HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: rising@zoo.toronto.edu (Jim Rising)
Subject: Gould & the "Mismeasure of Intelligence"
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 14:10:49 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

It's sort of ancient history, but I thought that some readers
might like to recall the first few lines of Steve Blinkhorn's
review of Gould's "The Mismeasure of Man," in Nature 296:506, 1982:

'With a glittering prose style and as honestly held a set of
prejudices as you could hope to meet in a day's crusading, S. J.
Gould presents his attempt at identifying the fatal flaw in the 
theory and measurement of intelligence.  Of course everyone 
knows there must be a fatal flaw, but so far reports of its 
discovery have been consistently premature.'

  'The theme of this particular book is that since science is
embedded in society, one must expect to find the prejudices of 
the age presented by scientists as facts.  Most authors, given
such a theme, would be content to document and catalogue instances
in support of the proposition.  Gould, however, goes one better
by writing a book which exemplifies its own thesis.'

  'It is a masterpiece of propoganda, research in the service of
a point of view rather than written from a fund of knowledge.  For
the best propaganda requires not the suppression or distortion of 
facts but their careful selection, emphasis and juxtaposition....'
-- 
Name:     Jim Rising
Mail:     Dept. Zoology, Univ. Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada    M5S 1A1
UUCP:     uunet!attcan!utzoo!rising 
BITNET:   rising@zoo.utoronto.ca
Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.skeptic,soc.men,soc.women,comp.ai.philosophy
From: szabo@techbook.com (Nick Szabo)
Subject: Re: missing verbs
Organization: TECHbooks --- Public Access UNIX --- (503) 220-0636
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 12:50:17 GMT

In article <1992Sep11.120124.15227@techbook.com> szabo@techbook.com (Nick Szabo) writes:
>
>In article <BILL.92Sep9232609@ca3.nsma.arizona.edu> bill@nsma.arizona.edu (Bill Skaggs) writes:
>
>>Anyway, English (and other languages) are full of curious asymmetries.
>>For example, it's okay to say "The bicycle is next to the house", but
>>it's not okay to say "The house is next to the bicycle", though
>>logically they ought to mean the same thing.
>
>"Is" here seems to carry far more than an Aristolean logic semantics;
>in particular it seems to imply an action -- one would park a bicycle
>next to the house, but not vice versa.

This may, in retrospect, overemphasize the action.  The house is a fixed
landmark, the bike is not, and that makes good sense as a mental map.
As another poster pointed out, if one knows where the bike is but not
the house, "the house is next to the bicycle" would be the thing to say.
The most common way to say it, in the circumstance of giving directions
to one's house, would be "my house is the one with my kid's red bicycle 
parked out front", assuming none of the neighbor kids have red bikes.


-- 
szabo@techbook.COM  	  Tuesday, November third  ##  Libertarian  $$  vote
Tuesday  ^^ Libertarian  --  change  **  choice && November 3rd @@Libertarian 
Newsgroups: sci.bio
From: winalski@adserv.enet.dec.com (Paul S. Winalski)
Subject: Re: help! gypsy moths invade italy!
Reply-To: winalski@adserv.enet.dec.com (Paul S. Winalski)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation, Nashua NH
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 19:07:33 GMT


In article <1992Sep11.214548.13022@pixel.kodak.com>,
young@serum.kodak.com writes:

[regarding predators of gypsy moths in North America]
|>
|>	There's some sort of fungal or yeast infection that does a job on the
|>	caterpillars, too.  I seem to recall that an outbreak of it shortened
|>	an expected "boom" cycle in the Northeast recently.

That's right.  The last major boom, about 10 years ago, was quite spectacular.
Lots of defoliation, caterpillars everywhere.  The next year started out
even worse.  The sides of some houses were literally crawling with
caterpillars.  Then the fungus infection started.  Within a few weeks, nearly
all of the caterpillars had died of it.  There were hardly any gypsy moths at
all the next year.  A boomlet a few years back was cut short by this disease,
too.

--PSW
From: mytelka@codon9 (Daniel Mytelka;612 Barker;x2-5110)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: cells inside of cells?
Date: 15 Sep 92 23:20:08 GMT
Organization: University of California
NNTP-Posting-Host: codon9.berkeley.edu

Another interesting example is Bdellovibrio, a bacteria which is an
intracellular parasite of other bacteria (its free living form builds up
speed to penetrate the bacterial outer membrane, and it lives between the
outer and inner membranes of some Gm- bacteria, I think.

Of course, chloroplasts and mitochondria are theoretically the remains of this
sort of relationship too...

Dan Mytelka (mytelka@mendel.berkeley.edu)
From: robison1@husc10.harvard.edu (Keith Robison)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: help! gypsy moths invade italy!
Date: 10 Sep 92 21:20:14 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc10.robison1.716160014

ozalp@cs.cornell.edu (Ozalp Babaoglu) writes:

>a friend who lives in bologna, italy has asked me if i could help
>her out through the marvels of netnews.

>as of this summer, all of the trees in her back yard are infested with
>a bug that has been identified as "metcalfe pruinosa" (sp?) in italian.
>i have seen the animal myself and to my untrained eyes it looks like a
>white moth.  she has further found out that it is native to north america
 ^^^^^

>does this creature sound like a gypsy moth?  


>Ozalp Babaoglu					E-mail:	ozalp@cs.cornell.edu


Can't help you on what it is, but it isn't a gypsy moth.  Gypsy moths
have an ugly mottled brown coloration.  You might try the 
agricultural extension agent there at Cornell or the entomology 
department.

Keith Robison
Harvard University
Department of Cellular & Developmental Biology
Department of Genetics / HHMI

robison@ribo.harvard.edu 
Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.skeptic,soc.men,soc.women,alt.discrimination
From: johnhall@microsoft.com (John Hall)
Subject: Re: Biological Sex Differences? ("Women only" excusable ?)
Date: 13 Sep 92 00:55:52 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corporation

In article bickis@skmath3 (M. Bickis) writes:
| The issue is more complicated than that.  Granted that mathematics is 
| context-free, it still takes less time to understand a word-problem if
| you are familiar with the subject matter. The standardized tests are
| written under time stress.  

Several months ago someone posted the 'most sexist question on the
SAT' measured by percentage of males/females who got the questions
correct.  No, it wasn't a word problem.  I believe it was:

What is 5/4 divided by 3/2?

I may not have it precisely correct, but that was essentially the
problem.  No subject matter here except a knowledge of fractions.

Furthermore, a well established gender difference (linked to
testosterone, lord only knows why) is spatial rotation/manipulation.
That sort of thing gets useful for engineers.

=============

Second, I challenge your assertion that women's academic performance
in mathematics exceeds that projected.  I have a very interesting
study which linked GRE scores to the courses of study people undertook
and the starting salaries for the disciplines they took.  A human
capitol model predicts that people tend to take courses in the
most lucrative fields that they have a good chance of succeeding
in.  Pay is roughly proportional to the average mathematical ability
shown by the average graduate for the field.  Instances of people
with high math ability taking courses where most people do not
have that ability (education, for example) are virtually non
existant.  Instances of people with low ability who successfully
completed their degree in a math intensive field is even more scarce.
--> Oh yes, they also have a GPA equation that was validated
with the data.

Pay differences?  Women make the same in a given field 
(from a little less to a little more, average 97.3%)
but make substantially less overall (80%)
since they are concentrated in non-mathematically demanding fields.


I am typing too fast and about to go on a 1.5 wk trip, but
find "Heterogeneous Human Capital, Occupational Choice,
and Male-Female Earnings Differences" by Paglin and Rufolo
Journal of Labor Economics 1990 vol 8 no 1 pt 1.



-- 
-------------------------
My comments are my own.  They are independent and unrelated to the
views of my company , relatives or elected representatives.

Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.bio.technology
From: cumbo@essv01
Subject: Plant Introduction Numbers
Reply-To: cumbo@essv01
Organization: Du Pont
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 23:09:03 GMT

     A plant introduction number [PI] is assigned by the United States 
Department of Agriculture for germplasm [seed] collections.  I am trying to
locate a journal or on-line source that consistently indexes new plant 
varieties using the PI's.  Any help regarding this matter would be greatly
appreciated.

     Please send reply to Cumbo@esvax.dnet.dupont.com

          Thanks in advance!
--
From: woods hole (hemant chikarmane (hemant@mbl.edu))
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: construction of winogradsky column
Date: 15 Sep 92 18:52:46 GMT
Organization: marine biological lab


I received so many requests for the details on constructing this
column, so here it is.  Enjoy it.



Construction of a Winogradsky column: a mini microbial ecosystem


Get a glass cylinder about 4-5 cm in diameter, and 30 cm in length. If 
a cylinder is not available, a section of glass tube can be sealed off 
at one end with a rubber stopper and epoxy.

1. Layer about 2 cm of CaSO4 (gypsum) at the bottom.

2. Layer about 5 cm of plant debris and shredded paper over 
the gypsum.

3. Layer about 20 cm of mud or soil over the paper.

4. Add water to about 2 cm below top.  Cover loosely with a 
   piece of plastic wrap.

5. Leave on a windowsill in sunlight.



       {NOT TO SCALE}

    |------------------|	Plastic wrap cover
     |		             	|
     |		             	|
     |		             	|			     	[Algae]
     |	             		|
     |----------------|
     |		             	|	Water
     |		             	|
     |----------------|		     		[Nonsulfur purple bacteria]
     |		             	|
     |	             		|
     |		             	|	Mud	  		[Purple sulfur bacteria]
     |		             	|
     |	             		|
     |		             	|
     |----------------|
     |	             		|			     	[Green sulfur bacteria]
     |	             		|	Paper shreds
     |	             		|
     |	             		|
     |----------------|
     |			             |	CaSO4 (gypsum), plant debris
   |--------------------|
   |--------------------|

In about a week or so, you should begin to see colored rings
or sections appearing in the tube at various depths.  At the
bottom will be the anaerobic green sulfur bacteria, which
reduce sulfate to sulfide. Above will appear a red zone 
containing purple sulfur bacteria, which convert the sulfide
to sulfate.  That sulfate is used by the non-sulfur purple
bacteria, which are in a rust-colored zone just below the 
water layer.  The water layer will often contain algae.

Periodically top up with water so the column does not dry 
out.  It will keep going for months.


Variations:

Try different soil samples, marsh mud, or seawater, and see
what you get.  This is a very flexible experiment, so use
your imagination.  One of the things I have tried is to cover
the sides with red cellophane paper so that only red light
reaches the column.


Hemant Chikarmane
Marine Biological Lab
Woods Hole  MA  02543

email: hemant@mbl.edu       phone (508) 548-3705
Newsgroups: sci.bio
From: adwright@iastate.edu ()
Subject: Re: Parasites of Houseflies
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 17:53:48 GMT

In <Bu5ztz.I8L@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca> jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (James Davis Nicoll) writes:


>	Is there a recommended book for beginners on the subject of
>flies and their parasites? I smashed a fly recently that was packed
>with thread-like  worms, and I  am  asuming they were parasites of
>some kind.

>						James  Nicoll 

Are they possibly maggots that hatched from fertilized eggs that she was
carrying? I assume you are trying to keep these buggers alive to see what
happens? ;)

Another parisite found in grasshoppers is a "horse hair worm" They get
soooo big considering the size of the host (reminds me of the film "Alien")
I would not be surprised that flies have a similar parisite.

 
Newsgroups: sci.bio
From: szabo@techbook.com (Nick Szabo)
Subject: Re: Sexual Selection
Organization: TECHbooks --- Public Access UNIX --- (503) 220-0636
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 22:58:09 GMT

In article <9SEP199214492487@utkvx1.utk.edu> ljones@utkvx1.utk.edu (Jones, Leslie Lamont) writes:

>     Most of your objections are based on a fundamental misusnderstanding. 
>You assume that the female who is senstitive to this stimulus (I'll call her 
>the horny female from now on) is rare.

Well, no.  I assume that a female can be sensitive, or not, and I am
asking why are they? 

> Here is a fine piece of evidence that horny females are already present
>in a  population: In the study of sword-tailed fish which Gould cited, the
>researcher found that females preferred males with longer tails. 

This is only one data point.  It says nothing about whether females of
most species act like this or not, and nothing about why they do it.


>The females are hardwired in the sense that their sensory/neural
>systems 
>respond to certain stimuli without prior exposure to that stimuli. This is not 
>an adaptation, but a preadaptation. The hardwiring is simply a happenstance
>result of the species' sensory system.

This needs more explanation.  What is it in neural structures that would
make this a ubiquitous side effect?  (If it is, which has not been
demonstrated).  Why could not the opposite, a disposition to ignore
the obvious male, be the most common side effect?


-- 
szabo@techbook.COM  Public Access User --- Not affiliated with TECHbooks
Public Access UNIX and Internet at (503) 644-8135 (1200/2400, N81) 
Newsgroups: sci.bio
From: rising@zoo.toronto.edu (Jim Rising)
Subject: betel nut
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 15:13:52 GMT
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

It is betel nut, and it is the seed of the Areca Palm (Areca catecha).
-- 
Name:     Jim Rising
Mail:     Dept. Zoology, Univ. Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada    M5S 1A1
UUCP:     uunet!attcan!utzoo!rising 
BITNET:   rising@zoo.utoronto.ca
Newsgroups: sci.bio
From: keulen@possum.csu.murdoch.edu.au (Mike van Keulen)
Subject: Re: Uv light on plants (question)
Organization: Murdoch University
Date: 10 Sep 92 02:19:33 GMT

All the literature I've read on UV radiation suggests that it has negative
effects on plant growth.  UV-A (400-320nm wavelength) appears to have little
influence on plant photosynthesis, but UV-B and -C (wavelength less than 320nm)
have serious impairment effects on photosynthesis.  (NB. UV-C doesn't generally
reach the Earth's surface.)  UV-B has been found to reduce photosynthetic
efficiency, although this can be repaired in the photoreactivation process,
using other wavelengths of light.  High intensities of UV-B and -C can affect
DNA synthesis and nuclear division; although effects are not immediately
apparent the cells can die at the next division.  An initial, perhaps deceptive
effect of UV radiation is an initial increase in oxygen production.

The conclusion:  I wouldn't bother with UV light for your plants.  Hope this
helps.

Mike
--
***************************** Michael van Keulen *************************** 
* Snail: School of BES - Biology         e-mail: keulen@murdoch.edu.au     *
*        Murdoch University              phone:  ++ 61 (09) 360-2843 (work)*
*        Murdoch WA 6150  AUSTRALIA              ++ 61 (09) 417-3902 (home)*
*************************** "To Love is to _LIVE_!" ************************
Xref: sparky sci.bio:3214 sci.skeptic:16387 soc.men:16381 soc.women:16552 alt.discrimination:4375
From: revpk@cellar.org (Brian 'Rev P-K' Siano)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.skeptic,soc.men,soc.women,alt.discrimination
Subject: Re: Biological Sex Differences? ("Women only" excusable ?)
Date: 13 Sep 92 18:08:54 GMT
Organization: The Cellar BBS and public access system

sheaffer@netcom.com (Robert Sheaffer) writes:

> In article <1992Sep9.215226.5884@access.usask.ca> bickis@skmath3 (M. Bickis) 
> >A more important issue than gender- or culture-biased questions is that
> >the attitude towards writing multiple-choice tests is a contributing
> >factor in the score obtained, and this is one place that sex differences
> >appear.  Although males outperform females on the math SAT, this sex
> >difference does not carry through in university performance. 
> 
> From which one can conclude either:
>  
> A.     The SAT tests are biased in favor of men,
>  
>                        or
> 
> B.    Grades given in college math courses are biased in favor
>       of women.
> 
> (Hint: you are "supposed" to conclude "A". Concluding "B" is Politically
>  Incorrect.)
        Or, Either or Both are flawed yardsticks for mathematical 
proficiency, with different contexts and biases. (For example, taking the 
SATS requires answering straightforward questions, and offers multiple 
choices; using math skills in a classroom context requires decisions as to 
the applied math, and application of the math to potentially real-world 
issues.) Such would indicate that it would be unwise to make ANY sweeping 
generalizations regarding sex differences in mathematical ability on the 
basis of _either_ piece of evidence.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian "Rev. P-K" Siano                                  revpk@cellar.org
Servo: "Dianetics, by L. Ron Hubbard."
Joel:  "Why is my life messed up? Page 74."
Servo: "When will this movie end? Page 155."
Crow:  "How much money can we get out of Tom Cruise? Page 85."

                                       "Mystery Science Theater 3000,"
                                       during a volcano scene in
Newsgroups: sci.bio
From: arf@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: Beetle Nuts
Organization: ddsw1.MCS.COM Contributor, Chicago, IL
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 02:44:44 GMT

Does anyone know the botanical name for beetle nuts as in
"Bloody Mary's chewing beetle nuts"  from South Pacific?

Can't fin beetle nut in any of my references.

js

Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.skeptic,soc.men,soc.women
From: bsmart@bsmart.TTI.COM (Bob Smart)
Subject: Re: Biological Sex Differences? ("Women only" excusable ?)
Reply-To: bsmart@bsmart.TTI.COM (Bob Smart)
Organization: Citicorp+TTI
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 02:29:00 GMT

In article <92241.144153RIPBC@CUNYVM.BITNET>, <RIPBC@CUNYVM.BITNET> writes:
> Oddly enough, departments that have
> 90% girls are not asked for a corresponding explanation.

I don't think this is "odd."  I think there's a presumption that males
are generally allowed to go anywhere they want, so if they're
underrepresented in particular departments it's most likely a sign that
they simply don't want to be involved with those departments.  As long
as there aren't crowds of males picketing for equal access to Home
Economics classes, that presumption is likely to continue.

The presumption may not be justified, and I'm not advocating double
standards or sexist practices.  I'm just saying that it's not as
inconsistent as it might seem that all-girls facilities aren't
questioned as often as all-boys facilities, given the belief (note: not
necessarily fact) that the absence of boys is due to lack of interest or
lack of desire, not lack of access.

---------

A fanatic is someone who does what he knows that God would do if God knew the
facts of the case.

Some mailers apparently munge my address; you might have to use
bsmart@bsmart.tti.com -- or if that fails, fall back to
72027.3210@compuserve.com.  Ain't UNIX grand?
Xref: sparky sci.bio:3126 sci.skeptic:16113 soc.men:16128 soc.women:16318 comp.ai.philosophy:6005
From: melby@dove.yk.Fujitsu.CO.JP (John B. Melby)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.skeptic,soc.men,soc.women,comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: Biological Sex Differences? ("Women only" excusable ?)
Date: 9 Sep 92 00:59:59 GMT
	<1992Aug24.003020.11881@usage.csd.unsw.OZ.AU>
	<92241.144153RIPBC@CUNYVM.BITNET> <1992Sep6.154026.14965@techbook.com>
	<wentzell.78.715973345@ace.acadiau.ca>
Followup-To: sci.bio
Organization: Open Systems Dept. Div. 2 Sect. 1, FUJITSU LTD.
In-reply-to: wentzell@ace.acadiau.ca's message of 9 Sep 92 02:29:05 JST

>I recently read an article which pointed out the bias in the college
>entrance tests (GMAT?? Sorry, I'm not American) towards males. For example,
>there were many analogies which dealt in sports terms.

Perhaps a wider array of colorful terms (specifically, synonyms of
"to bludgeon") are used in sports than in most other American cultural
establishments? :-)

-----
John B. Melby
Fujitsu Limited, Yokohama
melby%yk.fujitsu.co.jp@fai.com
Newsgroups: sci.bio
From: jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (James Davis Nicoll)
Subject: Parasites of Houseflies
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1992 16:15:34 GMT

	Is there a recommended book for beginners on the subject of
flies and their parasites? I smashed a fly recently that was packed
with thread-like  worms, and I  am  asuming they were parasites of
some kind.

						James  Nicoll
From: josh@cqs.washington.edu (Josh Hayes)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: The fear of Non-Adaptive traits
Date: 11 Sep 92 17:22:03 GMT
Article-I.D.: mowgli.josh.716232123
Organization: University of Washington
Followups-To: sci.bio

Ad hominem attacks on Gould and Lewontin deleted. Thank goodness.

Gould and Lewontin, for all their shortcomings, make a number of
valid points. The fact that they happen to be socialists does not
invalidate the points. Chief among them is this: a trait does not
possess "adaptive significance" simply by virtue of existing. The
danger of pop sociobiology - as distinct from W.D. Hamilton's work,
and he'd probably laugh if he heard somebody calling him a "socio-
biologist", or other work in recognized journals such as "Behavioral
Ecology and Sociobiology" - the danger is, that real-world phenomena
are recognized, hypotheses framed, and these hypotheses are rapidly
reified by a poorly-educated public. Thus Wilson's obviously playful
explanations of religion and so forth acquire weight that they do
not deserve because some people like the explanation for what it makes
of them, not for its scientific value. Many of these hypotheses are
not amenable to experimentation; many do not allow of any observation
that might be reasonably taken that would permit falsification. In an
ideal sense, they are "science", but in the real world they cannot
be investigated and therefore are useless.

The idea that science exists independent of society, politics, and
all that jazz, is ludicrous. One cannot know for sure that one's
hypotheses are framed in a non-biased manner, one cannot be sure that
one's experiments are properly controlled, or observations properly
taken, because the scientist exists in the very milieu which s/he is
trying to investigate. Observer effect is inevitable. REAL sociobiology,
VALID science, is carried out on other species, and the best work is
inevitably done on species that are not closely related to us; I refer
the interested reader to Ed Wilson and Bert Holdobler's wonderful book
The Ants (roughly - I checked it out of the library to read, so I don't
know the exact title, but I think that's it) for a fine example of what
a powerful approach sociobiology can be.

Sure, it's dumb to say that biology plays NO role in human behavior
and social structure, but it's equally dumb to say that it is the
sole determinant. As in many cases, the moderate line makes the most
sense: there's nature, there's nurture, and neither can be ignored.

Sci.bio readers note: I have NOT crossposted this to the sf groups,
although a lot of what passes for science in this field belongs there,
in order to try to restore some cordiality and Real Information Transfer
to the thread. Maybe that's hopeless. We'll see.

Cheers,

Josh
--
Josh Hayes, Quantitative Sciences HR-20 U of Washington
josh@mowgli.cqs.washington.edu             206 685-2793
Exclaimer: Hey!           Plan: Birth School Work Death
Xref: sparky sci.bio:3216 sci.skeptic:16395 soc.men:16386 soc.women:16557 alt.discrimination:4376