Stem cells! Brain map! Wheel bike! Spider talk! Hot weather! New planets! Fault lines! And what do “certain” scientists do for a living, anyhow? It’s your Thursday Science Watch, where we watch science—for pure profit!
Chickens: pretty good. Do we need to improve them? Maybe.
Hark; the time hath come for "Hey, Science,"
our intelligence-boosting feature in which we enlist real live scientific
experts to answer humanity's most interesting/ idiotic scientific
questions. Today: Is there an evolutionary or biological reason for preferring to have sex with people of a certain race?
Crazy universe! Mars life! Sun plasma! Tech toys! Electric powers! Chimp people! Danger gas! And dinosaurs that lived beneath the sea! It's your Wednesday Science Watch, where we watch science—cause it's our prerogative!
Great strides in the field of anthropomorphically amusing animals: Among 208 new species discovered in the Mekong River region of Southeast Asia is an "Elvis monkey" that "looks like it wears a pompadour." The Elvis monkey has no nose (Michael Jackson monkey?) and lives in the Himalayan forests of Myanmar, a World Wildlife Fund report explains:
One of the great mysteries of humankind—Why do my fingers get all wrinkly during baths?—has maybe-possibly been solved. Says science: "Much like the tread on a tire, [raisin fingers] improve traction." Sure, that sounds reasonable. Apparently the nervous system controls the wrinkle response, and it has nothing to do with bloating or water absorption. [Well, BrainBehavior&Evolution, Image via Afronova/Shutterstock]
After years of debate, and women just being, like, duh, scientists have finally come to agree that the female orgasm exists. And yet this poses an even more vexing question: Why?
Science! What would we do without you? Certainly we would never know the marvelous story of Tornatellides boeningi, the snail that can survive being eaten, digested, and pooped out by a bird.
Human penises, much to the relief of most humans, lack the "barb-like structures found in many mammals" known as penile spines. For many of us, knowing that we will never encounter a barbed penis is enough; for scientists, who are the guy at the party saying, "I mean, sure, it's a nice present, but have you checked out its teeth?" the human penis's curious lack of spines is a question to be asked, and answered, and told to everyone.
At least 130 different species of birds "are known to engage in homosexual behavior." Scientists now think this may be because "homosexual behavior" is evolutionarily beneficial. Not to mention totally hot.
