries between makers, interpreters and publics of scientific knowledge was a highly

  10. Charles Darwin and the evolution of human grammatical systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckingham, Hugh W; Christman, Sarah S

    2010-04-08

    Charles Darwin's evolutionary theories of animal communication were deeply embedded in a centuries-old model of association psychology, whose prodromes have most often been traced to the writings of Aristotle. His notions of frequency of occurrence of pairings have been passed down through the centuries and were a major ontological feature in the formation of associative connectivity. He focused on the associations of cause and effect, contiguity of sequential occurrence, and similarity among items. Cause and effect were often reduced to another type of contiguity relation, so that Aristotle is most often evoked as the originator of the associative bondings through similarity and contiguity, contiguity being the most powerful and frequent means of association. Contiguity eventually became the overriding mechanism for serial ordering of mental events in both perception and action. The notions of concatenation throughout the association psychology took the form of "trains" of events, both sensory and motor, in such a way that serial ordering came to be viewed as an item-by-item string of locally contiguous events. Modern developments in the mathematics of serial ordering have advanced in sophistication since the early and middle twentieth century, and new computational methods have allowed us to reevaluate the serial concatenative theories of Darwin and the associationists. These new models of serial order permit a closer comparative scrutiny between human and nonhuman. The present study considers Darwin's insistence on a "degree" continuity between human and nonhuman animal serial ordering. We will consider a study of starling birdsongs and whether the serial ordering of those songs provides evidence that they have a syntax that at best differs only in degree and not in kind with the computations of human grammatical structures. We will argue that they, in fact, show no such thing.

  11. "My appointment received the sanction of the Admiralty": why Charles Darwin really was the naturalist on HMS Beagle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Wyhe, John

    2013-09-01

    For decades historians of science and science writers in general have maintained that Charles Darwin was not the 'naturalist' or 'official naturalist' during the 1831-1836 surveying voyage of HMS Beagle but instead Captain Robert FitzRoy's 'companion', 'gentleman companion' or 'dining companion'. That is, Darwin was primarily the captain's social companion and only secondarily and unofficially naturalist. Instead, it is usually maintained, the ship's surgeon Robert McCormick was the official naturalist because this was the default or official practice at the time. Although these views have been repeated in countless accounts of Darwin's life, this essay aims to show that they are incorrect. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Kropotkin between Lamarck and Darwin: the impossible synthesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Girón, Álvaro

    2003-06-01

    Full Text Available Prince P.A. Kropotkin (1842-1921 was the most important leader of revolutionary anarchism of his generation. He was also a respected explorer, geographer, and wrote a variety of books on the French Revolution, prison systems and Russian literature. However, he is better known for his contribution to the debate on Social Darwinism, exemplified by his book Mutual Aid. A Factor Evolution (1902. Actually, Kropotkin was trying to build his own brand of evolutionary Ethics: a complete socio-biology consistent with revolutionary goals. But there was a serious obstacle. The presence of the Malthusian population laws at the very core of Darwinism blocked any potential progress in this direction. Kropotkin tried to extirpate the Malthusian sting by making a critical analysis of natural selection and proposing a synthesis between Lamarck and Darwin in the 1910s.
    The aim of this article is to study the basics of the argument deployed by Kropotkin. It has been paid especial attention to the criticisms addressed to the hard heredity theory of August Weismann, and the reasons why Kropotkin’s contribution in this field has been ignored.

    El príncipe P.A. Kropotkin (1842-1921 fue el líder mas importante del anarquismo revolucionario de su generación. El fue también un respetado explorador y geógrafo, y escribió una variada serie de libros sobre la revolución francesa, el sistema de prisiones o la literatura rusa. Sin embargo, el es más conocido por su contribución al debate sobre el Darwinismo Social, ejemplificada por su libro El apoyo mutuo. Un factor de la evolución (1902. En realidad, Kropotkin estaba tratando de construir su particular versión de la ética evolucionista: una acabada sociobiología consistente con los objetivos revolucionarios. Pero existía un serio obstáculo. La presencia de las leyes de la población maltusianas en el mismo corazón del darwinismo bloqueaban cualquier tipo de progreso en esa dirección. Kropotkin

  13. Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanis, S.; Ramberg, B.

    1990-01-01

    Argentina has embarked on an ambitious domestic nuclear research and energy program. The venture promises to provide the nation with the infrastructure to play an important role in the nuclear export market in the years ahead. Buenos Aires built its program on a foundation of international support and assistance that overlay an emerging sophisticated industrial and scientific establishment. The foreign contribution sensitized Argentina to opportunities in the global market. This paper reports that Argentina operates two heavy-water/natural uranium reactors, Atucha I and Embalse. Producing, respectively, 320 MW(e) and 600 MW(e), they supply roughly 10 percent of the country's electricity. With a capacity factor of 84 percent, Atucha I is among the best operated plants in the world. Plans call for a third, 745 MW(e) power plant, Atucha II, to go on line in the early 1990s. During this period, construction also may begin on three 300 MW(e) plants, although the country's foreign indebtedness plus cost overruns in earlier construction will place a heavy burden on these plans

  14. Rationale and design of the DARWIN-T2D (DApagliflozin Real World evIdeNce in Type 2 Diabetes): A multicenter retrospective nationwide Italian study and crowdsourcing opportunity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fadini, G P; Zatti, G; Consoli, A; Bonora, E; Sesti, G; Avogaro, A

    2017-12-01

    Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the field of diabetes have limitations inherent to the fact that design, setting, and patient characteristics may be poorly transferrable to clinical practice. Thus, evidence from studies using routinely accumulated clinical data are increasingly valued. We herein describe rationale and design of the DARWIN-T2D (DApagliflozin Real World evIdeNce in Type 2 Diabetes), a multicenter retrospective nationwide study conducted at 50 specialist outpatient clinics in Italy and promoted by the Italian Diabetes Society. The primary objective of the study is to describe the baseline clinical characteristics (particularly HbA1c) of patients initiated on dapagliflozin from marketing authorization approval to the end of 2016. Secondary and exploratory objectives will evaluate the changes in glycaemic and extraglycaemic efficacy parameters after initiation of dapagliflozin or after initiation of comparator glucose lowering medications (DPP-4 inhibitors, gliclazide extended release, and long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonists). An automated software will extract relevant data from the same electronic chart system at all centres, thereby minimizing data treatment and human intervention. The study is expected to collect an enormous dataset of information on dapagliflozin- and comparator-using patients. After study completion, the Italian Diabetes Society will launch an open crowdsourcing call on the DARWIN-T2D database, challenging diabetes researchers to apply their ideas and approaches to address new unmet needs and knowledge gaps in diabetes. We believe this will move DARWIN-T2D to the next generation of real world studies. Copyright © 2017 The Italian Society of Diabetology, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Darwin's Difficulties and Students' Struggles with Trait Loss: Cognitive-Historical Parallelisms in Evolutionary Explanation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ha, Minsu; Nehm, Ross H.

    2014-05-01

    Although historical changes in scientific ideas sometimes display striking similarities with students' conceptual progressions, some scholars have cautioned that such similarities lack meaningful commonalities. In the history of evolution, while Darwin and his contemporaries often used natural selection to explain evolutionary trait gain or increase, they struggled to use it to convincingly account for cases of trait loss or decrease. This study examines Darwin's evolutionary writings about trait gain and loss in the Origin of Species (On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. D. Appleton, New York, 1859) and compares them to written evolutionary explanations for trait gain and loss in a large (n > 500), cross-cultural and cross-sectional sample (novices and experts from the USA and Korea). Findings indicate that significantly more students and experts applied natural selection to cases of trait gain, but like Darwin and his contemporaries, they more often applied `use and disuse' and `inheritance of acquired characteristics' to episodes of trait loss. Although the parallelism between Darwin's difficulties and students' struggles with trait loss are striking, significant differences also characterize explanatory model structure. Overall, however, students and scientists struggles to explain trait loss—which is a very common phenomenon in the history of life—appear to transcend time, place, and level of biological expertise. The significance of these findings for evolution education are discussed; in particular, the situated nature of biological reasoning, and the important role that the history of science can play in understanding cognitive constraints on science learning.

  16. The coherence of life: A new physiology challenging (neo)Darwinism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaeken, Laurent

    2009-01-01

    Schroedinger argued that coherent behaviour is one of the most remarkable properties of life. Despite this, it is one of the most neglected properties, studied only by a few groups of rather independent scientists in the domains of physiology but also of fundamental physics. In contrast, classical cell physiology, built on membrane theory, does not take coherent behaviour into account. Recently several independent approaches to the problem of coherence have been unified yielding a new paradigm for cell physiology, which can be derived from a non-linear Schroedinger equation. The new paradigm replaces outdated membrane theory. Similarly (neo)Darwinism is not firmly grounded on fundamental physics. However, during the eighties (neo)Darwinism was taken up in a broader theory of evolution, based on the non-linear equations of fundamental physics. It is argued here that life's coherent behaviour and the new physiology built on these coherent properties is directly compatible with the modern view on evolution, since both are based on the same principles of non-linearity.

  17. The Darwin Enterprise: From Scientific Icon to Global Product

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Peter C.

    2010-01-01

    by comparison to what constitute the bulk of the ‘real’ Darwin Industry that since the 1870s until present day has grown into a multimillion franchise including a wealth of products from postcards and mugs to books, teaching materials,documentaries, major film production and myriads of websites. By 2009 the real...

  18. Burden of Serious Fungal Infections in Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando O. Riera

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The number of fungal infections at any given time in Argentina is not known. Here we estimate the burden of serious fungal infections in Argentina for the first time. Specific population statistics were searched from multiple sources, local literature was identified, and estimates made. Some additional data were sourced from the Ministry of Health, the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA program, and national haematology and transplant societies. Argentina has a population of 43.8 million, with 25% of this total being children under 15 years. The predicted candidemia annual incidence is 2193 cases, with 50% occurring in the ICU. At a 6% prevalence rate, an estimated 593,695 women suffer from recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis. Invasive aspergillosis is relatively common because of high smoking and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD rates, with 268 cases in immunocompromised patients and another 1938 in the 168,000 COPD patients admitted to hospital. Asthma is also common, affecting 14% of adults, and so allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA and severe asthma with fungal sensitization (SAFS are major problems. An estimated 432 cases of cryptococcal meningitis (CM—90% of them in AIDS patients—and 1177 cases of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP occur each year. The estimated annual case number of disseminated histoplasmosis is 404 in AIDS patients, almost as frequent as CM. Paracoccidioidomycosis annual incidence is estimated at 219, and coccidioidomycosis at 16 cases. At least 881,023 people (>2.01% in Argentina are affected by a serious fungal disease annually, with considerable morbidity and mortality.

  19. Indication for quantum Darwinism in electron billiards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunner, R.; Akis, R.; Meisels, R.; Kuchar, F.; Ferry, D. K.

    2010-02-01

    In this paper, we investigate the dynamics in electron billiards by using classical and quantum mechanical calculations. We report on the existence of pointer states in single-dot and double-dot electron billiards. Additionally, we show that the two types of pointer states have the propensity to create offspring, i.e. they can be observed in the individual modes propagating between the external reservoirs. This can be understood as an indication that quantum Darwinism is present in the electron billiards.

  20. Marine Sciences: from natural history to ecology and back, on Darwin's shoulders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ferdinando Boero

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The naturalist Charles Darwin founded modern ecology, considering in a single conceptual framework the manifold aspects regarding the organization of life at various levels of complexity and its relationship with the physical world. The development of powerful analytical tools led to abandon Darwin's natural history and to transform naturalists, as Darwin labelled himself, into the practitioners of more focused disciplines, aimed at tackling specific problems that considered the various aspects of the organization of life in great detail but, also, in isolation from each other. Among the various disciplines that stemmed from the Darwinian method, ecology was further split into many branches, and marine ecology was no exception. The compartmentalization of the marine realm into several sub-domains (e.g., plankton, benthos, nekton led to neglect of the connections linking the various parts that were separated for the ease of analyses that, in this way, prevented synthetic visions. The way marine sciences were studied also led to separate visions depending on the employed tools, so that ship-based biological oceanography developed almost separately from marine station-based marine biology. The necessity of putting together such concepts as biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is rapidly leading to synthetic approaches that re-discover the historical nature of ecology, leading to the dawn of a new natural history.

  1. Increasing Capacity for Environmental Engineering in Salta, Argentina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajal, Verónica B.; Cid, Alicia G.; Cruz, Mercedes C.; Poma, Hugo R.; Cacciabue, Dolores Gutierrez; Romano, Neli; Moraga, Norma B.; Last, Jerold A.

    2012-01-01

    Background The Fogarty International Center (FIC) of the United States National Institutes of Health includes the International Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health (ITREOH) Program. The “International Training Program in Environmental Toxicology and Public Health” Center, funded in 2002 is based at the University of California, Davis, and is part of the ITREOH group of Centers. It has major efforts focused at the public universities in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Salta, Argentina. Results Training and research efforts in Salta begun in 2005 in the College of Engineering. A donated used real-time PCR machine was the starting point and the initial FIC support was instrumental to face other problems including physical space, research projects and grants, trainees, training, networking, and distractions/opportunities in order to develop local capacities in Environmental Engineering using modern methodology. After six years of successful work, the Salta center has become a reference Center in the field, and is still growing and consolidating. Conclusions This program has had a significant impact locally and regionally. The model used in Argentina could be easily adapted to other fields or types of projects in Argentina and in other developing countries. PMID:22467330

  2. Increasing capacity for environmental engineering in Salta, Argentina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajal, Verónica B; Cid, Alicia G; Cruz, Mercedes C; Poma, Hugo R; Cacciabue, Dolores Gutierrez; Romano, Neli; Moraga, Norma B; Last, Jerold A

    2013-01-01

    The Fogarty International Center (FIC) of the United States National Institutes of Health includes the International Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health (ITREOH) Program. The "International Training Program in Environmental Toxicology and Public Health" Center, funded in 2002 is based at the University of California, Davis, and is part of the ITREOH group of Centers. It has major efforts focused at the public universities in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Salta, Argentina. Training and research efforts in Salta begun in 2005 in the College of Engineering. A donated used real-time PCR machine was the starting point and the initial FIC support was instrumental to face other problems including physical space, research projects and grants, trainees, training, networking, and distractions/opportunities in order to develop local capacities in Environmental Engineering using modern methodology. After 6 years of successful work, the Salta center has become a reference Center in the field, and is still growing and consolidating. This program has had a significant impact locally and regionally. The model used in Argentina could be easily adapted to other fields or types of projects in Argentina and in other developing countries. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. La creatividad científica de Charles Darwin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Valenzuela Garcés

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Un reverendo que había sido capellán de la reina Víctoria siente terroral leer a Darwin y, desde su posición en la Iglesia, no duda en combatirlo.Karl Marx, después de leer El origen de las especies (1859, sienteel impulso de dedicarle su ópera magna El capital, pero Darwin declinael honor y aconseja al prusiano rojo que piense en otro intelectual conmás méritos que él. Convencidos de sus tesis, gran cantidad de organizacionesdel movimiento obrero europeo, durante la segunda mitad delsiglo XIX, se doblega ante él y se convierte al darwinismo, no sin antesasumir el nuevo catecismo de la ciencia que su teoría ha traído al mundode los materialistas y desposeídos. Hoy, pasados ciento cincuenta añosde la publicación de su obra cumbre, las diversas comunidades científicasreconocen la importancia de su contribución en campos comola genética, etnobotánica, antropología, teología, biología, geografía,filosofía, neurología, psicoanálisis, psiquiatría o la lingüística.

  4. No Child Left Behind: A Neoliberal Repackaging of Social Darwinism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leyva, Rodolfo

    2009-01-01

    It is widely believed that the end of Nazism, and the postwar era brought an end to academic theories and discourses regarding inherent racial inferiority. There was little tolerance Hawkins (1997) argues, for biological justifications for racism, war, and exploitation. The infamous Social Darwinism of key intellectual Herbert Spencer, and its…

  5. Darwinism without populations: a more inclusive understanding of the "Survival of the Fittest".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouchard, Frédéric

    2011-03-01

    Following Wallace's suggestion, Darwin framed his theory using Spencer's expression "survival of the fittest". Since then, fitness occupies a significant place in the conventional understanding of Darwinism, even though the explicit meaning of the term 'fitness' is rarely stated. In this paper I examine some of the different roles that fitness has played in the development of the theory. Whereas the meaning of fitness was originally understood in ecological terms, it took a statistical turn in terms of reproductive success throughout the 20th Century. This has lead to the ever-increasing importance of sexually reproducing organisms and the populations they compose in evolutionary explanations. I will argue that, moving forward, evolutionary theory should look back at its ecological roots in order to be more inclusive in the type of systems it examines. Many biological systems (e.g. clonal species, colonial species, multi-species communities) can only be satisfactorily accounted for by offering a non-reproductive account of fitness. This argument will be made by examining biological systems with very small or transient population structures. I argue this has significant consequences for how we define Darwinism, increasing the significance of survival (or persistence) over that of reproduction. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Why Darwin would have loved evolutionary game theory

    OpenAIRE

    Brown, Joel S.

    2016-01-01

    Humans have marvelled at the fit of form and function, the way organisms' traits seem remarkably suited to their lifestyles and ecologies. While natural selection provides the scientific basis for the fit of form and function, Darwin found certain adaptations vexing or particularly intriguing: sex ratios, sexual selection and altruism. The logic behind these adaptations resides in frequency-dependent selection where the value of a given heritable phenotype (i.e. strategy) to an individual dep...

  7. Erasmus Darwin's Deistic Dissent and Didactic Epic Poetry: Promoting Science Education to a Mixed Audience Under the Banner of Tolerance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Kirsten Anne

    Erasmus Darwin's task as a Deistic Dissenter poet who wished to promote science education to a mixed audience was complex. There was mainstream concern over what Deists and Dissenters actually believed about God, their involvement in science, and, especially, how their published works, whatever the subject, might affect public morality and politics. I argue that Darwin's poetry is primarily in the genre of Lucretian didactic epic but that it also involves elements of other written traditions (literary and non-literary). I focus on English didactic poetry, the theological written traditions of Dissent and Deism, and a particular tradition of erotic satire. The genre of Lucretian didactic epic and the tradition of English didactic poetry are non-identical. In Darwin's Lucretian didactic epic, resemblances to such poems as Pope's Essay on Man challenge ideas about what kind of narrative a didactic poem in the English language can deliver. Techniques from the theological written traditions of Dissent and Deism reflect Darwin's affiliations, signal that science education fits within a larger debate about intellectual freedom, and promote tolerance for differences of opinion about nature. Mimicry of a particular tradition of erotic satire helps to downplay the address to a mixed audience while satirising some common misconceptions about poetry, botany, and women in the period. Darwin's poetry challenges ideas about what people from his community of belief meant to communicate or transmit by writing for the general public, what the general public was entitled to learn, and what poetry was able to teach. Perhaps Darwin's biggest modification of Lucretian didactic epic was that he did not tell his readers exactly what to think, but how.

  8. What's Wrong with a Little Social Darwinism (in Our Historiography)?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Versen, Christopher R.

    2009-01-01

    The simplest and most widely held definition of Social Darwinism is the application of concepts of biological evolution to social and moral development. More specifically, it is social evolution through "survival of the fittest" in a "struggle for existence" in which the strong prevail and the weak are defeated and disappear.…

  9. Neural Darwinism and consciousness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seth, Anil K; Baars, Bernard J

    2005-03-01

    Neural Darwinism (ND) is a large scale selectionist theory of brain development and function that has been hypothesized to relate to consciousness. According to ND, consciousness is entailed by reentrant interactions among neuronal populations in the thalamocortical system (the 'dynamic core'). These interactions, which permit high-order discriminations among possible core states, confer selective advantages on organisms possessing them by linking current perceptual events to a past history of value-dependent learning. Here, we assess the consistency of ND with 16 widely recognized properties of consciousness, both physiological (for example, consciousness is associated with widespread, relatively fast, low amplitude interactions in the thalamocortical system), and phenomenal (for example, consciousness involves the existence of a private flow of events available only to the experiencing subject). While no theory accounts fully for all of these properties at present, we find that ND and its recent extensions fare well.

  10. Molecular identification of a novel gammaherpesvirus in the endangered Darwin's fox (Lycalopex fulvipes).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabello, Javier; Esperón, Fernando; Napolitano, Constanza; Hidalgo, Ezequiel; Dávila, José Antonio; Millán, Javier

    2013-12-01

    We report the detection and characterization of a novel gammaherpesvirus in the critically endangered Darwin's fox (Lycalopex fulvipes; syn. Pseudalopex fulvipes) on Chiloé Island, Chile. Out of 28 analysed blood samples stored in alcohol, four were positive for this herpesvirus using a previously described pan-herpesvirus PCR assay targeting the herpesvirus DNA polymerase. Positive samples were subsequently characterized by means of a PCR targeting a 500 bp fragment of the glycoprotein B of the gammaherpesviruses. This novel herpesvirus was most closely related to other gammaherpesviruses from terrestrial carnivores, and is tentatively named Darwin's fox gammaherpesvirus. No apparent lesions were observed in the surveyed foxes. This is the first report of a gammaherpesvirus infecting a canid worldwide, and also of one infecting a carnivore from South America.

  11. The coherence of life: A new physiology challenging (neo)Darwinism

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jaeken, Laurent [Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Industrial Sciences and Technology, Karel de Grote-Hogeschool University College, Salesianenlaan 30, B-2660 Hoboken (Belgium)], E-mail: laurent.jaeken@Kdg.be

    2009-10-15

    Schroedinger argued that coherent behaviour is one of the most remarkable properties of life. Despite this, it is one of the most neglected properties, studied only by a few groups of rather independent scientists in the domains of physiology but also of fundamental physics. In contrast, classical cell physiology, built on membrane theory, does not take coherent behaviour into account. Recently several independent approaches to the problem of coherence have been unified yielding a new paradigm for cell physiology, which can be derived from a non-linear Schroedinger equation. The new paradigm replaces outdated membrane theory. Similarly (neo)Darwinism is not firmly grounded on fundamental physics. However, during the eighties (neo)Darwinism was taken up in a broader theory of evolution, based on the non-linear equations of fundamental physics. It is argued here that life's coherent behaviour and the new physiology built on these coherent properties is directly compatible with the modern view on evolution, since both are based on the same principles of non-linearity.

  12. Going the whole orang: Darwin, Wallace and the natural history of orangutans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Wyhe, John; Kjærgaard, Peter C

    2015-06-01

    This article surveys the European discovery and early ideas about orangutans followed by the contrasting experiences with these animals of the co-founders of evolution by natural selection, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. The first non-human great ape that both of them interacted with was the orangutan. They were both profoundly influenced by what they saw, but the contexts of their observations could hardly be more different. Darwin met orangutans in the Zoological Gardens in London while Wallace saw them in the wild in Borneo. In different ways these observations helped shape their views of human evolution and humanity's place in nature. Their findings played a major role in shaping some of the key questions that were pursued in human evolutionary studies during the rest of the nineteenth century. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  13. Charles Darwin: His Life, Journeys and Discoveries. A Teacher's Guide.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Overy, Caroline

    This handbook aims to: (1) introduce teachers and pupils to Charles Darwin, his life and work at Down House, his voyage on the Beagle, and his evolutionary theory; (2) set his ideas within the wider context of the 19th century; (3) link the subject areas to the British National Curriculum, particularly in history, science, and English at various…

  14. Development of IR single mode optical fibers for DARWIN-nulling interferometry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chakkalakkal Abdulla, S.M.; Cheng, L.K.; Bosch, B. van den; Dijkhuizen, N.; Nieuwland, R.A.; Gielesen, W.L.M.; Lucas, J.; Boussard-Plédel, C.; Conseil, C.; Bureau, B.; Carmo, J.P. do

    2014-01-01

    The DARWIN mission aims to detect weak infra-red emission lines from distant orbiting earth-like planets using nulling interferometry. This requires filtering of wavefront errors using single mode waveguides operating at a wavelength range of 6.5-20 μm. This article describes the optical design of

  15. Raising Darwin's consciousness : Female sexuality and the prehominid origins of patriarchy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hrdy, S B

    1997-03-01

    Sociobiologists and feminists agree that men in patriarchal social systems seek to control females, but sociobiologists go further, using Darwin's theory of sexual selection and Trivers's ideas on parental investment to explain why males should attempt to control female sexuality. From this perspective, the stage for the development under some conditions of patriarchal social systems was set over the course of primate evolution.Sexual selection encompasses both competition between males and female choice. But in applying this theory to our "lower origins" (prehominid ancestors), Darwin assumed that choices were made by essentially "coy" females. I argue here that female solicitation of multiple males (either simultaneously or sequentially, depending on the breeding system) characterized prehominid females; this prehominid legacy of cyclical sexual assertiveness, itself possibly a female counter-strategy to male efforts to control the timing of female reproduction, generated further male counter-strategies. This dialectic had important implications for emerging hominid mating systems, human evolution, and the development of patriarchal arrangements in some human societies. For hominid males who will invest in offspring, there would be powerful selection for emotions, behaviors, and customs that ensure them certainty of paternity. The sexual modesty that so struck Darwin can be explained as a recent evolved or learned (perhaps both) adaptation in women to avoid penalties imposed by patrilines on daughters and mates who failed to conform to the patriline's prevailing norms for their sex. Other supposedly innate universals, such as female preferences for wealthy husbands, are also likely to be facultative accommodations by women to constraints set up when patrilines monopolized resources needed by females to survive and reproduce, and passed on intergenerational control of these resources preferentially to sons.

  16. DARWIN Y LOS DILEMAS SOCIALES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alejandro Rosas

    2009-10-01

      I describe the project of a Darwinian explanation of morality following Darwin’s basic ideas as expressed in The Descent of Man. In contrast to the traditional interpretation, I argue that Darwin did not assume, nor is it necessary to assume in a Darwinian perspective, an inevitable conflict between individual and group selection in the explanation of morality. Both operate in synergy to favor traits that support moral behavior. I also argue that two teachings result from this Darwinian project, one for moral philosophy and the other for the theory of natural selection. The first puts social dilemmas in the heart of human morality; the second puts cooperation in the core of natural selection. I illustrate the second point with recent research into the evolution of multi-cellular organisms.

  17. Electron billiards: einselection and quantum Darwinism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brunner, R.; Meisels, R.; Kuchar, F.; Akis, R.; Ferry, D.K.

    2008-01-01

    Full text: The measurement of open quantum systems has been a main topic since the advent of quantum theory. It is a basic ingredient in quantum information processing. Here, the border where the two worlds of classical and quantum mechanics meet is of significant importance due to the problem of measurement. It has been shown by Zurek that in an open system the environment imposes so-called superselection rules leading to environment-induced superselection (einselection). This means that a set of preferred states (pointer states) survive the coupling with the environment. These pointer states are characterized by their robustness and their ability to create offspring. This ability to advertise information about themselves makes it possible for different observers to measure the same information. The natural promotion of certain information in a quantum system is known as quantum Darwinism. The 'fitness' in the Darwinian sense of the selected states is essentially a measure of their classicality. That is in order to measure a quantum system objectively a system has to be designed where the transition between the classical and quantum world is observable. In this respect we show by a combination of experiment and calculation that an array of electron billiards (open quantum dots) is very well suited. We demonstrate that einselection takes place in electron billiards and a set of pointer states arises. We illustrate that beside the 'regular' (single dot) pointer states a new type of einselected states arise when two or more quantum dots are coupled together and to the environment. This new type of states can not be represented by a linear combination of pointer states of the individual dots. Finally, we discuss the propensity of the new type of einselected states to make offspring in order to see if quantum Darwinism is in action in the array of electron billiards.(author)

  18. [Darwinism as a constraint of ecological pluralism].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giliarov, A M

    2003-01-01

    In his respond to critical remarks of Mirkin (2003), the author claims that pluralism in ecology is not only its strength but also a weakness. Contemporary ecology became less pluralistic and this can be considered as good sign of maturing science. Ecological pluralism can be exemplified by the coexistence in 1920-30s of two different approaches to plant community: that of Frederic Clements in USA and that of Josias Braun-Blanquet in France. However the way to progress in this branch of ecology was paved rather by heretical ideas of Henry Gleason in USA and Ramensky in Russia (both authors independently developed non-holistic view of community as an assemblage of individualistically distributed species) than by "peaceful" coexistence of well-established schools, representatives of which tried not to interfere into argumentation of each other. Notable success in ecology of last decades was connected with several new methodologies, e.g. macroecology that concerned large scale of space and time. However Darwinism in its attempt to explain the order of nature referring to its origin remains the most universal and fruitful methodology of ecology. The success of Darwinism in ecology is understandable because this generalizing theory is based on the same universal principles that underlie the survival of any population. Ecologists and evolutionary biologists trying to understand various natural patterns actually deal with the same fundamental laws, i.e. exponential population growth, limitation of this growth by resource shortage and/or press of predators, the existence of individual variability in survival, etc.

  19. Charles Darwin's reputation: how it changed during the twentieth-century and how it may change again.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amundson, Ron

    2014-01-01

    Charles Darwin died in 1882. During the twentieth century his reputation varied through time, as the scientific foundation of evolutionary theory changed. Beginning the century as an intellectual hero, he soon became a virtual footnote as experimental approaches to evolution began to develop. As the Modern Synthesis developed his reputation began to rise again until eventually he was identified as a founding father of the Modern Synthesis itself. In the meantime, developmental approaches to evolution began to challenge certain aspects of the Modern Synthesis. Synthesis authors attempted to refute the relevance of development by methodological arguments, some of them indirectly credited to Darwin. By the end of the century, molecular genetics had given new life to development approaches to evolution, now called evo devo. This must be seen as a refutation of the aforesaid methodological arguments of the Modern Synthesis advocates. By the way, we can also see now how the historiography that credited Darwin with the Synthesis was in error. In conclusion, one more historical revision is suggested. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. The Darwin direct implicit particle-in-cell (DADIPIC) method for simulation of low frequency plasma phenomena

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gibbons, M.R.; Hewett, D.W.

    1995-01-01

    We describe a new algorithm for simulating low frequency, kinetic phenomena in plasma. Darwin direct implicit particle-in-cell (DADIPIC), as its name implies, is a combination of the Darwin and direct implicit methods. Through the Darwin method the hyperbolic Maxwell's equations are reformulated into a set of elliptic equations. Propagating light waves do not exist in the formulation so the Courant constraint on the time step is eliminated. The direct implicit method is applied only to the electrostatic field with the result that electrostatic plasma oscillations do not have to be resolved for stability. With the elimination of these constraints spatial and temporal discretization can be much larger than that possible with explicit, electrodynamic PIC. We discuss the algorithms for pushing the particles and solving the fields in 2D cartesian geometry. We also detail boundary conditions for conductors and dielectrics. Finally, we present two test cases, electron cyclotron waves and collisionless heating in inductively coupled plasmas. For these test cases DADIPIC shows agreement with analytic kinetic theory and good energy conservation characteristics. 33 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs

  1. "A dedicated missionary". Charles Galton Darwin and the new quantum mechanics in Britain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Navarro, Jaume

    In this paper I discuss the work on quantum physics and wave mechanics by Charles Galton Darwin, a Cambridge wrangler of the last generation, as a case study to better understand the early reception of quantum physics in Britain. I argue that his proposal in the early 1920s to abandon the strict conservation of energy, as well as his enthusiastic embracement of wave mechanics at the end of the decade, can be easily understood by tracing his ontological and epistemological commitments to his early training in the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos. I also suggest that Darwin's work cannot be neglected in a study of quantum physics in Britain, since he was one of very few fellows of the Royal Society able to judge and explain quantum physics and quantum mechanics.

  2. As teorias de Lamarck e Darwin nos livros didáticos de Biologia no Brasil

    OpenAIRE

    Almeida,Argus Vasconcelos de; Falcão,Jorge Tarcísio da Rocha

    2010-01-01

    As teorias de Lamarck e Darwin são analisadas numa amostra de livros didáticos brasileiros de biologia, num período de sessenta anos. A de Darwin ocupa, nos livros didáticos, uma área maior do que a de Lamarck. Nestes é variável a extensão do conteúdo de Lamarck. Dentre os livros, destacam-se as edições do BSCS. Nestas, pela primeira vez, é apresentado o exemplo da figura do alongamento do pescoço da girafa, para ilustrar as diferenças de abordagem entre as teorias, e reproduzido desde então ...

  3. Argentina: Background and U.S. Relations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-11-05

    Comercio Internacional, Y Culto, Comunicado de la Cancillería Argentina, September 11, 2008. 43 A. Rebossio, "Fernández Acusa al FBI de Desestablizar...Argentina," El País (Madrid), September 13, 2008. 44 “Argentina Slams Witness in Cash Suitcase Scandal,” Associated Press Newswires, November 4, 2008

  4. CHARLES R. DARWIN Y EL DESARROLLO DE LA CREATIVIDAD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ximena Miranda Garnier

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Los 200 años del nacimiento de Charles R. Darwin y los 150 años de la publicación de su libro "El origen de las especies" recuerdan la importancia de la creatividad y de comprender cómo se desarrolla. En este ensayo, analizo la autobiografía de Charles Darwin y concluyo que la creatividad en su vida surgió por interacción entre cualidades personales y una serie de circunstancias. En el análisis, sobresalen elementos que incluyen curiosidad, crecer cerca de la naturaleza, gusto por la lectura y el aprendizaje autónomo, la presencia de buenos mentores, disciplina, experiencia en los métodos de trabajo científico, disposición para establecer una red de científicos, y pasión por lo que se hace. Estos fueron elementos clave para su impacto en biología, geología, psicología, filosofía e incluso en nuestra percepción general del mundo. Se hacen reflexiones para educadores con la intención de promover el desarrollo de la creatividad en nuestros niños, niñas y jóvenes.

  5. Climatology of hail in Argentina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mezher, Romina N.; Doyle, Moira; Barros, Vicente

    2012-10-01

    The annual cycle, annual and seasonal frequency and geographical distribution of hail in Argentina during the 1960-2008 period are examined. Eight regions covering the whole territory were defined based on the correlation of the mean annual hail frequency between all weather stations. Regions lying between 30° and 40°S as well as those dominated by mountains present the highest hail frequencies in Argentina. The eastern and coastal areas of the country experience hail events mainly during springtime but they may start in late winter and continue through the beginning of summer. Events in western and central Argentina also predominate in spring but the maximum frequencies are observed during summer months. Trends in the annual number of hail events calculated for each region indicate that events in northwestern and northeastern Argentina have been increasing as well as in southern Patagonia. On the other hand, in central Argentina, southern Buenos Aires-La Pampa, northern Buenos Aires-Litoral and northern Patagonia trends are negative and statistically significant in the first two regions, basically by the decrease of events during spring and summer.

  6. Operating practical experience at Argentina; Experiencia practica operativa en la Argentina

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Quihillalt, Oscar [Nucleoelectria Argentina S.A., Buenos Aires (Argentina)

    1998-12-31

    Operating experiences of Atucha-1 and Embalse Nuclear Power Plants were discussed in this work. The technical and economic aspects, such as reliability, availability, personnel training, operating costs, prices and market, which exercise influence upon Argentina nuclear energy policy, mainly on the power electric generation by nuclear power plants were considered. Finally the current status of the nucleoelectric sector in Argentina and forecasting were analysed. 3 figs., 5 tabs.

  7. Test results of the infrared single-mode fiber for the DARWIN mission

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cheng, L.K.; Faber, A.J.; Gielesen, W.L.M.; Boussard-Plédel, C.; Houizot, P.; Lucas, J.; Do Carmo, J.P.

    2005-01-01

    Nulling interferometry is the baseline technique for the DARWIN planet finding mission of the European Space Agency. Using this technique it will be possible to cancel, by destructive interference, the light from the bright star and look directly at its surrounding planets and eventually discover

  8. Charles Darwin and the 1835 earthquake at Concepcion, Chile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spall, H.

    1981-01-01

    On a stormy night in October 1836, H.M.S Beagle hove to and dropped anchor at Falmouth, a remote harbor in southwest England. Charles Darwin, the ship's naturalist, came ashore to take the mail coach to Shrewsbury. This was inauspicious end to an epic 5-year voyage around the coast of South America, the results of which were to have a tumultuous impact on scientific thought that has lasted to this day. 

  9. Applicability of market-based instruments for safeguarding water quality in coastal waterways: Case study for Darwin Harbour, Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greiner, Romy

    2014-02-01

    Water pollution of coastal waterways is a complex problem due to the cocktail of pollutants and multiplicity of polluters involved and pollution characteristics. Pollution control therefore requires a combination of policy instruments. This paper examines the applicability of market-based instruments to achieve effective and efficient water quality management in Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory, Australia. Potential applicability of instruments is examined in the context of biophysical and economic pollution characteristics, and experience with instruments elsewhere. The paper concludes that there is potential for inclusion of market-based instruments as part of an instrument mix to safeguard water quality in Darwin Harbour. It recommends, in particular, expanding the existing licencing system to include quantitative pollution limits for all significant point polluters; comprehensive and independent pollution monitoring across Darwin Harbour; public disclosure of water quality and emissions data; positive incentives for landholders in the Darwin Harbour catchment to improve land management practices; a stormwater offset program for greenfield urban developments; adoption of performance bonds for developments and operations which pose a substantial risk to water quality, including port expansion and dredging; and detailed consideration of a bubble licensing scheme for nutrient pollution. The paper offers an analytical framework for policy makers and resource managers tasked with water quality management in coastal waterways elsewhere in Australia and globally, and helps to scan for MBIs suitable in any given environmental management situation.

  10. Temperature and Humidity Effects on Hospital Morbidity in Darwin, Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldie, James; Sherwood, Steven C; Green, Donna; Alexander, Lisa

    2015-01-01

    Many studies have explored the relationship between temperature and health in the context of a changing climate, but few have considered the effects of humidity, particularly in tropical locations, on human health and well-being. To investigate this potential relationship, this study assessed the main and interacting effects of daily temperature and humidity on hospital admission rates for selected heat-relevant diagnoses in Darwin, Australia. Univariate and bivariate Poisson generalized linear models were used to find statistically significant predictors and the admission rates within bins of predictors were compared to explore nonlinear effects. The analysis indicated that nighttime humidity was the most statistically significant predictor (P < 0.001), followed by daytime temperature and average daily humidity (P < 0.05). There was no evidence of a significant interaction between them or other predictors. The nighttime humidity effect appeared to be strongly nonlinear: Hot days appeared to have higher admission rates when they were preceded by high nighttime humidity. From this analysis, we suggest that heat-health policies in tropical regions similar to Darwin need to accommodate the effects of temperature and humidity at different times of day. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Darwin en Colombia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alberto Gómez Gutiérrez

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available

    Con motivo de la gentil designación de la Junta Directiva de la Academia a presentar el comentario a la exposición del académico Felipe Guhl, sobre el periodo americano de Charles Darwin en el siglo XIX, me pareció que debía buscar las fuentes de la eventual presencia de Darwin, o de sus ideas, en nuestro país. Así es que, muy brevemente, trataré de mostrar a Ustedes lo que encontré al respecto en tiempos pre-darwinistas -en lo que se denominaba el Nuevo Reino de Granada- y, luego, en tiempos post-darwinistas.

    Gracias a los trabajos sobre la ciencia en la Colonia que hemos venido desarrollando en el Instituto de Genética Humana en compañía del académico Jaime Bernal, lo primero que nos vino a la mente, al comentar sobre esta sesión en días pasados, fueron las páginas que habíamos leído en El Orinoco Ilustrado del padre José Gumilla, S.J. (1686-1750, publicado en 1741 casi cien años antes del viaje del Beagle. En el capítulo titulado “De las primeras gentes que pasaron a la América y el modo”, se refiere Gumilla a la hipótesis del padre José de Acosta, S.J. (1540-1600, quien en su obra Historia natural y moral de las indias, escrita en el Perú en 1590, había ya postulado el estrecho que el danés Vitus Bering (1681-1741 describiría casi 150 años después, en 1741, cuando El Orinoco ilustrado salía de la imprenta en España. Veamos cómo se refirió Gumilla a las predicciones de su correligionario:

    “De modo que la principal dificultad de la gran comprensión del padre Acosta, no fue tanto el tránsito del hombre a las Américas, cuanto el de los animales perfectos, en especial los nocivos e inútiles; porque si la navegación fue de caso pensado (lo cual no es probable tuvieron malísimo gusto en llevar consigo tantos enemigos; si el tránsito fue casual, arrebatados de una o de varias borrascas (que es lo más creíble ¿quién creerá que la carga de los

  12. Darwinism in metaethics: What if the universal acid cannot be contained?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Severini, Eleonora; Sterpetti, Fabio

    2017-09-12

    The aim of this article is to explore the impact of Darwinism in metaethics and dispel some of the confusion surrounding it. While the prospects for a Darwinian metaethics appear to be improving, some underlying epistemological issues remain unclear. We will focus on the so-called Evolutionary Debunking Arguments (EDAs) which, when applied in metaethics, are defined as arguments that appeal to the evolutionary origins of moral beliefs so as to undermine their epistemic justification. The point is that an epistemic disanalogy can be identified in the debate on EDAs between moral beliefs and other kinds of beliefs, insofar as only the former are regarded as vulnerable to EDAs. First, we will analyze some significant debunking positions in metaethics in order to show that they do not provide adequate justification for such an epistemic disanalogy. Then, we will assess whether they can avoid the accusation of being epistemically incoherent by adopting the same evolutionary account for all kinds of beliefs. In other words, once it is argued that Darwinism has a corrosive impact on metaethics, what if its universal acid cannot be contained?

  13. Development of solar energy education IASEE-Argentina, Arquisur and Alfa-built

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schiller, S. de; Evans, J.M.

    1997-01-01

    Three educational experiences are presented in this paper on the development of national and regional networks to incorporate renewable energy in curricular programmes. IASEE-Argentina, established in 1990 as the National Section of IASEE, the International Association for Solar Energy Education, was designated in 1993 as the Education Working Group of ASADES, the Argentine Association of Solar Energy. It holds annual meetings to coincide with the ASADES conference. Arquisur is a regional network established by Architectural Faculties of State Universities within the Mercosur Region, covering Argentina, southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, to promote exchange and development between the 19 faculties involved. A Working Group set up by Arquisur with members from four countries developed the programme for short post-graduate courses on bioclimatic design and rational energy use in buildings, which has been given in Argentina and Uruguay. Alfa-Built, a project supported by the European Union for promoting academic exchange in the field of energy efficient building is also introduced. This paper presents the development and initial results of these educational experiences. (author)

  14. Darwinism, not mutationism, explains the design of organisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardner, Andy

    2013-04-01

    Shapiro claims that advances in molecular genetics have undermined Darwinism, leading him to advocate mutationism. However, this extreme view is bourne out of conceptual error. He has misunderstood the distinction between gradualism and saltationism, which do not concern the rate of genetic change, but rather the emergence of complex design. And he has misunderstood the relationship between the dynamics of natural selection and the agency of individual organisms: these are not competing hypotheses, but rather alternative conceptualizations of the same phenomenon. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Medical revolution in Argentina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballarin, V L; Isoardi, R A

    2010-01-01

    The paper discusses the major Argentineans contributors, medical physicists and scientists, in medical imaging and the development of medical imaging in Argentina. The following are presented: history of medical imaging in Argentina: the pioneers; medical imaging and medical revolution; nuclear medicine imaging; ultrasound imaging; and mathematics, physics, and electronics in medical image research: a multidisciplinary endeavor.

  16. The 'root-brain' hypothesis of Charles and Francis Darwin: Revival after more than 125 years.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baluska, Frantisek; Mancuso, Stefano; Volkmann, Dieter; Barlow, Peter W

    2009-12-01

    This year celebrates the 200(th) aniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, best known for his theory of evolution summarized in On the Origin of Species. Less well known is that, in the second half of his life, Darwin's major scientific focus turned towards plants. He wrote several books on plants, the next-to-last of which, The Power of Movement of Plants, published together with his son Francis, opened plants to a new view. Here we amplify the final sentence of this book in which the Darwins proposed that: "It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the tip of the radicle thus endowed [with sensitivity] and having the power of directing the movements of the adjoining parts, acts like the brain of one of the lower animals; the brain being seated within the anterior end of the body, receiving impressions from the sense-organs, and directing the several movements." This sentence conveys two important messages: first, that the root apex may be considered to be a 'brain-like' organ endowed with a sensitivity which controls its navigation through soil; second, that the root apex represents the anterior end of the plant body. In this article, we discuss both these statements.

  17. Putting Darwin in His Place: The Need to Watch Our Language

    Science.gov (United States)

    Braterman, Paul S.; Holbrook, J. Britt

    2009-01-01

    In this article, the authors examine the use of language in debating evolution, and suggest careful choice of the terms by which people describe both themselves and their opponents. Present-day evolution science is solidly based on fact, and is as far advanced from Charles Darwin's original theory as present-day chemistry is from Dalton's atomic…

  18. Darwin's Arguments in Favour of Natural Selection and against Special Creationism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nola, Robert

    2013-01-01

    In many places in "The Origin of Species", Darwin compares his own theory of Natural Selection favourably with Special Creationism which comes off as a bad second best. He does this using some version of the argument form known as "Inference to the Best Explanation". The first part of this paper is methodological. It considers Whewell's notion of…

  19. Emprendimientos Asociativos, Empresas Recuperadas y Economía Social en la Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Victoria Deux Marzi

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Hacia fines de siglo XX Argentina atravesaba una crisis social, política y económica de dimensiones inéditas cuyos rasgos más significativos se tradujeron en el aumento de la pobreza y la desigualdad y en una crisis estructural del mercado de trabajo. En este contexto, han surgido numerosas estrategias de recuperación o generación de nuevas fuentes de trabajo, algunas de las cuales se las identifica como parte de un amplio y heterogéneo conjunto de experiencias de economía social. En particular, en este trabajo nos centraremos en el análisis de 611 emprendimientos Asociativos mercantiles y 50 empresas recuperadas de Argentina a fin de caracterizar estas experiencias y mostrar su desempeño en relación a la recuperación y creación de fuentes de trabajo. Para ello nos basaremos en los datos construidos en el estudio “Emprendimientos socioeconómicos asociativos: su vulnerabilidad y sostenibilidad” (ICO-UNGS, 2006.Towards the end of the twentieth century, Argentina faced a social, political and economic crisis of monumental dimensions. This emergency translated into increased poverty and inequality, and a structural crisis in the job market. In this context, a number of strategies arose, aimed at recuperating some of the loss, and generating new possibilities in the job market. Some of these strategies were identified as part of a wide-ranging and heterogeneous series of experiments in social economics. This work will focus on an analysis of 611 associate market initiatives and 50 recuperated companies in Argentina, for the purpose of characterizing these experiences and showing their drive to create and regenerate sources of employment. To achieve this, we will take as our starting point the data collected for the Study "Socio-Economic Associative Initiatives: Vulnerability and Sustainability" (ICO-UNGS, 2006.

  20. Uplift of quaternary shorelines in eastern Patagonia: Darwin revisited

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pedoja, Kevin; Regard, Vincent; Husson, Laurent; Martinod, Joseph; Guillaume, Benjamin; Fucks, Enrique; Iglesias, Maximiliano; Weill, Pierre

    2011-04-01

    During his journey on the Beagle, Darwin observed the uniformity in the elevation of coastal Eastern Patagonia along more than 2000 km. More than one century later, the sequences of Quaternary shorelines of eastern Patagonia have been described and their deposits dated but not yet interpreted in terms of geodynamics. Consequently, we i) mapped the repartition of the Quaternary coastal sequences in Argentinean Patagonia, ii) secured accurate altitudes of shoreline angles associated with erosional morphologies (i.e. marine terraces and notches), iii) took into account previous chrono-stratigraphical interpretations in order to calculate mean uplift rates since ~ 440 ka (MIS 11) and proposed age ranges for the higher and older features (up to ~ 180 m), and iv) focused on the Last Interglacial Maximum terrace (MIS 5e) as the best constrained marine terrace (in terms of age and altitude) in order to use it as a tectonic benchmark to quantify uplift rates along the entire passive margin of Eastern South America. Our results show that the eastern Patagonia uplift is constant through time and twice the uplift of the rest of the South American margin. We suggest that the enhanced uplift along the eastern Patagonian coast that interested Darwin during his journey around South America on the Beagle could originate from the subduction of the Chile ridge and the associated dynamic uplift.

  1. Argentina's nuclear red herring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perera, J.

    1983-01-01

    The article deals with Argentina's nuclear power programme over the last 30 years, including the country's efforts to be nuclear independent of the United States, as well as its aspirations to be a nuclear supplier to latin America. The latter policy on economic, rather than military grounds for nuclear weapons, has led to Argentina's decision to build a uranian enrichment plant. (U.K.)

  2. History of radiobiology in Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mayo, Jose

    2004-01-01

    Radiobiology is a multidisciplinary science dealing with ionising radiation effects on biological material. The history of Radiobiology begins in Germany and France around 1886. Radiobiology was introduced in Argentina in 1926 at the Institute of Oncology Angel H. Roffo as a biomedical research branch. Later on in 1957 was incorporated at the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) of Argentina as a result of the newly started nuclear activities in Argentina. Prior that time no Radiobiology research existed in Argentina. To fill this need a Project to create new laboratories was elaborated by the CNEA. New laboratories in Radiobiodosimetry, Cellular Radiobiology, Radiopathology, Radiomicrobiology, Genetics and Somatic Effects were created. Human resources on different areas of Radiobiology were formed with the assistance of IAEA. With professional and technical personnel specialized in Radiobiology at the beginning of the 1970 decade, the transference of fundamental and applied research to others laboratories started. (author)

  3. AGAINST DARWIN: WILLEM G. BRILL (1811-1896) ON THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Noordegraaf, J.

    1994-01-01

    The present paper deals with the contribution to the nineteenth-century debate on the origin of language that was made by the Dutch linguist Willem G. Brill (1811-1896). Brill published papers on this question both before and after 'Darwin'. When rejecting Darwin’s point of view Brill can be

  4. Experimental demonstration of the fitness consequences of an introduced parasite of Darwin's finches.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer A H Koop

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Introduced parasites are a particular threat to small populations of hosts living on islands because extinction can occur before hosts have a chance to evolve effective defenses. An experimental approach in which parasite abundance is manipulated in the field can be the most informative means of assessing a parasite's impact on the host. The parasitic fly Philornis downsi, recently introduced to the Galápagos Islands, feeds on nestling Darwin's finches and other land birds. Several correlational studies, and one experimental study of mixed species over several years, reported that the flies reduce host fitness. Here we report the results of a larger scale experimental study of a single species at a single site over a single breeding season.We manipulated the abundance of flies in the nests of medium ground finches (Geospiza fortis and quantified the impact of the parasites on nestling growth and fledging success. We used nylon nest liners to reduce the number of parasites in 24 nests, leaving another 24 nests as controls. A significant reduction in mean parasite abundance led to a significant increase in the number of nests that successfully fledged young. Nestlings in parasite-reduced nests also tended to be larger prior to fledging.Our results confirm that P. downsi has significant negative effects on the fitness of medium ground finches, and they may pose a serious threat to other species of Darwin's finches. These data can help in the design of management plans for controlling P. downsi in Darwin's finch breeding populations.

  5. Crisis de la prensa Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Federico Rey Lennon

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available La magnitud de la crisis económica Argentina es enorme y difícil saber hasta cuando se extenderá, agravada por una situación política frágil. La actual recesión ha hecho caer la inversión publicitaria a los niveles más bajos de los últimos años. De 1997 al 2001 la circulación de la prensa Argentina cayó en el 36 por ciento. El riesgo en Argentina es la eventual extranjerización de casi todos los medios de comunicación.

  6. Coccocypselum pulchellum (Rubiaceae, nuevo registro para Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elsa L. Cabral

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Se cita Coccocypselum pulchellum por primera vez para Argentina, en Predio Guaraní, Misiones. Esta es la tercera especie de Coccocypselum registrada para la flora de Argentina junto con C. hasslerianum y C. lanceolatum. Se incluyen descripciones, ilustraciones y una clave para reconocer las tres especies argentinas de Coccocypselum.

  7. Charles Darwin in modern epidemiology and public health: the celebration continues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanage, W P

    2011-01-01

    2009 was Darwin year; his familiar bearded face peered out from a great radiation of TV series, book covers and even a feature film. The reasons for this were his bicentennial and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species. However, there is no reason the celebrations should cease with the turn of the New Year.

  8. Expanding the framework of the holism/reductionism debate in neo-Darwinism: the case of Theodosius Dobzhansky and Bernhard Rensch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delisle, Richard G

    2008-01-01

    The holism/reductionism debate in evolutionary biology has often been analysed as involving two main phenomenological levels within neo-Darwinism: genetic and organismic. This analytical framework assumes that explanation in evolution is either found in the field of genetics or the field of organismic biology. It is argued here that this framework is far too restrictive to incorporate what at least some founding members of neo-Darwinism had in mind in their search for the ultimate cause of evolution. Dobzhansky's "super-holism" locates this drive in the highest possible entity imaginable--an ontologically unified evolutionary cosmos--while Rensch's ontological "super-reductionism," on the other hand, places it at the lowest possible entity of microphysics, that is, at the level of an energetic field of protopsychical nature. Not only it is suggested that a much-expanded framework is required for analysing the holism/reductionism debate in neo-Darwinism, but also that this new framework may have implications for the conceptualization of the neo-Darwinian movement itself.

  9. On the Origin of Complex Adaptive Traits: Progress Since the Darwin Versus Mivart Debate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Takao K

    2017-06-01

    The evolutionary origin of complex adaptive traits has been a controversial topic in the history of evolutionary biology. Although Darwin argued for the gradual origins of complex adaptive traits within the theory of natural selection, Mivart insisted that natural selection could not account for the incipient stages of complex traits. The debate starting from Darwin and Mivart eventually engendered two opposite views: gradualism and saltationism. Although this has been a long-standing debate, the issue remains unresolved. However, recent studies have interrogated classic examples of complex traits, such as the asymmetrical eyes of flatfishes and leaf mimicry of butterfly wings, whose origins were debated by Darwin and Mivart. Here, I review recent findings as a starting point to provide a modern picture of the evolution of complex adaptive traits. First, I summarize the empirical evidence that unveils the evolutionary steps toward complex traits. I then argue that the evolution of complex traits could be understood within the concept of "reducible complexity." Through these discussions, I propose a conceptual framework for the formation of complex traits, named as reducible-composable multicomponent systems, that satisfy two major characteristics: reducibility into a sum of subcomponents and composability to construct traits from various additional and combinatorial arrangements of the subcomponents. This conceptual framework provides an analytical foundation for exploring evolutionary pathways to build up complex traits. This review provides certain essential avenues for deciphering the origin of complex adaptive traits. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. Freud, Darwin, and the holding environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brockman, Richard

    2007-01-01

    Freud's hypothesis of the neonate, derived from the data of adult psychoneurotic patients, was of a supremely narcissistic being who lived in a dreamlike state of hallucinatory satisfaction. A corollary hypothesis was that the neonate's drive to attach was learned and emerged only after the failure of wish fulfillment. These hypotheses provided the ground for Freud's theories of regression, dream, primary process, and pleasure principle. Darwin's data of the neonate, collected from his observations of a variety of mammals, led him to the conclusion that attachment in mammals is innate. Until 1969 and the work of John Bowlby, psychoanalytic thinking faithfully followed Freud. If psychoanalysis is to survive, then it must attach itself to data and discard any theories that are based on unproveable hypotheses, even if those hypotheses are Freud's.

  11. Low frequency, electrodynamic simulation of kinetic plasmas with the DArwin Direct Implicit Particle-In-Cell (DADIPIC) method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gibbons, M.R.

    1995-06-01

    This dissertation describes a new algorithm for simulating low frequency, kinetic phenomena in plasmas. DArwin Direct Implicit Particle-in-Cell (DADIPIC), as its name implies, is a combination of the Darwin and direct implicit methods. One of the difficulties in simulating plasmas lies in the enormous disparity between the fundamental scale lengths of a plasma and the scale lengths of the phenomena of interest. The objective is to create models which can ignore the fundamental constraints without eliminating relevant plasma properties. Over the past twenty years several PIC methods have been investigated for overcoming the constraints on explicit electrodynamic PIC. These models eliminate selected high frequency plasma phenomena while retaining kinetic phenomena at low frequency. This dissertation shows that the combination of Darwin and Direct Implicit allows them to operate better than they have been shown to operate in the past. Through the Darwin method the hyperbolic Maxwell's equations are reformulated into a set of elliptic equations. Propagating light waves do not exist in the formulation so the Courant constraint on the time step is eliminated. The Direct Implicit method is applied only to the electrostatic field with the result that electrostatic plasma oscillations do not have to be resolved for stability. With the elimination of these constraints spatial and temporal discretization can be much larger than that possible with explicit, electrodynamic PIC. The code functions in a two dimensional Cartesian region and has been implemented with all components of the particle velocities, the E-field, and the B-field. Internal structures, conductors or dielectrics, may be placed in the simulation region, can be set at desired potentials, and driven with specified currents

  12. Deus or Darwin: randomness and belief in theories about the origin of life

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rutjens, B.T.; van der Pligt, J.; van Harreveld, F.

    2010-01-01

    A simple reminder of the fact that we do not always control life's outcomes reduced people's belief in Darwin's Theory of Evolution. This control-threat resulted in a relative preference for theories of life that thwart randomness, either by stressing the role of a controlling God (Intelligent

  13. Tidal Friction in the Earth-Moon System and Laplace Planes: Darwin Redux

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rubincam, David P.

    2015-01-01

    The dynamical evolution of the Earth-Moon system due to tidal friction is treated here. George H. Darwin used Laplace planes (also called proper planes) in his study of tidal evolution. The Laplace plane approach is adapted here to the formalisms of W.M. Kaula and P. Goldreich. Like Darwin, the approach assumes a three-body problem: Earth, Moon, and Sun, where the Moon and Sun are point-masses. The tidal potential is written in terms of the Laplace plane angles. The resulting secular equations of motion can be easily integrated numerically assuming the Moon is in a circular orbit about the Earth and the Earth is in a circular orbit about the Sun. For Earth-Moon distances greater than 10 Earth radii, the Earth's approximate tidal response can be characterized with a single parameter, which is a ratio: a Love number times the sine of a lag angle divided by another such product. For low parameter values it can be shown that Darwin's low-viscosity molten Earth, M. Ross's and G. Schubert's model of an Earth near melting, and Goldreich's equal tidal lag angles must all give similar histories. For higher parameter values, as perhaps has been the case at times with the ocean tides, the Earth's obliquity may have decreased slightly instead of increased once the Moon's orbit evolved further than 50 Earth radii from the Earth, with possible implications for climate. This is contrast to the other tidal friction models mentioned, which have the obliquity always increasing with time. As for the Moon, its orbit is presently tilted to its Laplace plane by 5.2deg. The equations do not allow the Moon to evolve out of its Laplace plane by tidal friction alone, so that if it was originally in its Laplace plane, the tilt arose with the addition of other mechanisms, such as resonance passages.

  14. Model Fitting for Predicted Precipitation in Darwin: Some Issues with Model Choice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farmer, Jim

    2010-01-01

    In Volume 23(2) of the "Australian Senior Mathematics Journal," Boncek and Harden present an exercise in fitting a Markov chain model to rainfall data for Darwin Airport (Boncek & Harden, 2009). Days are subdivided into those with precipitation and precipitation-free days. The author abbreviates these labels to wet days and dry days.…

  15. Adaptation as process: the future of Darwinism and the legacy of Theodosius Dobzhansky.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Depew, David J

    2011-03-01

    Conceptions of adaptation have varied in the history of genetic Darwinism depending on whether what is taken to be focal is the process of adaptation, adapted states of populations, or discrete adaptations in individual organisms. I argue that Theodosius Dobzhansky's view of adaptation as a dynamical process contrasts with so-called "adaptationist" views of natural selection figured as "design-without-a-designer" of relatively discrete, enumerable adaptations. Correlated with these respectively process and product oriented approaches to adaptive natural selection are divergent pictures of organisms themselves as developmental wholes or as "bundles" of adaptations. While even process versions of genetical Darwinism are insufficiently sensitive to the fact much of the variation on which adaptive selection works consists of changes in the timing, rate, or location of ontogenetic events, I argue that articulations of the Modern Synthesis influenced by Dobzhansky are more easily reconciled with the recent shift to evolutionary developmentalism than are versions that make discrete adaptations central. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Nuclear Activities in Argentina, 2010

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferreri, J.C.; Ferreri, J.C.; Clausse, A.; Clausse, A.; Clausse, A.; Ordonez, J.P.; Mazzantini, O.A.

    2011-01-01

    Nuclear activities in Argentina are restarted. After almost two decades of near stagnation, the governments political decision of August 2006 regarding electrical energy production, considered the nuclear option as a valid one to solve the problems of the growing demand of electrical energy. This decision triggered again the activities related to the finalization of the third nuclear power reactor (Atucha-II), now actively progressing, the construction of a prototype of the CAREM integral advanced reactor, the life extension of the Embalse CANDU nuclear power plant (NPP) and the studies for the emplacement of a fourth NPP in an appropriate site. In all those years of near stagnation, there were notable exceptions related to the design and construction of experimental and radioisotope production reactors, led by INVAP, a state-owned industry, which exported its production. The accompanying industries of nuclear fuel elements production also remained active, given the demand of the two active NPPs. Meanwhile, the National Atomic Energy Commission of Argentina continued the efforts on research and development that were at the base of the technological achievements of the nuclear activities in Argentina. Nuclear safety studies associated with Atucha II and Embalse NPPs and radiological safety were also a substantive part of the continued efforts by Nucleo-Electrica de Argentina SA and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of Argentina

  17. Argentina [Country report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferreyra, R.

    2005-01-01

    The airborne geophysical surveys developed in Argentina are described. They have got more than 500.000 km 2 acquiring data for U, Th, K and total background activity. Other types of published data are also mentioned (satellite imagery, seismic hazard, climate, soil distributions, etc.). The availability of maps with the abundances of elements analyzed at the country and also at laboratories from Canada is described, as well as data of analysis of several elements at two study areas proposed at the outset of the project. The availability of process rate data and epidemiological data is also explained. Argentina intended fully to participate in the CRP at the outset of the project. Due, however, to external resource constraints imposed on the participating organization (Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica, CNEA), the level of participation had to be significantly reduced. Nonetheless, in the first period of the CRP, Argentina undertook to collate existing geological and geochemical information within the country, and began to define potential areas for site specific natural systems safety indicator studies. (author)

  18. La familia Cyatheaceae (Pteridophyta en Argentina The family Cyatheaceae (Pteridophyta in Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gonzalo J Marquez

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available La familia Cyatheaceae comprende alrededor de 500 especies de helechos arborescentes. Su distribución es pantropical y en Argentina se encuentra representada por 4 especies, reunidas en los géneros Alsophila y Cyathea: A. setosa, A. odonelliana, C. atrovirens y C. delgadii. En este trabajo se presenta una actualización de la información disponible hasta el momento referente a estas especies. Se exponen microfotografías de las esporas, que presentan la superficie con lomos en Alsophila y con cordones en Cyathea. Se ilustran los indusios y escamas de la base de los pecíolos, que son de importancia fundamental para la diferenciación de las especies estudiadas. Asimismo se presenta un mapa de distribución y una clave de las especies que crecen en Argentina.The family Cyatheaceae comprises about 500 species of tree ferns. Their distribution is pantropical and in Argentina is represented by four species, grouped in genera Alsophila y Cyathea: A. setosa, A. odonelliana, C. atrovirens and C. delgadii. In this paper, an update of the available information of the mentioned species is presented. A key to diferentiate the species growing in Argentina, their descriptions and a distribution map are also given. Spores are ridged in Alsophila and with rodlets in Cyathea. Indusia and scales of petiole basis are also illustrated.

  19. Darwins rEvolution – Thema der Reproduktionsmedizin? Entdeckung – Menschenbild – Domestikation – Auslese

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lötsch B

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Darwins Einfluss auf unser Denken wird mit jenem von Nikolaus Kopernikus, Sigmund Freud oder Konrad Lorenz verglichen. Die Arbeit erschließt den evolutionären Zugang zu Homo sapiens – körperlich wie im Verhalten. Vor allem fand Darwin den Mechanismus, wie Evolution funktionierte und bis heute wirkt. Dabei entsetzte ihn selbst die gleichgültige Grausamkeit der Natur, mit der sie ständig zahllose unschuldige (höchst empfindungsfähige Jungtiere und Kinder zu Tode bringt – ein Vielfaches derjenigen, die bis zur Fortpflanzung kommen. Wo ist hier der „liebende Gottvater“?, fragte sich der graduierte Theologe angesichts dieses qualvollen Gemetzels. Organismen setzen ihr Erbgut im evolutionären Wettbewerb mit ihrem „Reproduktionserfolg“ durch (nicht bloß Fruchtbarkeit, welche die Tragfähigkeit der Ökosysteme in jedem Fall überfordern würde. Darwin entdeckte „Variation und Selektion“ als die „grausam bewahrenden Faktoren“, welche die Tauglichkeit („fitness“ jeder Art in ihrem Lebensraum gewährleisten – durch Auswahl der Bestangepassten aus der riesigen Überproduktion vielfältiger Nachkommen. Die Erfolgreichen spiegeln in ihren genetischen Eigenschaften die Auslesezwänge wider, durch welche die Art entstand. Verhaustierung und Zivilisation schirmen die Organismen von natürlichen Auslesezwängen ab und führen zum Verlust artspezifischer Körper- und Verhaltensmerkmale. Solche genetischen Ausfälle durch jahrtausendlange Selbstdomestikation des Homo sapiens beschäftigen Genetiker und Ärzte seit Darwin (z. B. seinen Cousin Francis Galton [Eugenics 1885] und den deutschen Mediziner Alfred Ploetz [Rassenhygiene 1895]. Obwohl ursprünglich auf generelle Volksgesundheit zielend und nachweislich ohne rassistische Ideen (eher im Sinne der Menschheit als „the whole human race“, konnte Eugenik dennoch zu inhumanen Praktiken führen, allein wegen der umstrittenen Grenzziehung von „fortpflanzungswürdig oder nicht“, dazu noch

  20. Exploration and Exploitation of Victorian Science in Darwin's Reading Notebooks

    OpenAIRE

    Murdock, Jaimie; Allen, Colin; DeDeo, Simon

    2015-01-01

    Search in an environment with an uncertain distribution of resources involves a trade-off between exploitation of past discoveries and further exploration. This extends to information foraging, where a knowledge-seeker shifts between reading in depth and studying new domains. To study this decision-making process, we examine the reading choices made by one of the most celebrated scientists of the modern era: Charles Darwin. From the full-text of books listed in his chronologically-organized r...

  1. Mida õpetab Argentina finantskriis? / Karsten Staehr

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Staehr, Karsten, 1962-

    2002-01-01

    Norra majandusanalüütik kirjeldab Argentina majanduspoliitikat, analüüsib tehtud vigu ning hoiatab avatud majandusega Eestit võimalike tulevaste välisshokkide eest. Diagramm: SKP kasv ja üleüldine riigieelarve tasakaal 1991-2001 Argentinas

  2. Research reactors in Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carlos Ruben Calabrese

    1999-01-01

    Argentine Nuclear Development started in early fifties. In 1957, it was decided to built the first a research reactor. RA-1 reactor (120 kw, today licensed to work at 40 kW) started operation in January 1958. Originally RA-1 was an Argonaut (American design) reactor. In early sixties, the RA-1 core was changed. Fuel rods (20% enrichment) was introduced instead the old Argonaut core design. For that reason, a critical facility named RA-0 was built. After that, the RA-3 project started, to build a multipurpose 5 MW nuclear reactor MTR pool type, to produce radioisotopes and research. For that reason and to define the characteristics of the RA-3 core, another critical facility was built, RA-2. Initially RA-3 was a 90 % enriched fuel reactor, and started operation in 1967. When Atucha I NPP project started, a German design Power Reactor, a small homogeneous reactor was donated by the German Government to Argentina (1969). This was RA-4 reactor (20% enrichment, 1W). In 1982, RA-6 pool reactor achieved criticality. This is a 500 kW reactor with 90% enriched MTR fuel elements. In 1990, RA-3 started to operate fueled by 20% enriched fuel. In 1997, the RA-8 (multipurpose critical facility located at Pilcaniyeu) started to operate. RA-3 reactor is the most important CNEA reactor for Argentine Research Reactors development. It is the first in a succession of Argentine MTR reactors built by CNEA (and INVAP SE ) in Argentina and other countries: RA-6 (500 kW, Bariloche-Argentina), RP-10 (10MW, Peru), NUR (500 kW, Algeria), MPR (22 MW, Egypt). The experience of Argentinian industry permits to compete with foreign developed countries as supplier of research reactors. Today, CNEA has six research reactors whose activities have a range from education and promotion of nuclear activity, to radioisotope production. For more than forty years, Argentine Research Reactors are working. The experience of Argentine is important, and argentine firms are able to compete in the design and

  3. Teaching Humanities at the National University of la Plata, Argentina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acuña, Leopoldo E

    2003-10-01

    In this article the author begins by giving a brief history of medical education in Argentina, then provides some background information on the National University of La Plata. He describes two major initiatives at La Plata: a new and pioneering admission policy (implemented in 1993) and a change in the number of hours and years in the curriculum. He then looks back to the introduction in 1976 of La Plata's medical humanities program. Over its 20 year existence, the program has undergone a number of changes in response both to students' interests and financial concerns. The revised humanities curriculum now consists of four elective courses: medicine and literature, anthropology, history of medicine, and "medical kalology" (which focuses on music and dance). Unfortunately, the program, while it has been well received by both students and faculty and has inspired programs at other Argentinean schools, is threatened by Argentina's economic crisis.

  4. Introduction to the special issue on Social Darwinism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albee, G W

    1996-09-01

    A brief history is provided of interventions with people with emotional disorders since the 1950s. A shortage of therapists is inescapable and even successful treatment does not change incidence. But the individual defect model supports the conservative view that causes are to be found inside people, rather than in social injustice. People who are defective are to be treated as part of the medical model that is extended to cover social problems. This view is an obvious extension of Social Darwinism that has long attributed success and failure to bad genes and good genes rather than to advantaged and disadvantaged social-economic environments.

  5. Communications received from Argentina and Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1989-01-01

    The document reproduces the Joint Statement on Nuclear Policy signed by the President of Argentina and the President of Brazil on 29 November 1988 at Ezeiza, Argentina, concerning the decision of the two countries to undertake a joint fast breeder reactor project

  6. Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-04-01

    This economical study summarizes the energy situation of Argentina: energy institutions and policy, energy companies (oil, electricity, gas, coal), energy supplies (resources, power production, petroleum, natural gas), prices and tariffs, consumption, economical stakes and perspectives (investments, agreements, projects). Energy data for the 1971-1999 period are summarized in graphs and tables. (J.S.)

  7. Argentina: a mature urbanization pattern.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rofman, A B

    1985-02-01

    "This article describes the historical development of Argentina's cities, pointing out the traditional dominance of the 'centre-litoral' region and...[of] Buenos Aires. Recent trends such as the population increase in the southern region are described and demographic trends are related to economic developments. The article concludes by examining Argentina's contemporary urban patterns, including the current low rate of urbanization." excerpt

  8. Argentina's radioactive waste disposal policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palacios, E.

    1986-01-01

    The Argentina policy for radioactive waste disposal from nuclear facilities is presented. The radioactive wastes are treated and disposed in confinement systems which ensure the isolation of the radionucles for an appropriate period. The safety criteria adopted by Argentina Authorities in case of the release of radioactive materials under normal conditions and in case of accidents are analysed. (M.C.K.) [pt

  9. LDC nuclear power: Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tweedale, D.L.

    1982-01-01

    Argentina's 31-year-old nuclear research and power program makes it a Third World leader and the preeminent Latin American country. Easily accessible uranium fuels the heavy water reactor, Atucha I, which provides 10% of the country's electric power. Atucha II and III are under construction. Several domestic and international factors combined to make Argentina's program succeed, but achieving fuel-cycle independence and the capacity to divert fissionable material to military uses is a cause for some concern. 60 references

  10. Elites estatais e industrialização: ensaio de comparação entre Brasil, Argentina e México (1920-1970

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renato Perissinotto

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to stress on the importance of the sociology of state elites to fully understand developmental processes. With that purpose in mind, we comparatively analyze the industrialization process in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico from 1920 to 1970. Our analysis shows that although Argentina was in a much better condition to initiate its industrialization process in the early thirties, it was overtaken by Brazil and Mexico already in the late fifties. The article suggests that this took place because Brazil and Mexico, among other things, had a state elite willing to take development seriously, whereas Argentina lacked it.

  11. Intervenciones olvidadas: Beatriz Sarlo en la universidad argentina de la posdictadura (1984-1986

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Analía Isabel Gerbaudo

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Este artículo se enmarca en una investigación sobre las intervenciones de los críticos que trabajaron como profesores en la universidad argentina durante la fase inicial de la posdictadura (1984-1986 en las áreas de literatura argentina y teoría literaria. El estudio se centra en sus programas de cátedra —documentos desatendidos tanto por la crítica como por la historia— en diálogo con sus ensayos y entrevistas. Esta presentación gira sobre el programa que en 1984 Beatriz Sarlo arma para la materia “Literatura argentina II” y precisa qué lectura inventa para dicha literatura en relación con la escritura latinoamericana, tanto literaria como crítica.This article is part of a research project about the policies carried out by critics who worked as University teachers in Argentina during the initial stage of the postdictatorial period (1984-1986 in the areas of Argentine Literature and Literary Theory. This project studies their class syllabi—documents which have been overlooked both by criticism and by history—in dialogue with their essays and interviews. This presentation deals with the syllabus which was presented by Beatriz Sarlo in 1984 for her class “Argentine Literature II”, and specifies how she reads that literature in relation with Latin American critical and literary writing.

  12. A Tenebrionid beetle's dataset (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) from Peninsula Valdés (Chubut, Argentina).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheli, Germán H; Flores, Gustavo E; Román, Nicolás Martínez; Podestá, Darío; Mazzanti, Renato; Miyashiro, Lidia

    2013-12-18

    The Natural Protected Area Peninsula Valdés, located in Northeastern Patagonia, is one of the largest conservation units of arid lands in Argentina. Although this area has been in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1999, it has been continually exposed to sheep grazing and cattle farming for more than a century which have had a negative impact on the local environment. Our aim is to describe the first dataset of tenebrionid beetle species living in Peninsula Valdés and their relationship to sheep grazing. The dataset contains 118 records on 11 species and 198 adult individuals collected. Beetles were collected using pitfall traps in the two major environmental units of Peninsula Valdés, taking into account grazing intensities over a three year time frame from 2005-2007. The Data quality was enhanced following the best practices suggested in the literature during the digitalization and geo-referencing processes. Moreover, identification of specimens and current accurate spelling of scientific names were reviewed. Finally, post-validation processes using DarwinTest software were applied. Specimens have been deposited at Entomological Collection of the Centro Nacional Patagónico (CENPAT-CONICET). The dataset is part of the database of this collection and has been published on the internet through GBIF Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT) (http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/14669/). Furthermore, it is the first dataset for tenebrionid beetles of arid Patagonia available in GBIF database, and it is the first one based on a previously designed and standardized sampling to assess the interaction between these beetles and grazing in the area. The main purposes of this dataset are to ensure accessibility to data associated with Tenebrionidae specimens from Peninsula Valdés (Chubut, Argentina), also to contribute to GBIF with primary data about Patagonian tenebrionids and finally, to promote the Entomological Collection of Centro Nacional Patagónico (CENPAT

  13. Nature of the Darwin term and (Zα)4m3/M2 contribution to the Lamb shift for an arbitrary spin of the nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khriplovich, I.B.; Milstein, A.I.; Sen'kov, R.A.

    1997-01-01

    The contact Darwin term is demonstrated to be of the same origin as the spin-orbit interaction. The (Zα) 4 m 3 /M 2 correction for the Lamb shift, generated by the Darwin term is found for an arbitrary nonvanishing spin of the nucleus, both half-integer and integer. There is also a contribution of the same nature to the nuclear quadrupole moment

  14. Darwin's Other Bulldog: Charles Kingsley and the Popularisation of Evolution in Victorian England

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hale, Piers J.

    2012-01-01

    The nineteenth-century Anglican Priest Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) was a significant populariser of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Kingsley was successful in this regard because he developed such diverse connections throughout his career. In the 1840s he associated with Chartists and radical journalists; in the 1850s and 1860s…

  15. Darwin's bee-trap: The kinetics of Catasetum, a new world orchid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicholson, Charles C; Bales, James W; Palmer-Fortune, Joyce E; Nicholson, Robert G

    2008-01-01

    The orchid genera Catasetum employs a hair-trigger activated, pollen release mechanism, which forcibly attaches pollen sacs onto foraging insects in the New World tropics. This remarkable adaptation was studied extensively by Charles Darwin and he termed this rapid response "sensitiveness." Using high speed video cameras with a frame speed of 1000 fps, this rapid release was filmed and from the subsequent footage, velocity, speed, acceleration, force and kinetic energy were computed.

  16. Operating practical experience at Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quihillalt, Oscar

    1997-01-01

    Operating experiences of Atucha-1 and Embalse Nuclear Power Plants were discussed in this work. The technical and economic aspects, such as reliability, availability, personnel training, operating costs, prices and market, which exercise influence upon Argentina nuclear energy policy, mainly on the power electric generation by nuclear power plants were considered. Finally the current status of the nucleoelectric sector in Argentina and forecasting were analysed

  17. Boll weevil invasion process in Argentina

    Science.gov (United States)

    The boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis grandis Boheman, is the most destructive cotton pest in the Western Hemisphere. In 1993, the pest was reported in Argentina, and in 1994 boll weevils were captured in cotton fields in the Formosa Province on the border between Argentina and Paraguay. The pest ha...

  18. The evolutionary biology of musical rhythm: was Darwin wrong?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, Aniruddh D

    2014-03-01

    In The Descent of Man, Darwin speculated that our capacity for musical rhythm reflects basic aspects of brain function broadly shared among animals. Although this remains an appealing idea, it is being challenged by modern cross-species research. This research hints that our capacity to synchronize to a beat, i.e., to move in time with a perceived pulse in a manner that is predictive and flexible across a broad range of tempi, may be shared by only a few other species. Is this really the case? If so, it would have important implications for our understanding of the evolution of human musicality.

  19. A strange horn between Paolo Mantegazza and Charles Darwin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garbarino, Carla; Mazzarello, Paolo

    2013-09-01

    During the preparation of an exhibition in Pavia dedicated to the centennial anniversary of the death of the Italian Pathologist Paolo Mantegazza, a strange cheratinic horn was found at the Museum for the History of the University of Pavia labelled as 'spur of a cock transplanted into an ear of a cow.' After some historical investigation, we found this strange object was at the centre of a scientific correspondence between Mantegazza and Charles Darwin, who made reference to it in his book The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Introducing Darwinism to Toronto's post-1887 reconstituted medical school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Court, John P M

    2011-01-01

    Charles Darwin's scientific paradigm was largely welcomed in Canadian academic biology and medicine, while reaction among other faculty and laypeople ranged from interest to outrage. In 1874, Ramsay Wright, a Darwinian-era biologist from Edinburgh, was appointed to the University of Toronto's Chair of Natural History. Over his 38-year career Wright integrated the evolutionary perspective into medical and biology teaching without accentuating its controversial source. He also applied the emerging German experimental research model and laboratory technology. This study identifies five categories of scientific and personal influences upon Wright through archival research on biographical sources and his writings.

  1. Quantum Darwinism Requires an Extra-Theoretical Assumption of Encoding Redundancy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fields, Chris

    2010-10-01

    Observers restricted to the observation of pointer states of apparatus cannot conclusively demonstrate that the pointer of an apparatus mathcal{A} registers the state of a system of interest S without perturbing S. Observers cannot, therefore, conclusively demonstrate that the states of a system S are redundantly encoded by pointer states of multiple independent apparatus without destroying the redundancy of encoding. The redundancy of encoding required by quantum Darwinism must, therefore, be assumed from outside the quantum-mechanical formalism and without the possibility of experimental demonstration.

  2. Naturalising Ethics: The Implications of Darwinism for the Study of Moral Philosophy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cartwright, John

    2010-05-01

    The nature of moral values has occupied philosophers and educationalists for centuries and a variety of claims have been made about their origin and status. One tradition suggests they may be thoughts in the mind of God; another that they are eternal truths to be reached by rational reflection (much like the truths of mathematics) or alternatively through intuition; another that they are social conventions; and another (from the logical positivists) that they are not verifiable facts but simply the expression of emotional likes and dislikes. Standard introductory texts (e.g., Bowie 2004; Vardy and Grosch 1999) on the subject of ethics rarely mention Darwin or Darwinism (Mepham 2005 is a useful exception) possibly mindful of the fact that the relationship of evolutionary biology to moral questions has had a troublesome history. The effect of this has been that whole generations of moral philosophers have given the biological sciences a wide berth and consequently often remain poorly informed about recent advances in evolutionary thought and the neurosciences. On the other hand, scientists have developed interesting models of the evolution of the moral sentiments and are using new imaging techniques to explore the centres of the brain associated with emotion and motivation, but many have been fearful of committing the naturalistic fallacy and so have steered clear of extrapolating their findings to ethical questions. No one after all wants to be seen to be committing an elementary logical blunder. But in the last 20 years, evolutionary biologists have regained the confidence to explore the implications of evolution for the study of ethics (de Waal 1996; Wilson 1998; Wright 1994; Greene 2003). This paper is designed to encourage those entrusted with the teaching of ethics to be open to the potential of Darwinism as a source of ideas on the origins and status of ethical thought and behaviour. It is also hoped that it will illustrate for science educators the enormous

  3. Discussion of evolution between neo-lamarckism and neo-darwinism in the Czech lands, 1900-1915

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hermann, Tomáš; Šimůnek, Michal V.

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 32, č. 3 (2010), s. 283-300 ISSN 1210-0250 R&D Projects: GA ČR GPP410/10/P550 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z80630520 Keywords : neo-lamarckism * neo- darwinism * history of biology Subject RIV: AB - History

  4. Nature of the Darwin term and (Zα)4m3/M2 contribution to the Lamb shift for an arbitrary spin of the nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khriplovich, I.B.; Mil'shtejn, A.I.; Sen'kov, R.A.

    1996-01-01

    The contact Darwin term is demonstrated to be of the same origin as the spin-orbit interactions. The (Zα) 4 m 3 /M 2 correction to the Lamb shift, generated by the Darwin term, is found for an arbitrary nonvanishing spin of the nucleus, both half-integer and integer. There is also a contribution of the same nature to the nuclear quadrupole moment [ru

  5. Nature of the Darwin term and (Zα)4 m3/M2 contribution to the Lamb shift for an arbitrary spin of the nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khriplovich, I.B.

    1996-01-01

    The contact Darwin term is demonstrated to be of the same origin as the spin-orbit interaction. The (Zα) 4 m 3 /M 2 correction to the Lamb shift, generated by the Darwin term, is found for an arbitrary nonvanishing spin of the nucleus, both half-integer and integer. There is also a contribution of the same nature to the nuclear quadrupole moment. (orig.)

  6. Nature of the Darwin term and (Zα)4m3/M2 contribution to the Lamb shift for an arbitrary spin of a nucleus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khriplovich, I.B.; Milstein, A.I.; Sen'kov, R.A.

    1997-01-01

    The contact Darwin term is demonstrated to be of the same origin at the spin-orbit interaction. The (Zα) 4 m 3 /M 2 correction for the Lamb shift which is generated by the Darwin term, is found for an arbitrary nonvanishing spin of the nucleus, both half-integer and integer. There is also a contribution of the same nature to the nuclear quadrupole moment

  7. Characterization of the Darwin direct implicit particle-in-cell method and resulting guidelines for operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gibbons, M.R.; Hewett, D.W.

    1997-01-01

    We investigate the linear dispersion and other properties of the Darwin Direct Implicit Particle-in-cell (DADIPIC) method in order to deduce guidelines for its use in the simulation of long time-scale, kinetic phenomena in plasmas. The Darwin part of this algorithm eliminates the Courant constraint for light propagation across a grid cell in a time step and divides the field solution into several elliptic equations. The direct implicit method is only applied to the electrostatic field relieving the need to resolve plasma oscillations. Linear theory and simulations verifying the theory are used to generate the desired guidelines as well as show the utility of DADIPIC for a wide range of low frequency, electromagnetic phenomena. We find that separation of the fields has made the task of predicting algorithm behavior easier and produced a robust method without restrictive constraints. 20 refs., 11 figs., 3 tabs

  8. Socio-economic Segregation with (without) Competitive Education Policies: A Comparative Analysis of Argentina and Chile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narodowski, Mariano; Nores, Milagros

    2002-01-01

    The view that competition initiatives in education, such as Chile's introduction of vouchers, promote socioeconomic segregation in schools is questioned. Chile and Argentina have faced very different decentralization reforms, carried out within different regulatory frameworks, but have arrived at similar situations in terms of schools'…

  9. The ongoing evolution of humanness: perspectives from Darwin to de Chardin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. S. Buckeridge

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available The nature of humanness is discussed from observations made by Aristotle in 4th-century Greece, through to those of Charles Darwin, Teilhard de Chardin and William Shakespeare. Attempts to define humanness upon a narrow range of criteria, as some have tried, is argued as flawed, for humanness is more elusive than a single or a few demonstrated phenomena. The path that Darwin pursued in determining the place of humans in nature in his book The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex is assessed from a 19thcentury perspective; the difficulties he faced, both personally and with the broader public, are reviewed and then evaluated in a modern context. Darwin’s thesis adheres to scientific principles, and is debated, defended and later verified on these principles. This is somewhat at variance to the approach adopted by the priest-scientist de Chardin a century later in his major work, The Phenomenon of Man—in which an attempt is made to reconcile a deep Christian faith with science. De Chardin scores well from a theological viewpoint, but fails on scientific grounds as his thesis moves beyond the realms of empiricism into mysticism. Surprisingly, de Chardin’s predicament of a future wherein human evolution enters a new stage of consciousness through the noosphere (an invisible layer of thought encompassing the globe has been partially realised through the worldwide web, although the nature of the web is almost certainly not what de Chardin might have anticipated, or desired. Science too fails to answer all, particularly the nature of God. Darwin considered the Creator in several of his works and does not dismiss the concept of a farseeing deity, although we are left with the notion that he died agnostic. Humanness is derived from an elevated moral code and this is reflected in our arts, particularly literature, wherein we may temporally reflect upon quintessential human traits such as mercy. However, expression of the arts is only

  10. Hindu Responses to Darwinism: Assimilation and Rejection in a Colonial and Post-Colonial Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, C. Mackenzie

    2010-01-01

    Hindu responses to Darwinism, like Christian, have run the gamut from outright rejection to fairly robust but limited accommodations of the Darwinian perspective. Despite certain features of Hindu thought such as the enormous time-scales of traditional cosmogonies that may suggest considerable affinity with modern notions of organic evolution,…

  11. Characterisation of microcontaminants in Darwin Harbour, a tropical estuary of northern Australia undergoing rapid development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    French, Veronica A; Codi King, Susan; Kumar, Anu; Northcott, Grant; McGuinness, Keith; Parry, David

    2015-12-01

    The detection of microcontaminants in aquatic environments raises concerns about their potential to exert ecotoxicological effects and impact human health. In contrast to freshwater habitats, little information is available on environmental concentrations in urban estuarine and marine environments. This study investigated an extensive range of organic and inorganic microcontaminants in the Darwin Harbour catchment, a tropical estuary in northern Australia undergoing rapid urbanisation and industrial development. We sampled wastewater effluent and surface water from seven sites in Darwin Harbour for pharmaceuticals and personal care products, alkylphenols, hormones, pesticides, herbicides and metals. In vitro bioassays were used to estimate the (anti)estrogenic and (anti)androgenic activities of samples. Seventy-nine of 229 organic microcontaminants analysed were detected at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 20 μg/L, with acesulfame, paracetamol, cholesterol, caffeine, DEET and iopromide detected at the highest concentrations in wastewater effluent (20 μg/L, 17 μg/L, 11 μg/L, 11 μg/L, 10 μg/L and 7.6 μg/L, respectively). Levels of estrogenic activity ranged from estradiol equivalency quotients (EEQs) of <0.10 to 6.29±0.16 ng/L while levels of androgenic activity ranged from dihydrotestosterone equivalency quotients (DHTEQs) of <3.50 to 138.23±3.71 ng/L. Environmental concentrations of organic microcontaminants were comparable to ranges reported from aquatic environments worldwide with sewage effluent discharges representing the dominant source of entry into Darwin Harbour. The measured concentration range of DEET was higher than ranges reported in previous studies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Action of earthworms on flint burial - a return to Darwin's estate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kevin R. Butt; Mac Callaham; E. Louise Loudermilk; Rowan Blaik

    2016-01-01

    For thirty years, from the early 1840s, Charles Darwin documented the disappearance of flints in the grounds of Down House in Kent, at a location originally known as the “Stony Field”. This site (Great Pucklands Meadow – GPM) was visited in 2007 and an experiment set up in this ungrazed grassland. Locally-sourced flints (either large – 12 cm, or small – 5 cm dia.) were...

  13. A Tenebrionid beetle’s dataset (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae from Peninsula Valdés (Chubut, Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    German Cheli

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The Natural Protected Area Peninsula Valdés, located in Northeastern Patagonia, is one of the largest conservation units of arid lands in Argentina. Although this area has been in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1999, it has been continually exposed to sheep grazing and cattle farming for more than a century which have had a negative impact on the local environment. Our aim is to describe the first dataset of tenebrionid beetle species living in Peninsula Valdés and their relationship to sheep grazing. The dataset contains 118 records on 11 species and 198 adult individuals collected. Beetles were collected using pitfall traps in the two major environmental units of Peninsula Valdés, taking into account grazing intensities over a three year time frame from 2005–2007. The Data quality was enhanced following the best practices suggested in the literature during the digitalization and geo-referencing processes. Moreover, identification of specimens and current accurate spelling of scientific names were reviewed. Finally, post-validation processes using DarwinTest software were applied. Specimens have been deposited at Entomological Collection of the Centro Nacional Patagónico (CENPAT-CONICET. The dataset is part of the database of this collection and has been published on the internet through GBIF Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT (http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/14669/. Furthermore, it is the first dataset for tenebrionid beetles of arid Patagonia available in GBIF database, and it is the first one based on a previously designed and standardized sampling to assess the interaction between these beetles and grazing in the area. The main purposes of this dataset are to ensure accessibility to data associated with Tenebrionidae specimens from Peninsula Valdés (Chubut, Argentina, also to contribute to GBIF with primary data about Patagonian tenebrionids and finally, to promote the Entomological Collection of Centro Nacional Patag

  14. A Tenebrionid beetle’s dataset (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) from Peninsula Valdés (Chubut, Argentina)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheli, Germán H.; Flores, Gustavo E.; Román, Nicolás Martínez; Podestá, Darío; Mazzanti, Renato; Miyashiro, Lidia

    2013-01-01

    Abstract The Natural Protected Area Peninsula Valdés, located in Northeastern Patagonia, is one of the largest conservation units of arid lands in Argentina. Although this area has been in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1999, it has been continually exposed to sheep grazing and cattle farming for more than a century which have had a negative impact on the local environment. Our aim is to describe the first dataset of tenebrionid beetle species living in Peninsula Valdés and their relationship to sheep grazing. The dataset contains 118 records on 11 species and 198 adult individuals collected. Beetles were collected using pitfall traps in the two major environmental units of Peninsula Valdés, taking into account grazing intensities over a three year time frame from 2005–2007. The Data quality was enhanced following the best practices suggested in the literature during the digitalization and geo-referencing processes. Moreover, identification of specimens and current accurate spelling of scientific names were reviewed. Finally, post-validation processes using DarwinTest software were applied. Specimens have been deposited at Entomological Collection of the Centro Nacional Patagónico (CENPAT-CONICET). The dataset is part of the database of this collection and has been published on the internet through GBIF Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT) (http://data.gbif.org/datasets/resource/14669/). Furthermore, it is the first dataset for tenebrionid beetles of arid Patagonia available in GBIF database, and it is the first one based on a previously designed and standardized sampling to assess the interaction between these beetles and grazing in the area. The main purposes of this dataset are to ensure accessibility to data associated with Tenebrionidae specimens from Peninsula Valdés (Chubut, Argentina), also to contribute to GBIF with primary data about Patagonian tenebrionids and finally, to promote the Entomological Collection of Centro Nacional Patag

  15. Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masters, R.

    1997-01-01

    This article provides information on the energy resources, government, electricity supply, nuclear industry and fuel cycle of Argentina. About 12% of electric power produced is generated from nuclear power plants. The operating capacity, history and partial privatisation of the nuclear industry are covered, and fuel cycle facilities described. These include uranium mining and processing, enrichment, fuel fabrication and heavy water production. (UK)

  16. [Shigelosis outbreak in the city of Lujan, Argentina].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Della Gaspera, Anabella; Caffer, María I; Panagópulo, Marcela; Viñas, María R; Barrios, Hebe A; Viora, Silvia S; Anselmo, Ricardo J

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study was to describe an outbreak of Shigella sonnei that occurred in the city of Lujan, Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 2012. Five individuals were affected after eating a hand-made Viennese-style pastry at a family gathering. All of them presented with fever, joint pain, chills and non-bloody diarrhea containing mucus. Stool cultures were performed in all cases and the samples taken from the pastry ingredients were analyzed microbiologically. S.sonnei was isolated and identified in all the patients involved as well as in the almond cream filling. The isolates were analyzed for determining the antimicrobial susceptibility and genetic profiles by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The results showed the genetic relationship among the isolates, confirming that the cases occurred due to the patients' exposure to the same source of infection, i.e., the almond cream. Being the almond cream an industrially-manufactured ingredient, an initial contamination could have been unlikely; however contamination might have occurred as a result of manipulation in the bakery. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Argentina de Microbiología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  17. Diccionario del español de Argentina

    OpenAIRE

    Haensch, Günther

    2000-01-01

    Diccionario del español de Argentina : español de Argentina - español de España / Günther Haensch ; Reinhold Werner. Madrid : Gredos, 2000. - LI, 729 S. - (Diccionarios contrastivos del español de América)

  18. With everything exposed: cruelty in post-abortion care in Rosario, Argentina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steele, Cynthia; Chiarotti, Susana

    2004-11-01

    At the suggestion of a social worker who witnessed abusive post-abortion care at a public hospital in Rosario, Argentina, two human rights NGOs collaborated to investigate women's experiences seeking treatment for abortion complications at area public hospitals. During the year-long enquiry, more than 300 women took part. Role play was successfully used to surmount women's initial reluctance to reveal pervasive discriminatory and humiliating mistreatment. Thirty-one women later gave personal testimonies about their experiences, which were contained in the report of the research and later dramatised in a public meeting and video. The report, Con Todo al Aire (With Everything Exposed), was disseminated widely, including to the media, and a formal complaint was made to the local Ombudsman, who called for high-level action to resolve the problems. Initial denial by some health professionals that there was a serious problem was replaced by critical self-assessment within the provincial government, hospitals and medical and nursing schools, who made commitments to reform hospital practices and the medical school curriculum. Women participants also gained an understanding of their right to appropriate and humane health care. The findings from Rosario are not isolated. They are now being shored with activists and researchers in other provinces of Argentina and other countries.

  19. Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports that like so many other countries, Argentina is in the throes of privatization and restructuring of its economic programs. This has had a direct effect on the LPG industry. Argentina is a country with many natural resources. However, natural gas and crude, while present, are not in abundance. Imports of these and their associated products are needed to satisfy the growing need of the population from time to time. This is especially true with LPGs. Production of the fuel averages about 1 million tons, not enough to satisfy internal needs in the winter but enough to permit some exports in the summer to nearby Brazil. The Country's Congress approved a plan to sell-off or lease parts of the natural gas distribution network and other businesses of Gas del Estado. Subsequent new legislation has called for ten new natural gas distribution zones. Included in the sell-off is the company's propane distribution division. What is left of Gas del Estado and YPF will become a corporation in the true sense of the word. Stocks in YPF are to be sold to the public

  20. The naturalist view of Universal Darwinism: an application to the evolutionary theory of the firm

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stoelhorst, J.W.; Finch, J.; Orillard, M.

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to contribute to recent efforts to ground evolutionary theory in economics in the principles of Universal Darwinism. The paper contrasts two views of evolution, based on the Ultra-Darwinian and Naturalist theory of biological evolution, both of which are consistent with

  1. In vriendskap met Darwin in die Christelike ontwerp van ’n antropologie?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniël P. Veldsman

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available In friendship with Darwin in designing an anthropology from a Christian perspective? Best science and best theological reflection – the two belongs together for the sake of both. This is argued for in the exposition of the justification of friendship with Darwin (best science as evolutionary science which is argumentatively connected from a Christian perspective to the praiseworthiness of God as creator (best theological reflection. Concretely, this implies making theologically sense of the important contemporary contribution of evolutionary biology on the origin of life and the descriptions of life. This endeavour necessitates a critical re-reading not only of Darwinian abuse and misperceptions but also of the larger historical context of the aforegoing scientific revolutions and their aftermath. Therefore, both discourses of abuse on the extreme spectrum of reflection on creation and life are critically addressed, namely creationism or Intelligent Design and bio-fundamentalism. As hermeneutical tool of discernment, the argument of evolutionary re-conceptualisation is unfolded as a distinction between an official story and alternative story to highlight not only the exciting implications of the latter but also especially as act of the de-domestication of our understanding of God as the praiseworthy God of creation.

  2. Elimination of electromagnetic radiation in plasma simulation: the Darwin or magnetoinductive approximation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hewett, D.W.

    1985-01-01

    For many astrophysical and most magnetic fusion applications, the purely electromagnetic modes generated by real as well as simulation ''plasma'' fluctuations are a source of high frequency radiation that is often irrelevant to the physics of interest. Unfortunately, a numerical CFL stability limit prevents either making c infinite or deltat large while using the usual explicit Maxwell's equations for the fields. A modification of Maxwell's equations, which provides implicitly the field components, circumvents this problem. The solution is to neglect retardation effects so that the electromagnetic propagation speed is effectively infinite. The purely electromagnetic modes in this limit evolve ''instantly'' to a time-asymptotic configuration about the macroscopic plasma configuration at each new time level. The Darwin or magnetoinductive approximation effectively provides infinite propagation speeds for purely electromagnetic modes by converting Maxwell's equations from hyperbolic to elliptic in character. In practice, this is accomplished by neglecting the solenoidal part of the displacement current. The elimination of the CFL time step constraint more than offsets the substantially more complicated field solution that is required. The details of a numerical implementation of this model will be presented. Numerical examples will be given and extentions of the Darwin field solution to other plasma models also will be considered. 9 refs., 3 figs

  3. The evolutionary biology of musical rhythm: was Darwin wrong?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aniruddh D Patel

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available In The Descent of Man, Darwin speculated that our capacity for musical rhythm reflects basic aspects of brain function broadly shared among animals. Although this remains an appealing idea, it is being challenged by modern cross-species research. This research hints that our capacity to synchronize to a beat, i.e., to move in time with a perceived pulse in a manner that is predictive and flexible across a broad range of tempi, may be shared by only a few other species. Is this really the case? If so, it would have important implications for our understanding of the evolution of human musicality.

  4. Beagle I and II Voyages: Charles Darwin's rocks and the quest for Mars rock; the Open University's virtual microscope has both

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwenzer, S. P.; Tindle, A. G.; Anand, M.; Gibson, E. K.; Pearson, V. K.; Pemberton, D.; Pillinger, C.; Smith, C. L.; Whalley, P.; Kelley, S. P.

    2011-12-01

    Exploration is in itself a fascinating subject, and a strong draw to engaging the public in understanding science. Nearly two hundred years ago Charles Darwin took part in an exploration of the Earth, and more recently we have begun to explore the solar system and in particular the surface of Mars. The engagement is made easier if an element of exploration is involved in the public engagement, using modern internet and even mobile technologies. The Open University combines all those aspects in a series of virtual microscopes for Earth science that are freely available on the web, installed in museums, or built into its teaching material. The basis of the virtual microscope is a mosaic of several hundred microscopic images of each thin section taken in plane polarised light, between crossed polars and in reflected light, which are then assembled into three high resolution images. Rotation movies for selected points in the thin section illustrate changing optical properties such as birefringence. The user is able to pan and zoom around to explore the section, studying the mineralogy and rock texture, and view the rotation movies linked to points in the section to see the changing birefringence colours. We have created several collections of terrestrial rocks, mainly for teaching purposes, and outreach directly linked to exploration: Charles Darwin returned from the Voyage of the Beagle with a large variety of rock samples, and although thin sections were not being made at that time, they were created from his rocks in the late 19th century. The historic material is part of the "Darwin the Geologist" exhibition at the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge. Our Darwin virtual microscope includes hand specimen illustrations and thin sections together with documentation and an interactive map allow internet users and museum visitors alike to have a close look at Darwin's rocks and study the petrology of them. Charles Darwin explored distant horizons on Earth in the 19th century

  5. Mudanças institucionais e desempenho da produção de milho e soja no Brasil e na Argentina Institutional changes and the performance of the production of soy and corn in Brazil and Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo Luis Leão de Sousa

    1999-12-01

    Full Text Available As mudanças no ambiente institucionais e seus efeitos sobre o desempenho recente da produção de milho e soja no Brasil e Argentina são os objetivos deste artigo, que tem como referencial teórico a Nova Economia das Instituições. Importantes diferenças marcam o desempenho da produção de grão nestes países, apesar do Brasil e Argentina terem seguido o mesmo modelo de desenvolvimento baseado no processo de substituição de importação e economia fechada. Observa-se também que além das condições edáfo-climáticas que trazem uma vantagem inicial para a produção de grãos na Argentina, de uma forma geral, este país, em função da sua menor população e menor absorção interna de produtos, sempre teve uma maior inserção no mercado internacional.This paper examines the role of the institutions that affected Brazilian and Argentinean grain agroindustrial systems in this decade, using the New Institutional Economics as theoretical reference. Important differences mark the performance of the production of grains in these countries, despite Brazil and Argentina having followed the same model of development based on the process of import substitution and a closed economy. In addition to the edapho-climatic factor which brings initial advantages to the production of grains in Argentina, in general, this country has always had greater insertion in the international market due to its smaller population. The changes in the institutional environment and its effects on the recent performance of soybean and corn production in Brazil and Argentina are the objective of this work.

  6. [August Weismann's concept of germ plasma as the basic reason for the inadequacy of neo-Darwinism].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grodnitskiĭ, D L

    2000-01-01

    Neo-Darwinism is a result of synthesis of Darwinian concept of natural selection with Weismannian concept of germ plasma. The concept of germ plasma is based on a hypothesis that phenotypic traits are completely determined by genes. Hence, neo-Darwinism describes evolution as a process of alternation of gene frequencies under the effect of natural selection. This is an inadequate approach to the study of evolution. In the course of evolution, genes change their functions, whereas phenotypic characters change their corresponding genes. As a result, every step of evolutionary transformation changes the structure of phenotype-to-genotype correspondence. Therefore, phenotypic evolution cannot be described in genetic terms, the same as to human languages cannot be translated one into another whenever the meaning of words is constantly changing. Consequently, Weismannian germ-plasma concept adequately describes the relation of characters to genes only during stasis, but is inapplicable to evolution.

  7. The health crisis in Argentina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Escudero, José Carlos

    2003-01-01

    The health crisis in Argentina is part of the larger crisis that has resulted from a collapse in the country's economic and political systems. After a brief review of the country's history over the last century, from international success story to economic failure, the author explains the health crisis in particular and the social crisis in general in terms of failed neoliberal policies imposed on Argentina by the United States and International Monetary Fund through the mediation of the country's political class.

  8. Novedades en la Distribución de las Cyatheaceae (Pteridophyta en Argentina Novelties in the distribution of Cyatheaceae (Pteridophyta of Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gonzalo J. Marquez

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Cyathea atrovirens (Langsd. & Fisch. Domin se cita por primera vez para la provincia de Corrientes (Argentina. De esta manera se extiende su área de distribución hacia el sudoeste. Además se confirma la presencia de Alsophila odonelliana (Alston M. Lehnert en la provincia de Jujuy (Argentina. En este estudio los caracteres de las esporas resultaron diagnósticos para la determinación genérica de los taxa.Cyathea atrovirens (Langsd. & Fisch. Domin is reported for the first time for Corrientes province (Argentina. Thus, its area of distribution is extended southwest. The presence of Alsophila odonelliana (Alston M. Lehnert is confirmed for Jujuy province (Argentina. In this study the spore features were diagnostic in order to determine these taxa.

  9. The blue land planarian Caenoplana coerulea, an invader in Argentina La planaria terrestre azul Caenoplana coerulea, un invasor en Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisandro Héctor Luis-Negrete

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available The blue land planarian Caenoplana coerulea is reported from Argentina (Buenos Aires province. We found C. coerulea in the east central region of Argentina in anthropic environments. The specimens that we found have the characteristic of the species found in others regions; that is, a bluish dorsal surface with a yellow mid-dorsal stripe and eyes forming a single row around the anterior tip, clustered laterally. This is the first record of this species from the Neotropical Region, and together with Bipalium kewense are the only 2 species of exotic terrestrial planarians so far recorded in Argentina.La planaria terrestre azul Caenoplana coerulea se registra para el centro este de Argentina (provincia de Buenos Aires, en ambientes antropizados. Los ejemplares encontrados presentan las características de la especie registrada en otras regiones, con una superficie dorsal azulada y una hilera medio dorsal amarilla, y ojos formando una hilera alrededor del extremo anterior, agrupados lateralmente. Es la primera vez que se cita dicha especie en la Región Neotropical, y junto a Bipalium kewense son las únicas planarias terrestres exóticas registradas en Argentina.

  10. de la sociedad argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego Galeano

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Este artículo trata sobre un período de la historia argentina en el cual la "mirada médica", a través de un grupo de prestigiosos intelectuales, se convirtió en una clave de interpretación de la sociedad argentina. El análisis gira en torno a la obra de uno de los médicos higienistas más influyentes, José María Ramos Mejía, deteniéndose especialmente en su libro más famoso: Las multitudes argentinas (1899. La hipótesis principal que recorre el texto es la siguiente: la medicalización de la sociedad, acentuada luego de las epidemias de cólera y fiebre amarilla de mediados del siglo XIX, ofreció a las elites públicas la posibilidad de construir dominios legítimos de intervención estatal. Intromisiones del Estado en la vida privada que, además de ser algo resistidas por la población, entraban en tensión con los principios teóricos del liberalismo que los propios miembros de la elite defendían.

  11. Argentina

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1999-09-01

    This report presents a brief overview of the socio-economic, energy and environmental context in which climate change mitigation actions in Argentina shall be inserted. To that end, the dynamic of the Argentine economic development, its influence on the energy system and environmental impacts is summarised. From the environmental standpoint, emphasis shall only be made on the impact of economic development patterns and energy policies on GHG emission. (au) 73 refs.

  12. Crisis cambiaria en Argentina

    OpenAIRE

    Féliz, Mariano

    2009-01-01

    El análisis de la articulación entre el proceso de valorización exitosa de capital y la tendencia a la desvalorización de las mercancías se aplica a una de las manifestaciones de la crisis argentina: la devaluación del peso. Se estudia la relación entre la determinación del tipo de cambio y la valorización del capital. Se discuten las tendencias concretas de la economía argentina en la década de 1990 y se muestra cómo la devaluación de 2001-2002 fue producto necesario del propio proceso de va...

  13. Control of nuclear materials and materials in Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arbor G, A.; Fernandes M, S.

    1988-01-01

    A general view about the safeguards activities in Argentina is presented. The national system of accounting for and control of nuclear materials is described. The safeguards agreement signed by Argentina are presented. (E.G.) [pt

  14. Argentina to fully privatize state owned YPF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    Argentina's Congress has voted to fully privatize state petroleum company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF), a move the government expects to net at least $8 billion. Despite some political opposition, the vote was 119-10 in favor, with one abstention and opposition party members refusing to participate in the vote. Argentina's President Carlos Menem had threatened to authorize YPF privatization by decree if there was no quorum for a vote. YPF is responsible for 40% of Argentina's oil production. The country h as been self-sufficient in crude since 1982. Current production is 563,472 b/d, and proved reserves of oil and gas are valued at $7 billion

  15. On Darwin's 'metaphysical notebooks'. II: "Metaphysics" and final cause.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calabi, L

    2001-01-01

    The first part of this paper was published in Rivista di Biologia/Biology Forum 94 (2001). In the second part below an examination is made of the meaning of the term Metaphysics in some passages of the Darwinian Notebooks for the years 1836-1844. Metaphysics no longer defines a field of philosophical enquiries mainly concerning the being and the essence after the manner of Aristotle; it now refers to a kind of philosophy of mind after the manner of J. Locke's criticism of the Hypokeimenon. However Aristotle's Metaphysics also encompasses a treatment of the idea of causes, and of final cause particularly, in the explanation of events, and in the explanation of natural phenomena especially. The criticism of the idea of final cause in the interpretation of the world of life is one of Darwin's foundational acts in his early years. When conceiving his Système du monde, in the last years of the XVIII Century, Laplace could think that God is a hypothesis not really needed by science, as we are told. For the knowledge of organic nature to attain the status of science, it remained to be shown that since--certain of the exemplariness of Newton's Principles as much as cautious before the mystery of life--did not need the hypothesis of final ends in order to understand and explain the productions of the living nature: not only in the form of that final cause (the First Cause, the Vera Causa) in which Natural Theology still rested, but also in the form of nature's inner finality which still moulded Whewell's Kantian philosophy. Such demonstration is a very important subject in Darwin's early enquiries, where he criticises finalism as a projection of self-conceiving Man, likely inherited from a knowing of causality in nuce to be found also in animals.

  16. Periodic Scarred States in Open Quantum Dots as Evidence of Quantum Darwinism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burke, A. M.; Akis, R.; Day, T. E.; Speyer, Gil; Ferry, D. K.; Bennett, B. R.

    2010-04-01

    Scanning gate microscopy (SGM) is used to image scar structures in an open quantum dot, which is created in an InAs quantum well by electron-beam lithography and wet etching. The scanned images demonstrate periodicities in magnetic field that correlate to those found in the conductance fluctuations. Simulations have shown that these magnetic transform images bear a strong resemblance to actual scars found in the dot that replicate through the modes in direct agreement with quantum Darwinism.

  17. Argentina; Argentine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-04-01

    This economical study summarizes the energy situation of Argentina: energy institutions and policy, energy companies (oil, electricity, gas, coal), energy supplies (resources, power production, petroleum, natural gas), prices and tariffs, consumption, economical stakes and perspectives (investments, agreements, projects). Energy data for the 1971-1999 period are summarized in graphs and tables. (J.S.)

  18. Revisiting Darwin's hypothesis: Does greater intraspecific variability increase species' ecological breadth?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sides, Colby B; Enquist, Brian J; Ebersole, James J; Smith, Marielle N; Henderson, Amanda N; Sloat, Lindsey L

    2014-01-01

    Darwin first proposed that species with larger ecological breadth have greater phenotypic variation. We tested this hypothesis by comparing intraspecific variation in specific leaf area (SLA) to species' local elevational range and by assessing how external (abiotic) filters may influence observed differences in ecological breadth among species. Understanding the patterns of individual variation within and between populations will help evaluate differing hypotheses for structuring of communities and distribution of species. We selected 21 species with varying elevational ranges and compared the coefficient of variation of SLA for each species against its local elevational range. We examined the influence of external filters on local trait composition by determining if intraspecific changes in SLA with elevation have the same direction and similar rates of change as the change in community mean SLA value. In support of Darwin's hypothesis, we found a positive relationship between species' coefficient of variation for SLA with species' local elevational range. Intraspecific changes in SLA had the same sign, but generally lower magnitude than the community mean SLA. The results indicate that wide-ranging species are indeed characterized by greater intraspecific variation and that species' phenotypes shift along environmental gradients in the same direction as the community phenotypes. However, across species, the rate of intraspecific trait change, reflecting plastic and/or adaptive changes across populations, is limited and prevents species from adjusting to environmental gradients as quickly as interspecific changes resulting from community assembly.

  19. Measurements of atmospheric fallout in Argentina; Determinacion del fallout atmosferico en la Republica Argentina

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Canoba, A C; Lopez, F O; Bruno, H A

    1998-11-01

    With the purpose of studying the radioactive fallout present in Argentina from atmospheric nuclear explosions tests that have been conducted recently, an environmental monitoring program, outside the influence of nuclear facilities of Argentina, was undertaken during 1996 and 1997. The levels of Cs-137 and Sr-90 were analysed in samples of air, deposited material (rainwater), milk, an average meal of a standard man and food. During this period, a total of 630 radiochemical analysis were performed on 325 samples of the different matrices described. The concentration levels of the radionuclides analysed in the different environmental matrices are presented and are compared with the values obtained in the environmental monitoring program done during the period 1960-1981. (author) 3 refs., 9 tabs. [Espanol] Con el proposito de estudiar la precipitacion radiactiva presente en la Republica Argentina, debido al ensayo de armas nucleares en la atmosfera realizadas en el pasado, se implemento el muestreo ambiental fuera de la zona de influencia de las instalaciones nucleares de la Argentina durante los anios 1996 y 1997. Se determinaron las concentraciones de cesio 137 y estroncio 90 en muestras de aire, deposito de material radiactivo (agua de lluvia), leche, dieta promedio de un individuo estandar y en alimentos varios. Se realizaron, durante el periodo mencionado, un total de 630 determinaciones radioquimicas sobre 325 muestras de las diferentes matrices mencionadas. Se presentan los niveles de concentracion de los radionucleidos analizados en las distintas matrices ambientales y se comparan los valores obtenidos en los monitoreos realizados durante el periodo 1960-1981. (autor)

  20. Rereading Darwin. Notes for a critical history of indeterminism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Italo Scardovi

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available On carefully re-examining the theory of natural selection, one can see in it the first nondeterministic hypothesis in the history of modern science. As such it also exemplifies the use of statistics as a modus intellegendi, as an empirical language for all phenomena which cannot be interpreted in terms of strict teleology. According to this interpretation, the work of Darwin turns the course of science towards a new way of knowing, of interpreting nature, the way that with Mendel’s Laws has given birth to a deep renewal of research in biology, and has also gradually come to characterize all modern physics starting from the statistical thermodynamics of Boltzmann.

  1. The regulatory control of radioactive sources in Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rojkind, Roberto Hector

    1997-01-01

    Argentina has been conducting nuclear activities for more than forty years, and as early as in 1956 established a Regulatory Authority. Procedures for compliance monitoring and enforcement have been in use in the regulatory control of radioactive sources, and regulatory standards and regulations had been set in Argentina, before the accident in Goiania. The conclusions drawn from that accident encouraged in Argentina the improvement of some regulatory procedures and helped to enhance the quality of the regulatory process. Therefore, the effectiveness of the control of spent radioactive sources has gradually increased, and enforcement actions to prevent radioactive sources ending up in the public domain improved. Some lessons learned in Argentina from the accident in Goiania and the main characteristics of an effective enforcement program helpful to prevent radiological accidents in industrial, medical, research and teaching uses of radioactive sources are presented. (author)

  2. Darwin's naturalization hypothesis up-close: Intermountain grassland invaders differ morphologically and phenologically from native community dominants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dean E. Pearson; Yvette K. Ortega; Samantha J. Sears

    2012-01-01

    Darwin's naturalization hypothesis predicts that successful invaders will tend to differ taxonomically from native species in recipient communities because less related species exhibit lower niche overlap and experience reduced biotic resistance. This hypothesis has garnered substantial support at coarse scales. However, at finer scales, the influence of traits...

  3. O darwinismo nas Conferências Populares da Glória Darwinism in the Popular Conferences in the Glória district of Rio de Janeiro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karoline Carula

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Este artigo aborda o darwinismo exposto, entre 1875 e 1880, nas Conferências Populares da Glória - preleções públicas realizadas na escola da Freguesia da Glória, no Rio de Janeiro. As conferências que tiveram as idéias darwinistas como temática foram recebidas e repercutidas na imprensa de maneira polêmica. Apresenta-se a concepção sobre o darwinismo do médico Miranda Azevedo, o primeiro, mas não o único, a discursar sobre o tema. Com relação às conferências desse médico, analisa-se a aplicabilidade social do darwinismo por ele defendida, e as discussões na imprensa sobre a propagação do darwinismo no Brasil e sobre a possível origem símia do homem. Por fim, analisam-se as preleções de outros conferencistas que ou versaram sobre o tema mais diretamente ou perpassaram o assunto.In this paper I examine the Darwinism that transpired, between 1875 and 1880, during the Popular Conferences in the Gloria district - public conferences that took place at the Freguesia da Glória school, in Rio de Janeiro. The Conferences that had Darwinism as a subject were received and reverberated in the press polemically. I present the conception of Darwinism held by doctor Miranda Azevedo, the first, but not the only speaker, to discuss the subject. Concerning this doctor's conferences, I analyze the social application of Darwinism defended by him, and the discussions in the press about the spread of Darwinism in Brazil, and the possible simian origin of man. Finally, I talk about other lecturers' talks that either directly broached the subject or mentioned it in passing.

  4. Primer registro de Vespula vulgaris (Hymenoptera: Vespidae en la Argentina First record of Vespula vulgaris (Hymenoptera: Vespidae in Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maité Masciocchi

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Vespula vulgaris (Linnaeus es un véspido social nativo de la región Holártica. En este trabajo reportamos la primera detección de esta especie en Argentina. Obreras de esta avispa fueron capturadas cerca de la ciudad de San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina en Febrero de 2010, mientras se tomaban muestras de otra avispa invasora, Vespula germanica (Fabricius o chaqueta amarilla, de morfología externa y hábitos similares a la anteriormente mencionada. Además, detallamos algunos caracteres de identificación y características biológicas.Vespula vulgaris (Linnaeus is a social vespid native to the Holarctic region. The first detection of this species in Argentina is here reported. Workers were captured close to San Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina during February 2010, while sampling for another successful invader, the German wasp or Yellowjacket, Vespula germanica (Fabricius. Both these wasp species are very similar morphologically and share a number of common habits. Also, some identification features and biological characters are here explained.

  5. Unemployment Assistance and Transition to Employment in Argentina

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A. Iturriza (Ana); A.S. Bedi (Arjun Singh); R.A. Sparrow (Robert)

    2007-01-01

    textabstractIn 2001-02, Argentina experienced a wrenching economic crisis. Plan Jefes, implemented in May 2002, was Argentina's institutional response to the increases in unemployment and poverty triggered by the crisis. The program provided a social safety net and appears to have successfully

  6. Tabaquismo durante el embarazo en Argentina y Uruguay Smoking during pregnancy in Argentina and Uruguay

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Althabe

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available Argentina y Uruguay están entre los países con mayor proporción de mujeres jóvenes fumadoras. Se desconoce cuál es la proporción exacta de ellas que fuman durante el embarazo así como las características de las que dejan de fumar y las que continúan fumando durante el embarazo. Realizamos una encuesta administrada por un/a entrevistador/a a 1512 mujeres embarazadas de 18 años o mayores (796 en Argentina; 716 en Uruguay, que concurrían a control prenatal en hospitales públicos de grandes conglomerados urbanos. 44% de las mujeres en Argentina y 53% en Uruguay habían sido o eran fumadoras. Durante el embarazo, 11% de las mujeres en Argentina y 18% en Uruguay continuaron fumando. En ambos países, la proporción de mujeres que vive con fumadores, permite fumar en el hogar y regularmente o siempre se encuentra en lugares cerrados con personas que estén fumando fue 49%, 46% y 20% entre las mujeres que nunca fumaron, 67%, 60% y 32% entre las que dejaron, y 78%, 75% y 52% entre las que continuaron fumando respectivamente. El estudio confirma un importante problema de salud pública y documenta que la exposición ambiental persiste en subgrupos de mujeres, aun en aquéllas que dejaron de fumar. Es importante que el sector de salud pública provea acceso a programas efectivos para dejar de fumar durante el embarazo. Cualquier nueva intervención a desarrollar que intente tener un éxito al menos moderado y sostenible, debiera incluir componentes que actúen sobre el entorno fumador de la mujer embarazada que fuma.Argentina and Uruguay are among the countries in which a large proportion of young women smoke. The rate of smokers during pregnancy in both countries is not well known, and data on the characteristics of women who quit smoking during pregnancy compared to those who continue smoking are not available. We conducted a survey including 1512 pregnant women >18 years old (796 in Argentina; 716 in Uruguay, during antenatal visits in

  7. The bloodsucking biting midges of Argentina (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gustavo R Spinelli

    2005-04-01

    Full Text Available A key is presented for the identification of the adults of 54 species of bloodsucking ceratopogonids, 51 of which are known inhabitants of Argentina, and Culicoides uruguayensis Ronderos, C. pifanoi Ortiz, and C. trilineatus Fox, which are known to occur in bordering Uruguay and Paraguay. Wing photographs are provided of females of the 45 species of Culicoides. Three new species of Culicoides Latreille from Northeastern Argentina are described and illustrated: C. austroparaensis Spinelli, C. bachmanni Spinelli, and C. williamsi Spinelli. The following six species are recorded for the first time from Argentina and/or bordering localities in Paraguay: Leptoconops brasiliensis (Lutz, C. gabaldoni Ortiz, C. ginesi Ortiz, C. pifanoi Ortiz, C. pseudocrescentis Tavares and Luna Dias, and C. trilineatus; and C. estevezae Ronderos and Spinelli is newly recorded from Misiones province of Argentina. C. lopesi Barretto is excluded from the Argentinean ceratopogonid fauna.

  8. An Essay on Darwin's Theory and Bergson's Creative Evolution in the Era of NeuroQuantology

    OpenAIRE

    Başar, Erol; Güntekin, Bahar

    2009-01-01

    Charles Darwins's evolution theory was surveyed and analyzed by Henri Bergson in his book "Evolution Creatrice" (1907). Bergson described the importance of "intuition" and "cognitive processes" during evolution. The present essay describes the importance of entropy changes during evolution of species and development of cognition and intuition. The importance of Bergson's philosophy in modern sciences is globally explained.

  9. Nuevas citas de Coleoptera acuáticos y Megaloptera para la provincia de Chubut (Argentina New records of aquatic Coleoptera and Megaloptera from Chubut province (Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Miguel Archangelsky

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available Se informa acerca de nuevos hallazgos de coleópteros acuáticos, de Dytiscidae, Gyrinidae, Hydrophilidae y Elmidae para la provincia de Chubut (Argentina. También se cita por primera vez a las Sialidae (Megaloptera, género Protosialis Weele, para la República Argentina.New records of aquatic Coleoptera, in the families Dytiscidae, Gyrinidae, Hydrophilidae and Elmidae, are reported for the Chubut province (Argentina. The Sialidae (Megaloptera, genus Protosialis Weele, is reported for the first time in Argentina.

  10. Revised stratigraphic nomenclature and correlation of early proterozoic rocks of the Darwin - Katherine region, Northern Territory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Needham, R.S.; Stuart-Smith, P.G.

    1984-01-01

    New stratigraphic names and correlations are given for parts of the Early Proterozoic Pine Creek Geosyncline metasedimentary sequence and overlying felsic volcanics of the Darwin-Katherine region. They have significant implications for the stratigraphic distribution of uranium mineralisation in the Rum Jungle, Alligator Rivers and South Alligator Valley uranium fields

  11. Dennett, Darwin, and Skinner Crows

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frans Blommaert

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available The central theme of this paper is the scientific viewpoint taken for understanding behavioral processes. Two classical viewpoints are formulated by Dennett (the intentional stance and Tinbergen (Tinbergen's four questions. In this paper we argue that the two different viewpoints are linked to the two different processes that underlie complex behavior, namely, the instruction process and the selection process. To zoom in on the similarities and differences between these processes, we model whelk dropping behavior of Northwestern crows as observed by Zach (1978, 1979 from the two different viewpoints: (1 with crows that possess intentional faculties (called Dennett crows, and (2 with crows that possess selectional faculties. The latter type of crows is further divided into a population that is able to adapt over generations only by natural selection (Darwin crows, and a population that, apart from natural selection, is also able to adapt using operant learning (Skinner crows. Salient outcomes are that these two populations need markedly different times to adapt to changes in the environment, and that operant learning needs a value system that is an internal equivalent of the fitness criterion. In conclusion, we propose that understanding behavior should start at a meta-level with identifying whether the nature of the behavioral process under study is intentional or selectional.

  12. Giuseppe Sergi, "champion" of Darwinism?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Volpone, Alessandro

    2011-01-01

    The Italian anthropologist, psychologist and evolutionist Giuseppe Sergi (1841-1936) may be regarded in some respects today as an "atypical" Darwinist, but, almost paradoxically, he was considered a "champion" of Darwinism by colleagues and commentators of his own time. Probably, two aspects of his work are responsible for this apparent anomaly: his faith in the so-called soft inheritance and his claims regarding a theory concerning the polyphyletic origin of human races. The soft inheritance theory, however, was needed by Sergi to support ideas regarding the complexity of inheritance in man, a fact that, in his opinion, could not completely be put down to mechanical laws, and polygeny was useful when trying to rectify the problem concerning the incompleteness of the fossil record. In both cases, it is possible to show that he was involved in supporting Darwinian theory during the most severe crisis of its consensus in Italy and at International level, between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Finally, the apparent unorthodox features which can be found in Sergi's ideas appear to be, in Kuhnian terms, ad hoc hypotheses put forward by Sergi himself in order to support the paradigm.

  13. Foundations of a mathematical theory of darwinism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Batty, Charles J K; Crewe, Paul; Grafen, Alan; Gratwick, Richard

    2014-08-01

    This paper pursues the 'formal darwinism' project of Grafen, whose aim is to construct formal links between dynamics of gene frequencies and optimization programmes, in very abstract settings with general implications for biologically relevant situations. A major outcome is the definition, within wide assumptions, of the ubiquitous but problematic concept of 'fitness'. This paper is the first to present the project for mathematicians. Within the framework of overlapping generations in discrete time and no social interactions, the current model shows links between fitness maximization and gene frequency change in a class-structured population, with individual-level uncertainty but no uncertainty in the class projection operator, where individuals are permitted to observe and condition their behaviour on arbitrary parts of the uncertainty. The results hold with arbitrary numbers of loci and alleles, arbitrary dominance and epistasis, and make no assumptions about linkage, linkage disequilibrium or mating system. An explicit derivation is given of Fisher's Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection in its full generality.

  14. Horizontalidad, autogestión y protagonismo en Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marina Sitrin

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Este artículo trata los movimientos sociales autónomos que surgieron después de la crisis económica y la posterior rebelión popular en Argentina en diciembre de 2001. Los movimientos autónomos en la Argentina, como tantos movimientos en el mundo de hoy, son movimientos basados en la creación de nuevas relaciones sociales y comunidades ahora, al mismo tiempo que proyectan nuevas sociedadesy las relaciones en y para el futuro. Son movimientos con una concepción diferente del tiempo y el espacio. Son movimientos queentienden lo individual y lo colectivo como vinculados entre sí. Hay mucho en común entre la experiencia en la Argentina y las prácticas eideas anarquistas. Eso no significa que los que están creando nuevas relaciones y comunidades en la Argentina sean anarquistas. Lo que este artículo intenta hacer es basarse en las experiencias de los movimientos sociales argentinos para iniciar una reflexión sobre lasprácticas e ideas que los anarquistas pueden prestar a los distintos movimientos y comunidades autónomas; y, a su vez, sobre lo que los movimientos autónomos en la Argentina puede dar a las ideas y prácticas anarquistas.

  15. The regulatory control of radioactive sources in Argentina

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rojkind, Roberto Hector [Autoridade Regulatoria Nuclear, Buenos Aires (Argentina)

    1997-12-31

    Argentina has been conducting nuclear activities for more than forty years, and as early as in 1956 established a Regulatory Authority. Procedures for compliance monitoring and enforcement have been in use in the regulatory control of radioactive sources, and regulatory standards and regulations had been set in Argentina, before the accident in Goiania. The conclusions drawn from that accident encouraged in Argentina the improvement of some regulatory procedures and helped to enhance the quality of the regulatory process. Therefore, the effectiveness of the control of spent radioactive sources has gradually increased, and enforcement actions to prevent radioactive sources ending up in the public domain improved. Some lessons learned in Argentina from the accident in Goiania and the main characteristics of an effective enforcement program helpful to prevent radiological accidents in industrial, medical, research and teaching uses of radioactive sources are presented. (author) 9 refs; e-mail: rrojkind at sede.arn.gov.br

  16. FEASIBILITY AND FINANCIAL ISSUES OF CLEAN PROJECT DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM IN ARGENTINA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    García Fronti, Inés

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the research is to determine the current status and perspectives presented in Argentina in 2011 for different stakeholders regarding the development, execution and implementation of projects of clean development mechanism (CDM under the Kioto Protocol, with emphasis on the analysis of accounting issues.In the Argentinean research there is an analysis of the accounting issues under discussion and -taking as theirtory the Brazilian study mentioned- has surveyed and interviewed stakeholders belonging to government agencies, professional bodies such as councils accounting professionals in economics from different jurisdictions, academics, consultants and companies that deal or CDM projects plan to address issues relating to general and their views on potential regulations from bodies of the accounting profession and/or governmental and motivation of business and accounting issues of CDM projects such as moments of recognition of accounting entries and the different forms of the same recognition. The results showed that knowledge on the subject of stakeholders is initial but is possible an important increase in the future, accompanied by the development in Argentina of such projects.

  17. Control of gaseous emissions in central Costanera S.A. of Argentina; Control de emisiones gaseosas en central Costanera S. A. de Argentina

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brabenec, Edgardo [Unidad de Negocios Central Costanera, S. A., (Argentina)

    1997-12-31

    A description is presented of the equipment utilized at the Central Costanera, S.A. of Argentina, the requirements and the Environmental Management established for this Power Station, and the Standards and the resolutions and law instruments on Environmental issues. Also it is presented the Environmental Management plan of the Ente Nacional Regulador de Electricidad of Argentina as well as the controls and environmental corrective actions implemented at the Central Costanera, S.A. [Espanol] Se presenta una descripcion del equipo utilizado en la Central Costanera S.A. de Argentina, los requerimientos de gestion ambiental establecidos para esta central y las normas, resoluciones e instrumentos juridicos en materia ambiental. Se presenta ademas el plan de gestion ambiental del Ente Nacional Regulador de la Electricidad de Argentina asi como los controles y acciones correctivas ambientales implantadas en la Central Costanera S. A.

  18. Control of gaseous emissions in central Costanera S.A. of Argentina; Control de emisiones gaseosas en central Costanera S. A. de Argentina

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brabenec, Edgardo [Unidad de Negocios Central Costanera, S. A., (Argentina)

    1996-12-31

    A description is presented of the equipment utilized at the Central Costanera, S.A. of Argentina, the requirements and the Environmental Management established for this Power Station, and the Standards and the resolutions and law instruments on Environmental issues. Also it is presented the Environmental Management plan of the Ente Nacional Regulador de Electricidad of Argentina as well as the controls and environmental corrective actions implemented at the Central Costanera, S.A. [Espanol] Se presenta una descripcion del equipo utilizado en la Central Costanera S.A. de Argentina, los requerimientos de gestion ambiental establecidos para esta central y las normas, resoluciones e instrumentos juridicos en materia ambiental. Se presenta ademas el plan de gestion ambiental del Ente Nacional Regulador de la Electricidad de Argentina asi como los controles y acciones correctivas ambientales implantadas en la Central Costanera S. A.

  19. A Boom for Whom? Exploring the Impacts of a Rapid Increase in the Male Population Upon Women's Services in Darwin, Northern Territory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ennis, Gretchen; Tofa, Matalena; Finlayson, Mary; U'Ren, Julie

    2016-05-03

    A rapidly expanding natural-resource extraction industry and a growing military presence mean an increasingly male-skewed population for the city of Darwin, Australia. This has sparked concerns about the potential for increased violence against women. In this article, we present qualitative research detailing the views of 13 participants from 10 women's support services in the Darwin area. We argue that women's support services bear witness to and are tasked with responding to the impacts of population change on women, yet their work is undermined by uncertainties that stem from neoliberal funding rationales and limited demands on companies to address social issues. © The Author(s) 2016.

  20. Economy-wide impacts of biofuels in Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Timilsina, Govinda R.; Chisari, Omar O.; Romero, Carlos A.

    2013-01-01

    Argentina is one of the world's largest biodiesel producers and the largest exporter, using soybeans as feedstock. Using a computable general equilibrium model that explicitly represents the biofuel industry, this study carries out several simulations on two sets of issues: (i) international markets for biofuel and feedstock, such as an increase in prices of soybean, soybean oil, and biodiesel, and (ii) domestic policies related to biofuels, such as an introduction of biofuel mandates. Both sets of issues can have important consequences to the Argentinean economy. The simulations indicate that increases in international prices of biofuels and feedstocks would increase Argentina's gross domestic product and social welfare. Increases in international prices of ethanol and corn also can benefit Argentina, but to a lesser extent. The domestic mandates for biofuels, however, would cause small losses in economic output and social welfare because they divert part of biodiesel and feedstock from exports to lower-return domestic consumption. An increase in the export tax on either feedstock or biodiesel also would lead to a reduction in gross domestic product and social welfare, although government revenue would rise. - Highlights: ► Argentina is one of the largest biodiesel producer and exporter using soybeans. ► Economy-wide impacts are assessed using a CGE model for Argentina. ► Policies simulated are feedstock and biodiesel price change, and domestic mandates. ► Increases in international prices of biofuels and feedstock benefit the country. ► Domestic mandates for biofuels cause small losses in economic output

  1. Tareas que realizan los bibliotecarios universitarios en Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Werner Agazzi

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available El presente estudio es una investigación descriptiva que pretende conocer las tareas que realizan los bibliotecarios en las bibliotecas universitarias argentinas, abordando el tema desde la perspectiva de las competencias laborales y el actual perfil del bibliotecario universitario. Mediante la utilización de un cuestionario enviado a las direcciones de e-mail de bibliotecas universitarias argentinas se compilaron datos sobre las tareas que realizan los bibliotecarios en esas instituciones. A través de este proceso también se compilaron datos relacionados con las tareas de comunicación vía e-mail por parte de las bibliotecas universitarias argentinas.

  2. Computing and Education in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadowsky, Manuel

    Although the report is specifically about Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, the considerations presented are valid for all of Latin America. In September, 1969, Argentina had approximately 200 electronic computers. The annual growth is estimated at 15-20% and the implementation of teleprocessing and time-sharing systems have made evident the…

  3. The nuclear research centre at Bariloche, Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abriata, J.P.

    2001-01-01

    The nuclear research centre at Bariloche (CAB) is one of the four centres under the Atomic Energy Commission of Argentina (CNEA). The research programme of CAB addresses various issues like nuclear reactor development, nuclear fuel and fuel cycle, applications of radioisotopes and radiation, and waste management. There is also a basic nuclear science component. The human resource development in the areas of physics and nuclear engineering is done in an associated Balseiro Institute which has undergraduate and graduate programmes as well as doctoral and postdoctoral research. The Centre interacts well with the society and provides services in the nuclear area. It has a close interaction with the nuclear sector of Argentina as also with many international organisations. Regulatory control over the Centre is carried out by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of Argentina. (author)

  4. The energy sector in Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2016-01-01

    This article first outlines that Argentina produces an important part of its hydrocarbon consumption and comment various aspects of this production: hydrocarbons are at the heart of the Argentinian energetic model; conventional hydrocarbon reserves are however decreasing; the public operator remains the main actor even though the market is opened to multinational companies. The article then describes the crisis faced by this energetic model: the energy balance is now a burden; the increasing unbalance between production and consumption can be explained by supply-related as well as demand-related factors; authorities must intervene on hydrocarbon prices and subsidize the oil price on the domestic market. It appears that the future for hydrocarbons in Argentina relies on non-conventional hydrocarbons. Bio-fuels, a key sector of the Argentinian economy, are a matter of trade dispute with the EU and the USA. Apart from hydroelectricity (some new projects are planned), renewable energies are very few developed in Argentina. Appendices propose a graph of the distribution of energy consumption among the different sources, a map indicating locations of the main exploited hydrocarbon deposits, a presentation of mechanisms implemented to subsidize hydrocarbon production

  5. Die ‘vergroening’ van die Christelike godsdiens: Charles Darwin, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin en Lloyd Geering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Izak J.J. (Sakkie Spangenberg

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The greening of Christianity: Charles Darwin, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Lloyd Geering. Since the time of Charles Darwin, evolutionary biology challenged the metanarrative of Christianity which can be summarised as Fall-Redemption-Judgement. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin tried to circumvent these challenges by integrating the traditional Christian doctrines with evolutionary biology. However, he did not succeed since the Catholic Church, time and again, vetoed his theological publications. A number of Protestant theologians promoted his views but even they could not convince ordinary Christians to accept his views. These were too esoteric for Christians. Most of them were convinced that the acceptance of the theory of evolution will eventually undermine their faith. In recent years Lloyd Geering argued a case for the creation of a new narrative in which the Big Bang and the theory of evolution do play a role. He calls it the ‘Greening of Christianity’. This article discusses the metanarrative of Christianity and the challenges the theory of evolution presents before it assesses the views of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Lloyd Geering.

  6. Nuclear safeguards in Brazil and Argentina: 25 years of ABACC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kassenova, Togzhan

    2017-11-01

    As possessors of advanced nuclear technology, Brazil and Argentina bear special responsibility for helping the international community and neighbors in their region feel confident that their nuclear programs are peaceful, secure, and safe. Over the past 25 years, the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC) has played an indispensable role in strengthening such confidence by implementing nuclear safeguards in the two countries. Today, ABACC carries out safeguards inspections at a total of 76 nuclear facilities in Brazil and Argentina. This article describes how Brazil and Argentina view trends in the global nonproliferation regime and international nuclear safeguards, and explains how these trends relate to unique challenges and opportunities facing Brazil, Argentina, and ABACC.

  7. Communications received from Argentina and Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-05-01

    The document reproduces the Joint Declaration on Nuclear Policy signed by the Presidents of Argentina and Brazil on 30 November 1985, the Protocol on Nuclear Co-operation between Argentina and Brazil signed on 10 December 1986, the Joint Declaration on Nuclear Policy signed by the two Presidents on 10 December 1986, the Joint Declaration on Nuclear Policy signed by the two Presidents on 17 July 1987 and the Joint Declaration on Nuclear Policy (IPERO Declaration) signed by the two Presidents on 8 April 1988

  8. Detección de Malpighamoeba mellifcae (Protista: Amoebozoa en Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidaede Argentina Detection of Malpighamoeba mellifcae (Protista: Amoebozoa in Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae of Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Santiago Plischuk

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Debido a su rol como polinizador y productor de miel, la abeja Apis mellifera L. es considerado un insecto beneficioso. Si bien Argentina juega un papel de liderazgo en la producción de miel, existe un considerable vacío en el conocimiento acerca de las enfermedades de etiología protista que afectan las abejas en el país. La ameba Malpighamoeba mellificae Prell es un protista entomopatógeno que invade los túbulos de Malpighi de las abejas e interfiere con el proceso de excreción, debilitando al huésped y posiblemente facilitando la acción de otros patógenos. En esta contribución se presentan los primeros hallazgos de M. mellificae en Argentina y se brindan datos iniciales acerca de su frecuencia, intensidad de las infecciones, y co-ocurrencia con Nosema sp. Malpighamoeba mellificae se halló en dos de 36 localidades prospectadas: San Cayetano, al Sur de la provincia de Buenos Aires y San Carlos de Bariloche, en el Oeste de la provincia de Río Negro.Due to its role as a pollinator and honey producer, the honey bee Apis mellifera L. is considered a beneficial insect. Although Argentina plays a leading role in honey production, there is a considerable gap in knowledge regarding protistan diseases that affect honey bees in the country. The amoeba Malpighamoeba mellificae Prell is an entomopathogenic protist that invades the Malpighian tubules of honey bees and interferes with the excretory process, debilitating the host and possibly facilitating the action of other pathogens. In this contribution, we present the first reports of M. mellificae in Argentina, and provide some initial data about its frecuency, infection intensity, and co-occurrence with Nosema sp. Malpighamoeba mellificae was found in two out of 36 localities surveyed: San Cayetano, in southern Buenos Aires province, and San Carlos de Bariloche, in western Río Negro province.

  9. Studying phenotypic evolution in domestic animals: a walk in the footsteps of Charles Darwin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersson, L

    2009-01-01

    Charles Darwin used domesticated plants and animals as proof of principle for his theory on phenotypic evolution by means of natural selection. Inspired by Darwin's work, we developed an intercross between the wild boar and domestic pigs to study the genetic basis for phenotypic changes during domestication. The difference in coat color is controlled by two major loci. Dominant white color is due to two consecutive mutations in the KIT gene: a 450-kb duplication and a splice mutation. Black spotting is caused by the combined effect of two mutations in MC1R: a missense mutation for dominant black color and a 2-bp insertion leading to a frameshift. A major discovery made using this pedigree is the identification of a single-nucleotide substitution in intron 3 of the gene for insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) that is underlying a quantitative trait locus affecting muscle growth, size of the heart, and fat deposition. The mutation disrupts the interaction with a repressor and leads to threefold increased IGF2 expression in postnatal muscle. In a recent study, we have identified the IGF2 repressor, and this previously unknown protein, named ZBED6, is specific for placental mammals and derived from a domesticated DNA transposon.

  10. The uncertain foundation of neo-Darwinism: metaphysical and epistemological pluralism in the evolutionary synthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delisle, Richard G

    2009-06-01

    The Evolutionary Synthesis is often seen as a unification process in evolutionary biology, one which provided this research area with a solid common theoretical foundation. As such, neo-Darwinism is believed to constitute from this time onward a single, coherent, and unified movement offering research guidelines for investigations. While this may be true if evolutionary biology is solely understood as centred around evolutionary mechanisms, an entirely different picture emerges once other aspects of the founding neo-Darwinists' views are taken into consideration, aspects potentially relevant to the elaboration of an evolutionary worldview: the tree of life, the ontological distinctions of the main cosmic entities (inert matter, biological organisms, mind), the inherent properties of self-organizing matter, evolutionary ethics, and so on. Profound tensions and inconsistencies are immediately revealed in the neo-Darwinian movement once this broader perspective is adopted. This pluralism is such that it is possible to identify at least three distinct and quasi-incommensurable epistemological/metaphysical frameworks as providing a proper foundation for neo-Darwinism. The analysis of the views of Theodosius Dobzhansky, Bernhard Rensch, and Ernst Mayr will illustrate this untenable pluralism, one which requires us to conceive of the neo-Darwinian research agenda as being conducted in more than one research programme or research tradition at the same time.

  11. Better science and better race? Social Darwinism and Chinese eugenics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Yuehtsen Juliette

    2014-12-01

    This essay explores the variegated roles played by racial, eugenic, and Social Darwinist discourse in China over roughly the last century. Using Japan as a parallel for comparison, it analyzes the introduction of the term "eugenics" into Japanese and Chinese. It then locates the deployment of eugenics and Social Darwinism as counterimperial discourse in East Asia. It offers a brief history of eugenics thinking in China across the twentieth century, focusing on the Chinese eugenicist Pan Guangdan, who used race as a category of analysis yet without any sense of hierarchy. He was critically aware of the scientific basis of eugenics and helped craft the study of eugenics in China, from biology to sociology, from economics to ethnology.

  12. Gastronomía y turismo en Argentina. Polo gastronómico Tomás Jofré

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schlüter, Regina G.

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Culinary Tourism in Argentina. The Case of Tomás Jofré. The importance of culinary tourism is growing steadily both in developing and industrialized societies. Argentina has a long tradition regarding this kind of tourism, mainly wine tourism, reflected in the National Wine Festival held since 1936 en the province of Mendoza. By the end of the 20th century culinary tourism was brought into the national tourism plan and it was the start for the private sector to develop own initiatives in order to develop small towns into culinary attractions for visitors. This article presents the results of a study undertaken in order to get acquainted with the visitor profile and motivations for visitors to Tomás Jofré during Sun-days.

  13. Brasil, Argentina e América do Sul

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Nogueira Batista Jr.

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available ESTE trabalho discute alguns aspectos da evolução econômica recente do Brasil, da Argentina e de outros países da América do Sul. Tendências econômicas e intelectuais perigosas, tais como a "globalização", o chamado Consenso de Washington, a dolarização e as negociações da Alca (Área de Livre Comércio das Américas, perderam ímpeto e a América do Sul está se movendo gradualmente na direção de um posicionamento mais independente na condução das suas política econômicas e internacionais. As mudanças foram muito mais significativas na Argentina do que no Brasil e isso se tornou fonte de alguma tensão entre os dois principais países sul-americanos. Não obstante, uma aliança estratégica entre Argentina e Brasil continua sendo a pedra angular da integração da América do Sul.THIS PAPER discusses some aspects of the recent economic evolution of Brazil, Argentina and other South American countries. Dangerous economic and intellectual trends, such as "globalization", the so-called Washington Consensus, dollarization, and FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations, have lost momentum and South America is moving gradually towards a more independent stance in the conduct of its economic and foreign policies. Changes have been much more significant in Argentina than in Brazil and this has become a source of some tension between the two major South American countries. Nevertheless, a strategic alliance between Argentina and Brazil remains the corner stone of South American integration.

  14. Development of infrared single-mode fibers for 2 wavelength bands of the Darwin mission : Test results of prototypes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cheng, L.K.; Dijkhuizen, N.; Nieuwland, R.; Faber, A.J.; Gielesen, W.L.M.; Lucas, J.; Boussard-Plédel, C.; Houizot, P.; Pereira Do Carmo, J.

    2009-01-01

    Various space telescope array systems are being considered to investigate other terrestrial planets orbiting around nearby stars in order to find extra-terrestrial life. One of them is the DARWIN mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). The required technology is the nulling interferometer. The

  15. LAS ESPECIES DE MUHLENBERGIA (POACEAE: CHLORIDOIDEAE DE ARGENTINA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peterson Paul

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Se presenta un estudio taxonómico de las especies nativas argentinas del géneroMuhlenbergia, basado en el análisis de los especímenes depositados en 48 herbarios.Se analizan diversos aspectos relativos a la clasifi cación, la nomenclatura y lavariación morfológica de los caracteres. Muhlenbergia está representado enArgentina por 18 especies nativas. Se proporcionan claves para reconocer lasespecies presentes en el país, así como también descripciones de éstas, sinónimos,ilustraciones, distribución geográfica y algunos comentarios morfológicos yecológicos. Muhlenbergia breviaristata (Hack. Parodi y Muhlenbergia holwayorumHitchc., se reducen como sinónimos del híbrido Muhlenbergia angustata (J. PreslKunth × M. rigida (Kunth Kunth. Muhlenbergia diversiglumis Trin. se cita porprimera vez para la Argentina. Por otra parte, las especies Muhlenbergia tenella(Kunth Trin. y Muhlenbergia tenuissima (J. Presl Kunth se excluyen de la fl orade Argentina.

  16. Proton radius, Darwin-Foldy term and radiative corrections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jentschura, U.D.

    2011-01-01

    We discuss the role of the so-called Darwin-Foldy term in the evaluation of the proton and deuteron charge radii from atomic hydrogen spectroscopy and nuclear scattering data. The question of whether this term should be included or excluded from the nuclear radius has been controversially discussed in the literature. We attempt to clarify which literature values correspond to which conventions. A detailed discussion of the conventions appears useful because a recent experiment [R. Pohl et al., Nature 466, 213 (2010)] has indicated that there is a discrepancy between the proton charge radii inferred from ordinary ('electronic') atomic hydrogen and muonic hydrogen. We also investigate the role of quantum electrodynamic radiative corrections in the determination of nuclear radii from scattering data, and propose a definition of the nuclear self energy which is compatible with the subtraction of the radiative corrections in scattering experiments. (author)

  17. Response variance in functional maps: neural darwinism revisited.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hirokazu Takahashi

    Full Text Available The mechanisms by which functional maps and map plasticity contribute to cortical computation remain controversial. Recent studies have revisited the theory of neural Darwinism to interpret the learning-induced map plasticity and neuronal heterogeneity observed in the cortex. Here, we hypothesize that the Darwinian principle provides a substrate to explain the relationship between neuron heterogeneity and cortical functional maps. We demonstrate in the rat auditory cortex that the degree of response variance is closely correlated with the size of its representational area. Further, we show that the response variance within a given population is altered through training. These results suggest that larger representational areas may help to accommodate heterogeneous populations of neurons. Thus, functional maps and map plasticity are likely to play essential roles in Darwinian computation, serving as effective, but not absolutely necessary, structures to generate diverse response properties within a neural population.

  18. Response variance in functional maps: neural darwinism revisited.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Hirokazu; Yokota, Ryo; Kanzaki, Ryohei

    2013-01-01

    The mechanisms by which functional maps and map plasticity contribute to cortical computation remain controversial. Recent studies have revisited the theory of neural Darwinism to interpret the learning-induced map plasticity and neuronal heterogeneity observed in the cortex. Here, we hypothesize that the Darwinian principle provides a substrate to explain the relationship between neuron heterogeneity and cortical functional maps. We demonstrate in the rat auditory cortex that the degree of response variance is closely correlated with the size of its representational area. Further, we show that the response variance within a given population is altered through training. These results suggest that larger representational areas may help to accommodate heterogeneous populations of neurons. Thus, functional maps and map plasticity are likely to play essential roles in Darwinian computation, serving as effective, but not absolutely necessary, structures to generate diverse response properties within a neural population.

  19. Charles Darwin's Observations on the Behaviour of Earthworms and the Evolutionary History of a Giant Endemic Species from Germany, Lumbricus badensis (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kutschera, U.; Elliott, M.

    2010-01-01

    The British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809/1882) began and ended his almost 45-year-long career with observations, experiments, and theories related to earthworms. About six months before his death, Darwin published his book on The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Actions of Worms, With Observations on their Habits (1881). Here we describe the origin, content, and impact of Darwin's last publication on earthworms (subclass Oligochaeta, family Lumbricidae) and the role of these annelids as global ecosystem re workers (concept of bioturbation). In addition, we summarize our current knowledge on the reproductive behaviour of the common European species Lumbricus terrestris. In the second part of our account we describe the biology and evolution of the giant endemic species L. badensis from south western Germany with reference to the principle of niche construction. Bio geographic studies have shown that the last common ancestor of L. badensis, and the much smaller sister-taxon, the Atlantic-Mediterranean L. friendi, lived less than 10000 years ago. Allopatric speciation occurred via geographically isolated founder populations that were separated by the river Rhine so that today two earthworm species exist in different areas.

  20. Charles Darwin's Observations on the Behaviour of Earthworms and the Evolutionary History of a Giant Endemic Species from Germany, Lumbricus badensis (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    U. Kutschera

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882 began and ended his almost 45-year-long career with observations, experiments, and theories related to earthworms. About six months before his death, Darwin published his book on The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Actions of Worms, With Observations on their Habits (1881. Here we describe the origin, content, and impact of Darwin's last publication on earthworms (subclass Oligochaeta, family Lumbricidae and the role of these annelids as global “ecosystem reworkers” (concept of bioturbation. In addition, we summarize our current knowledge on the reproductive behaviour of the common European species Lumbricus terrestris. In the second part of our account we describe the biology and evolution of the giant endemic species L. badensis from south western Germany with reference to the principle of niche construction. Biogeographic studies have shown that the last common ancestor of L. badensis, and the much smaller sister-taxon, the Atlantic-Mediterranean L. friendi, lived less than 10 000 years ago. Allopatric speciation occurred via geographically isolated founder populations that were separated by the river Rhine so that today two earthworm species exist in different areas.

  1. Biodiversity information system of the national parks administration of Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonidas Lizarraga

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction The Biodiversity Information System (BIS of the National Parks Administration of Argentina (NPA was launched in 2002, with the support of the Global Environmental Fund (GEF through the Biodiversity Conservation Project in Argentina. The BIS consists of a set of thematic databases and Geographic Information System (GIS set to support management decisions, and to provide information to the general public on the national protected areas of Argentina. Currently, the BIS-NPA progr...

  2. Update on women in physics in Argentina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brudny, Vera; Lagorio, Cecilia; Frechero, Marisa; Tamarit, Francisco

    2013-03-01

    Data collected 10 years ago in Argentina concluded that women in physics were underrepresented in many instances and that a "crystal ceiling" was firmly in place. We have collected updated data for several indicators and compared them with those obtained 10 years ago. Although there is not a clear conclusion to be drawn from this comparison, we try to explain the results within the framework of the changes in scientific policies in Argentina.

  3. Transnational Crime Fictions and Argentina's Criminal State

    OpenAIRE

    Caballero, Juan

    2013-01-01

    My dissertation, titled "Transnational Crime Fictions and Argentina's Criminal State," proposes a new understanding of the dictatorship novels of Ricardo Piglia, Juan José Saer, and Manuel Puig grounded in their shared appropriation from popular crime fiction. Across the 1940's, 50's, and 60's, a wide range of popular crime fiction was translated, written, theorized, printed and reprinted in Argentina, and these popular genres grew steadily in readership, visibility, and cultural legitimacy....

  4. China, Argentina agree to further strategic ties

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2011-01-01

    According to Xinhua,China and Argentina have agreed to further enhance mutual trust and their strategic partnership as the two emerging economies are playing an increasingly important role in the world arena.“China will work with Argentina to strengthen strategic mutual trust,expand cooperation and coordination within multilateral frameworks in order to promote bilateral ties and benefit the two peoples,” Vice President Xi Jinping told Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman on September 9.

  5. All projects related to Argentina | Page 7 | IDRC - International ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Region: Americas, Argentina, South America. Program: Climate Change. Total Funding: CA$ 995,000.00. Youth Smoking in Stressed Environments : Determinants and Resiliency (Argentina, Colombia, Palestine). Project. Numerous studies have shown that the earlier an individual starts smoking, the harder it is to give it up.

  6. Case study: the Argentina Road Safety Project: lessons learned for the decade of action for road safety, 2011-2020.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raffo, Veronica; Bliss, Tony; Shotten, Marc; Sleet, David; Blanchard, Claire

    2013-12-01

    This case study of the Argentina Road Safety Project demonstrates how the application of World Bank road safety project guidelines focused on institution building can accelerate knowledge transfer, scale up investment and improve the focus on results. The case study highlights road safety as a development priority and outlines World Bank initiatives addressing the implementation of the World Report on Road Traffic Injury's recommendations and the subsequent launch of the Decade of Action for Road Safety, from 2011-2020. The case study emphasizes the vital role played by the lead agency in ensuring sustainable road safety improvements and promoting the shift to a 'Safe System' approach, which necessitated the strengthening of all elements of the road safety management system. It summarizes road safety performance and institutional initiatives in Argentina leading up to the preparation and implementation of the project. We describe the project's development objectives, financing arrangements, specific components and investment staging. Finally, we discuss its innovative features and lessons learned, and present a set of supplementary guidelines, both to assist multilateral development banks and their clients with future road safety initiatives, and to encourage better linkages between the health and transportation sectors supporting them.

  7. The functionalities of the Darwin radioactivity calculation form and the radiation protection studies; Les fonctionnalites du formulaire de calcul de la radioactivite Darwin et les etudes de radioprotection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tsilanizara, A; Huynh, T D; Luneville, L; Diop, C M; Eid, M [CEA Saclay, Dir. de l' Energie Nucleaire (DEN/DM2S/SERMA), Service d' Etudes des reacteurs et de Modelisation Avancee, 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette (France)

    2003-07-01

    The characterisation of the radioactive sources relative to the evolution of nuclear fuels or to the activation under particles flux (generally neutrons) of structures of a nuclear equipment or a simple isotope decay is a step in the radiation protection studies. This characterisation needs to know a fundamental knowledge: the radionuclides concentration. This one changes with time, and follows the coupled differential equations of first order in time, the generalised Bateman equations. The objective of this paper is to present the functionalities of the Darwin form, developed by the Cea and dedicated to the study of radioactivity. (N.C.)

  8. Scientific method, history, Darwinism and laicism: a Giovanni Jervis's intellectual biography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corbellini, Gilberto; Sirgiovanni, Elisabetta

    2012-01-01

    Some authors marked a change of perspective from the early to the late Jervis's thought, in terms of a supposed turn towards conservatism. That laid him open to criticism from some Leftist Italian intellectuals. The aim of this paper is to show that conservatism never was a Jervis's thought feature. Mainly, subjects and methods leading the development of his philosophical views suggest a continuity between earlier writings and later ones. All over his thought, in fact, the idea of preeminence of scientific method and historical contextualization convinced him about naturalistic approaches to human behavior, which came to support his Darwinism and laicism in approaching socio-psychological and socio-political issues.

  9. The flexible brain. On mind and brain, neural darwinism and psychiatry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    den Boer, J A

    1997-09-01

    A theoretical introduction is given in which several theoretical viewpoints concerning the mind-brain problem are discussed. During the last decade philosophers like Searle, Dennett and the Churchlands have taken a more or less pure materialistic position in explaining mental phenomena. Investigators in biological psychiatry have hardly ever taken a clear position in this discussion, whereas we believe it is important that the conclusions drawn from biological research are embedded in a theoretical framework related to the mind-brain problem. In this article the thesis is defended that the theory of neural darwinism represents a major step forward and may bridge previous distinctions between biological, clinical and social psychiatry.

  10. The other immigration to Argentina: the case of Adolf Eichmann

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian Cwik

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Adolf Eichmann llegó a la Argentina como otros 500 Nazis forajidos a través de una red de traficantes ilegales de migrantes entre 1945 y 1955. Esta red fue el resuldado del interés de la República de Argentina, la Cruz Roja, la Caritas y el Vaticano por un lado y por el otro los delincuentes. Eichmann la cara de la ‘banalidad del mal’, como Hannah Arendt escribió en su libro “Eichmann en Jerusalén: un estudio sobre la banalidad del mal”(2ª. edición, traducción de Carlos Ribalta, Barcelona, Lumen, 1999 tuvo bastantes problemas para integrarse en la sociedad argentina y por ende, fracasó. Adolf Eichmann nacido en 1906 en Solingen/Alemania personificó un caractér típico de la sociedad en la posguerra austriaca-alemana, lo que hizo que fracasara en su vida laboral varias veces durante los veintes y los inicios de los treinta del siglo XX.Palabras Clave: Adolf Eichmann;  Holocausto; Tráfico Ilegal de Migrantes; Inmigración en Argentina; Peronismo; Tribunales Internacionales. La otra inmigración a Argentina: El caso de Adolf EichmannAbstractAdolf Eichmann arrived to Argentina along with other 500 runaway Nazis thorugh a smuggling network between 1945 and 1955. This network was the result of the interest shown by the The Republic of Argentina, the Red Cross, Caritas and the Vatican in one hand; in the other, the criminals of war. Eichmann, the face of Hanna Arendt’s t “Banality of Evil” had numerous troubles to integrate to argentinian society, failing as a result.Adolf Eichmann, born in 1906 in Solingen, Germany, personified a typical Austrian-german postwar character, a fact that conduced to his laboral failure in the twentys and early thirties of the twentieth century.Keywords:Adolf Eichmann; Holocaust; Nazi Criminals; Trafficking of migrants; Post War Period; Immigration to Argentina; Peronism; Mossad; International Tribunal. 

  11. El IDRC en Argentina

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    comercio capaces de sostener el crecimiento y reducir la pobreza. ... Rosario, en Argentina, se ha convertido en un ejemplo internacional para la agricultura urbana gracias a la ... para evaluar los riesgos y beneficios de esta tecnología para ...

  12. Activities with Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1999-01-01

    In 1989, the US Department of Energy (DOE) responded to the need to redirect resources from weapons production to environmental restoration and waste management by establishing the Office of Environmental Management (EM) and delegated to this office the responsibility of cleaning up the US nuclear weapons complex. Now in its eight year, EM's mission has three central facets: (1) to assess, remediate, and monitor contaminated sites and facilities; (2) to store, treat, and dispose of waste from past and current operations; and (3) to develop and implement innovative technologies for environmental cleanup. To this end, EM has established domestic and international cooperative technology development programs, including one with the Republic of Argentina. Cooperating with Argentine scientific institutes and industries meets US cleanup objectives by: (1) identifying and accessing Argentine EM-related technologies, thereby leveraging investments and providing cost-savings; (2) improving access to technical information, scientific expertise, and technologies applicable to EM needs; and (3) fostering the development of innovative environmental technologies by increasing US private sector opportunities in Argentina in EM-related areas

  13. Darwin y la laicización del discurso sobre el hombre

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tort, Patrick

    2000-12-01

    Full Text Available

    Resurging of the ideologies against transformism of a creationist orientation follows today the sociobiology fashion of the two precedent decades as second phase of the pendulous movement that regulates the alternating return of the faced ideologies. The show of the polemic among these two versions of the reflections on life, its origins and its evolution, is organized like a fight without barracks for the conquest of the consciences. This show is born in the United States and it is exported. America si not, neither he has never been, «between the Bible and Darwin». At the beginning it was between the Bible and Spencer. Today, logically, is between the Creationism and the Sociobiology. The reading of Darwin is, at the moment, a prerequisite to overcome this game of illusions and false equivalences.



    El resurgir de las teorizaciones anti-transformistas de horizonte creacionista sucede hoy en día a la moda sociobiológica de los dos decenios precedentes, como segunda fase del movimiento pendular que regula el retorno alternante de las ideologías más enfrentadas. El espectáculo de la polémica entre estas dos versiones

  14. Darwin's Error: Using the Story of Pangenesis to Illustrate Aspects of Nature of Science in the Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    McComas, William F.

    2012-01-01

    This article discusses a number of aspects of the nature of science that can be illustrated by considering the development of pangenesis, a principle proposed by Charles Darwin to describe the rules of inheritance, explain the source of new variation, and solve other natural history puzzles. Pangenesis--although false--can be used to illustrate…

  15. Modelling the distribution of hard seabed using calibrated multibeam acoustic backscatter data in a tropical, macrotidal embayment: Darwin Harbour, Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siwabessy, P. Justy W.; Tran, Maggie; Picard, Kim; Brooke, Brendan P.; Huang, Zhi; Smit, Neil; Williams, David K.; Nicholas, William A.; Nichol, Scott L.; Atkinson, Ian

    2018-06-01

    Spatial information on the distribution of seabed substrate types in high use coastal areas is essential to support their effective management and environmental monitoring. For Darwin Harbour, a rapidly developing port in northern Australia, the distribution of hard substrate is poorly documented but known to influence the location and composition of important benthic biological communities (corals, sponges). In this study, we use angular backscatter response curves to model the distribution of hard seabed in the subtidal areas of Darwin Harbour. The angular backscatter response curve data were extracted from multibeam sonar data and analysed against backscatter intensity for sites observed from seabed video to be representative of "hard" seabed. Data from these sites were consolidated into an "average curve", which became a reference curve that was in turn compared to all other angular backscatter response curves using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit. The output was used to generate interpolated spatial predictions of the probability of hard seabed ( p-hard) and derived hard seabed parameters for the mapped area of Darwin Harbour. The results agree well with the ground truth data with an overall classification accuracy of 75% and an area under curve measure of 0.79, and with modelled bed shear stress for the Harbour. Limitations of this technique are discussed with attention to discrepancies between the video and acoustic results, such as in areas where sediment forms a veneer over hard substrate.

  16. Total binding energy of heavy positive ions including density treatment of Darwin and Breit corrections

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hill, S.H.; Grout, P.J.; March, N.H.

    1987-01-01

    Previous work on the relativistic Thomas-Fermi treatment of total energies of neutral atoms is first generalised to heavy positive ions. To facilitate quantitative contact with the numerical predictions of Dirac-Fock theory, Darwin and Breit corrections are expressed in terms of electron density, and computed using input again from relativistic Thomas-Fermi theory. These corrections significantly improve the agreement between the two seemingly very different theories. (author)

  17. Astronomy Teaching in Argentina in the 19th Century. (Spanish Title: La Enseñanza de la Astronomía en la Argentina del Siglo XIX.) O Ensino de Astronomia na Argentina no Século XIX

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norberto Cornejo, Jorge; Santilli, Haydée

    2010-12-01

    Sarmiento believed that Copernican astronomy was one of the critical scientific disciplines to the formation of a "modern" citizen. In this work, we shall study astronomical science from two points of view: from the scientific knowledge and the educational presentation of such knowledge. Our study will address in Argentina in 19th century, starting from the initiative of Bernardino Rivadavia in 1821, who founded an astronomic observatory at Buenos Aires, until the first activities of the observatories at Córdoba and La Plata. On both lines, scientific and educative, we shall analyze the influence of positivist ideas. We shall highlight epistemological differences between both observatories, Córdoba's based on French positivism and La Plata's based on German positivism. We shall also show the different attitude of both observatories towards education. We shall see the way in which positivist ideas had great relevance in the training of elementary school teachers. We shall also establish the relevant influence of the socio-historical context over the astronomical development, and show that astronomy was a fundamental social factor at Argentina history. Domingo F. Sarmiento consideraba que la astronomía copernicana era una de las disciplinas científicas fundamentales para la conformación de un ciudadano "moderno". En este trabajo estudiaremos la ciencia astronómica desde dos vertientes: la referida específicamente al conocimiento científico y aquella vinculada con la presentación educativa de dicho conocimiento. Nuestro estudio se desarrollará en Argentina durante el siglo XIX, desde la iniciativa de Bernardino Rivadavia en 1821, de establecer en Buenos Aires un observatorio astronómico, hasta las primeras actividades de los observatorios de Córdoba y de La Plata. En ambas vertientes, científica y educativa, analizaremos la influencia de las ideas positivistas. Resaltaremos las diferencias epistemológicas entre los dos observatorios, orientado el primero

  18. Extensions of the lost letter technique to divisive issues of creationism, darwinism, sex education, and gay and lesbian affiliations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bridges, F Stephen; Anzalone, Debra A; Ryan, Stuart W; Anzalone, Fanancy L

    2002-04-01

    Two field studies using 1,004 "lost letters" were designed to test the hypotheses that returned responses would be greater in small towns than from a city, that addressees' affiliation with a group either (1) opposed to physical education in schools, (2) supporting gay and lesbian teachers, or (3) advocating Creationism or Darwinism would reduce the return rate. Of 504 letters "lost" in Study A, 163 (32.3%) were returned in the mail from residents of southeast Louisiana and indicated across 3 addressees and 2 sizes of community, addressees' affiLiations were not associated with returned responses. Community size and addressees' affiliations were associated with significantly different rates of return in the city. Return rates from sites within a city were lower when letters were addressed to an organization which opposed (teaching) health education in the schools than to one supporting daily health education. Of 500 letters "lost" in Study B, 95 (19.0%) were returned from residents of northwest Florida and indicated across 5 addressees and 2 sizes of community, addressees' affiliations were significantly associated with returned responses overall (5 addressees) and in small towns (control, Creationism, Darwinism addressees), but not with community size. Community size and addressees' affiliations were associated with significantly different rates of return in small towns, with returns greater than or equal to those in the city (except for the addressee advocating teaching Darwinism in public schools). The present findings appear to show that applications of the lost letter technique to other divisive social issues are useful in assessing public opinion.

  19. Costo-beneficio de un programa preventivo y terapéutico para reducir la deficiencia de hierro en Argentina Cost-benefit of a prevention and treatment program to reduce iron deficiency in Argentina

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ignacio Drake

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVOS: Estimar los costos directos e indirectos de la deficiencia de hierro (DH y la anemia ferropénica (AF en Argentina y compararlos con los costos de un programa específico para su prevención y tratamiento. MÉTODOS: Análisis de escenario previo (ex ante de la relación costo-beneficio de un programa de prevención y tratamiento de la AF dirigido a todos los niños y las embarazadas pobres y sin cobertura social de Argentina. Las consecuencias económicas de la DH y la AF se estimaron a partir de los costos directos - gastos vinculados a la atención de un parto prematuro - e indirectos - pérdidas en la productividad futura de los niños por su peor desarrollo cognitivo debido a la DH y la menor productividad de los adultos por la AF - mediante la metodología específica desarrollada por The Micronutrient Initiative. Las intervenciones se definieron según las Guías de Práctica Clínica vigentes en Argentina y los costos de los componentes se tomaron de los precios de las licitaciones del Ministerio de Salud de la Nación. RESULTADOS: Cada US$ 1,00 invertido en un programa de prevención y tratamiento de la DH y la AF, con una cobertura de 90% de la población de lactantes y embarazadas pobres sin seguro explícito de salud, representaría un ahorro de US$ 33,40 por la prevención de las pérdidas económicas debidas a estas enfermedades. CONCLUSIÓN: Las intervenciones para enfrentar la DH no solo mejoran significativamente el estado de salud de la población, sino que representan un ahorro considerable de recursos.OBJECTIVES: To estimate the direct and indirect cost of iron deficiency (ID and iron-deficiency anemia (IDA in Argentina and compare it with the cost of a prevention and treatment program. METHODS: Analysis of a prior scenario to gage the relative cost-benefit of an IDA prevention and treatment program for all low-income children and expectant mothers without social coverage/benefits in Argentina. The economic

  20. Vacuna contra la fiebre hemorrágica argentina Candid#1 producida en la Argentina: Inmunogenicidad y seguridad

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Delia A. Enria

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Se realizó un estudio clínico en 946 voluntarios humanos sanos, donde se comparó la vacuna Candid#1 producida en Argentina con la elaborada en EE.UU., que había sido utilizada en estudios previos. Como objetivo primario se evaluó la equivalencia en la eficacia utilizando como marcador subrogante a la inmunogenicidad medida por detección de anticuerpos neutralizantes. Como objetivo secundario se evaluó la equivalencia en inocuidad comparando las tasas de reacciones adversas. Ambas vacunas mostraron una tasa equivalente de inmunogenicidad ligeramente superior al 95.5%, que es la eficacia estimada para Candid #1 en estudios previos. No se observaron eventos adversos graves relacionados con la vacuna. Los eventos adversos generales considerados relacionados fueron de escasa significación clínica y de resolución espontánea o con tratamiento sintomático; se presentaron en los receptores de ambas vacunas en tasas equivalentes (29.9% para la vacuna fabricada en la Argentina y 35.0% para la fabricada en EE.UU., e incluyeron: cefalea, decaimiento, mialgias, plaquetopenia leve (< 150 000 plaquetas/mm³, náuseas y/o vómitos, leucopenia leve (< 4 000 blancos/mm³, fiebre, dolor retroocular, mareos, microhematuria, lumbalgia y exantema. Estos resultados indican que la vacuna Candid #1 elaborada en la Argentina es equivalente a la elaborada en los EE.UU. Este estudio permitió el registro del biológico producido en la Argentina ante la autoridad regulatoria del país (ANMAT.