The Middle Period of the Atacama oases, North Chile, has been characterized as a time of peace, uniform abundance, and widespread access to exotic materials. In the present work, we test this notion through a comparison of Middle Period human isotopic data (δCco, δ Nco, and δCap) representing two distinct ayllus, Solcor and Tchecar, in the San Pedro de Atacama oases. We employ Bayesian mixture ...

[1] ‘‘Science autonomy’’ refers to exploration robotics technologies involving onboard science analysis of collected data. These techniques enable a rover to make adaptive decisions about which measurements to collect and transmit. Science autonomy can compensate for limited communications bandwidth by ensuring that planetary scientists receive those images and spectra that best meet mission go...

A new genus and species of chigger mites, Diaguitacarus choapensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from four lizard species of the genus Liolaemus in Choapa Province of Chile. Eight new chigger species are described from lizards of the genera Liolaemus, Phymaturus (Squamata: Liolaemidae), and Microlophus (Squamata: Tropiduridae), in Arica and Parinacota, Atacama, Coquimbo, Valparaíso, and Biobío...

Laboratory methods and questionnaires to assess the relative reinforcing value of food (RRV-F) have been developed, but this is the first study to validate an online questionnaire measure of the RRV-F. Participants (281 college students) completed an online survey assessing demographic variables, food preferences, and the RRV-F. A subsample (n=21) also completed a laboratory food choice session...

Ivan Havel remembers when in the late 1970s the Czechoslovakian state police began watching his apartment. For months he had been hosting unofficial science seminars, and the police didn't like it. "It politicized me, says the soft-spoken computer scientist and brother of Czechoslovakian president Vaclav Havel. "The police would check the people who came and ask them to identify 'themselves. Th...

Water quantity and quality joint operation is a new mode in the present dams' operation research. It has become a hot topic in governmental efforts toward integrated basin improvement. This paper coupled a water quantity and quality joint operation model (QCmode) and genetic algorithm with Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Together, these tools were used to explore a reasonable operation o...