Female

Just Thinking Differently About Sexual Compatibility May Help a Dry Spell, Study Hints

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Psychologists have investigated two contrasting beliefs about the nature of sexual satisfaction, to find out which is more likely to help couples better navigate sexual compatibility.   Desire for sex with a new love interest typically starts strong and then wanes over time. Priorities rearrange, small incompatibilities become big ones, and the energy that comes … Read more

Animal behaviour: Female mammals that suckle another’s young have more offspring

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By Christa Lesté-Lasserre Suckling piglets suckling a sow Shutterstock / Thuwanan Krueabudda Mammals that share their milk produce more offspring over the course of the year – and the benefits are even greater than those seen when nursing mothers are supported in other ways, such as being provided abundant food or parenting help. The findings suggest … Read more

Babies can tell who’s closely related from whether they share saliva

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Infants and toddlers seem to expect people who exchange saliva, for example by taking bites of the same food, to be close enough to comfort each other if one gets upset Mind 20 January 2022 By Alice Klein Sharing a spoon may be a sign of a close bond kate_sept2004/Getty Images Babies and toddlers can … Read more

‘Once-in-a-Lifetime Encounter’ With Rare Octopus Filmed at Great Barrier Reef

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A mesmerizing new video shows a “once-in-a-lifetime encounter” with a bizarre, bright red octopus swimming above the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Australia.  The encounter, first reported by local Australian news website Bundaberg Now, was a rare sighting of a blanket octopus, named after the blanket-like fleshy cape between its arms. Jacinta Shackleton, a marine biologist and reef guide, filmed and photographed … Read more

Here’s How The Sound of Mosquitoes’ Mating Rituals Could Help Us Control Malaria

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In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that almost half the world’s population was at risk of malaria, while some 627,000 people died from the disease. Although a malaria vaccine may soon be available (the WHO recommended one for children last year), malaria is just one of several mosquito-borne diseases. And the total number … Read more

The Dolphin Clitoris Is Full of Surprises, Scientists Discover

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The bottlenose dolphin (Tersiops truncatus) appears to have a very large and well-developed clitoris, potentially better placed for coital pleasure than the clitoris of humans, according to new research.   The visible tip of the human clitoris is but the size of a pea and located slightly north of the vagina and urethra (although much … Read more

Clitoris evolution: What dolphins reveal about female sex organs

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By Jessica Hamzelou Bottlenose dolphins are “hypersexual creatures” imageBROKER / Alamy Stock Photo Patricia Brennan has forged a controversial career in studying the twist and turns of the evolution of animal genitalia. A biologist based at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, her latest research suggests that bottlenose dolphins have clitorises that have evolved … Read more

Risk of Death For Female Patients Is Much Higher if Surgeon Is a Man, Study Reveals

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For female patients, operation outcomes tend to be significantly better when their surgeon is also female, recent research out of Canada has found. No one really knows why that is just yet, but a new model comparing the sex of the surgeon, the sex of the patient, and the outcomes of the surgery have now revealed an … Read more

Adorned 10,000-Year-Old Burial Suggests Even Infant Females Were Mourned as ‘People’

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The remains of an ancient female child, no more than two months of age, have been found lavishly decorated with pendants and beads in northwest Italy. The precious skeleton was discovered in the Arma Veirana cave in 2017 and has now been dated to about 10,000 old. This time is known as the early Holocene, … Read more

Beet armyworm: Gene editing stops female moths from producing pheromones

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Female beet armyworms with a deleted gene don’t produce sex pheromones, which could be exploited as a way to control numbers of this agricultural pest Life 11 December 2021 By Gary Hartley The beet armyworm is a destructive crop pest Nigel Cattlin / naturepl.com Deleting a gene linked to the production of sex pheromones in … Read more