Foundress associations in polistine wasps: dominance hierarchies and the evolution of social behavior

Interactions among female paper wasps of newly founded colonies suggest that dominance relations assign social (reproductive) roles to siblings in a way advantageous to both dominants and subordinates. In various social animals dominance relations may have been an important prerequisite for the evolution of a division of labor between reproductive and nonreproductive (or less reproductive) adults.     

Molecular phylogeny and evolution of morphology in the social amoebas

The social amoebas (Dictyostelia) display conditional multicellularity in a wide variety of forms. Despite widespread interest in Dictyostelium discoideum as a model system, almost no molecular data exist from the rest of the group. We constructed the first molecular phylogeny of the Dictyostelia with parallel small subunit ribosomal RNA and a-tubulin data sets, and we found that dictyostelid taxonomy requires complete revision. A mapping of characters onto the phylogeny shows that the dominant trend in dictyostelid evolution is increased size and cell type specialization of fruiting structures, with some complex morphologies evolving several times independently. Thus, the latter may be controlled by only a few genes, making their underlying mechanisms relatively easy to unravel.     

社会网络信息生态系统结构及演化模型研究

分析社会网络信息生态系统的构成要素,从信息人之间的相互作用、信息生态环境内部的相互作用及社会网络信息生态系统与外部环境之间的相互作用3个层面解析构成要素之间的作用机理,析出社会网络信息生态链结构。社会网络信息生态系统的演化过程分为3个阶段：繁衍阶段、整合阶段和成熟阶段。研究可以为促进信息生态系统中各要素高效率的协同运转、建设培育健康的社会网络平台提供参考。     

网络社会条件下的高校校园文化建设

校园文化建设是新时期高校育人工作的重要一环。随着网络的发展,网络文化极大地丰富了校园文化,使校园文化充满了活力,但其负面影响也日益凸显:网络文化尤其是异质文化对校园文化、传统文化产生了巨大冲击,使新时期的高校校园文化建设面临着新的课题。网络社会条件下,高等学校应加强网络道德教育,在强化网络建设,净化网络环境的前提下,弘扬中华民族传统文化,吸纳异质文化的精华,以网络文化建设,促进校园文化发展。     

Warriors, levelers, and the role of conflict in human social evolution

The origins of such varied features of contemporary life as the national state and the desire to uphold generous and civic social norms are to be found in a combination of conflict between groups and attenuation of both inequalities and conflicts within groups. In contrast to the adoption of a better tool or a more productive crop, which can be adopted by a single individual, a new institution works only if most people adopt it. This explains why collective action against those benefitting from the status quo at the expense of others, as well as conflict between groups governed by different norms and institutions, figures so prominently in our capacity to adapt to changing circumstances and to harness new knowledge for human benefit.     

SCIENCE FUNDING: Australian Researchers Go for the Gold

Academic scientists are hoping that two new reports calling for increased funding of research and education and an improved climate for commercializing new technology will finally boost an R&D budget that has been stagnant since 1996. One report argues for a variety of measures to reduce the country's reliance on such low-tech commodities as agriculture and precious metals and stimulate innovation. The second report, based on an innovation summit held in February, recommends spending $1.4 billion over 5 years on research, facilities, and education.