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This paper explores the role of measurement as a cognitive technology across human history, emphasizing the coexistence of formal and informal measurement systems. While standardized systems dominate contemporary culture and are well documented across large‐scale societies of the past, this manuscript highlights the less explored domain of informal measurement practices that have been integral to daily life from the past to the present. Through the examination of body‐based measurement systems and proportional heuristics, we demonstrate how these informal strategies were not merely precursors to formal standards but essential adaptive tools for solving everyday problems. Often, these informal solutions come with practical advantages. This manuscript calls for a broader recognition of their significance in cultural and technological evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioural variation among individuals is a hallmark of cooperative societies, which commonly contain breeders and non‐breeders, helpers and non‐helpers. In some cases, labour is divided with non‐breeders “helping.” Conversely, in some societies, subordinate non‐breeders may not help. These individuals may be (i) an insurance workforce ensuring continuity of help for breeders when other helpers are lost, (ii) conserving energy while waiting to breed themselves or (iii) simply of too poor physiological quality either to help or breed. In the Australian Outback, Acacia thrips Dunatothrips aneurae (Thysanoptera) glue Acacia phyllodes into “domiciles” using silk‐like secretions, either alone or cooperatively. Domicile maintenance is important for humidity, so repair can be interpreted as helping. I found that not all females helped to repair damage; some repaired partially or not at all (“non‐helpers”). At the same time, some co‐foundresses are non‐ or partially reproductive (“non‐breeders”), and their role is currently unknown. I first tested the possibility that helping and breeding are divided, with non‐helping females breeding, and non‐breeders helping. In a lab experiment, I rejected this idea. Experimentally damaged domiciles were typically repaired by reproductive females, and less so by non‐ or partially reproductive individuals. To test whether non‐helpers are an insurance workforce, I successively removed repairing females and found that non‐helping females from the same domicile did not increase effort as a result, rejecting this hypothesis. Then I tested whether non‐helpers were conserving energy waiting to breed. In a field experiment, I removed all other females, allowing either a helpful female or a non‐helper to “inherit” her domicile. Isolated like this, non‐helpers laid very few eggs compared to helpers or naturally occurring single foundresses, despite similar ovarian development. My findings show that labour was not divided: reproduction and helping covaried positively, probably depending on individual variation in female quality and intra‐domicile competition. Non‐helping females were neither an insurance workforce nor conserving energy waiting to breed. They are likely simply of poor quality, freeloading by benefiting from domicile maintenance by others. I hypothesize they are tolerated because of selection for indiscriminate communal brood care in the form of domicile repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climatic factors are known to shape the expression of social behaviours. Likewise, variation in social behaviour can dictate climate responses. Understanding interactions between climate and sociality is crucial for forecasting vulnerability and resilience to climate change across animal taxa.These interactions are particularly relevant for taxa like bees that exhibit a broad diversity of social states. An emerging body of literature aims to quantify bee responses to environmental change with respect to variation in key functional traits, including sociality. Additionally, decades of research on environmental drivers of social evolution may prove fruitful for predicting shifts in the costs and benefits of social strategies under climate change.In this review, we explore these findings to ask two interconnected questions: (a) how does sociality mediate vulnerability to climate change, and (b) how might climate change impact social organisation in bees? We highlight traits that intersect with bee sociality that may confer resilience to climate change (e.g. extended activity periods, diet breadth, behavioural thermoregulation) and we generate predictions about the impacts of climate change on the expression and distribution of social phenotypes in bees.The social evolutionary consequences of climate change will be complex and heterogeneous, depending on such factors as local climate and plasticity of social traits. Many contexts will see an increase in the frequency of eusocial nesting as warming temperatures accelerate development and expand the temporal window for rearing a worker brood. More broadly, climate‐mediated shifts in the abiotic and biotic selective environments will alter the costs and benefits of social living in different contexts, with cascading impacts at the population, community and ecosystem levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origin of sociality represents one of the most important evolutionary transitions. Insect sociality evolved in some hemipteran aphids, which can produce soldiers and normal nymphs with distinct morphology and behaviour through parthenogenesis. The lack of genomic data resources has hindered the investigations into molecular mechanisms underlying their social evolution. Herein, we generated the first chromosomal‐level genome of a social hemipteran (Pseudoregma bambucicola) with highly specialized soldiers and performed comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses to elucidate the molecular signatures and regulatory mechanisms of caste differentiation. P. bambucicola has a larger known aphid genome of 582.2 Mb with an N50 length of 11.24 Mb, and about 99.6% of the assembly was anchored to six chromosomes with a scaffold N50 of 98.27 Mb. A total of 14,027 protein‐coding genes were predicted and 37.33% of the assembly were identified as repeat sequences. The social evolution is accompanied by a variety of changes in genome organization, including expansion of gene families related to transcription factors, transposable elements, as well as species‐specific expansions of certain sugar transporters and UGPases involved in carbohydrate metabolism. We also characterized large candidate gene sets linked to caste differentiation and found evidence of expression regulation and positive selection acting on energy metabolism and muscle structure, explaining the soldier‐specific traits including morphological and behavioural specialization, developmental arrest and infertility. Overall, this study offers new insights into the molecular basis of social aphids and the evolution of insect sociality and also provides valuable data resources for further comparative and functional studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Aim Study Design Results Conclusions Relevance to Clinical Practice The intensive care unit has structural complexities, and critically ill patients are exposed to disparities. Thus, the intensive care unit can be a potential health disparity setting.This study explored cultural knowledge associated with health disparities in the intensive care unit.This critical ethnographic study was conducted using Carspecken's approach. It was carried out in intensive care units in Western Iran from 2022 to 2023. Data collection and analysis were conducted in three interconnected stages. The initial stage involved over 300 h of field observation. In the subsequent stage, a horizon analysis was performed. Conversations with 17 informants were recorded in the final stage to enrich the dataset further. Then, the analysis process was carried out as in the previous step to uncover an implicit culture of health disparity.This research revealed the following themes: (a) extension of the impact of political, social, and cultural powers, (b) being influenced by individual diversity, (c) balancing services based on the consideration of benefits and consequences, (d) departure from professional behaviour and (e) insufficient organizational discipline.The findings of this study showed that individual diversity, political, social and cultural powers within a context of insufficient organizational discipline, and departure from professional behaviour influence the service delivery culture in the intensive care unit. Moreover, the benefits and consequences of service delivery impact its execution. These stereotypes have the potential to contribute to the emergence of health disparities. Cultural transformation is challenging because of deep‐rooted stereotypes, but the reduction of disparities is possible through awareness, critical self‐reflection and cultural competence.The findings of this research can prompt staff self‐reflection in situations prone to disparities. Health leaders can use these findings to shape health policies at both macro and micro levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical and empirical scholars of cultural evolution have traditionally studied social learning strategies, such as conformity, as adaptive strategies to obtain accurate information about the environment, whereas within social psychology there has been a greater focus upon the social consequences of such strategies. Although these two approaches are often used in concert when studying human social learning, we believe the potential social benefits of conformity, and of social learning more broadly, have been overlooked in studies of non‐humans. We review evidence from studies of homophily, imitation, and rapid facial mimicry that suggests that behaving like others affords social benefits to non‐human animals and that behaviour matching may be deployed strategically to increase affiliation. Furthermore, we review studies of conformity in dispersers, and suggest that forgoing personal information or preferences in favour of those of the new group during immigration may be a strategy to facilitate social integration. We therefore propose that the informational and social functions of conformity apply to humans and animals alike. We use this perspective to generate several interesting research questions to inspire work in this field. For example, under what conditions do animals use informational or social conformity and what role does uncertainty play in social learning in immigrant individuals? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the study of Indigenous religions and ethics in the late‐nineteenth and early‐twentieth centuries. Over the past few decades, scholars have grappled with the colonial origins of religious studies. This essay focuses on the history of anthropological scholarship on Indigenous religions and the significance of this work for the growth of the academic study of religious and ethical systems. I first consider scholarship on Indigenous ethical systems produced by theologians and comparative religionists. I next consider how anthropological concepts of cultural relativity offered scholars of religion important tools to broaden and deepen understandings of Indigenous cultures. Finally, I address the limits of these anthropological tools. During this era, scholars increasingly argued that Indigenous cultural traditions were worthy of study; however, the prevailing racialized assumptions contributed to assessments of these ethical systems as inferior to Euro‐American religio‐ethical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do human societies have so many taboos, defined here as culturally prohibited activities? In this article, I offer a naturalistic account of the origin and transmission of taboos from an evolutionary anthropological perspective. Drawing from the extensive literature in cognitive science and cultural evolution, I argue that taboos may arise from our tendency to retrospectively attribute causes to misfortunes due to a deterministic worldview, and the imperfect transmission of taboos often leads to the loss of their original utilitarian rationale, making them resemble mere cultural conventions. While this account does not explain all cultural prohibitions in human societies, it provides valuable insights into the psychological and social mechanisms by which many taboos are generated in a bottom‐up fashion. Towards the end of the article, I offer a few implications on the proposed account of taboos and specify some testable predictions that merit further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural change is often positioned as central to transformation within the Australian Public Service (APS). The ongoing focus on cultural change suggests it has not yet been realised, which is unsurprising, given it is so difficult to change. However, cultural change may also be impeded due to the way it is portrayed within the APS. This article draws on the work of Schein to identify three problems with how organisational culture and cultural change are portrayed in the APS, including the focus on a unified APS culture, the simplistic way in which culture is portrayed, and the general and high‐level claims for how to achieve cultural change. It provides three recommendations for how these problems can be addressed, including focusing on high‐level principles for conduct across the APS (rather than a unified APS culture), focusing on cultural evolution at the department, agency, and subunit levels, and supporting cultural evolution through establishing mechanisms for behavioural change. Adopting this approach could enable the APS to realise desired changes and enable success of the Albanese Government's APS reform agenda. Points for practitioners: Cultural change is difficult to achieve due to culture being deeply embedded, underpinned by a stable system of values, beliefs, and assumptions.Change could be realised within the APS through focusing on cultural evolution, rather than cultural change—specifically at the department, agency, and subunit levels where there is some compatibility between existing and desired cultures.Cultural evolution requires the identification of the specific behaviours required for effective change, followed by a reconfiguration of a range of mechanisms required to embed and reinforce behavioural change.Leaders play a central role in facilitating behavioural change and cultural evolution, but doing this effectively may require leadership cognitive shifts; therefore, leaders need support and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The burying beetle (Nicrophorus vespilloides) is thought to be predominantly sexually monomorphic. Males carry an additional abdominal segment and produce pheromones, but otherwise the sexes are alike.Both sexes bear bright orange bands on their black elytra, which probably function as part of a warning display rather than in mate choice. In wild populations, the sexes do not differ in mean body size, nor in its variation.Here we describe a form of sexual size dimorphism in wild populations that has previously been overlooked. We show that males have wider heads than females, for any given pronotum width (body size), and that the scaling relationship between head width and pronotum width is hyperallometric in males, but isometric in females. We also show how absolute head width, as well as the extent of sexual dimorphism in head width, differs among seven wild populations inhabiting different woodlands that are within c.10 km of each other.We suggest that head size dimorphism is functionally related to bite force. We hypothesise that dimorphism could be due to divergent selection arising from task specialisation during biparental care, as the duties of care favoured by males are likely to require a greater bite force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insects are the most diverse group of organisms in the animal kingdom, and some species exhibit complex social behaviors. Although research on insect object use is still in its early stages, insects have already been shown to display rich object‐use behaviors. This review focuses on patterns and behavioral flexibility in insect object‐use behavior, and the role of cultural evolution in the development of object‐use behaviors. Object use in insects is not widespread but has been documented in a diverse set of taxa. Some insects can use objects flexibly and display various object‐use patterns. Like mammals and birds, insects use objects in diverse activities, including foraging, predator defense, courtship, and play. Intelligence, pre‐existing manipulative behaviors, and anatomical structure affect innovations in object use. In addition, learning and imitation are the main mechanisms underlying the spread of object‐use behaviors within populations. Given that insects are one of the major animal groups engaging in object use, studies of insect object use could provide general insights into object use in the animal kingdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within governance agencies, academia, and communities alike, there are increasing calls to recognize the value and importance of culture within social‐ecological systems and to better implement Indigenous sciences in research, policy, and management. Efforts thus far have raised questions about the best ethical practices to do so. Engaging with plural worldviews and perspectives on their own terms reflects cultural evolutionary processes driving paradigm shifts in 3 fundamental areas of natural resource management: conceptualizations of natural resources and ecosystems, processes of public participation and governance, and relationships with Indigenous Peoples and communities with differing worldviews. We broadly describe evolution toward these paradigm shifts in fish and wildlife management. We then use 3 case studies to illustrate the ongoing cultural evolution of relationships between wildlife management and Indigenous practices within specific historical and social‐ecological contexts and reflect on common barriers to appropriately engaging with Indigenous paradigms and lifeways. Our case studies highlight 3 priorities that can assist the field of wildlife management in achieving the changes necessary to bridge incommensurable worldviews: acknowledging and reconciling historical legacies and their continued power dynamics as part of social‐ecological systems, establishing governance arrangements that move beyond attempts to extract cultural information from communities to integrate Indigenous Knowledges into dominant management paradigms, and engaging in critical reflexivity and reciprocal, accountable relationship building. Implementing these changes will take time and a commitment to processes that may initially feel uncomfortable and unfamiliar but have potential to be transformative. Ethical and culturally appropriate methods to include plural and multivocal perspectives and worldviews on their own terms are needed to transform wildlife management to achieve more effective and just management outcomes for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resistance to and avoidance of stress slow aging and confer increased longevity in numerous organisms. Honey bees and other superorganismal social insects have two main advantages over solitary species to avoid or resist stress: individuals can directly help each other by resource or information transfer, and they can cooperatively control their environment. These benefits have been recognised in the context of pathogen and parasite stress as the concept of social immunity, which has been extensively studied. However, we argue that social immunity is only a special case of a general concept that we define here as social stress protection to include group‐level defences against all biotic and abiotic stressors. We reason that social stress protection may have allowed the evolution of reduced individual‐level defences and individual life‐history optimization, including the exceptional aging plasticity of many social insects. We describe major categories of stress and how a colonial lifestyle may protect social insects, particularly against temporary peaks of extreme stress. We use the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) to illustrate how patterns of life expectancy may be explained by social stress protection and how modern beekeeping practices can disrupt social stress protection. We conclude that the broad concept of social stress protection requires rigorous empirical testing because it may have implications for our general understanding of social evolution and specifically for improving honey bee health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many pseudosciences, conspiracy theories and other unfounded belief systems have a self‐sealing nature, being equipped with defence mechanisms and immunizing strategies that protect them against counterevidence and criticism. In this article, we discuss the existence of 'epistemic black holes', belief systems which posit intelligent agents that are deliberately evading detection and thus sabotaging any investigation into their existence. These belief systems have the remarkable feature that they predict an absence of evidence in their favour, and even the discovery of counterevidence. The most obvious instances of such epistemic black holes are unfounded conspiracy theories, but examples crop up in other domains as well. We outline the development and cultural evolution of epistemic black holes, drawing from a number of case studies. Most importantly, because of their self‐sealing character and resilience to counterevidence, epistemic black holes suffer from a recurring problem of arbitrariness and proliferating alternatives. Shedding light on how epistemic black holes function can help to inoculate people against their enduring allure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores how bees, particularly honeybees, exhibit cumulative cultural evolution through social learning and information transmission. Researchers have studied the honeybee dance language, which conveys food location information, and found that social factors influence the accuracy of certain components of this communication system. Additionally, recent research on bumblebees has shown that they can learn complex behaviors through social learning, challenging the notion that such behaviors are unique to humans. The study of honeybee and bumblebee behaviors provides valuable insights into social learning and cumulative cultural evolution in nonhuman animals, highlighting the shared intelligence and adaptability across the animal kingdom. [Extracted from the article]

Summary: Greenbeards are selfish genetic elements that make their bearers behave either altruistically towards individuals bearing similar greenbeard copies or harmfully towards individuals bearing different copies. They were first proposed by W. D. Hamilton over 50 yr ago, to illustrate that kin selection may operate at the level of single genes. Examples of greenbeards have now been reported in a wide range of taxa, but they remain undocumented in plants. In this paper, we discuss the theoretical likelihood of greenbeard existence in plants. We then question why the greenbeard concept has never been applied to plants and speculate on how hypothetical greenbeards could affect plant–plant interactions. Finally, we point to different research directions to improve our knowledge of greenbeards in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While for decades behavioural ecologists have studied the costs and benefits of group living, solitary living has received little attention. Instead, it was assumed to be the default stage from which sociality evolved. Mammals underwent around 200 million years of social evolution, with a few species evolving communal or cooperative breeding in harsh environments. Other mammal species are successful with solitary living in exactly the same and many other environments, indicating that solitary living is beneficial under many environmental conditions. Comparative studies on mammals indicate that solitary living might not be the ancestral but a derived state. Solitary living in mammals is less common than previously believed, occurring in 22% of the studied species. Here, we review costs and benefits of solitary living in mammals. We found very few studies that considered solitary living and show important future avenues of research based on the factors that are important for the evolution of group living. We also emphasize that a solitary form of social organization does not imply an unsocial lifestyle: solitary mammals typically have non‐random but individualized social interactions with their neighbours, indicating important social structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: Effective water governance is essential for sustainable management of water resources, particularly within river basins where diverse stakeholders intersect.Cultural evolution along these river systems has profoundly influenced water governance practices.UNESCO heritage sites and intangible cultural heritage play a pivotal role in preserving traditional knowledge and practices related to water management.By recognizing and learning from UNESCO sites, we can enhance contemporary water governance strategies.As water experts, we recognize that the preservation of cultural heritage is inseparable from effective water governance. Let us continue to celebrate and protect these invaluable resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How did humans become clever enough to live in nearly every major ecosystem on earth, create vaccines against deadly plagues, explore the oceans depths, and routinely traverse the globe at 30,000 feet in aluminum tubes while nibbling on roasted almonds? Drawing on recent developments in our understanding of human evolution, we consider what makes us distinctively smarter than other animals. Contrary to conventional wisdom, human brilliance emerges not from our innate brainpower or raw computational capacities, but from the sharing of information in communities and networks over generations. We review how larger, more diverse, and more optimally interconnected networks of minds give rise to faster innovation and how the cognitive products of this cumulative cultural evolutionary process feedback to make us individually "smarter"—in the sense of being better at meeting the challenges and problems posed by our societies and socioecologies. Here, we consider not only how cultural evolution supplies us with "thinking tools" (like counting systems and fractions) but also how it has shaped our ontologies (e.g., do germs and witches exist?) and epistemologies, including our notions of what constitutes a "good reason" or "good evidence" (e.g., are dreams a source of evidence?). Building on this, we consider how cultural evolution has organized and distributed cultural knowledge and cognitive tasks among subpopulations, effectively shifting both thinking and production to the level of the community, population, or network, resulting in collective information processing and group decisions. Cultural evolution can turn mindless mobs into wise crowds by facilitating and constraining cognition through a wide variety of epistemic institutions—political, legal, and scientific. These institutions process information and aid better decision‐making by suppressing or encouraging the use of different cultural epistemologies and ontologies. Human creativity does not solely rely on our individual cognitive abilities, but instead emerges from the recombination of ideas, practices, and approaches that result from social interactions and idea exchanges in large, diverse populations. These population‐level processes, which operate over generations, influence not only on our tools, technologies, and languages, but also key aspects of our culturally‐evolved cognition, such as our epistemologies and ontologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neurogenomic mechanisms mediating male–male reproductive cooperative behaviours remain unknown. We leveraged extensive transcriptomic and behavioural data on a neotropical bird species (Pipra filicauda) that performs cooperative courtship displays to understand these mechanisms. In this species, the cooperative display is modulated by testosterone, which promotes cooperation in non‐territorial birds, but suppresses cooperation in territory holders. We sought to understand the neurogenomic underpinnings of three related traits: social status, cooperative display behaviour and testosterone phenotype. To do this, we profiled gene expression in 10 brain nuclei spanning the social decision‐making network (SDMN), and two key endocrine tissues that regulate social behaviour. We associated gene expression with each bird's behavioural and endocrine profile derived from 3 years of repeated measures taken from free‐living birds in the Ecuadorian Amazon. We found distinct landscapes of constitutive gene expression were associated with social status, testosterone phenotype and cooperation, reflecting the modular organization and engagement of neuroendocrine tissues. Sex‐steroid and neuropeptide signalling appeared to be important in mediating status‐specific relationships between testosterone and cooperation, suggesting shared regulatory mechanisms with male aggressive and sexual behaviours. We also identified differentially regulated genes involved in cellular activity and synaptic potentiation, suggesting multiple mechanisms underpin these genomic states. Finally, we identified SDMN‐wide gene expression differences between territorial and floater males that could form the basis of ‘status‐specific’ neurophysiological phenotypes, potentially mediated by testosterone and growth hormone. Overall, our findings provide new, systems‐level insights into the mechanisms of cooperative behaviour and suggest that differences in neurogenomic state are the basis for individual differences in social behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eschatological beliefs have matured alongside both biblical composition and Christian history. This evolution can be traced using cultural evolutionary studies. The process reflects attempts to adapt to new conditions and challenges—sometimes giving place to more focused views, but also sometimes to failures and dysfunctional forms or fruitless variations. It becomes a theological duty to assess this evolution better. The key element is the reception of these eschatological beliefs, to discern what expressions of them are more helpful in encouraging Christian fidelity, coping with distress, and engaging with individual and societal challenges. In this article, we outline a research programme that links eschatology to anthropology, and that tries to analyse beliefs according to state‐of‐the‐art methods, such as evolutionary cultural studies and research on the believing process. We also contribute a case study based on the concept of hell to test the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The triumvirate model... offers a lens through which we can view the potential synthesis of these ideas, crafting a pathway for cultural transformation in an age where adaptability and innovation are paramount. These turbulent times call for a new era of design thinking—a time for design to become a way of thinking that helps craft a culture that is not only adaptable and innovative but also one that incorporates the human experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research on the evolution of altruism via kin selection, group selection, and reciprocity focuses on the role of a single locus or quantitative trait. Very few studies have explored how linked selection, or selection at loci neighboring an altruism locus, impacts the evolution of altruism. While linked selection can decrease the efficacy of selection at neighboring loci, it might have other effects including promoting selection for altruism by increasing relatedness in regions of low recombination. Here, we used population genetic simulations to study how negative selection at linked loci, or background selection, affects the evolution of altruism. When altruism occurs between full siblings, we found that background selection interfered with selection on the altruistic allele, increasing its fixation probability when the altruistic allele was disfavored and reducing its fixation when the allele was favored. In other words, background selection has the same effect on altruistic genes in family‐structured populations as it does on other, nonsocial, genes. This contrasts with prior research showing that linked selective sweeps can favor the evolution of cooperation, and we discuss possibilities for resolving these contrasting results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, I first consider how his theory of social norms is connected to his theory of social evolution by examining the importance of learning in his theory of both social norms and social evolution. Then I turn to David Owen and Amy Allen's critiques of Jürgen Habermas. My aim is to develop their critique of Habermas by elucidating an important but neglected distinction between the developmental logic and the developmental dynamics in Habermas's theory of social evolution. Drawing on this distinction, I claim that Habermas's theory is problematic in that he underestimates the importance of the developmental dynamics. By introducing the distinction between individual learning and social learning, I also question his account of progress as accumulative experience of learning. This is because, unlike cumulative culture at the level of phylogenesis, individuals ontogenetically experience a kind of non‐cumulative social learning. Unlike cumulative culture, each individual has to undergo a kind of non‐cumulative social learning. The problem is that Habermas conceives the learning process too narrowly such that learning does not guarantee social evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learned vocal signals of birds provide one of the most comprehensive sources of evidence for culture in animals. Such vocal signals often vary spatially and temporally. Signal variation can be driven by direct factors such as cultural drift and selection or by indirect factors such as changes in the environment, which may affect morphology and therefore acoustic capability. In this study we analysed flight and excitement calls of several call types of the Red Crossbill Loxia curvirostra and other crossbill species. Calls were recorded between 1962 and 2019 across the Palaearctic region. We measured acoustic similarity within flight and excitement calls and modelled the size of the effect attributed to temporal and geographical distance. Geographical distance between different sampling locations explained less call variation compared with temporal distance, and temporal variation within the excitement calls was smaller than in the flight calls. We conclude that calls of most call types of Red, Scottish and Parrot Crossbill are an example of cultural evolution. We suggest that excitement calls are less modifiable because they can serve better in dangerous situations when they are stable in time and space. In addition, we found no clear support for increasing or decreasing flight call similarity of call types while or after being in contact, as found in another study from North America. The reasons for the cultural evolution in calls of Palaearctic crossbills remain unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Part 2 of this article examines the resurgence of tribal identities in modern societies, a process termed re‐tribalization, as a response to the failures of the modern state. It challenges the linear progression of societal evolution, suggesting that declining modernity prompts a return to primordial, tribal values for security and identity. The authors critique the state's unmet promises, leading to a re‐embrace of tribal loyalty and community. They also discuss the role of media, politics, and AI in reinforcing tribal divisions, with AI potentially exacerbating societal cleavages. The article calls for an understanding of tribalism's role in society and advocates for the inclusion of the 'Other' to foster peaceful coexistence, setting the stage for their forthcoming book on inter‐community harmony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In evolutionary terms, life is about reproduction. Yet, in some species, individuals forgo their own reproduction to support the reproductive efforts of others. Social insect colonies for example, can contain up to a million workers that actively cooperate in tasks such as foraging, brood care and nest defence, but do not produce offspring. In such societies the division of labour is pronounced, and reproduction is restricted to just one or a few individuals, most notably the queen(s). This extreme eusocial organisation exists in only a few mammals, crustaceans and insects, but strikingly, it evolved independently up to nine times in the order Hymenoptera (including ants, bees and wasps). Transitions from a solitary lifestyle to an organised society can occur through natural selection when helpers obtain a fitness benefit from cooperating with kin, owing to the indirect transmission of genes through siblings. However, this process, called kin selection, is vulnerable to parasitism and opportunistic behaviours from unrelated individuals. An ability to distinguish kin from non‐kin, and to respond accordingly, could therefore critically facilitate the evolution of eusociality and the maintenance of non‐reproductive workers. The question of how the hymenopteran brain has adapted to support this function is therefore a fundamental issue in evolutionary neuroethology. Early neuroanatomical investigations proposed that social Hymenoptera have expanded integrative brain areas due to selection for increased cognitive capabilities in the context of processing social information. Later studies challenged this assumption and instead pointed to an intimate link between higher social organisation and the existence of developed sensory structures involved in recognition and communication. In particular, chemical signalling of social identity, known to be mediated through cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), may have evolved hand in hand with a specialised chemosensory system in Hymenoptera. Here, we compile the current knowledge on this recognition system, from emitted identity signals, to the molecular and neuronal basis of chemical detection, with particular emphasis on its evolutionary history. Finally, we ask whether the evolution of social behaviour in Hymenoptera could have driven the expansion of their complex olfactory system, or whether the early origin and conservation of an olfactory subsystem dedicated to social recognition could explain the abundance of eusocial species in this insect order. Answering this question will require further comparative studies to provide a comprehensive view on lineage‐specific adaptations in the olfactory pathway of Hymenoptera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Host–parasite dynamics involve coevolutionary arms races, which may lead to host specialization and ensuing diversification. Our general understanding of the evolution of host specialization in brood parasites is compromised by a restricted focus on bird and insect lineages. The cuckoo catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) is an obligate parasite of parental care of mouthbrooding cichlids in Lake Tanganyika. Given the ecological and taxonomic diversity of mouthbrooding cichlids in the lake, we hypothesized the existence of sympatric host‐specific lineages in the cuckoo catfish. In a sample of 779 broods from 20 cichlid species, we found four species parasitized by cuckoo catfish (with prevalence of parasitism of 2%–18%). All parasitized cichlids were from the tribe Tropheini, maternal mouthbrooders that spawn over a substrate (rather than in open water). Phylogenetic analysis based on genomic (ddRAD sequencing) and mitochondrial (Dloop) data from cuckoo catfish embryos showed an absence of host‐specific lineages. This was corroborated by analyses of genetic structure and co‐ancestry matrix. Within host species, parasitism was not associated with any individual characteristic we recorded (parent size, water depth), but was costly as parasitized parents carried smaller clutches of their own offspring. We conclude that the cuckoo catfish is an intermediate generalist and discuss costs, benefits and constraints of host specialization in this species and brood parasites in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study assessed the ampicillin and amoxicillin resistance in Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC14917 during the laboratory evolution in culture medium, including a gradually increasing concentration of antibiotic. In ampicillin and amoxicillin environment, both evolved strains obtained high levels of resistance. After the subsequent passage in antibiotic‐free medium, amoxicillin‐resistant strains returned to sensitive level, but resistance to ampicillin remained stable. The homology‐based analysis showed that the spread of antibiotic resistance genes in the gut would not occur in these mutant genes. This study could serve as evidence supporting the safe use of L. plantarum ATCC14917 in clinical practice when ampicillin and amoxicillin were concurrently used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural life scripts organize culturally shared expectations regarding order and timing of life events during a prototypical life course. Prior research sustained that the semantic knowledge of cultural life scripts is relatively stable across decades and between age groups, even though this notion had only been investigated in relatively stable societies, and in mostly female samples. Therefore, this study obtained the newborn and elderly Emirati life scripts in an equal number of younger and older women and men. As expected, the Emirati newborn life script displays current Emirati lifestyle and customs. The elderly life script mirrors the traditional Emirati lifestyle; however, much less in the younger than in the older participants. Furthermore, we found differences in the temporal distribution and emotional valence of events between newborn and elderly life scripts. This study implies that cultural life scripts change with cultural transformation, but that adapting life script knowledge may necessitate experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In cooperatively breeding birds, why do some individuals breed independently but others have to help at home? This question has been rarely addressed despite its fundamental importance for understanding the evolution of social cooperation.We address it using 15 years of data from Tibetan ground tits Pseudopodoces humilis where helpers consist of younger males. Since whether younger males successfully breed depends critically on their chances to occupy territories nearby home, our analytic strategy is to identify the determinants of individual differences in gaining territory ownership among these ready‐to‐breed males.Across widowed, last‐year helper and yearling males, an age advantage was evident in inheriting resident territories, occupying adjacent vacancies and budding off part of adjacent territories, which left some last‐year helpers and most yearling males to take the latter two routes. These males were more likely to acquire a territory if they were genetically related to the previous or current territory owners; otherwise they remained on natal territories as helpers. The relatedness effect can arise from the prior residence advantage established in the preceding winter when younger males followed their parents to perform kin‐directed off‐territory forays.Our research highlights the key role of local kinship in determining younger males' territory acquisition and thus their fate in terms of independent reproduction versus help. This finding provides insight into the formation of kin‐based, facultative cooperative societies prevailing among vertebrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volume and the velocity of data in social media are increasing and the social media has become a very useful environment to detect and track the real‐world events. However, to fulfill this, it is crucial to group‐related texts according to their topics and clustering takes an essential role at this point since we have no prior knowledge about the topics and their evolution in social media. In this survey, we review the current approaches and techniques proposed for short text stream clustering in recent years. The reviewed techniques are grouped according to their methodology and discussed in detail. Also, the datasets utilized to evaluate the performance of the proposed methods and the results are summarized together with the clustering quality measures used for these evaluations. Furthermore, current challenges about short‐text stream clustering are discussed. This article is categorized under:Data: Types and Structure > Streaming Data [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms recognize the need for strategic efforts in the nonmarket environment to improve their performance. We seek to explore the different ways in which firms learn about nonmarket strategies (NMS), whether the social or the political dimension. We conducted a search of previous NMS studies and analyzed this literature to reflect on the process of development and evolution of political and social corporate capabilities. Based on the theoretical insights of resource dependency theory (RDT) and the resource‐based view (RBV) and its variants, we adopt an external perspective of how firms capture critical political and social knowledge in the nonmarket environment and an internal perspective of how firms develop nonmarket capabilities from this new knowledge. We argue that the new knowledge obtained from the observation of peer firms, from co‐opting and collaborating with nonmarket and market actors and from their own experiences is incorporated into the firm's knowledge system and allows for the development and evolution of capabilities to integrate and deploy resources for strategic purposes. We also point out that changes in the nonmarket environment require firms to constantly seek new social and political capabilities. They learn, unlearn and relearn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, cultural heritage is on the front line of anthropogenic climate change. Therefore, it could be argued that climate change should now be a primary lens through which cultural heritage conservation and management are viewed. We argue that addressing the growing and compounding risks and impacts of climate change requires a fundamental rethink and transformation of cultural heritage management and policy. In this article, we propose a climate‐smart cultural heritage (CSCH) approach that captures the notion that climate adaptation can be developed and implemented within the heritage sector to simultaneously reduce the impacts of changing climate and variability on tangible and intangible cultural heritage and provide co‐benefits for climate change mitigation while also enhancing human security at different spatial scales. The CSCH is an integrated approach to implementing forward‐looking and transformative cultural heritage management and policy and is not a new set of practices to be advocated to cultural heritage stakeholders and decision‐makers. Findings also demonstrate that institutional mechanisms such as multi‐stakeholder planning, increased awareness of the economic, social, and environmental benefits of diverse cultural heritage, improved cross‐sectoral coordination and communication, strong political will for transformative approaches, and investments in CSCH are necessary for implementation of CSCH. This article is categorized under:Climate, History, Society, Culture > Disciplinary PerspectivesThe Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Climate Science and Decision MakingIntegrated Assessment of Climate Change > Assessing Climate Change in the Context of Other Issues [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aggressive behaviour is thought to have significant consequences for fitness, sexual selection and the evolution of social interactions, but studies measuring its expression across successive encounters—both intra‐ and intersexual—are limited. We used the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus to evaluate factors affecting repeatability of male aggression and its association with mating success. We quantified focal male aggression expressed towards partners and received from partners in three successive, paired trials, each involving a different male partner. We then measured a proxy of focal male fitness in mating trials with females. The likelihood and extent of aggressive behaviour varied across trials, but repeatability was negligible, and we found no evidence that patterns of focal aggression resulted from interacting partner identity or prior experience. Males who consistently experienced aggression in previous trials showed decreased male mating 'efficiency'—determined by the number of females a male encountered before successfully mating, but the effect was weak and we found no other evidence that intrasexual aggression was associated with later mating success. During mating trials, however, we observed unexpected male aggression towards females, and this was associated with markedly decreased male mating efficiency and success. Our findings suggest that nonadaptive aggressive spillover in intersexual mating contexts could be an important but underappreciated factor influencing the evolution of intrasexual aggression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetal sex prognostication has been a common practice in many human societies, yet most of the prognosticative methods do not perform better than chance. Why do these ineffective prognostication practices recur across societies and persist for long periods of time? In this article, we use historical texts of four different genres in traditional China (oracle bone inscriptions, dynastic history, encyclopedia, and local gazetteers) to examine the social and cognitive factors that lead to the overestimation of the predictive accuracy of sex prognostication and place fetal sex prognostication into a more general framework to understand the persistence of ineffective cultural practices. In particular, we present a detailed historical analysis showing that individuals often entertain considerable uncertainty regarding the accuracy of sex prognostication and quantitative data demonstrating a significant bias toward selectively reporting successes in (fictionalized) historical texts. We conclude by discussing how such reporting bias combined with humans' imperfect information processing may help explain the persistence of ineffective technologies, such as divination, and magic in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social learning is widespread in the animal kingdom and is involved in behaviours from navigation and predator avoidance to mate choice and foraging. While social learning has been extensively studied in group‐living species, this article presents a literature review demonstrating that social learning is also seen in a range of non‐grouping animals, including arthropods, fishes and tetrapod groups, and in a variety of behavioural contexts. We should not be surprised by this pattern, since non‐grouping animals are not necessarily non‐social, and stand to benefit from attending to and responding to social information in the same ways that group‐living species do. The article goes on to ask what non‐grouping species can tell us about the evolution and development of social learning. First, while social learning may be based on the same cognitive processes as other kinds of learning, albeit with social stimuli, sensory organs and brain regions associated with detection and motivation to respond to social information may be under selection. Non‐grouping species may provide useful comparison taxa in phylogenetic analyses investigating if and how the social environment drives selection on these input channels. Second, non‐grouping species may be ideal candidates for exploring how ontogenetic experience of social cues shapes the development of social learning, allowing researchers to avoid some of the negative welfare implications associated with raising group‐living animals under restricted social conditions. Finally, while non‐grouping species may be capable of learning socially under experimental conditions, there is a need to consider how non‐grouping restricts access to learning opportunities under natural conditions and whether this places a functional constraint on what non‐grouping animals actually learn socially in the wild. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of People & Nature is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Issues: Numerous studies have explored alcohol consumption in pregnancy, but less is known about women's drinking in the early parenting period (EPP, 0–5 years after childbirth). We synthesise research related to three questions: (i) How are women's drinking patterns and trajectories associated with socio‐demographic and domestic circumstances?; (ii) What theoretical approaches are used to explain changes in consumption?; (iii) What meanings have been given to mothers' drinking? Approach: Three databases (Ovid‐MEDLINE, Ovid‐PsycINFO and CINAHL) were systematically searched. Citation tracking was conducted in Web of Science Citation Index and Google Scholar. Eligible papers explored mothers' alcohol consumption during the EPP, focusing on general population rather than clinical samples. Studies were critically appraised and their characteristics, methods and key findings extracted. Thematic narrative synthesis of findings was conducted. Key Findings: Fourteen quantitative and six qualitative studies were identified. The (sub)samples ranged from n = 77,137 to n = 21 women. Mothers' consumption levels were associated with older age, being White and employed, not being in a partnered relationship, higher education and income. Three theoretical approaches were employed to explain these consumption differences: social role, role deprivation, social practice theories. By drinking alcohol, mothers expressed numerous aspects of their identity (e.g., autonomous women and responsible mothers). Implications and Conclusion: Alcohol‐related interventions and policies should consider demographic and cultural transformations of motherhood (e.g., delayed motherhood, changes in family structures). Mothers' drinking should be contextualised carefully in relation to socio‐economic circumstances and gender inequalities in unpaid labour. The focus on peer‐reviewed academic papers in English language may limit the evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant multi‐centennial climate oscillations have been documented in a number of well‐dated climate records across the Holocene epoch and left various imprints in human cultural history. In this study, we developed speleothem δ13C, δ18O, trace elements, and lamina thickness records from the Yunnan‐Guizhou Plateau (YGP). Our high‐resolution and precisely dated records show a significant ∼550‐yr cycle as the dominant pattern of regional temperature and vegetation variations between ∼5,870 and ∼3,670 years ago. The phase analyses of the 550‐yr cycles among our speleothem records, other Northern Hemisphere climate records, solar activity index, and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) variations suggest that this climate cycle has a large spatial extent, and may be causally linked to the AMOC changes through coupled oceanic‐atmospheric processes. Additionally, the first cold phase of the ∼550‐yr cycle in our records coincides with the major cultural development on the YGP at ∼5,500–5,000 years ago, suggesting a critical relationship between climate and prehistorical cultural changes in the region. Plain Language Summary: This study presents precisely dated speleothem isotope and lamina thickness records, which shows a ∼550‐yr periodicity of vegetation and temperature changes between ∼5,870 and ∼3,670 years ago in the Yunnan‐Guizhou Plateau (YGP), southwestern China. The phase analyses between our records and other Northern Hemisphere climate records suggest that these climate cycles have a large spatial scale in Northern Hemisphere and may be linked to the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation changes through coupled oceanic‐atmospheric processes. Besides, the records show that a cold phase during ∼5,500–5,000 years ago coincided with the period of development of YGP Neolithic production tools, suggesting a critical role of climate change in the prehistorical cultural evolution in the region. Key Points: A significant multi‐centennial temperature and vegetation oscillation of ∼550‐yr cycles occurred between ∼5,870 and ∼3,670 years ago in the Yunnan‐Guizhou Plateau (YGP)The climate cycles were likely linked to the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variation through coupled oceanic‐atmospheric processesThe first cold phase of the ∼550‐yr cycles in our records coincided with a change of population and major cultural transform in the YGP at ∼5,500–5,000 years ago, implying a critical role of climate change and resource shortage in the prehistorical cultural evolution in the region [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edge intelligence (EI) is recognized by academia and industry as one of the key emerging technologies for future cyber‐physical‐social systems (CPSS), which provides the ability to analyze data at edge rather than sending it to the cloud for analysis, and will be a key enabler to realize a world of a trillion hyper‐connected smart sensing devices. As a part of future CPSS, online social networks are large‐scale complex networks that consist of a large number of network nodes and links. The dynamic discovery of communities, especially overlapping communities, is important to understand the evolution of online social networks. However, traditional community discovery algorithms cannot effectively discover overlapping communities in social networks. In order to address this challenge, an edge intelligence‐enabled dynamic overlapping community discovery and evolution prediction model (EIDEP) is proposed in this article. This model encompasses a label propagation algorithm based extension (LPAE) algorithm, which is able to efficiently discover the user community structures in online social networks. Based on the LPAE community discovery algorithm, a user interest behavior based evolution prediction (UIBEP) algorithm is incorporated in our EIDEP model in order to realize a fast yet accurate community evolution for online social networks, by considering the interest similarity of unlinked nodes in a given community. The performance of our proposed LPAE and UIBEP models is validated and evaluated against notable state‐of‐the‐art community discovery algorithms, through extensive experiments conducted based on a Twitter dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we integrate cultural evolutionary theory with empirical research from developmental psychology, cultural anthropology, and primatology to explore the role of peer learning in the development of complex instrumental skills and behavioral norms. We show that instrumental imitation, contingent teaching, generative collaboration, and selective copying contribute to domain‐specific transmission of knowledge between peers. Stages of development and characteristics inherent to the learner and model influence how and when children learn from each other. Peer learning is persistent across societies despite cultural beliefs that favor adult–child transmission in some settings. Comparative research hints at the possibility that children's greater motivation to interact with and learn from each other may set humans apart from other primates. We conclude by outlining avenues for future research, including how individual characteristics and developmental changes in social networks, motivation, and cognition may contribute to cultural evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies methodological relationalism, leaning on a pragmatist theory of action of classical Deweyan origin, supplemented among other things with Alva Noë's enactivism, to analyze the development of communication technologies as a part of human cultural evolution. Tool‐use and technologies are understood as skillful human activities that form hubs of organized activity in developed human communities. Appreciating the quite slow pace of evolution, the article adopts, all told, a two million year time frame. Six epochs of cultural evolution are distinguished, linked to the introduction of communication tools and technologies as skillful human activities that serve the members of growing communities in the ecological niche at hand. The first two epochs arose from forms of communication serving local, small‐sized hunter‐gatherer bands; the second couple arose with technologies apt for building nation‐wide communities and culture; and the latest two have been propelled by global communication networks, having an impact on billions of people. Finally, certain peculiarities of the presently unfolding World Wide Web epoch, connected in particular to this era's exceptionally efficient behavior modification, are compared with earlier epochs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All Epiponini wasps are polygynic, with multiple queens alternating over the colony cycle. There are several potential queens in the early stages of this cycle, but as it progresses, the number of queens is reduced. Because most individuals remain reproductively totipotent, there is great potential for conflicts over reproduction. Workers could have an advantage in controlling queen production because they are much more numerous than queens. Nevertheless, the queen selection process is little known for Epiponini. For this reason, we aimed to study the behaviour of queens and workers during queen selection in multiple species of Epiponini, integrate information from previous behavioural studies, and perform a comparative analysis to interpret changes evolutionarily. We conducted observations on nine species belonging to five genera: Brachygastra, Chartergellus, Metapolybia, Polybia and Protopolybia. Females were individually marked to make direct and video observations. Queen production was artificially induced. A total of 28 behaviours related to queen selection were identified. The most aggressive interactions between castes, such as bite and dart, were lost in the major lineages of Epiponini. Bending display I is an ancient behaviour used as the main dominance display. Behaviours exhibited by workers to test queen status arose in the common ancestor of the Epiponini and are not shared by other polistine wasps. Consequently, the act of workers testing queen status probably was present in the Epiponini ancestor. Ritualized test display and dominance behaviours are used in Epiponini as honest signals of the queen's reproductive potential instead of aggressive behaviours. Caste flexibility had already been suggested as the ground plan for Epiponini and is herein discussed as decisive for colony survival of swarm wasps, because it allows colonies to respond efficiently to different situations that may eventually arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Darwin thought that the moral sense was among the most challenging aspects of human life to account for through evolutionary explanations. This article seeks to probe the question about human uniqueness primarily from a theological perspective by focusing in depth on one distinctive moral sentiment, gratitude, particularly in the thought of Thomas Aquinas. It uses that example as a case study about how to consider the validity of arguments for human uniqueness within the broader compass of the cultural evolution of sociality and morality within the human sciences, including evolutionary anthropology. Further questions about the evolution of religion surface in this discussion since gratitude, from a theological perspective, necessarily includes gratitude to God as a fundamental aspect of religious faith and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial and social behaviour are fundamental aspects of an animal's biology, and their social and spatial environments are indelibly linked through mutual causes and shared consequences. We define the 'spatial–social interface' as intersection of social and spatial aspects of individuals' phenotypes and environments. Behavioural variation at the spatial–social interface has implications for ecological and evolutionary processes including pathogen transmission, population dynamics, and the evolution of social systems. We link spatial and social processes through a foundation of shared theory, vocabulary, and methods. We provide examples and future directions for the integration of spatial and social behaviour and environments. We introduce key concepts and approaches that either implicitly or explicitly integrate social and spatial processes, for example, graph theory, density‐dependent habitat selection, and niche specialization. Finally, we discuss how movement ecology helps link the spatial–social interface. Our review integrates social and spatial behavioural ecology and identifies testable hypotheses at the spatial–social interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human experience of survival from a plague is about distinguishing the sick from the healthy as quickly as possible, establishing a barrier to stop the infection, and protecting healthy people. Nevertheless, the various quarantine rules and the acceptance and compliance of the population are a kind of battle between policy implementers and the public. This paper tries to understand how Chinese cultural attitudes (Henderson, 1984) unconsciously influence the Chinese people to be most cooperative with the strict containment and quarantine measures to confront the COVID‐19 pandemic. This article begins with the Chinese characters, exemplified by the four characters of disease and plague, to discuss how the pictograph nature and spatial structural way profoundly shaped the cultural mind. Then, through plague‐related Chinese legends, stories and folklore, the paper sets out the Chinese cultural attitudes which are also manifested in the analogical associations between disease, plague and seasons, the balance of the five elements of the universe and ghosts, gods and the government bureaucrats in the Kingdom of the Heaven. All of these approaches are well in line with Jung's method of associative amplification as a way to locate the archetypal wisdom that assures survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metaverse has been going viral across the globe, and virtual reality head‐mounted displays (VR‐HMDs) as the basic infrastructure and entrance to cater to this evolution of social interaction are showing rapid development recently. Pancake optics based on optical path folding provides the feasibility of VR‐HMDs in the form of glasses and is wide recognition. The pancake system has become the current mainstream owing to its large exit pupil diameter (EPD), high resolution, novel compact, and lightweight. Owing to the use of polarization elements, the birefringence in the lens will change the polarization state of the light, resulting in uneven brightness and stray light, seriously reducing the optical performance of the system, so it is necessary to control the birefringence of the lens. In this study, we proposed a pancake system based on a 2.1‐inch LCD display which achieves 10 mm EPD at 11 mm, diagonal field of view (FOV) of 96°, overall length (OAL) of the system less than 20 mm, and support diopter adjustment from ‐7D to ‐1D. The residual birefringence of the lens can be effectively suppressed in four stages: 1) controlling the thickness ratio between the center and the edge of the lens during the optical design, 2) setting a reasonable position and size of the injection gate and cooling system during the mold design process, 3) adopting reasonable injection parameters during the precision injection molding process and 4) eliminating the birefringence of the lens with the lens annealing process. Ultra‐precision machining and correction of the mold cores have been employed to achieve high surface accuracy and low birefringence of the lens. The optomechanical design, assembly, and adjustment process are discussed. Finally, the prototype of the pancake system is experimentally tested, and the results demonstrate pretty well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Analytical Psychology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While multiple studies have applied cultural evolutionary perspectives to the study of religion, few studies have examined the cultural evolutionary dynamics of a more secretive but equally ubiquitous form of supernatural belief: magic. We conducted two studies, an American nationally representative survey and a comparative phylogenetic analysis of religious traditions, to test three hypothesized cultural evolutionary drivers for beliefs in magic. We find the greatest support for the hypothesis that magic is employed when it provides its users benefits that are distinct from those provided by either science or religion, some support for secularization (broadly conceived) trends applying to magic, and no evidence that innate and unavoidable features of human cognition are primary drivers of the cultural evolution of magical beliefs. We conclude by suggesting specific hypothesized benefits for magic that may account for the evolution of humanity's facultative (i.e., context‐dependent) use of magical beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]