I imagine this study of the genetic contribution to academic achievement will be of interest to many in higher education. As I see it, there are actually two related but distinct takeaways from this research. The first is that academic achievement (as measured by a standardized university entrance test; insert all the necessary caveats) is based on factors like "motivation, personality, [and] confidence" independent of intelligence/IQ. While hardly a surprising result, it's a point that warrants reinforcement. As the … [Read more...] about Science Corner: SAT, GRE… DNA?
genetics
Science in Review: The Binary Language of Moisture Vaporators
I don't know if you've heard, but rumor has it that the God of the Old Testament is a pretty angry deity. He can't go 5 pages without punishing someone for something, preferably via smiting. And with so many rules, it's no wonder that the Israelites run afoul of them so frequently. If you can manage to actually read through all the laws, though, you might get the impression that God is more than smoter-in-chief. He demonstrates considerable concern for the disadvantaged, for example. One particular provision stood … [Read more...] about Science in Review: The Binary Language of Moisture Vaporators
Science in Review — July 2013
This is the third post in an ongoing series on the topic of biology and sexual orientation. Having dealt with what I felt were some necessary preliminaries, we now turn our attentions to the main questions about the biological mediation of sexual orientation, starting with issues of genetics and heritability. To what extent is sexual orientation passed from parent to child, and how much of that inheritance can be attributed to genes? Since we are restricting ourselves to human studies, that limits the kinds of … [Read more...] about Science in Review — July 2013