Making physics outreach more gender inclusive

“Diversity in the Cultures of Physics” was an Erasmus+ funded Strategic Partnership launching several key actions aimed at improving the gender balance in physics and its subfields. The Strategic Partnership consisted of six universities in four countries: Freie Universität Berlin in Germany, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Universitat de Barcelona in Spain, the University of Manchester and the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom and Uppsala Universitet in Sweden. This flyer provides recommendations and a checklist to make outreach activities in physics more gender inclusive. It is aimed at people already active in outreach activities for young people. The flyer indicates relevant examples of outreach projects, highlights diversity-relevant questions and topics for planning outreach activities and provides a checklist for how outreach events in physics can be made more gender inclusive

Delayed gratification in New Caledonian crows and young children: influence of reward type and visibility

Funder: FP7 Ideas: European Research Council; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100011199; Grant(s): 3399933Funder: Royal Society of New Zealand Rutherford Discovery FellowshipAbstract: Self-control underlies cognitive abilities such as decision making and future planning. Delay of gratification is a measure of self-control and involves obtaining a more valuable outcome in the future by tolerating a delay or investing a greater effort in the present. Contextual issues, such as reward visibility and type, may influence delayed gratification performance, although there has been limited comparative investigation between humans and other animals, particularly non-primate species. Here, we adapted an automated ‘rotating tray’ paradigm used previously with capuchin monkeys to test for delay of gratification ability that requires little pre-test training, where the subject must forgo an immediate, less preferred reward for a delayed, more preferred one. We tested New Caledonian crows and 3–5-year-old human children. We manipulated reward types to differ in quality or quantity (Experiments 1 and 2) as well as visibility (Experiment 2). In Experiments 1 and 2, both species performed better when the rewards varied in quality as opposed to quantity, though performed above chance in both conditions. In Experiment 1, both crows and children were able to delay gratification when both rewards were visible. In Experiment 2, 5-year-old children outperformed 3- and 4-year olds, though overall children still performed well, while the crows struggled when reward visibility was manipulated, a result which may relate to difficulties in tracking the experimenters’ hands during baiting. We discuss these findings in relation to the role of contextual issues on self-control when making species comparisons and investigating the mechanisms of self-control

Function and flexibility of object exploration in kea and New Caledonian crows

Data collection with the New Caledonian crows was funded by an International Seedcorn Award from the University of York to M.L.L. This study was supported by a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship (A.H.T.). Our data are deposited at: http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dq04j [48].A range of non-human animals frequently manipulate and explore objects in their environment, which may enable them to learn about physical properties and potentially form more abstract concepts of properties such as weight and rigidity. Whether animals can apply the information learned during their exploration to solve novel problems, however, and whether they actually change their exploratory behavior to seek functional information about objects have not been fully explored. We allowed kea (Nestor notabilis) and New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) to explore sets of novel objects both before and after encountering a task in which some of the objects could function as tools. Following this, subjects were given test trials in which they could choose among the objects they had explored to solve a tool-use task. Several individuals from both species performed above chance on these test trials, and only did so after exploring the objects, compared with a control experiment with no prior exploration phase. These results suggest that selection of functional tools may be guided by information acquired during exploration. Neither kea nor crows changed the duration or quality of their exploration after learning that the objects had a functional relevance, suggesting that birds do not adjust their behavior to explicitly seek this information.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Decision-making flexibility in New Caledonian crows, young children and adult humans in a multi-dimensional tool-use task.

The ability to make profitable decisions in natural foraging contexts may be influenced by an additional requirement of tool-use, due to increased levels of relational complexity and additional work-effort imposed by tool-use, compared with simply choosing between an immediate and delayed food item. We examined the flexibility for making the most profitable decisions in a multi-dimensional tool-use task, involving different apparatuses, tools and rewards of varying quality, in 3-5-year-old children, adult humans and tool-making New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides). We also compared our results to previous studies on habitually tool-making orangutans (Pongo abelii) and non-tool-making Goffin's cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana). Adult humans, cockatoos and crows, but not children and orangutans, did not select a tool when it was not necessary, which was the more profitable choice in this situation. Adult humans, orangutans and cockatoos, but not crows and children, were able to refrain from selecting non-functional tools. By contrast, the birds, but not the primates tested, struggled to attend to multiple variables-where two apparatuses, two tools and two reward qualities were presented simultaneously-without extended experience. These findings indicate: (1) in a similar manner to humans and orangutans, New Caledonian crows and Goffin's cockatoos can flexibly make profitable decisions in some decision-making tool-use tasks, though the birds may struggle when tasks become more complex; (2) children and orangutans may have a bias to use tools in situations where adults and other tool-making species do not

Individuality and foraging strategies in free ranging crows (Corvus corone corone; C.c. cornix)

Rabenkraehen (Corvus corone corone, C. c. cornix) sind Nahrungsgeneralisten und dadurch in grossen Gruppen im Areal des Schlossparkes und des Tiergartens Schoenbrunn zu finden. Anekdoten berichten davon, dass Kraehen regelmaessig mit den Besuchern, sowie den Tieren des Tiergartens waehrend ihrer Nahrungssuche interagieren. Das Ziel dieser Studie war zu erforschen, welche Strategien und individuelle Praeferenzen/ Techniken die Kraehen zum Nahrungserwerb anwenden und welche Gebiete sie dafuer aufsuchen. Die Tiere wurden in Reusenfallen gefangen, vermessen, gesext und individuell am Fuss markiert. Zusaetzlich durchlief jedes Tier einen tonischen Immobilitaets Test, um sein Verhalten in einer unangenehmen Situation zu messen und eine Einteilung in langsam und schnell reagierende Individuen zu treffen. Markierte Voegel wurden dann ueber einen Zeitraum von fuenf Monaten taeglich beobachtet. Die Resultate zeigen deutlich, dass die Kraehen Praeferenzen fuer bestimmte Gebiete und auch Gehege haben. Interessanterweise haengen diese Praeferenzen mit dem sozialen Status des Tieres, sowie seiner individuellen Reaktionsgeschwindigkeit in der tonischen Immobilitaet zusammen.As feeding generalists, both subspecies of carrion crows (Corvus corone corone, C. c. cornix) are common in the area of Vienna Zoo. Anecdotal reports suggest that foraging crows frequently interact with both the visitors and the Zoo animals. The aim of this study was to investigate the foraging strategies of crows, focusing on individual preferences for given feeding techniques and specific sites within the Zoo. Crows were captured with drop-in traps, measured, sexed and individually marked with leg bands. In addition, each bird was subjected to a tonic immobility test, measuring its propensity for actively dealing with an unpleasant situation and allowing us to characterize whether individuals are fast or slow at coping with an experimental challenging situation. Tagged birds were observed on a daily basis for five months using a combination of focal, scan and ad-lib sampling. Results show that crows have individual preferences for using particular areas of the Zoo and, within these areas, for using specific enclosures. Interestingly, these preferences are dependent on the birds’ social class (breeder/ non-breeder) and copying style. These findings suggest that the crows prefer certain locations

Jergen, Wyssen, Schären. Der Genitiv in Familiennamen im DFA und wie es im Süden weitergeht

Dieser Beitrag widmet sich der Verbreitung der Genitivbildungen in Deutschschweizer Familiennamen vom Typ ‚Jergen‘, ‚Wyssen‘, ‚Schären‘ oder ‚Wirths‘. Innerhalb der Schweiz sind sie hauptsächlich im Westen zu finden. Als Erweiterung der Kartierungen starker (-s) und schwacher Genitivflexive (-en) im ‘Deutschen Familiennamenatlas’ (DFA) werden diese morphologischen Bildungen im Namenmaterial aus dem ‘Familiennamenbuch der Schweiz’ analysiert, mit Hilfe von Karten illustriert und anhand historischer Tiefenbohrungen bezüglich ihrer onymischen Verstärkungsprozesse diskutiert.The following article deals with the distribution of Swiss German surnames preserving genitive inflection, such as ‚Jergen‘, ‚Wyssen‘, ‚Schären‘ or ‚Wirths‘. They are frequent in the western part of Switzerland. On the basis of maps portraying strong (-s) and weak (-en) genitive inflection in the ‘Deutscher Familiennamenatlas’ (DFA), the morphological structures in Swiss German surnames from the Register of Swiss Surnames are analysed. They are illustrated with maps and discussed in terms of their process of onymic reinforcement based on historical name-data