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Sexual conflict affects females more than males, says new research on beetles

By Guest PostApril 28, 2014Natureashish chouhan, cdk2na, female, fischereidruck, fuel cell technology, heat pump, krabbenfischerei, male, mating, p16, pattern, smad4, university of exeter, vessel monitoring system, xergy inc

Researchers at the University of Exeter have found that sexual conflict over mating impacts the parental care behaviour and reproductive productivity of burying beetles.

These beetles have surprisingly complex parental care, similar in form to that provided by birds such as robins or blackbirds, with offspring begging to be fed by touching parents, who respond by regurgitating partially digested food.

Both males and females provide parental care, but females are the primary care givers, as in humans. So anything that affects the ability of females to provide parental care, such as costly mating, is likely to reduce overall reproductive productivity. (more…)

Transgender controversies can lead to ‘gender panic,’ study finds

By Guest PostNovember 6, 2013Culture, Generalanatomically male, binary, female, gender panic, genitalia, grand valley, hormone level, kristen schilt, laurel westbrook, male female gender, moral panic, naturalness, new york city, olympics as women, sex panic, state university, transgender, transgender people, university of chicago, victim, violent crime

When New York City moved in 2006 to make it easier for transgender people to revise the gender on their birth certificates, the proposal was widely expected to pass.

But the anti-discrimination measure failed, in part because of public opposition to removing the requirement that individuals have genital surgery before claiming a different gender. (more…)

Pronunciation of ‘s’ sounds impacts perception of gender, CU-Boulder researcher finds

By Guest PostJanuary 7, 2013General, Sciencebay area, biological difference, colorado boulder, female, high frequency s, kira hall, lal zimman, larynx, linguist, lower frequency, male, perception of gender, pitch, s sounds, san francisco, socio biological complexity, style of speech, throat, transgender people, university, voice, wenner-gren foundation

A person’s style of speech — not just the pitch of his or her voice — may help determine whether the listener perceives the speaker to be male or female, according to a University of Colorado Boulder researcher who studied transgender people transitioning from female to male.

The way people pronounce their “s” sounds and the amount of resonance they use when speaking contributes to the perception of gender, according to Lal Zimman, whose findings are based on research he completed while earning his doctoral degree from CU-Boulder’s linguistics department. (more…)

Jan. 8-22: ‘The Abolitionists’

By Guest PostJanuary 2, 2013Culture13th amendment, 1863, 1865, abolitionist movement, american history, angelina grimke, beyond lincoln, black, black abolitionist, civil rights, documentary, drama, emancipation proclamation, end slavery, erica armstrong dunbar, female, frederick douglass, harriet beecher stowe, historian, john brown, male, pbs, slavery, the abolitionists, university of delaware, white, william lloyd garrison

UD’s Armstrong Dunbar a featured expert in PBS series ‘The Abolitionists’

The Abolitionists, airing on PBS this month, is timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, but it offers viewers “a real understanding of the complexities of what it took to end slavery” beyond Lincoln’s proclamation itself, a University of Delaware historian featured in the series says.

Erica Armstrong Dunbar, associate professor of history with joint appointments in Black American Studies and in women and gender studies, was approached by creators of the three-part series to provide her perspective on the issues and individuals featured. The Abolitionists is part of the “American Experience” series and is scheduled to air Tuesday nights, Jan. 8, 15 and 22. (more…)

Q&A: Assoc. Prof. Christopher Berry discusses rise of women in Congress

By Guest PostNovember 17, 2012Politicscharisma, Chicago, christopher berry, congress, congresswomen, federal aid, federal projects, female, fiscal cliff, harris school, healthcare reform, house, hurricane sandy, job performance, legislation, male counterpart, nov election, number, partisan gaps, politicians, President Obama, public policy, representatives, university, us senate, us senators, women

One of the most notable outcomes of the Nov. 6 election was the record number of women voted into Congress, including 20 women who will occupy seats in the U.S. Senate.

Christopher Berry, associate professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, recently discussed the effects of the increase in female U.S. senators. Berry co-authored a 2011 study that found congresswomen consistently outperform their male counterparts on several measures of job performance.

What implications will the increase of female representation have for the U.S. Senate?

Potentially of great interest to the constituents of the new female senators is our finding that they consistently bring home more federal projects and federal aid than their male counterparts. When you think about disasters like Hurricane Sandy, the ability to bring home federal aid for rebuilding efforts is really important. It is going to be good for their constituents and the states they represent. (more…)

Female Pulitzer Prize Winners Require Higher Qualifications, MU Study Finds

By Guest PostOctober 29, 2012Culture, General, Mediachinese university, compensational equality period, exclusionary period, female, formal equality period, francis lee, gender disparities, hong kong, ivy league, journalism, journalistic industry, male, metropolitan city, missouri, new york times, prestigious awards, pulitzer prize, society, statistical difference, stratification, university, US, winner, yong volz

Gender disparity in journalism still exists, but is improving

COLUMBIA, Mo. —The Pulitzer Prize in Journalism is one of the world’s most prestigious awards. Despite progress in the last few decades, gender disparities in the field of journalism have existed as long as the profession has. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that female Pulitzer Prize winners are more likely to have greater qualifications than their male counterparts in order to win the coveted award.

In a study to be published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Yong Volz, an assistant professor of journalism studies in the MU School of Journalism, along with Francis Lee of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, studied biographical data from all 814 historical winners of the Pulitzer Prize from 1917 to 2010. They found that the majority of the 113 female Pulitzer Prize winners enjoyed access to greater resources than the average male winner. (more…)

Yellowstone Wolf Study Reveals How to Raise Successful Offspring

By Guest PostOctober 11, 2012Naturearmies, arms race, body weight, bridgett vonholdt, canine distemper, carnivore population, cooperation, cooperative, dan macnulty, dan stahler, data, excellent model, factor, female, female wolves, gray wolves, group behavior, key ingredient, life history, life sciences, mother, national, national park, offspring, park service, predator, princeton university, pup survival, reproduction, robert wayne, social carnivores, sociality, soldiers, state university, study, survival advantage, utah, weight, wolves, world, yellowstone, yellowstone park, young adulthood

What are the key ingredients to raising successful, self-sufficient offspring? A new life sciences study using 14 years of data on gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park indicates that cooperative group behavior and a mother’s weight are crucial.

“A female’s body weight is key in the survival of her offspring, and cooperation in the protection and feeding of young pups pays off in terms of the production of offspring,” said Robert Wayne, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA and co-author of the new research, published this week in the online edition of the Journal of Animal Ecology. (more…)

Long Menopause Allows Killer Whales to Care for Adult Sons

By Guest PostSeptember 17, 2012Natureadult son, canada, center, coast, dan franks, darren croft, david ellifrit, emma foster, exeter, female, grandmother hypothesis, great mystery, killer whale, longest menopause, mother, Nature, non human, north pacific, ocean, orcinus orca, post reproductive, son, species, survival rate, university, usa, whale research

Scientists have found the answer to why female killer whales have the longest menopause of any non-human species – to care for their adult sons.

Led by the Universities of Exeter and York and published in the journal Science the research shows that, for a male over 30, the death of his mother means an almost 14-fold-increase in the likelihood of his death within the following year.

The reason for the menopause remains one of nature’s great mysteries and very few species have a prolonged period of their lifespan when they no longer reproduce, as in humans. However, female killer whales stop reproducing in their 30s-40s, but can survive into their 90s. While different theories have been put forward for the evolution of menopause in humans, including the well-established ‘grandmother’ hypothesis, there has been no definitive answer to why females of a small number of other species, including killer whales, also stop reproducing part-way through their lives. (more…)

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What implications will the increase of female representation have for the U.S. Senate?