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Luke Glowacki

@lukeglowacki.bsky.social
873 followers 811 following 70 posts

Anthropologist at Boston University. PI Human Systems and Behavior Lab. Co-Director of the Omo Valley Research Project.

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Reposted by Luke Glowacki
Robert Böhm @robertboehm.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
🚨NEW PUBLICATION🚨 in @cp-iscience.bsky.social l together with @lukeglowacki.bsky.social, @hannesrusch.bsky.social and Isabel Thielmann: “Untangling altruism and parochialism in human intergroup conflict” doi.org/10.1016/j.is... (1/7)
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Thanks Ed!
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Omo Valley Research Project @omovalleyresearchproject.org · 17/11/2025
Meet Uri. One of the first Hamar women to reach university, and she’s doing it with an OVRP scholarship. Her journey shows what a small amount of support can unlock. Read her story and see how you can help other students take the same step. 🔗 eepurl.com/jsefIY
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Sheina Lew-Levy @sheinalew.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
@durhampsych.bsky.social current has 5 (FIVE!!) PhD studentships being advertised! 3 to work with me on children as agents of cultural evolution 2 to work with @drboothroyd.bsky.social on examining school-based body image interventions. Please share and apply! www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...
durham.ac.uk
Fees and Funding - Durham University
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Eli Stark-Elster @eselster.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Graduate school is hard, because sometimes it requires you to explain the word “boofing” to your grandparents. Context below! open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...
open.substack.com
I Do Not Recommend Boofing Plants
Notes from the Field #1
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Eli Stark-Elster @eselster.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Yes, I’m serious. But don’t get mad until you’ve read the piece! Ft. recommendations for work by @edhagen.net , @lukeglowacki.bsky.social , Will Buckner and others. open.substack.com/pub/unpublis...
open.substack.com
Andrew Tate is right about masculinity
We don’t need a Joe Rogan of the Left. We need a liberal 12 Rules for Life.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
"Unquestionably step forward"? How about instead thinking about how we got to this point and then trying learn from it to design policies that promote diversity, advance science, and improve the credibility of our institutions? Not more of the same: bigotry, group think, and censoriousness.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
Now might be the time to rethink how the policies of the past ten years have been disastrous for eroding the credibility of science. Diversity makes science better, but DEI has alienated a huge percentage of the public and led to an anti-scientific backlash.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Whatever your position about sex as binary or not, this is a fantastically stimulating discussion, enough so it inspired me to buy the book.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
I'm excited to share that my wife's book, The Mind Electric, is out! She's a brilliant neurologist and weaves together patient stories exploring the human mind. I read it and it's fantastic. If you r interested in the mind, culture, & how we make meaning, check it out! www.amazon.com/Mind-Electri...
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Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
Projectile weapon injuries in the Riparo Tagliente burial (Veneto, Italy) provide early evidence of Late Upper Paleolithic intergroup conflict www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Projectile weapon injuries in the Riparo Tagliente burial (Veneto, Italy) provide early evidence of Late Upper Paleolithic intergroup conflict - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Projectile weapon injuries in the Riparo Tagliente burial (Veneto, Italy) provide early evidence of Late Upper Paleolithic intergroup conflict
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Thanks Ed!
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Nature @nature.com · 29/05/2025
Most proteins are left-handed, but scientists have found an ancient molecule that works in both mirror-image forms go.nature.com/4mCImRm
go.nature.com
Rare ‘ambidextrous’ protein breaks rules of handedness
Most proteins are left-handed, but scientists have found an ancient molecule that works in both mirror-image forms.
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Human Behavior & Evolution Society @humbehevosoc.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
If you haven't checked out the list of talks for #HBES2025, it's available online: stockton.edu/human-behavi... Lots of great talks and plenaries coming!
stockton.edu
HBES - 36th Annual Human Behavior & Evolution Society Conference - Human Behavior & Evolution Society Conference | Stockton University
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Edouard Machery @edouardmachery.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
History and Philosophy of Science under attack
dailynous.com
University of Utah Cans History and Philosophy of Science Major Amidst Political and Administrative Chaos - Daily Nous
One way public universities in Utah can earn back part of the $60 million in funding that the state legislature took from their budgets is by "showing that [the funds] will be reallocated for high-dem...
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Good point, i didn't think about this interpretation.
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Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Halting NIH foreign awards means that “more children and adults in low-income countries will now lose their lives because of research that didn’t get done about diseases like malaria and TB.” Plus: sometimes we collect data abroad about a scientific concern that affects all humans, including us!
nature.com
Exclusive: NIH to suspend funds for research abroad as it overhauls policy
Move by US biomedical agency threatens thousands of projects on infectious diseases, cancer and more.
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Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Is there really no correlation between cancer prevalence and lifespan and body size across species, as there should be? The apparent lack of an effect of body mass and lifespan on cancer became known as Peto’s paradox. But it turns out there is indeed a correlation. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
Human and chimpanzee foot. We really are born to run (or walk).
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
Interesting post on philosophy over at Marginal Revolution. Philosophers, I'd love to hear your thoughts. marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
This is a fantastic interview with @chrisbstringer.bsky.social. Wide ranging, interesting, and I learned some stuff. Imagine if the LCA of humans and Neanderthals dated to a million years ago! That may just be the case.
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Ed Hagen @edhagen.net · 08/04/2025
TIL that measles can infect and persist in the brain, and then (rarely) FIVE TO TEN YEARS LATER, kills you. There are no effective treatments. Vaccination against measles obviously prevents this 🧪 journals.plos.org/plospathogen...
Acute viral infections are typically cleared by the host’s innate and adaptive immune responses, but even non-integrating RNA viruses can persist [1,2]. Neurons of the central nervous system are a privileged location for persistence because the host cannot deploy the cytolytic and inflammatory defense mechanisms that control infections in renewable cell types [3,4]. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) provides the prime example of a persistent brain infection caused by a human RNA virus. SSPE, which occurs in about 1 in 10,000 individuals typically 5–10 years after they experience an acute infection as a child [5–7], starts with subtle signs of intellectual and psychological dysfunction and progresses to sensory and motor function deterioration that ultimately leads to death [8,9]. There are no effective treatments for SSPE, however nonspecific antivirals (interferons, ribavirin, and inosine pranobex) have been used [10]. Although vaccination against measles prevents SSPE, this lethal disease is resurging due to vaccine hesitancy and missed immunizations due to COVID-19 related disruptions [11,12].
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Rob Sica @robsica.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
"Cordelia has offered no strong hypothesis that explains the fact that, across time and place, men are more likely than women to decide to throw that punch... Killing off T-Rex entirely serves only to shoot ourselves in the foot"
aeon.co
A psychologist and biologist debate the significance of testosterone | Aeon Essays
In probing whether there are basic sex differences in humans, a psychologist and a biologist agree to seriously disagree
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
@aeon.co how about doing something similar on the origins of war? How deep is it and was it important in human evolution? I'd be happy to argue for the deep roots perspective.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
This is a great exchange in a format we need more of--longform written debate.
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Eli Stark-Elster @eselster.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Hello, Bluesky! Pleased to share that my first public-press article, on the shifting debate over what makes human culture unique, was published today in @us.theconversation.com. I review recent literature suggesting that cultural open-endedness, not cumulative culture, is our true defining trait.
theconversation.com
Humans aren’t the only animals with complex culture − but researchers point to one feature that makes ours unique
Animals can learn from each other, maintaining their cultures for long periods of time. What sets people apart may be the uniquely open-ended ways we invent new ideas and share and build on them.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
I have many of your books and can't wait till my kids are old enough to share your books with them.
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𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Incredibly, we are cutting back on ag research and services as the US--with more good farmland and quality ag infrastructure per person than any other nation--is on its way, incredibly, to becoming a net importer of food (something pointed out by a disbelieving @sarahtaber.bsky.social ).
Chart from USDA Economic Research Service shows that since 2021 agricultural exports have declined and imports have risen, so that we have, incredibly, a ~$20 billion negative trade balance in agriculture.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Loads of evidence of cooperation among women in small-scale societies cross-culturally. doi.org/10.1098/rstb...
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𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Fascinating @razibkhan.bsky.social column on new ancient-DNA work which gives us a glimpse of the matrilineal/matrifocal society of the ancient Celts -- a female-centered culture that was once thought to be a mythical creation.
razibkhan.com
Where Queens Ruled: ancient DNA confirms legendary Matrilineal Celts were no exception
Britain's Iron-Age mother-line
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Tim Waring @twaring.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Fully-funded PhD position on the cultural evolution of environmental management! Link evolution, ecology and behavioral science in the ACE Lab timwaring.info Details: forms.gle/gZWK9BpwYfoG... @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social @alexmesoudi.com @hyperadapthyrax.bsky.social @michael.muthukrishna.com
timwaring.info
ACE Lab: Applied Cultural Evolution Laboratory
culture, evolution, cooperation, and sustainability
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
This is a fantastic PhD opportunity!
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
I want to live in a world where science is funded no matter what party is in power. To do that, we need to ask how we got here and to reclaim the trust of the public. The answer is not more of the same.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
I think an important part of that process is trying to understand what’s going on in the mind of the notable percentage of people who think this is good, which is what i was trying to capture in my statement.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
My personal opinion is that what’s happening to NSF/ NIH is disastrous & going to set US science institutions back for a very long time. The only way I see that they will ever recover is if science gains the credibility it once had, & that requires scientists and our orgs being more thoughtful.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Their statements are clearly very thoughtfully written, but imo still don’t have enough of a perspective. I liked the Leakey statement which acknowledged the situation without making something more of it.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
I will also add that my current institution has been much more tolerant of diverse ideas than many other places i have been at or have insights about from colleagues.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
I think the vibe shift started prior to the election, i actually think it was shortly after 10/7 when i noticed people being more free to speak up when they have different opinions.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
I was going to publish something relatively benign a few years ago about the complexities of land acknowledgements in the US and a colleague warned me they would "slaughter me like a pig"
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Everyone's experiences are different and depts/ unis differ but the prior ten years have been extremely censorious in US higher ed. As a person w/o tenure or who is on the job market, even this relatively benign criticism could sink your chances. Of course, it wouldn't be explicit.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
I don't follow you. If you have a critique of my claims, feel free to share them. I don't understand what you are saying here.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
I guess there's no room for reasoned discussion and clearly only one way to interpret current events. That sounds very reasonable. I'm open to hear your argument but please stop with the god-like pronouncements.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
The solution is to 1) understand why this attack on our scientific institutions is happening; 2) work to demonstrate that whatever those reasons may be, they are no longer valid; 3) Demonstrate science is not partisan is valuable.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
I'm not sure what you mean by putting myself in a losing position. I want science to be stronger and accessible to all. I think the politicization of science has been disastrous and led to much of the current crisis.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
drive.google.com/file/d/1OvYZ...
drive.google.com
CES_stand_w_science.pdf
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Today the Cultural Evolution Society and @ehbea.bsky.social sent letters about the current attacks on scientific institutions. Imo, both were unnecessarily politicized. Here is my response, link below. FWIW, I’m glad the vibe has shifted and I can post this without worrying for my job.
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Luke Glowacki @lukeglowacki.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
"In anthropology, as elsewhere, progress will never result from destroying what has been previously achieved but rather from incorporating the past of our science into its present and future, enriching the one with the other and turning the whole process into a lasting reality." Lévy-Strauss
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Rob Sica @robsica.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
"The ethnographic evidence is overwhelming that many foragers sometimes had intergroup coalitionary killings... Based on this body of evidence, I infer that intergroup coalitionary killings were likely to have occurred during the Pleistocene"
sciencedirect.com
Robust evidence that mobile hunter-gatherers participated in war: Comment on Fry (2025)
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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 25/02/2025
we just posted the Expanded Natural History of Song Discography, a corpus of audio & metadata. 1007 songs in many languages, for behavioral experiments, cross-cultural research, etc preprint: osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/d2ftg_v1 corpus: zenodo.org/records/14927216 led by @milabertolo.bsky.social 1/
The Expanded Natural History of Song Discography, aglobal corpus of vocal music

[author list]

AbstractA comprehensive cognitive science requires broad sampling of human behavior to justify general inferencesabout the mind. For example, the field of psycholinguistics relies on a rich history of comparative study, withmany available resources that systematically document many languages. Surprisingly, despite a longstandinginterest in questions of universality and diversity, the psychology of music has few such resources. Here,we report theExpanded Natural History of Song Discography, an open-access corpus of vocal music (n=1007 song excerpts), with accompanying metadata detailing each song’s region of origin, language (of 413languages represented here), and one of 10 behavioral contexts (e.g., work, storytelling, mourning, lullaby,dance). The corpus is designed to sample both broadly, with a large cross-section of societies and languages;and deeply, with many songs representing three well-studied language families (Atlantic-Congo, Austronesian,and Indo-European). This design facilitates direct comparison of musical and vocal features across cultures,principled approaches to sampling stimuli for experiments, and evaluation of models of the cultural evolutionof song. In this paper we describe the corpus and provide two proofs of concept, demonstrating its utility. Weshow that (1) the acoustical forms of songs are predictive of their behavioral contexts, including in previouslyunstudied contexts (e.g., children’s play songs); and (2) similarities in acoustic content of songs across culturesare predictable, in part, by the relatedness of those cultures.a figure from the paper with a world map, some phylogenetic trees, and a big heatmap
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