Exploring how community-based social norms evolve

Cooperation is a guiding principle of everyday life. It's as simple as following the rules of the road when driving or holding a door for a stranger; cooperation is a fundamental aspect of human societies and has long intrigued ...

New Study Eyes Evolution of Fairness and Punishment

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have long been puzzled by large societies in which strangers routinely engage in voluntary acts of kindness, respect and mutual benefit even though there is often an individual cost involved.

Key regulators for biofilm development discovered

They can be found everywhere -- organized communities of bacteria sticking to surfaces both inside and outside the body. These biofilms are responsible for some of the most virulent, antibiotic-resistant infections in humans; ...

Manakins, birds of tropical forests, cooperate for common goal

(PhysOrg.com) -- Leks, they're called, gatherings of males of certain animal species for competitive mating displays. But not every lek's members are competitors, scientists have learned. Some--birds called wire-tailed manakins, ...

Global networks must be redesigned, professor says

The increasing interdependencies between the world's technological, socio-economic, and environmental systems have the potential to create global catastrophic risks. We may have to redesign global networks, concludes Professor ...

Context-dependent behavior can make cooperation flourish

A person who is generous and caring at home may be cutthroat at work, striving to bring in the most sales or advance up a corporate management chain. In a similar vein, a self-centered neighbor may be a model of altruism ...

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