While promiscuity in the animal kingdom is generally a male thing, researchers for the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have found that, in cheetah society, it’s the female with the wandering eye, as reported in a paper in the latest issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
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Women are much more interested in a man’s personality and looks than the size of his penis, but men can experience real anxiety even if they are average sized, according to a research review published in the June issue of the urology journal BJU International.
Dr Kevan Wylie from the Porterbrook Clinic and Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK, reports that while men often have a better body image, genital image and sexual confidence if they have a large penis, women don’t necessarily feel that bigger is better.
The Tropical Eastern Pacific, a discrete biogeographic region that has an extremely high rate of endemism among its marine organisms, continues to yield a wealth of never-before-described marine animals to visiting scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.
It is easy to observe that many networks naturally divide into communities or modules, where links within modules are stronger and denser than those across modules – like the way people from the same age group tend to interact more with each other than with people from different age groups. It is widely believed that networks within cells are modular in much the same way. Drs Zhi Wang and Jianzhi Zhang, from the University of Michigan, now investigate these modular properties and conclude that they may be only a random byproduct of evolution, and not functional at all.
Matthew Tyska, Ph.D., recalls being intrigued, from the first day of his postdoctoral fellowship in 1999, with a nearly 30-year-old photograph. It was an electron micrograph that showed the internal structures of an intestinal cell microvillus, a finger-like protrusion on the cell surface. Microvilli are common features on the epithelial cells that line the body’s cavities.
Recent discoveries regarding the physics of ceramic superconductors may help improve scientists' understanding of resistance-free electrical power.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic lung disease typically characterized by the slow but progressive onset of shortness of breath or cough. Most patients live about five years after diagnosis. According to a new study a subset of patients with a specific genetic profile has a much more rapid progression to complete pulmonary failure and death without a lung transplant.
Many insects living in northern climates don't die at the first signs of cold weather. Rather, new research suggests that they use a number of specialized proteins to survive the chilly months.
These so-called "heat-shock proteins" ensure that the insects will be back to bug us come spring.
Animals differ strikingly in character and temperament. Yet only recently has it become evident that personalities are a widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom. Animals as diverse as spiders, mice and squids appear to have personalities. Personality differences have been described in more than 60 species, including primates, rodents, birds, fish, insects and mollusks.
How well do you know your child's pediatrician? Is he or she board certified in pediatrics, or has he or she ever completed specialty training in the field?
Findings from a new study from the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital's Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit may prompt parents to find out if their child's physician really is who he claims to be – a board-certified and specialty-trained pediatrician.
A novel analysis of water flow in the Southern Ocean surrounding the Antarctic is revealing previously hidden structures that are crucial in controlling the transport of drifting plants and animals as well as the distribution of nutrients and pollutants that affect ocean life.
Young, single women in urban China are aware of contraceptive methods but some may be too shy to ask for them, research published in the online open access journal BMC Health Services Research reveals. Young women want more information, but need private and anonymous family planning because of judgemental attitudes surrounding premarital sex and particularly premarital pregnancy.
Sharks are known to have a keen sense of smell, which in many species is critical for finding food. However, according to new research from Boston University marine biologists, sharks can not use just their noses to locate prey; they also need their skin – specifically a location called the lateral line.
Tears protect and lubricate the cornea and conjunctiva of the eye and help provide a clear medium through which we see. When human tears break up too quickly, eyes feel gritty, hot and scratchy -- even eyesight can become blurry. For many people the solution has been to use artificial tears, but they're expensive and they don't last as long the real thing.
Associate Professor Millar, from the School of Natural Sciences, says the interaction between the liquid tear and air holds the key to slowing the 'break-up time' of tears.
A recent paper highlights experimental research in evolution and artificial selection, providing insight into how organisms adapt to changing environmental conditions and fluctuations.
In this month's Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, Bradley S. Hughes, Alistair J. Cullum, and Albert F. Bennett (University of California, Irvine) explore the effect on E. coli of fluctuating acidity, an especially important environmental factor for the bacteria.