john hawks weblog

paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

energy

  • Anthropology 105, lecture 13: Milk

    Mon, 2012-04-09 12:27 -- John Hawks
    Synopsis: 
    A lecture on energy expenditure, costs of pregnancy and lactation, and lactase

    Technical issues caused me to miss lecture 12, which was about metaphyses and the growth of the skeleton, as cues for life history evolution.

    Lecture 13 went into "Milk" as a topic. Lactase persistence comes in at the end as a case of gene-culture coevolution. Most of the lecture covers the concept of energy expenditure, including sex differences in basal metabolic rate and energy expenditure and the energy demands of pregnancy and lactation.

    Study questions: 
    • As humans have come to supplement infant feeding with sources other than breast milk, how has that affected energy expenditure?
    • Does the energy allocation to reproduction explain the difference in energy expenditure between males and females?
    • Are there other kinds of foods that we have special adaptations to digest?
    Study terms: 
    sexual dimorphism
    energy expenditure
    basal metabolic rate
    resting metabolic rate
    lactation
    gestation
    Tags: 
    lactase
    energy
    metabolism

  • Go nuclear!

    Thu, 2008-06-12 23:32 -- John Hawks

    My undergraduate alma mater is Kansas State University. Last night, a tornado tore through the campus, damaging many buildings where my friends and I had classes, but thankfully not injuring anyone:

    Cardwell Hall, Burt Hall and the engineering complex were all damaged. Ward Hall, the home to K-State's nuclear reactor, was damaged. Staff has already covered the roof to protect the reactor, which officials say remains safe and unharmed. University cars were overturned and trees uprooted too.

    Yes, in Kansas last night, a tornado hit a nuclear reactor. And there was no incident, no apparent danger, everything handled properly. I think that's a good reminder that things can be engineered safely. Good work, K-State!

    Tags: 
    disasters
    energy
    science
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Neandertals

For years, I've worked on their bones. Now I'm working on their genes. Read more about the science studying these ancient people.

Denisova

From a finger bone of an ancient human came the record of a completely unexpected population. My lab is working on the science of the Denisova genome.

Acceleration

The advent of agriculture caused natural selection to speed up greatly in humans. We're uncovering some of the ways that populations have rapidly changed during the last 10,000 years.

Malapa

Just outside Johannesburg, the Malapa site is producing some of the most exciting finds in human evolution. This site is the headquarters of the Malapa Soft Tissue Project.