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The article presents deadlines for several calls for papers related to higher education in the U.S. The deadline for papers for possible presentation at a conference on university teaching to be held at McMaster University will be on February 28. The deadline for the ecological science proposals will be on March 4. The deadline for the systematic biology proposals will be on March 4.

The article discusses the role of biology in the mathematical and scientific ability of men and women students and professionals. Also cited are the claim by Harvard University president Lawrence H. Summers in early 2005 that hormones affect the abilities of the sexes in said subjects, as well as the content of the book "The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature," by Steven Pinker on the topic, and the comment by Professor Jacquelynne S. Eccles of University of Michigan on the issue.

The article discusses controversy over a study published in the periodical "American Economic Review" by economists Oded Galor and Quamrul Ashraf, which uses the field of genoeconomics to connect genetic diversity with the relative wealth of societies. A critique in the periodical "Current Anthropology" is noted, along with interdisciplinary disputes among economists, geneticists, and anthropologists.

The White Sands of New Mexico are a good place to study evolution in progress. One reason is that the terrain, gypsum dunes white as a sheet of paper, is so different from the surrounding area. Another is that the dunes formed only about 6,000 years ago. ''From an evolutionary perspective, that's really the blink of an eye,'' said Erica Bree Rosenblum, a professor at the University of Idaho who has been studying evolution at White Sands for much of the past decade. Her focus has been on three lizard species that elsewhere are dark skinned but in White Sands have each evolved a white-skinned variety that makes them hard to find. ''It's really obvious what's happened,'' Dr. Rosenblum said. ''Everybody got white so that they could better escape from their predators.'' It's a great example of convergent evolution, of species independently acquiring the same traits. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Discusses the creation of two peer-reviewed online journals on biology and medicine by a group of prominent scientists. Goal of quickly placing scientific papers in the public domain; Challenge to publishing practices of journals like 'Science' and 'Nature'; Intent of providing a vast electronic library which has no subscription fees; Comments of Dr. Harold E. Varmus, chairman of the nonprofit publisher, Dr. Michael B. Eisen and others; Background on the publishing venture; Arguments of academic publishers.

The article presents a list of the schedule of deadlines for submission of research papers in the U.S. The deadline for the preliminary proposals for research and policy analysis of state-level environmental responsibilities will be on July 15, 1977. The final ethics and values in science and technology proposals deadline is on August 1, 1977. The deadline for metabolic biology proposals will be on August 1, 1977.

The article presents deadlines for the submission of application related to higher education including applications for the 1978-79 Fulbright program in Africa, Asia, and Europe on July 1, 1977, abstracts of papers for possible presentation at a symposium on computer networks on July 15, 1977, and metabolic biology proposals on August 1, 1977.

The article discusses the field of biocriminology, which is the idea that a person's genes or hormones could cause them to commit criminal acts. The discipline evolved from eugenics and social Darwinism, and was criticized as pseudoscientific until discoveries in genetics and neurology in the 2000s. The author profiles Nicole H. Rafter, a senior research fellow of criminal justice at Northeastern University who wrote the biocriminology book "The Criminal Brain: Understanding Biological Theories of Crime."

Focuses on anomalies in the field of evolutionary biology. Identification of William D. Hamilton's inclusive-fitness theory which pave the way for the Kuhnian paradigmatic revolution; Discussion on disease syndrome which is an anomaly by definition; Application of the notion that believing is seeing on the teaching of science.

Presents an update on academic periodicals in the U.S. as of January 2005. "Scientific American Mind"; "PLoS Computational Biology"; "PLoS Genetics."