Category archives: Humanities & Social Sciences

Another route that has been followed to apply economic thinking to scientific methodology has consisted into trying to define a specific (‘cognitive’, or ‘epistemic’) utility function which rational scientific research should maximise. This has been the strategy of what is usually called cognitive decision theory , which is basically an adaptation of the Bayesian theory […]

Vaccine to protect against staph infections in rabbits Researchers have created a vaccine that has the potential to prevent pneumonia caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in an animal model. The vaccine targets toxins secreted by the staph bacteria, preventing it from causing serious infections. Results may explain why human trials have […]

Unique shrub provides insights into flowering plants’ evolution The genome of the shrub Amborella trichopoda has provided researchers with clues about how flowering plants have evolved, according to a study published in Science. The shrub is known to grow natively on the island of Grande Terre in the South Pacific and nowhere else, and is […]

This article summarizes a review of the literature presented in Sacerdote (2011) . I thank Ricardo Mora for bringing it to my attention. The simplest model of behavioral genetics assumes that child outcomes (Y) are produced by a linear and additive combination of genetic inputs (G), shared environment (F) and unexplained factors (S). For instance […]

Crocodiles, alligators use lures to attract prey Alligators and crocodiles use lures to entice prey, the first reported use of tools by reptiles. Researchers surveyed alligators and crocodiles at four sites in Louisiana for a year, noting that the creatures balancing twigs and sticks on their snouts to lure birds during nesting seasons. “Use of […]

The first known application of modern economic techniques to solving epistemic problems in science was very explicit in describing the value of a scientific theory as the difference between ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’. I’m referring to Charles Sanders Peirce’s ‘Note of the Theory of the Economy of Research’, published in 1879, less than a decade after […]

Hummingbird species evolved to live in oxygen-thin Andes Some species of hummingbirds, which need lots of oxygen to survive, have evolved to thrive in the oxygen-poor heights of the Andes. Researchers sequenced 63 hummingbird species’ DNA and found that the mutations that allow the Andes birds to breathe at high altitudes occurred at the same […]

Competitive markets are efficient under a number of conditions. One is that the consumption or production of the commodity to be traded must not cause externalities. For instance, consider a group of firms polluting the atmosphere or the waters of a nearby river. The individual behavior is typically not sufficient to keep the pollution level […]

Originally, intellectual property legislation was created on the assumption that the profits derived from the monopoly of the patented inventions would encourage innovation and thus promote economic growth. This is one of many hypotheses that the vast majority of economists have ever considered as intuitive. Accordingly, it is generally believed that the patent system is […]

Specially shaped snouts help seahorses sneak up on their prey Seahorses have a nose for prey; their unique snouts are shaped to create very little disturbance in the water, allowing them to stealthily pounce on their intended meal, according to a study published in Nature Communications. “The seahorse is one [of] the slowest swimming fish […]