Matilda Brindle Associate Researcher, Department of Anthropology UCL “Spanking the monkey”, “petting the poodle” and “pulling the python”: all fitting euphemisms for masturbation, and closer to the truth than you might imagine. Self-pleasure is common across the animal kingdom: from dogs humping unwitting teddy bears to dolphins thrusting their
Louise Gentle Principal Lecturer in Wildlife Conservation Nottingham Trent University Stories of virgin births, where young are produced without fertilisation, have been told throughout history. Mars the ancient Roman god, Horus the ancient Egyptian god and Qi from ancient Chinese mythology were all born to virgins. But virgin births actually
Woody Allen famously said that he intended to achieve immortality by not dying. I prefer to think of a more mundane by ultimately more badass method: transferring our brains to imperishable robot bodies. Just like Robot Nixon from Futurama — the hero we all need. Don’t tell me you wouldn’
They knew that when the rains came, it was a sign. When the rains departed, it was a sign. When the winds rose, it was a sign. When the winds fell, it was a sign. When in the land there was born at the midnight of a full moon a
Self-owns can be pretty spectacular, in a car-crash sort of way. Take, for instance, Melbourne suspending its Sister-City relationship with St Petersburg because, “there is no room for city diplomacy with the brutal authoritarian”. Yes, that was from the home of Dictator Dan, who unleashed the world’
Dr Muriel Newman Dr Muriel Newman established the New Zealand Centre for Political Research as a public policy think tank in 2005 after nine years as a Member of Parliament. A former Chamber of Commerce president, her background is in business and education. nzcpr.com On the last Friday of
Kerri Duncan Kerri is an Adelaide-based freelance writer with a background in animal science and molecular biology. Always up for an investigative adventure, Kerri is addicted to exploring Earth’s wonders and finding as many waterfalls as possible. Her work in life sciences has deepened her appreciation of the
familyfirst.org.nz As the debate about drug legalisation continues in this country, yet more research shows the negative health outcomes from cannabis use, especially for young men. It is estimated that 30 per cent of cases of schizophrenia among men aged 21-30 might have been prevented by averting
For the last century, Jeremiahs have been predicting that the world will imminently run out of oil. So-called “Peak Oil” has enjoyed one of its perennial revivals in tandem with Climate Change hysteria, but the idea that we must immediately drop fossil fuels because they’re on the brink
New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out with Science nzdsos.com The World Health Organization (WHO) are hosting the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva from 21 to 30 May 2023, during which time they are also celebrating their 75th anniversary. Three main issues are on the agenda this year, all of
If we never ate the foods that were supposedly going to kill us, we’d never eat anything but mung beans and water. Except, wait: water toxemia is a thing, and mung beans not only interact with certain medications, but are at higher risk of carrying harmful bacteria. Guess we
New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out with Science nzdsos.com The Covid-19 mRNA vaccines administered to billions of people across the world have raised multiple concerns, including identification of poor manufacturing practices. It is hardly surprising, then, that a group of experienced geneticists have identified significant DNA contamination in both
If anyone was likely to ruin the solemnity and dignity of King Charles’ coronation, it wasn’t his errant son. Harry quietly, without fuss, took his assigned place in the Abbey as a non-working royal and that was that. But it was hard to keep a straight face throughout
brownstone.org A new analysis finds that Prozac (generic name fluoxetine) is unsafe and ineffective for treating depression in children and adolescents. Regulatory documents show that trial participants attempted suicide after taking fluoxetine, but these events were excluded from the final journal publication. I notified the journal of the new
New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out With Science nzdsos.com The details of her untimely death were written up as a case history and published in J Clin Immunol in January 2022. study-NZ-case-Fulminating-Necrotising-Eosinophilic-Myocarditis-Jan-2022Download The 57-year-old woman of Chinese descent died in
brownstone.org For the past half-century or more, manufactured scares have been a recurrent part of life. Every year a very small number of people are killed (usually only one) or injured by bears here in Hokkaido, Japan. However, the news media invariably plays up these incidents. As a
