News by Subject Social & Behavior

Biomedical engineers at UT Austin have found a way for people to get better shuteye. Systematic review protocols allowed researchers to analyze thousands of studies linking water-based passive body heating, or bathing and showering with warm/hot water, with improved sleep quality.

Through a participatory forest-carbon monitoring project in the Darien forest of Panama, scientists and a team of trained indigenous technicians found that, even in disturbed areas, it maintained the same tree species richness and a disproportionately high capacity to sequester carbon.

Why does it take 200 million sperm to fertilize a single egg? Part of the reason is bombardment by the female immune system, which very few sperm survive. Researchers have discovered a molecular handshake between sperm and uterine cells that may help sperm evade this attack -- or may help the immune system target the weakest sperm.

Scientists call for more research into food grade corn breeding, production.

For generations, household farmers in the Horn of Africa have selectively chosen chickens with certain traits that make them more appealing. Some choices are driven by the farmers' traditional courtship rituals; others are guided by more mundane concerns, such as taste and disease resistance. The result is the development of a genetically distinct African chicken -- one with longer, meatier legs, according to new research. But that 3,000-year-old local breed type is threatened by the introduction of commercial cluckers.

Just 10 minutes of interacting with cats and dogs produced a significant reduction in students' cortisol, a major stress hormone.