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

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

Bonobo infants find the arrival of a new sibling stressful

Cortisol levels in bonobo infants jumped fivefold when they got a younger sibling and stayed high for 7 months, suggesting they found it extremely stressful Life 4 March 2022 By Alice Klein A young bonobo and her mother Sean M. Lee/George Washington University Bonobo infants become highly stressed when they get a younger sibling and … Read more

Can scientists repair their relationship with Native people as they probe the past? | Science

How and when people first set foot in the Americas is one of the enduring mysteries of human history. Most archaeologists now agree people lived in the Americas before Clovis-style tools—once thought to be linked to the first Americans—appeared about 13,000 years ago. Last year, for example, researchers reported human footprints in White Sands National … Read more

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

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

These Ants Can ‘Heal’ Wounded Trees in a Fascinating Symbiotic Relationship

An accidental slingshot hit on a Cecropia tree in Panama has led to a surprising discovery: the Azteca alfari ants that live inside these trees are often ready to fix damage to their living homes.   When high schooler Alex Wcislo fired the 9 mm (0.35 inch) clay ball through the tree, leaving clean entry and exit … Read more

Rachel Carson’s Explorations of the Sea, the Human Relationship with Elephants, and More

NONFICTION Rachel Carson: The Sea Trilogy Sandra Steingraber Library of America, 2021 ($40) Before Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring in 1962—a literary masterpiece and foundation of the modern environmental movement—she was a marine biologist and a prolific writer on the subject of the ocean. Carson first made her name with a trilogy of best-selling books … Read more

Don’t miss: The new science reshaping our relationship with cancer

Read Absynthe by Brendan Bellecourt is a delirious tale of altered realities set in a world where the first world war ushered in a technological utopia of automata and monorails, plus a serum that can give people telepathic abilities. Mark Waugh Visit Cancer Revolution at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, UK, explores the … Read more

Babies: Mother’s smell helps infants bond with strangers

Maternal body odour signals to babies that they can safely build relationships with other adults, a trait that may have evolved so that mothers can share the load of child rearing Humans 10 December 2021 By Alice Klein A mother and daughter fizkes/Shutterstock Babies are more socially receptive to unfamiliar women when they can smell … Read more