tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post8321082542869487695..comments2024-03-27T00:26:19.644+00:00Comments on Rosa Rubicondior: Scientists At War!Rosa Rubicondiorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06063268216781988588noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-11358000835234634452014-08-20T23:24:03.993+01:002014-08-20T23:24:03.993+01:00I just received this article in my mail box: http:...I just received this article in my mail box: http://www.livescience.com/47418-how-pygmies-got-short-stature.html?cmpid=558172 .<br /><br />Two quotes: <br /><br />1) These small statures [among pygmies all over the world] apparently developed independently in these populations, an example of convergent evolution, much as fish and dolphins both evolved streamlined bodies to better swim in their watery worlds.<br /><br />2) Scientists have suggested that small body size might confer a number of evolutionary benefits for life in rainforests. For instance, while tropical rainforests are the most complex and diverse ecosystems on land, home to half of all living species on the planet, "there is actually not that much food for humans [...] Small body sizes, therefore, may have evolved because they require fewer calories.<br /><br />Helmer von Helvetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02136543309048013677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583674511519808833.post-24662382290042878672014-08-20T23:10:44.796+01:002014-08-20T23:10:44.796+01:00Rosa, you wrote: Almost alone in the modern world ...Rosa, you wrote: Almost alone in the modern world of serious scientific publishing, PNAS allows Academy members to select their own reviewers instead of having them impartially selected by the editor.<br /><br />In this Wikipedia article - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proceedings_of_the_National_Academy_of_Sciences_of_the_United_States_of_America - one can read the following sentences: All research papers published in PNAS are peer-reviewed.[1] The standard mode is for papers to be submitted directly to PNAS rather than going through an Academy member. Members may handle the peer review process for up to 4 of their own papers per year—this is an open review process because the member selects and communicates directly with the referees. These submissions and reviews, like all for PNAS, are evaluated for publication by the PNAS Editorial Board.<br /><br />I must say that sounds quite bizarre. Do you know why PNAS adopted such a publishing policy? <br /><br />You also mention the process of miniaturisation. Birds are as we nowadays know the result of a shrinking process among dinosaurs (see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/28563682 ). Can't that evolution be seen as a process of miniaturisation as well? In order to fill new niches, suitable for being inhabited? Or does miniaturisation occur "only" on isolated islands and other remote areas/places where food is sparse?<br /><br />BTW: Do you see any similarities between evolution and Adam Smith's concept of the “invisible hand”, later refined by the economist Joseph Schumpeter and his idea of creative destruction (see: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/CreativeDestruction.html )? The idea of the economic markets shifting resources from declining sectors to new and more valuable ones - where workers, inputs, and financial capital/investments can seek their highest (or at least higher than before) returns - seems to me be a process that looks very much alike the evolutionary process seen in nature. Helmer von Helvetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02136543309048013677noreply@blogger.com