A new twist to the No Miracles Argument for the success of science

J. D. Trout has recently developed a new defense of scientific realism, a new version of the No Miracles Argument. I critically evaluate Trout's novel defense of realism. I argue that Trout's argument for scientific realism and the related explanation for the success of science are self-defeating. In the process of arguing against the traditional realist strategies for explaining the success of science, he inadvertently undermines his own argument.     

Bayesian inference of ancient human demography from individual genome sequences

Whole-genome sequences provide a rich source of information about human evolution. Here we describe an effort to estimate key evolutionary parameters based on the whole-genome sequences of six individuals from diverse human populations. We used a Bayesian, coalescent-based approach to obtain information about ancestral population sizes, divergence times and migration rates from inferred genealogies at many neutrally evolving loci across the genome. We introduce new methods for accommodating gene flow between populations and integrating over possible phasings of diploid genotypes. We also describe a custom pipeline for genotype inference to mitigate biases from heterogeneous sequencing technologies and coverage levels. Our analysis indicates that the San population of southern Africa diverged from other human populations approximately 108-157 thousand years ago, that Eurasians diverged from an ancestral African population 38-64 thousand years ago, and that the effective population size of the ancestors of all modern humans was ～9,000.     

蒲公英色素的提取及其理化性质的研究

文章以蒲公英花为原料提取了蒲公英黄色素,并对其理化性质和稳定性进行了研究.结果表明蒲公英黄色素用95%乙醇浸泡提取,提取率为6.7%.色素的水溶性好,对光、热、弱酸性至碱性介质及食品添加剂相当稳定,耐受一般的食品饮料加工条件.色素对氧化剂H_2O_2和还原剂NaHSO_3的耐受能力较弱.蒲公英黄色素是一种提取工艺简单、性质稳定、颜色鲜艳、价廉易得、来源充足的天然色素,可用于色糖果、面食品、果汁饮料、茶饮料、碳酸饮料及酒类.     

Scientific authorship in the age of collaborative research

I examine two challenges that collaborative research raises for science. First, collaborative research threatens the motivation of scientists. As a result, I argue, collaborative research may have adverse effects on what sorts of things scientists can effectively investigate. Second, collaborative research makes it more difficult to hold scientists accountable. I argue that the authors of multi-authored articles are aptly described as plural subjects, corporate bodies that are more than the sum of the individuals involved. Though journal editors do not currently conceive of the authors of multi-authored articles this way, this conception provides us with the conceptual resources to make sense of how collaborating scientists behave.     

玫瑰花色素的提取及其稳定性研究

文章以玫瑰花为原料提取了玫瑰花红色素,并对其理化性质和稳定性进行了研究。结果表明,玫瑰花红色素用95%乙醇浸泡提取,提取率为7.3%。色素的水溶性好,对光、热、弱酸性至弱碱性介质及食品添加剂相当稳定,耐受一般的食品饮料加工条件。色素对氧化剂H2O2的耐受能力较弱,而对还原剂N aHSO3则较为稳定。玫瑰花红色素是一种提取工艺简单、性质稳定、颜色鲜艳、价廉易得、来源充足的天然色素,可用于有色糖果、食品、果汁饮料、茶饮料及酒类。     

Proxy evidence for an El Niño-like response to volcanic forcing

Past studies have suggested a statistical connection between explosive volcanic eruptions and subsequent El Ni?o climate events. This connection, however, has remained controversial. Here we present support for a response of the El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon to forcing from explosive volcanism by using two different palaeoclimate reconstructions of El Ni?o activity and two independent, proxy-based chronologies of explosive volcanic activity from ad 1649 to the present. We demonstrate a significant, multi-year, El Ni?o-like response to explosive tropical volcanic forcing over the past several centuries. The results imply roughly a doubling of the probability of an El Ni?o event occurring in the winter following a volcanic eruption. Our empirical findings shed light on how the tropical Pacific ocean-atmosphere system may respond to exogenous (both natural and anthropogenic) radiative forcing.