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Vivek V. Venkataraman

@vivek123.bsky.social
613 followers 349 following 132 posts

Biological anthropologist at the University of Calgary www.vivekvenkataraman.com

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Reposted by Vivek V. Venkataraman
Amanda Lea @amandalea.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
We're hiring TWO postdocs in the Lea Lab at Vanderbilt! 🧬🐒 Both positions are part of a new NIH U19 studying life course experiences, gene regulation, and aging in the Cayo rhesus macaques. More details here: www.vanderbilt.edu/postdoc/pros... Please share widely and reach out with any questions!
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This is a fabulous effort, congrats @vaclavhrncir.bsky.social !
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Václav Hrnčíř @vaclavhrncir.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I'm happy to share that our digital edition of Carneiro’s cross-cultural dataset has been published in Scientific Data 🎉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Carneiro’s global dataset of cultural traits in ethnographic and historical societies: a digital edition - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - Carneiro’s global dataset of cultural traits in ethnographic and historical societies: a digital edition
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
good stuff. going on the reading list for my course on small-scale societies!
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is great advice from @kensycoop.bsky.social -- for all stages of the scientific life!
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Reposted by Vivek V. Venkataraman
Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Faculty job open at U-Calgary vet school in tissue biomechanics: careers.ucalgary.ca/jobs/1827023...
careers.ucalgary.ca
Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Functional Tissue Biomechanics in Calgary, AB, ...
Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Functional Tissue Biomechanics in Calgary, AB, ...
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
well said....navigating the arbitrary boundaries of tri-council can be maddening!
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Check out our new paper, led by @amandalea.bsky.social, in PLoS Genetics: "Divergent biological consequences of APOE isoforms across industrialized and non-industrial environments." journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
A remembrance of Nick Blurton Jones, who passed away in June, written by Kristen Hawkes. anthro.utah.edu/news/nbj_aug...
anthro.utah.edu
remembering_nbj - Department of Anthropology - The University of Utah
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Ed Hagen @edhagen.net · 14/09/2026
"Violence was endemic in Neolithic Europe, sometimes reaching levels of intergroup hostilities that ended in the utter destruction of entire communities" 🧪 #BioAnth www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
pnas.org
Conflict, violence, and warfare among early farmers in Northwestern Europe | PNAS
Bioarchaeological evidence of interpersonal violence and early warfare presents important insights into conflict in past societies. This evidence i...
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
We are using these tools to probe health status and trends in the past through the use of photographs --- stay tuned!
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
We conclude: “Broader diversity in training data is essential for developing machine learning health tools that generalize reliably across human populations.”
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
We found that models perform best when trained on the population they’re applied to—but when that’s not possible, greater diversity in training data substantially improves performance.
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
To answer this, we used paired BMI measurements and facial photographs from four Indigenous populations: the Orang Asli of Malaysia, the Ju/’hoansi of Southern Africa, the Sama of the Philippines, and the Tsimane of Bolivia.
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Can computer vision models accurately estimate BMI from faces across diverse human populations? Check out our new preprint led by @lcdrgeordi.bsky.social! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Wendell Berry was simply the best. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/u...
nytimes.com
Wendell Berry, Writer Who Extolled America’s Agrarian Past, Dies at 92
A Kentucky farmer, he railed against agribusiness and championed small family farms and the environment, winning widespread acclaim.
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
"...contemporary scientific systems progressively constrain high-risk and conceptually innovative research while being increasingly structured around short funding cycles, productivity-based evaluation criteria and risk-averse frameworks..." www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Reposted by Vivek V. Venkataraman
Duncan Stibbard Hawkes @dstibbardhawkes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Extremely cool investigation of one of my least favourite creatures. I thought their status as non-disease vectors was their only saving grace. Not so, perhaps, as this study shows us.
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
yes a rather disappointing result! always saw them as harmless too...
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
a bit far afield for me, but my impression is that there isn't much info to be found on this.
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
We all know that land leeches are incredibly annoying. In our new paper, we ask: could they also transmit disease? Perhaps so, though local peoples do not seem to recognize them as disease vectors. academic.oup.com/trstmh/advan...
academic.oup.com
Ethno-etiology meets virology: land leeches (family: Haemadipsidae) as potential disease vectors
AbstractObjectives. Hematophagous terrestrial leeches are common in rainforest habitats and widely regarded as pests. Despite limited research, circumstant
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
how does cardiometabolic health differ btw villages and bush camps?
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Kathleen D. Reinhardt @kathleenreinhardt.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Our new paper is out today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B! How does rapid environmental change reshape human sleep, one of our most fundamental biological processes? 📄: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
doi.org
Recent lifestyle change impacts sleep and circadian rhythms among the Indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia
Abstract. Sleep disorders are rising globally, but their lifestyle causes remain unclear. We recorded sleep–wake patterns via actigraphy from 1039 Orang As
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Zach Garfield @zhgarfield.com · 04/08/2026
I’m now @grinnellcollege.bsky.social in Anthropology where I’ll be offering a series of new courses on human #evolutionary social #science & #biologicalanthropology and launching a new lab to support student research and expand my research program. 🧪 #HBES 🌾💎 #Grinnell
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Vivek V. Venkataraman @vivek123.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Congrats to Audrey for leading the way on this new paper exploring how we can best convey genetics concepts to communities!
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Ed Hagen @edhagen.net · 18/07/2026
The relationship between testosterone and grip strength, an index of physical formidability, in a representative sample of US adult men (point sizes are survey weights). 🧪
A scatterplot of combined grip strength (y-axis) vs. serum testosterone (x-axis) in 3498 US adult men (18-60) from NHANES 2011 - 2014. A polynomial smooth regression line is completely flat. Combined grip strength is the sum of grip strength in both hands. Point sizes are survey weights.
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Radical Anthropology @radicalanthro.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Ooh nice piece here on teenage girls as 'language disruptors' and innovators. And it's not mere centuries-old, back to Shakespeare's time. It will go right back to 'The Revolutionary Origins of Language' (Knight, Lewis, forthcoming) www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/t...
smithsonianmag.com
Teenage Girls Have Led Language Innovation for Centuries
They've been on the cutting edge of the English language since at least the 1500s
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Reposted by Vivek V. Venkataraman
Sheina Lew-Levy @sheinalew.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
theconversation.com/the-6-7-craz...
theconversation.com
The 6-7 craze offered a brief window into the hidden world of children
From Pig Latin to Punch Buggy, kids have long used nonsensical language, gestures and games to carve out cultures of their own.
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Reposted by Vivek V. Venkataraman
Dorsa Amir @dorsaamir.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
When we consider children in cultural evolution, we tend to cast them as recipients of adult culture. In our BBS target article, @sheinalew.bsky.social & I argued there's more: through 'peer cultures', children actively drive cultural adaptation. Our final paper + a rich set of responses is out now!
cambridge.org
Children as agents of cultural adaptation | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core
Children as agents of cultural adaptation - Volume 49
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Ed Hagen @edhagen.net · 05/07/2026
In her blogpost on the paper we jointly co-authored on the significance of Man the Hunter, Haneul does a better job explaining the significance of Man the Hunter than we did in our paper on the significance of Man the Hunter (if that makes any sense!). Check it out #BioAnth 🧪
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Duncan Stibbard Hawkes @dstibbardhawkes.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Haneul will be editing a double special issue for HGR, alongside @ceciliapad.bsky.social. The first issue will foster intergenerational dialogue and critical reflections while the second will put perspectives from local researchers in the spotlight. bsky.app/profile/hane...
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Duncan Stibbard Hawkes @dstibbardhawkes.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Wonderful blog here from Haneul which aptly expresses why so many hunter-gatherer experts, at different career stages and with very different research programmes and theoretical perspectives/commitments, felt compelled to collaborate on the Meaning of MTH paper.
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Haneul Jang @haneuljang.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Happy to have contributed to the latest HBES newsletter on our recent paper, The Meanings and Dividends of Man the Hunter, led by @vivek123.bsky.social I reflect on MTH through the lens of my research on Bayaka women's foraging & cooperation in the Congolese rainforest www.hbes.com/revisiting-m...
hbes.com
Revisiting Man the Hunter - HBES
– by Haneul Jang For decades, the phrase Man the Hunter has occupied a central place in discussions of human evolution. Today, however, the phrase sounds outdated, evoking a familiar image of men hunt...
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Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
The ethnographic record shows that women do hunt, sometimes for big game. Does that mean that 'Man the Hunter' was a myth all along? Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ @vivek123.bsky.social! Listen: disi.org/is-man-the-h...
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Ed Hagen @edhagen.net · 14/06/2026
1. Attempted cancellations of prominent scholars as proxy wars on ideas one doesn't like: the case of Margaret Mead...and a mea culpa 🧪 #AcademicSky
Margaret Mead with Samoan informants
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Pat Savage @patrickesavage.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
This is a great episode - fascinating paper and topic, and Kensy does a good job of pushing beyond the paper for some frank discussions about things like the responsibility of scientists for how academic research is (mis)represented in the popular consciousness.
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Kensy Cooperrider @kensycoop.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Really enjoyed this chat with @vivek123.bsky.social! We work through the history of Man the Hunter ideas, the current status of the evidence (archaeological, ethnographic, etc.), and three splashy recent "debunkings." Also, of course, some fun detours along the way.
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Marie Buhtz @mbuhtz.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Good episode
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Duncan Stibbard Hawkes @dstibbardhawkes.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
While I've seen both men and women building Hadza huts, much more often it is women (pictured). The sexual division of labour lit has zeroed in on hunting-vs-gathering; but much less is said about women's differential contributions to water-fetching, food-preparation, cooking, and house-building.
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Baylor Anthropology @bayloranthro.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
This podcast interview with Vivek Venkataraman (@vivek123.bsky.social) explores work coauthored by Baylor Anthropology's own @dstibbardhawkes.bsky.social. Well worth a listen!
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Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
This episode focuses on a paper by @vivek123.bsky.social and colleagues, 'The Meanings and Dividends of Man the Hunter,' available here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Commentaries on the article are available here: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...
sciencedirect.com
The Meanings and Dividends of Man the Hunter
The phrase Man the Hunter is associated with disparate meanings across communities of scholars, journalists, and the public, which has led to unnecess…
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Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
New episode!! 🎙️🎉 A conversation w/ @vivek123.bsky.social about Man the Hunter. The idea that male hunting propelled our evolution is old and contested. Yet it endures, especially in the popular imagination. Is it merely a "paleofantasy," or is there more to it? Listen: disi.org/is-man-the-h...
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Will @evolvingmoloch.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
The sexual division of labour regarding house construction shows a very consistent pattern cross-culturally: women usually construct the shelters in nomadic societies, while in sedentary societies men do it.
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Haneul Jang @haneuljang.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
💙 Call for contributions! 💙 To mark 60 years since the Man the Hunter conference (1966), Hunter Gatherer Research is curating a two-part special issue on “Lessons and Reflections from Hunter-Gatherer Research” www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/journal/hgr A thread on the two issues & formats👇
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Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias @ceciliapad.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
The first issue aims to curate a collection of reminiscences and interviews from senior hunter-gatherer scholars. The second will focus on local perspectives and hunter-gatherer voices, which have long been central to the production of knowledge but remain underrepresented in academic publication.
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Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias @ceciliapad.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
🚨NEW SPECIAL ISSUE SERIES OF HUNTER-GATHERER RESEARCH🚨Celebrating and critically reflecting on the history and methodologies of the field, co-edited by @haneuljang.bsky.social and I. More info, check the submissions page of our website: www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/journal/hgr or get in touch!
liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk
Hunter Gatherer Research Home
The journal encompasses social and cultural anthropology, applied research, archaeology, ecology, ethnography, ethnohistory, evolutionary anthropology, genetics, indigenous rights, and linguistics, and is an indispensable resource for anyone with a research or activist interest in hunter-gatherers.
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Ed Hagen @edhagen.net · 26/05/2026
The grandmother hypothesis is seen as the "feminist" version of human evolution, but if so it's a dark version. At its heart is the recognition that despite higher male mortality, menopause sharply restricted the pool of fertile women relative to fertile men👇 intensifying male-male competition 🧪🧵1/4
A plot showing that despite higher male mortality, the ratio of fertile men (18-60) to fertile women (18-40) is almost always greater than 1, and was probably around 1.4 to 1.5 fertile man per fertile women for life expectancies typical of hunter-gatherers.
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Kevin Hong @kevin-hong.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Why did many ancient civilizations believe the human body has 365 bones — one for each day of the year? My new paper in Evolution and Human Behavior explores the cognitive roots of "numerological correspondence." 👇 sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
The calendar in the body: Cognition, culture, and the allure of numerological correspondence
Human cultures frequently construct “numerological correspondences”—symbolic systems where discrete quantities in one domain are believed to mirror th…
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louisbachaud.bsky.social @louisbachaud.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
New Open Access study out in EvoDevo: link.springer.com/article/10.1... Some study findings below:
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Andra Meneganzin @andrameneganzin.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
👉Very happy to share a new preprint w/ Matteo Bedetti, forthcoming in Biology & Philosophy. We examine how evidential standards are negotiated in funerary #archaeology debates, using the Homo #naledi burial controversy as a case study in epistemological practice.🧪🏺 #evosky #philbio #philsky
philsci-archive.pitt.edu
Buried, or Maybe Not: Adherence to Evidential Standards in Paleoanthropology - PhilSci-Archive
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