India / Health & Beauty
If men were insects they’d have to walk 7kms for sex
06.09.2008 00:22
b4uindia.com
Male giant wetas walk a considerable distance each night for sex, and their lightweight and longer legs help them satiate their wanderlust, according to a field study on Maud Island, New Zealand. Studying the flightless and nocturnal Cook Strait giant weta Deinacrida rugosa, evolutionary biologists from the University of Toronto at Mississauga have found that males can walk more than 90 m each night in search of a mate, which is roughly equivalent to a 7000 m outing by a human male. Deinacrida rugosa is a relative of the cricket, and is found in New Zealand. It is one of the world’s heaviest insects with females weighing in at 20g, averaging twice the size of males. Study leaders Luc Bussiere, and Darryl Gwynne found that male giant weta most successful at mating travelled greater distances each night. The researchers revealed that they gained unprecedented insight into mating habits of weta by radio-tracking them over several days, which enabled them to calculate how much distance the insects walked, and with whom each male and female "spent the day". As a male giant weta copulates repeatedly with his mate throughout the day, said the team, they also estimated how much sperm was transferred by counting the empty packets (spermatophores) piled beneath the pair. The researchers said that not found that not only did the males travel more than twice as far as the females, but they also walked further, acquired more mates, and transferred more spermatophores to females. "Our findings are a rare example of sexual selection favoring a suite of traits that promote greater mobility in one sex only," stated Kelly, adding " this is exciting because it suggests that sexual selection for smaller, more mobile males could be responsible for some of the impressive sexual difference in body size in this species." The researchers believe that their work may help understand why males are smaller than females in some other animals. The study has been published in the journal The American Naturalist (ANI)
India
Health & Beauty
Groundbreaking study confirms regular exercise can keep cancer at bay
06.09.2008 00:22
b4uindia.com
Walking, playing sport, going to the gym or even housework can help keep cancer at bay, according to a new study. In a study lasting 10 years, researchers have found that exercise can stave off a number of common cancers, including colon, liver, pancreatic and stomach cancers. And the more active people are, the more they are protected against the disease, the study found. According to the research team, the most active men are 13 per cent less likely to get cancer than the least active men. For women, exercise is even better at beating off the disease, reports the Daily Express. The most active women have a 16 per cent lower cancer risk than their couch-potato counterparts. To reach the conclusion, the study followed nearly 80,000 people over a decade. They were all aged between 45 and 74, a time of life when cancer is most likely to strike. Volunteers were asked how much physical activity they undertook, what they ate – and how much – and about their other habits, such as smoking and drinking. Scientists at Japan’s National Cancer Centre in Tokyo then checked them for cancer. More than 4,300 new cases were diagnosed. But researchers found with active people the incidences of cancer dipped dramatically. The link held true when the researchers accounted for a range of other factors, including participants’ age and weight. Reporting his findings in the American Journal of Epidemiology, Dr Manami Inoue said: “Our results suggest that increased daily total physical activity – not only exercise – may be beneficial in preventing the development of cancer among men and women.” (ANI)
India
Health & Beauty
Snapping what you eat can help you stick to your diet
06.09.2008 00:22
b4uindia.com
Keeping a check on what you eat does help in your bid to lose extra weight, but only if it is done through a camera lens, says a new research of dieters'' eating habits which compared the effect of written food diaries with taking a snapshot of each meal. With technology taking the whole world by storm, people are nowadays turning to taking a snapshot of each meal instead of maintaining food diaries that track food consumption during weight loss programmes. Now, in the latest study, Lydia Zepeda and David Deal at the University of Wisconsin-Madison told 43 people to record what they ate for one week in words and as pictures to see if photos also prompt healthier eating. When they quizzed the volunteers, photo diaries seemed to be the most effective. Not only did they provide powerful visual documentation of snack binges, they also triggered critical evaluation at just the right time - before the food was eaten. "I had to think more carefully about what I was going to eat because I had to take a picture of it," was a typical response. In contrast, written diaries are often completed long after the meal and do not create as powerful a reminder of the quantity and quality of the food that was eaten, according to researchers. "Nutritionists see diaries as recording tools. Now they should explore the role of photo diaries as intervention tools," New Scientist quoted Zepeda, as saying. The study has published in International Journal of Consumer Studies. (ANI)
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