Category: Science

A Lesson in How NOT to Draw Incidence Maps

I’m sure most of you know about the Ebola outbreak that is occurring in West Africa, particularly at the tripoint of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. I was alerted to an article in the New York Times recently which had a sort of incidence map of the areas in which there were confirmed and suspected… Continue reading A Lesson in How NOT to Draw Incidence Maps

What Causes Altruism? Positive Assortment

The question of altruistic acts poses a serious question in the field of evolutionary biology. Altruism occurs when an individual does an act which gives benefit to others at a cost to itself. Natural selection, on the other hand, states that the traits which give an individual the greatest benefit are the ones that will spread… Continue reading What Causes Altruism? Positive Assortment

War of Attrition: When There Is No End in Sight

A couple weeks ago, I went over the concept of the Hawk-Dove evolutionary model. This time, I plan to look at another Maynard-Smith derived model, namely the War of Attrition. Most people know the phrase by the actual model of warfare, where one side continues to hammer against the opponent regardless of its own losses… Continue reading War of Attrition: When There Is No End in Sight

Hawk-Dove: Evolutionary Game Theory in a Nutshell

Sorry about the absence last week. I fell ill and was unable to write anything for that week. This post was originally supposed to appear last Monday. Prisoner’s Dilemma. Battle of the Sexes. Chicken. Matching Pennies. Stag Hunt. Rock, Paper, Scissors. All the various types of auctions. I have just listed before me a series… Continue reading Hawk-Dove: Evolutionary Game Theory in a Nutshell