Report: Man’s testosterone level is directly related to whether his dad was present during teenage years
Most males in the animal kingdom do little parenting. Their strategy is simple: inseminate as many females as possible and hope for the best. Sometimes, though, parental investment by a male pays off. Songbird chicks are usually tended by both mother and father. Wolf packs see alpha males and females...
Supreme Court clips US environmental agency’s authority to curb greenhouse emissions
The US Supreme Court has limited the regulatory tools that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can use to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, dealing a massive blow to US President Joe Biden’s climate agenda. Academics and environmentalists lamented the loss of authority, as well as the precedent it could set for the...
Ukraine horrors: Without accountability, some agencies take ‘safari’ so their teams can get something to tell donors
Many Ukrainian civilians say they’re not getting enough assistance. Registration with the UN for cash aid – people are eligible for $74 a month for up to three months – has been slow. Several locals said they either register and don’t receive money, or they don’t know where or how...
Humanitarian agencies say horrors visited on Ukraine people by Russians will take long to overcome
Beneath the calmer facade of Ukraine major town and the capital Kyiv is a wake of death and destruction. Forty-six out of 69 towns and villages were impacted in the region, according to the government. In towns like Bucha and Irpin, civilians were slaughtered, their bodies left on the road;...
Ukraine aid response shifts from short-term to long-haul as humanitarian crises spiral out of control
Four months into the Russian invasion, Ukraine is facing multiple humanitarian crises on several different fronts, with local and international aid responders girding for the long haul amid the expectation that needs are only going to grow and last longer. Concentrated, brutal fighting in the east is preventing aid groups...
Why Cameroon remains wedded to demobilisation of Ambazonia separatists in anglophone south
Ambazonia fighters – separatist insurgency in anglophone Cameroon – many of whom had missed critical years of schooling, were encouraged to surrender and take advantage of skills programmes – from computer training to poultry farming and tailoring. The idea was that they would then graduate as young entrepreneurs, capable of...
Smell a friend: Evidence shows human beings ‘click’ instantly with people with similar body smell
People with similar body odours are more likely to ‘click’ and become instant friends, according to several experiments. When people meet others for the first time, they sometimes experience an “immediate strong click that makes us feel as if we have already been good friends for years,” says Inbal Ravreby...
How shades of inequality in research deepen discrimination by gender, age, education, incomes or race
Vida Maralani began her career studying whether education is, in fact, the ticket to socio-economic advancement and reducing inequalities, as she’d been taught. “I’ve evaluated some of the most expensive social policies our government has ever funded to prevent school dropouts,” says Maralani, interim director of the Centre for the...
Why eating bananas and other foods is key to eliminating risks of breathing blockage and breathing difficulties
Bananas may be beneficial for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). They are potassium-rich and contain antioxidants and fibre. Other sources of these nutrients are berries and whole grains. COPD is a group of diseases, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. These conditions cause a blockage to the airflow and...
Wine may no longer get sweeter with age as climate change takes its toll on fruit chemistry and taste
Warming, wildfires and unpredictable weather threaten to disrupt the delicate processes that underlie treasured wines. Researchers and producers are innovating to keep ahead. Soon after the devastating Glass Fire sparked in California’s Napa Valley in September 2020, wine chemist Anita Oberholster’s inbox was brimming with hundreds of emails from panicked...
