(Credit: By EpicStockMedia/Shutterstock)
While the discussion of “nature versus nurture” dominates many areas of scientific research, the debate is particularly contentious when it comes to the origin of sexual preference.
However, multiple studies have found links between DNA and homosexuality. Building on this foundation, a new large-scale genetic study explores the roots of male sexual orientation, finding two regions of genetic variance in homosexual men.
The factors contributi ...read more
Evolutionary adaptation or simple coincidence? (Credit: tatyaby/Shutterstock)
Pruny fingers, they’re an unavoidable byproduct of a long bath or a turn washing the dishes. Though they may seem like little more than the puzzling cost of getting our hands wet, the phenomenon could actually be helping us keep a tight grip on those wine glasses.
If you’ve never thought about it, consider that fingers and toes are the only parts of our bodies that wrinkle up (as a result of constricting ...read more
Image: Flickr/rich_f28
Yup, you read that right: according to this study, the ice you make in your freezer is full of bacteria, and some of it is the bad kind. Store-bought ice isn’t too bad, but you might want to be suspicious about the ice from your local watering hole. The good news is that many drinks we pour over the ice can kill those bacteria, including “alcohol, CO2, pH and antibacterial ingredients of vodka, whisky, Martini, peach tea, tonic water and coke.” I g ...read more
By: Christi Hughes
In January 2016, a young sea turtle named Grace was found floating cold and listless next to a dock in Awendaw, South Carolina. She was rescued by compassionate locals to the South Carolina Aquarium Sea Turtle Care Center™ for life-saving medical treatment. Grace, who was the size of a dinner plate, ultimately required exploratory surgery to remove a piece of flexible plastic about the size of a silver dollar– very likely from a single-use plastic grocery bag ...read more
(Credit: NASA)
On Earth, the theory of plate tectonics describes the way large pieces of the planet’s crust move and interact. These pieces, or plates, slide over the mantle, the malleable outer layer of Earth’s core. Now, new research indicates that the frozen surface of Europa, one of Jupiter’s four largest moons, may also experience plate tectonics. If so, this process could be a way to transport materials — such as nutrients for life — to the liquid water ocea ...read more
(Credit: Shutterstock)
Scientists had an explosive mystery on their hands. A man suing a restaurant claimed an egg he bit into detonated loudly enough to damage his hearing. Was this a legit complaint, or an attempt to capitalize in a litigation-happy culture?
Well, after a scientific investigation, the man’s story is legit. Although microwave ovens have become a staple appliance in many kitchens, they come with oft-unheeded warnings that certain foods pose risks to people when reheated. ...read more
No, not an escapee from the Island of Dr. Moreau. It’s Halszkaraptor escuilliei, a newly described dinosaur with an unusual combination of traits. (Credit Lukas Panzarin)
If it looks like a duck…it may be a curious new dinosaur, Halszkaraptor escuilliei. The Mongolian maniraptor is a mouthful to say and a, uhm, glory to behold. But the most interesting thing about it is how it apparently lived.
Fossiliferous Mongolia has given dinosaur enthusiasts a trove of discoveries over the y ...read more
(Credit: Shutterstock)
Cynics rejoice — the oft-reported phenomenon of love at first sight is more akin to lust at first sight.
Psychologist Florian Zsok and colleagues from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands recently published a study that found even though people generally do believe they’re experiencing love at first sight (LAFS), the event has more to do with physical attraction than actual feelings of love.
Zsok and his team set up various experiments to answer som ...read more
In the first post in this series, I looked at the work of Swedish psychiatrist Lars Thorell, who has developed a test which, he claims, is able to predict suicides in depressed patients. Thorell’s test is called electrodermal orientation reactivity (aka electrodermal hyporeactivity), and while Thorell’s work on the technique goes back to the 1980s, it has recently been commercialized by a company called Emotra AB, who named the product EDOR®.
Previously, I expressed scepticism o ...read more
