As a field of anthropology, linguistic anthropologists are concerned with how language influences culture. This can include how language impacts social interactions, beliefs, cultural identity, and other important aspects of culture. Currently, linguistic anthropologists are particularly concerned with the issue of endangered languages. The main goal of linguistic anthropology, like the whole discipline of anthropology, is to better understand culture. A linguistic anthropologist could ask many questions, including:
Moritz J.S. Jochum, Frédéric S. Singa-Niatou, Crickette Sanz
et al.
Transmission of human respiratory pathogens to wild, human-habituated great apes has been repeatedly documented within research and tourism projects. While the implementation of hygiene measures has significantly reduced the risk of pathogen introduction, vigilant surveillance remains essential to evaluate the effectiveness of the adopted measures and identify additional steps for risk reduction. Here, we combined behavioral observations and pathogen genomic surveillance in non-invasive samples to investigate three outbreaks of respiratory disease in human-habituated western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) across four sites within the Sangha Trinational Protected Area Network in the northwestern Congo Basin. Clinical signs of respiratory disease were recorded in three groups of monitored gorillas at two neighboring National Parks in the Central African Republic and Republic of Congo. Human respiratory syncytial viruses were identified as the causative agent for all three documented outbreaks. Genomic analyses revealed two distinct viral types suggesting independent introduction rather than intergroup transmission. All symptomatic individuals recovered. These findings highlight the importance of stringent prevention measures at great ape research sites and the need for addressing the burden of respiratory disease in neighboring human communities. The evolving integrated approach centered on the One Health concept in the Sangha Trinational Protected Area Network is proving beneficial to great ape conservation, the preservation of this high-biodiversity landscape and the public health of local communities.
Theofanis P. Raptis, Chiara Boldrini, Marco Conti
et al.
The Metaverse is redefining digital interactions by merging physical, virtual, and social dimensions, yet its effects on social networking remain largely unexplored. This work examines the role of independent avatars (autonomous digital entities capable of managing social interactions on behalf of users), to optimize social time allocation and reshape Metaverse-based Online Social Networks. We propose a novel computational model that integrates a quantitative and realistic representation of user social life, grounded in evolutionary anthropology, with a framework for avatar-mediated interactions. Our model quantifies the effectiveness of a partial replacement of in-person interactions with independent avatar interactions. Additionally, it accounts for social conflicts and specific socialization constraints. We leverage our model to explore the benefits and trade-offs of an avatar-augmented social life in the Metaverse. Since the exact problem formulation leads to an NP-hard optimization problem when incorporating avatars into the social network, we tackle this challenge by introducing a heuristic solution. Through simulations, we compare avatar-mediated and non-avatar-mediated social networking, demonstrating the potential of independent avatars to enhance social connectivity and efficiency. Our findings provide a foundation for optimizing Metaverse-based social interactions, as well as useful insights for future digital social network design.
Understanding the distance between human languages is central to linguistics, anthropology, and tracing human evolutionary history. Yet, while linguistics has long provided rich qualitative accounts of cross-linguistic variation, a unified and scalable quantitative approach to measuring language distance remains lacking. In this paper, we introduce a method that leverages pretrained multilingual language models as systematic instruments for linguistic measurement. Specifically, we show that the spontaneously emerged attention mechanisms of these models provide a robust, tokenization-agnostic measure of cross-linguistic distance, termed Attention Transport Distance (ATD). By treating attention matrices as probability distributions and measuring their geometric divergence via optimal transport, we quantify the representational distance between languages during translation. Applying ATD to a large and diverse set of languages, we demonstrate that the resulting distances recover established linguistic groupings with high fidelity and reveal patterns aligned with geographic and contact-induced relationships. Furthermore, incorporating ATD as a regularizer improves transfer performance in low-resource machine translation. Our results establish a principled foundation for testing linguistic hypotheses using artificial neural networks. This framework transforms multilingual models into powerful tools for quantitative linguistic discovery, facilitating more equitable multilingual AI.
Structural approaches to myth and narrative are compelling in close reading but hard to compare across traditions, media, and scale. We propose a formal framework that renders Lévi-Straussian transformation as mathematics while remaining readable as narrative analysis. Variants, superhero continuities, and franchise arcs are modeled as typed rewrite programs on a coupled two-register state $(X,Y)$, abstracting an everyday/social channel and a symbolic/legitimation channel. The canonical formula becomes coherence data: a natural transformation $η:U\Rightarrow V$ between update endofunctors, where $U$ updates each register in place and $V$ performs a swap+inversion. Context is internalized by operator choice, turning naturality into a corpus-facing type check: failures diagnose mis-specified oppositions or illegal transport; successes witness coherent structural models. Order effects are summarized by a five-value invariant (Key). We apply the method to 80 narratives (20 folktales, 20 religious myths, 20 superheroes, 20 franchises), each encoded as $(a,b,x,y)$ with a Key. 59/80 (74\%) explicitly name a normative constraint in $y$ (law, taboo, contract, prophecy), supporting the two-register abstraction. The result is a testable bridge between structural anthropology and cultural analytics: stories remain interpretable yet become transportable objects for computation, comparison, and falsifiable constraints on transformation.
Tobias Heimann, Lara-Sophie Wähling, Tomke Honkomp
et al.
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is a crucial element in most modelling studies on emission pathways of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to limit global warming. BECCS can substitute fossil fuels in energy production and reduce CO _2 emissions, while using biomass for energy production can have feedback effects on land use, agricultural and forest products markets, as well as biodiversity and water resources. To assess the former pros and cons of BECCS deployment, interdisciplinary model approaches require detailed estimates of technological information related to BECCS production technologies. Current estimates of the cost structure and capture potential of BECCS vary widely due to the absence of large-scale production. To obtain more precise estimates, a global online expert survey ( N = 32) was conducted including questions on the regional development potential and biomass use of BECCS, as well as the future operating costs, capture potential, and scalability in different application sectors. In general, the experts consider the implementation of BECCS in Europe and North America to be very promising and regard BECCS application in the liquid biofuel industry and thermal power generation as very likely. The results show significant differences depending on whether the experts work in the Global North or the Global South. Thus, the findings underline the importance of including experts from the Global South in discussions on carbon dioxide removal methods. Regarding technical estimates, the operating costs of BECCS in thermal power generation were estimated in the range of 100–200 USD/tCO _2 , while the CO _2 capture potential was estimated to be 50–200 MtCO _2 yr ^−1 by 2030, with cost-efficiency gains of 20% by 2050 due to technological progress. Whereas the individuals’ experts provided more precise estimates, the overall distribution of estimates reflected the wide range of estimates found in the literature. For the cost shares within BECCS, it was difficult to obtain consistent estimates. However, due to very few current alternative estimates, the results are an important step for modelling the production sector of BECCS in interdisciplinary models that analyse cross-dimensional trade-offs and long-term sustainability.
The Southeast Asian monsoon is characterized by many features that are distinct from those of the East Asian monsoon, including monsoon intensity and evolution. They are also influenced differently by external factors and affect global climate in diverse ways. Studies that consider these factors should yield a better understanding of both monsoon components.
The Ishango Bone, a prehistoric artifact dated to approximately 20,000 years ago and discovered near the Semliki River in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, has intrigued researchers for the past 75 years. The artifact displays sixteen groups of notches arranged in three columns. While its function remains debated, this study suggests that the first two columns consist exclusively of all prime or odd numbers between 9 and 21, with the exception of 15, which appears only in the third column as two grouped pairs. Five groupings totaling 30 could be identified, and their arrangement may follow a consistent pattern. Additional numerical relationships between all three columns can be interpreted to support all four basic arithmetic operations. It is hypothesized that the notches may have served as reference marker to lay out their values for storytelling or teaching in the form of mathematical art. This study aims to broaden perspectives on the Ishango Bone and its traditional interpretation as a simple tallying device, and to encourage a re-evaluation of the mathematical capabilities of prehistoric humans.
This article outlines the issues of providing the medium-sized industrial sector with natural fiber products, analyzing the aesthetic properties of fabrics in the production of fabrics that meet the aesthetic and hygienic requirements of consumers for a wide range of modern clothing, and determining the use of silk fabrics according to physical and mechanical characteristics. In the production of consumer goods in accordance with the needs of the population, the specific characteristics of gauze, including the connections between the air permeability of gauze and its filling with fiber, hygienic and hygroscopic, air and vapor permeability, the type of fabric, fiber composition, aesthetic properties, quality indicators are also analyzed. Aesthetic properties of gauzes are physical and morphological indicators, that is, color and given pattern of gauzes, hardness and layer formation; glossiness, depending on the structure of the surface level and evaluated parameters - it is determined that it depends on the requirements such as application, meeting the customs of the time and fashion trends. As a result of the research, in order to expand the scope of consumption of gas products, proposals were made to improve the production assortment, after studying the needs of consumers of different categories and nationalities.
Behavioural addictions, also known as non-substance-related addictions, encompass a range of compulsive behaviours that closely mirror substance use disorders in their effects on the brain's reward system and the individual's daily life. These addictions include, but are not limited to, gambling disorder, internet gaming disorder, compulsive shopping, and the focus of this review - exercise addiction. Exercise addiction is characterized by an intense, uncontrollable urge to engage in physical activity, despite potential negative consequences. Unlike substance use disorders, exercise addiction often remains underrecognized, overshadowed by the widespread promotion of regular physical activity as a healthy lifestyle choice. This review aims to offer a comprehensive overview of exercise addiction, covering its psychological origin and characteristics, diagnostic criteria, co-occurrence with other psychiatric disorders, epidemiology among athletes and management strategies.