• Anthro of cybersex
In an article on cyber-philandering, the Daily Beast mentions Helen Fisher, biological anthropologist in the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University. The explanation provided is biological: sexual arousal pumps up dopamine levels, and brain scans show that the more dopamine is present in the brain, the less blood flow reaches the part of the cortex associated with decision making. Blogger’s note: let’s try thinking about this issue a bit more and definitely beyond only dopamine. Readers, can you help, please?

• Anthro of autism
The Huffington Post carried an interview with Roy Richard Grinker, professor of cultural anthropology at George Washington University, on cross-cultural rates of autism and focusing on a recently published study that he co-authored about autism rates in South Korea.

• Endangered Australian rock art
Archaeologists are launching a campaign to save Australia’s indigenous rock paintings. Paul Tacon, professor of anthropology and archaeology at Griffith University in Queensland, comments that few Australians know or care much about Australian indigenous rock art, as compared to France or South Africa. Alistair Paterson, archaeology professor at the University of Western Australia, says, however, “The art is globally significant.” Aboriginal communities are involved in a project to digitize and store rock art images and will decide about public access to the images, given cultural laws about access only by initiated people.

• Washed-up hand-axe
An ancient hand-axe between 100,000-450,000 years old was found on an Orkney beach, Scotland. Orkney-based archaeologist Caroline Wickham-Jones, lecturer in archaeology at the University of Aberdeen, is quoted as saying that the axe’s discovery is “incredibly exciting” and “pre-Ice Age.”

• Lean cuisine a la gorilla
The New York Times covered findings about the lean diet of our primate relatives, specifically gorillas. Jessica Rothman, an anthropologist at Hunter College of the City University of New York, and colleagues, studied mountain gorillas in Uganda. Apparently gorilla diets are in line with recommendations of the American Heart Association. Findings are published in the journal Biology Letters.

• Take that degree and do something with it
Here is an example of someone with a B.A. in anthropology who becomes a successful author. Darby Karchut earned a B.A. degree in anthropology from the University of New Mexico. She moved to Colorado and earned a Master’s in education and became a social studies teacher. Her first novel for teens, Griffin Rising, blends ancient myths with modern urban life.

• Kudos
Genevieve von Petzinger, Ph.D candidate in anthropology at the University of Victoria, is the only Canadian on the list of 20 new international fellows at the TEDGlobal Conference 2011 to be held in Edinburgh, Scotland. Von Petzinger earned international media attention last year with her interpretation of Ice Age cave designs based on a database she compiled of 5,000 designs from 146 caves in France.

Archaeologist, Richard Wright, emeritus professor at the University of Sydney, has been recognized for his work in this year’s Queens Birthday Honours List and is now a Member of the Order of Australia. Wright, who is semi-retired, has been a leader in the field of forensic archaeology. He helped reveal mass graves in France, Ukraine and Bosnia.

• Haiti earthquake and the politics of numbers
A new report containing revised statistics about deaths and displacement following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti created a media buzz this past week. The report was written by Timothy Schwartz, a cultural anthropologist, and commissioned by the United States Agency for International Development. Aid providers are concerned that the smaller numbers will provide an excuse for further delays in moving money committed in 2010 by major donor countries. Blogger’s note: even when the numbers were big, the big money didn’t move.

• Anthropology of perps
According to an article in Newsweek, one of the two lead detectives in the Special Victims Division of the New York Police Department working on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case is Alan Sandomir. Sandomir, whose undergraduate major was anthropology, says: “Doing this job is truly fighting the good fight.”

• Calling on volunteers for clean-up in Japan
An article in the Japan Times discusses the work of David Slater, associate professor of cultural anthropology at Sophia University, in promoting volunteer clean-up efforts in the Tohoku region. Slater is working with the American Chamber of Commerce and Peace Boat, a non-governmental organization. Slater emphasizes the importance of involving business people both as individuals and as part of corporate social responsibility.

• On the move: dealing with rural poverty in India
The Times of India quoted Govinda Reddy, professor of anthropology at Madras University, in an article about how men farmers increasingly commute to Chennai to work as drivers in order to compensate for declining incomes from farming. Reddy says: “The auto drivers earn according to city standards but spend only in a village economy.”

• Intel anthropology
BBC News interviewed cultural anthropologist Genevieve Bell about what it’s like to be a corporate anthropologist.

• Dunbar’s number again
Robin Dunbar, professor of biological anthropology at Oxford University, continues to attract media attention with his theory that a person cannot truly have more than 150 friends or, more generally, that human group solidarity maxes out over 150 people. In an interview with National Public Radio, he comments on Facebook overload and military organization, among other topics.

• Before match.com
A big media hit of the past week was a finding that among early human ancestors in Africa, around two million years ago, males stayed in place while females left their home areas to seek out a mate. The interpretation is that this pattern is advantageous to males as a way of defending their territory and maintaining access to known food sources. Blogger’s queries: Doesn’t it seem that when males are on the move, the story is that they are spatially smart and creative? But, when females are on the move, aren’t they more likely to be depicted as cast-out from their home territory and socially needy? Similarly, explaining stay-at-home males seems to generate a story of powerful holders of knowledge about food sources and protectors of territory. When females are the stay-at-home group, they are more likely to be depicted as dependent and lacking spatial skills. Hm.

• Tunnel of death
A newly-discovered 1,800 year-old tunnel below the ancient city of Teotihuacan, Mexico, likely leads to chambers containing the remains of rulers of one of the most influential cities of pre-Hispanic America, according to Sergio Gomez Chavez, an archaeologist at Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.

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