Wednesday, 8 February, 2012

Why do women have better sense of touch? It’s all in the size, and big isn’t better…

Imitation is a social glue in human society. We like people who imitate us. We call them friend. We will even tip them better! A new study finds similar responses in monkeys…

The struggle between predator and prey never ends. Bats invented sonar, and now some moths are fighting back. Check out the Why Files acoustic-organic warfare, airborne edition.

Animals spend a lot of energy avoiding toxic chemicals in their food. A new type of gene that does this in fruit flies reinforces the importance of reproduction in shaping evolution.

You can’t hold your eyes completely still, but what is the purpose of those tiny movements? A new study could explain why we make them — and why we seldom notice them.

Locusts live a solitary life — until their bodies suddenly change, and they swarm into clouds of destructive insects. A new study fingers the trigger for this transformation.

Specialization may work in factories, but it does not make ant colonies more efficient. As the conventional wisdom about social insects goes topsy-turvy, what’s an ecologist to think?

How does momma croc know when to dig up the young? How do the embryos know when to start hatching? The secret’s in the song…

Injecting a protein in the brain stifles the drive to drink among lab rats; one dose lasts three hours or more. Does GDNF offer a new angle on alcoholism?

Mice can tell the sex, mating status and identity of another mouse — all from sniffing urine. A new study of how mice read pheromones also gives insight into the human sensory apparatus…