biology

Neil DeGrasse Tyson made a lot of people (and presumably ducks, cats and bedbugs) angry with a much less than true fact about sex and evolution.  His claim, that sex doesn't hurt any species had many Twitter users jumping to correct him. 


via @RachelFeltman, @SciPhile, @ClaireConnelly, @carlzimmer, @DreadMorgan

And you might be thinking, he's just trying to be positive about human sexuality and say, in his own pseudoscientific way that it's healthy and painless for humans. But... that's actually not true either:


via @DebbyHerbenick, @mikamckinnon

Sure, he's a scientist but cut him some slack, he's not that kind of scientist. He studied astrophysics, how's he supposed to check his facts at all before Tweeting about biology?


via my-little-talks

A species of humpback dolphin previously unknown to science is swimming in the waters off northern Australia, according to a team of researchers working for the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and numerous other groups that contributed to the study.

People may unsuspectingly choose friends who have some DNA sequences in common with them, a new analysis finds.

Researchers compared gene variations between nearly 2,000 people who were not biologically related, and found that friends had more gene variations in common than strangers.

The study lends a possible scientific backing for the well-worn clichés, "We're just like family," or "Friends are the family you choose," the researchers said.

"Humans are unique in that we create long-term connections with people of our species," said Nicholas Christakis, a social scientist at Yale University involved in the study. "Why do we do that? Why do we make friends? Not only that, we prefer the company of people we resemble."

This is the caterpillar of a large moth species called the Pink Underwing Moth (Phyllodes imperials).