Poor Mojo's Newswire

Simple surgery can turn a sexually passive female mouse into a rampant sex beast. The removal of an odour-sensing organ causes female mice to pursue and mount mice of either sex, and also show masculine mating behaviours such as pelvic thrusts.

Other labs need to replicate the experiment to confirm the results, and its implications for people are unclear, experts caution. But it suggests that the rodents do have an innate sexual preference, and they have a larger capacity for gender bending than previously thought.

Unlike humans, mice exhibit a relatively narrow range of sex-specific behaviours. Previous studies have described how male mice actively pursue and mount mates, while females "just sit there and let things happen," says Catherine Dulac at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US.

So Stroud and Herrmann took their investigations to the Bimini Biological Research Station in the Bahamas, because, from a logical standpoint, who wouldn't want to conduct research in the Bahamas? What they found out was that sharks are vehemently opposed to rare-earth mineral magnets. Not only do the magnets make the sharks shoot to the opposite side of the pool like an unsociable party guest, but they can also rouse the sharks from states of tonic immobility. (It would seem that sharks, like turtles and pillbugs, become immobile when you turn them upside-down. This is, to me, some fascinating new terminology: I'd always attributed any immobility I've encountered to date much more to the gin than the tonic. *rimshot*)

This phenomenon is reportedly being attributed to the magnets' overloading the sharks' sensory systems, and it's pretty powerful stuff. That said, what the gentlemen behind this discovery want to warn you of is that strapping a ton of magnets to your head the next time you go diving probably isn't going to save you from becoming a ravenous shark's chum bucket.

The Black Death continues to cast a shadow across England. Although the modern English population is more cosmopolitan than ever, the plagues known as the Black Death killed so many people in the Middle Ages that, to this day, genetic diversity is lower in England than it was in the 11th century, according to a new analysis.

Rus Hoelzel at the University of Durham, UK and his colleagues looked at the mitochondrial DNA from human remains at 4th and 11th century archaeological sites in England, and compared them to samples from the modern population stored on DNA databases such as GenBank. They found there was more variation in the ancient mitochondrial DNA sequences than in modern sequences.

Hoelzel thinks random genetic drift may have lowered genetic diversity naturally. But the large unexpected drop in diversity was more likely to have been caused by population crashes following major outbreaks of the Black Death in England during the 1340s and the 1660s.

pH of Soda = pH of Vinegar

For one, soda, no matter who makes it, is the most acidic beverage you can buy, with a pH of about 2.5, about the same as vinegar. Why does that matter? Acid oxidizes whatever it comes in contact with. If you put soda or vinegar on metal, it will rust it quickly. Check out this table of acid levels of your favorite sodas.

Drink Soda, Leach Calcium

If you drink soda, which also contains high levels of phosphorous, you will leach calcium from your bones. Dr. Michael Murray from the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine concluded, “It appears that increased soft drink consumption is a major factor that contributes to osteoporosis.” Furthermore, Dr. Elson Haas, author of The Detox Diet states, “Tooth loss, periodontal disease, and gingivitis can be problems, especially with a high phosphorus intake, particularly from soft drinks.”

Soda Will Dissolve your Tooth Enamel

Weak bones is just the beginning. According to Dr. James Howenstein. author of A Physician’s Guide to Natural Health Products That Work, the high sugar content of soda is awful. He states, “”In an interesting experiment the sugar from one soft drink was able to damage the white blood cells’ ability to ingest and kill bacteria for seven hours.” Dr. Marion Nestle from his book Food Politics states, “Sugar and acid in soft drinks so easily dissolve tooth enamel.”