One of the defining differences between the sexes is in the size of their gametes. Males make many tiny sperm while females make only a few large eggs. This suggests that sperm are cheap while eggs are expensive. Yet sperm can be very long lived, while eggs degenerate quickly after they are made if they are not fertilized. Why don’t females take better care of their expensive eggs?
A team of biologists with the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have recorded for the first time the call of the extremely rare Sumatran ground cuckoo, found only on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The bird was captured by a trapper and handed over to WCS biologists, who recorded the bird’s call while it nursed an injured foot. Once fully recovered, the bird will be released back into the wild.
Legal drugs are getting to be as dangerous as illegal drugs, not because of what’s in them but because of how people use them.
A breath test can successfully pick up lung cancer with “moderate accuracy” even in the early stages, reveals research published ahead of print in Thorax. It could revolutionise the way cancer is detected and potentially save lives, say the authors. The test comprises a chemical colour sensor, which detects tiny changes in the unique chemical signature of the breath of people with lung cancer.
Ecosystems along the continental shelf waters of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean — from the Labrador Sea south of Greenland all the way to North Carolina — are experiencing large, rapid changes, report oceanographers funded by the National Science Foundation.
If Earth had a mountain so incredibly high that its peak poked through the outermost layer of our atmosphere, mountain climbers smart enough and hardy enough to reach the top would have some idea what it will be like to be camped on the moon.
A diet rich in black soya beans could help control weight, lower fat and cholesterol levels, and aid in the prevention of diabetes, reports Lisa Richards in Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI.
Use of growth hormone to boost athletic performance can lead to diabetes, reports a study published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
911 and the golfer Payne Stewart and 2005 (100+fatality) Helios decompression crashes were preventable
The belief that the Clovis People were the first to populate North America some 11,500 years ago has been widely challenged in recent years, and a Texas A&M University anthropologist has found evidence he says could be the final nail in the coffin for the Clovis first model.
Boys aged 13 and 14 living in rural areas, are the most likely of their age group to access pornography, and parents need to be more aware of how to monitor their children’s viewing habits, according to a new University of Alberta study.
Treating women who are infected with both the HSV-2 and HIV viruses with anti-herpes treatment can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood and genital secretions, according to the results of a trial published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Scientists at Melbourne ‘s Howard Florey Institute have developed a cost-effective diagnostic test for Parkinson’s disease (PD), which will also assist researchers to understand the genetic basis of PD and to undertake large-scale studies to identify the genes that cause this debilitating condition.
Locust numbers have continued to increase along the northern coast of Eritrea and adjacent coastal areas of Sudan and other Red Sea and Gulf of Aden countries could face important infestations of the crop-devouring insects this winter due to unusually good rains and favourable ecological conditions, the United Nations warned today.
New research published in the March issue of Psychological Science may help elucidate the relationship between religious indoctrination and violence, a topic that has gained renewed notoriety in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. In the article, University of Michigan psychologist Brad Bushman and his colleagues suggest that scriptural violence sanctioned by God can increase aggression, especially in believers.
Researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of Utah are beginning a clinical trial to test whether aspirin can improve a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant and of maintaining a pregnancy to term.
Male circumcision significantly reduces the risk of acquiring HIV in young African men, according to a study led by University of Illinois at Chicago professor of epidemiology Robert Bailey. The study is published in the Feb. 24 issue of The Lancet.
