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Telling tales can be a good thing

The act of talking is not an area where ability is usually considered along gender lines. However, a new study published in Springer's journal Sex Roles has found subtle differences between the sexes in their story-relating ability and specifically the act of reminiscing. The research by Widaad Zaman from the University of Central Florida and her colleague Robyn Fivush from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, discusses how these gender differences in parents can affect children's emotional development.

New test for skin sensitization without using animals

In an advance in efforts to reduce the use of animals in testing new cosmetic and other product ingredients for skin allergies, scientists are describing a new, highly accurate non-animal test for these skin-sensitizers. Their study appears in ACS' journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.

Forced methadone withdrawal in jails creates barrier to treatment in community

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Methadone treatment for opioid dependence remains widely unavailable behind bars in the United States, and many inmates are forced to discontinue this evidence-based therapy, which lessens painful withdrawal symptoms. Now a new study by researchers from the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, a collaboration of The Miriam Hospital and Brown University, offers some insight on the consequences of these mandatory withdrawal policies.

Ultrafine particles raise concerns about improved cookstoves

A new study raises concerns about possible health impacts of very small particles of soot released from the "improved cookstoves" that international aid agencies are promoting to replace open-fire cooking in developing countries. It appears in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology.

What's between a slip and a slide?

Working with the International Tennis Federation and colleagues at the University of Exeter, the team from the University of Sheffield's Faculty of Engineering developed a test machine which applies large forces to a surface to mimic the impact of elite tennis players on tennis courts. This impact can be up to four times the bodyweight of a player.

They used the machine to measure the friction on an acrylic (hard) court in dry conditions and two artificial clay court surfaces in both wet and dry conditions.

Why sticking around is sometimes the better choice

Researchers from Lund University, Yale University and the University of Oxford have been able to give an answer to why cuckolded males in many species still provide paternal care. When the conditions are right, this strategy is actually the most successful.

Fewer children mean longer life?

New research into ageing processes, based on modern genetic techniques, confirms theoretical expectations about the correlation between reproduction and lifespan. Studies of birds reveal that those that have offspring later in life and have fewer broods live longer. And the decisive factor is telomeres, shows research from The University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Telomeres are the protective caps at the end of chromosomes. The length of telomeres influences how long an individual lives.

Lunar cycle determines hunting behavior of nocturnal gulls

Zooplankton, small fish and squid spend hardly any time at the surface when there's a full moon. To protect themselves from their natural enemies, they hide deeper down in the water on bright nights, coming up to the surface under cover of darkness when there's a new moon instead.

Blowing in the wind: How accurate is thermography of horses' legs?

Since its introduction fifty or so years ago, thermography has been increasingly used by vets to pinpoint the cause of lameness in horses. The method is fast and safe and is based on a simple idea. The horse's body surface emits infrared radiation that can be detected by an infrared camera, which is both easy and inexpensive to use. The camera produces a coloured image that shows the variation in surface temperature across the area investigated.

Dusting for prints from a fossil fish to understand evolutionary change

PHILADELPHIA (March 27, 2013) -- In 370 million-year-old red sandstone deposits in a highway roadcut, scientists have discovered a new species of armored fish in north central Pennsylvania.

Crash, bang, thump -- the hidden dangers around the home

Bunk beds and baby change tables are among the hidden dangers around the home causing serious injury and death to Queensland children.

In the 2013 Consumer product-related injuries in Queensland children report, prepared by QUT's Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety - Queensland (CARRS-Q), more than 475,000 Queensland children sustained injuries requiring emergency department treatment between 2004 and 2011.

Mountain pine beetle genome decoded

The genome of the mountain pine beetle – the insect that has devastated B.C.'s lodgepole pine forests – has been decoded by researchers at the University of British Columbia and Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre.

This is a first for the mountain pine beetle and only the second beetle genome ever sequenced. The first was the red flour beetle, a pest of stored grains. The genome is described in a study published today in the journal Genome Biology.

New DNA test identifies ingredients in foods

Almost all foodstuffs contain the genetic material of those animal and plant species that were used in their preparation. Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Genetics, Genetic Security Research and Consulting at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have developed a novel screening procedure that provides for highly sensitive, quantifiable analysis of animal, plant, and microbial substances present in foodstuffs.

Transmission routes of spreading protein particles

Bonn, Germany 27 March 2013 – In diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's endogenous proteins accumulate in the brain, eventually leading to the death of nerve cells. These deposits, which consist of abnormally formed proteins, are supposed to migrate between interconnected areas of the brain, thereby contributing to the development of the illness. Now, a new laboratory study by scientists from Germany and the US shows that certain protein particles are indeed capable of multiplying and spreading from one cell to the next.

Researchers discover sex-selection process of multi-sexed organism Tetrahymena

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– It's been more than 50 years since scientists discovered that the single-celled organism Tetrahymena thermophila has seven sexes. But in all that time, they've never known how each cell's sex, or "mating type," is determined.

Now they do.