The difficult thing is how to measure it, because people will probably over-estimate.
from www.shutterstock.com.au
If you’re a non-scientist, you might have once asked yourself, propped against the bedhead after disappointingly quick intercourse, how long does sex “normally” last?
Shutterstock
Cat-borne parasites that may affect human aggression aren’t the only microscopic freeloaders that influence their hosts’ brains.
A native Australian gecko, Gehyra dubia.
Eric Vanderduys
If you’re hearing a strange chatter in your home, you may have gecko housemates.
Shutterstock
New research shows fish are more similar to complex animals like humans and other mammals than we previously thought.
Born this way.
Pete Niesen/Shutterstock
The IOC’s changes to transgender policy is useful, but the situation is still complicated.
Beware the digital evolution.
Pixabay
Science fiction has long warned of technology taking over the world. We’re increasingly connected to a digital world that’s growing, and more automated. So what if it starts to evolve?
View of Port Jackson, Fort Macquarie and part of Sydney Cove, in 1836.
Govett, William Romaine/National Library
Charles Darwin visited Australia 180 years ago, and while here, he had a revelation that helped spark his insight into evolution by natural selection.
All dressed up.
Scott Schiller
Scientists have used maths to explain why some cats’ fur makes them look like they’re wearing a tuxedo.
Look at me! They’re not called peacock spiders for nothing.
Maddie Girard
Biologists, along with most of the internet, have been puzzled as to why peacock spiders have such flamboyant courtship displays. So we decided to find out.
Robert H Howington/Flickr
Cats share some important genes associated with herbivores – this might explain their particular eating habits.
People who believe their problems have biogenetic causes tend to opt for biomedical treatments.
Tim Caynes/Flickr
Biological and genetic explanations of mental illness can weaken people’s sense of control and optimism, and create a bias against effective psychological interventions.
Tick tock, tick tock… You can’t hide from the molecular clock.
www.shutterstock.com
The molecular clock is helping us deepen our knowledge of evolution and completing the tree of life. But how does it actually work?
A biohack event called Rock’n Roll BioTech, held at Aalto University in Helsinki, brings people together to learn about the fundamentals of molecular life-sciences outside of conventional circles.
GaudiLabs
There’s a new counter-culture movement that is seeking to bypass the bureaucracy of science and hack biology for the benefit of the masses.
How does our brain remember things: ask a mathematician.
Flickr/rbbaird
Biology can only tell you so much about the workings of the brain. To understand how we think and remember things you need he help of a mathematician.
Spot the fox, wolf, sheep and…cuttlefish.
Jim Champion (sheep); R'lyeh (wolf); Michele Lamberti (fox); William Warby (cuttlefish)
Study shows how eyes that work for hunters are no use for the hunted.
Green lasers glowing within cells.
Matjaž Humar and Seok Hyun Yun
Using fluorescent dye, researchers figured out how to turn cells into lasers – with applications for cell tagging and tracking as well as medical diagnoses and therapies.
We wouldn’t get very far without lubricin keeping our joints moving.
tableatny/Flickr
You may not have heard of the protein lubricin, but it’s what keeps your body moving. And now it’s being used to treat disease and produce new therapeutics.
How do you do?
International Fund for Animal Welfare Animal Rescue/flickr
Chimps might be cute and cuddly but it’s their human drama that obsesses us.
Perfect swarm.
Juan Medina/EPA
Genetic techniques are helping scientists work out how to stop invasive species before they rack up huge environmental and financial costs.
There’s more to our DNA than just genes.
MIKI Yoshihito/Flickr
microRNA used to be dismissed as “junk DNA”, but it plays an important role regulating the other genes in our genome.