journals.plos.org

Alcohol use disorders (AUD) associate with structural and functional brain differences, including impairments in neuropsychological function; however, reviews (mostly cross-sectional) are inconsistent with regards to recovery of such functions following abstinence. Recovery is important, as these impairments associate with treatment outcomes and quality of life.

Identifying groups at increased risk for political violence can support prevention efforts. We determine whether “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) Republicans, as defined, are potentially such a group.

Women’s preferences for penis size may affect men’s comfort with their own bodies and may have implications for sexual health. Studies of women’s penis size preferences typically have relied on their abstract ratings or selecting amongst 2D, flaccid images. This study used haptic stimuli to allow assessment of women’s size recall accuracy for the first time, as well as examine their preferences for erect penis sizes in different relationship contexts. Women (N = 75) selected amongst 33, 3D models. Women recalled model size accurately using this method, although they made more errors with respect to penis length than circumference. Women preferred a penis of slightly larger circumference and length for one-time (length = 6.4 inches/16.3 cm, circumference = 5.0 inches/12.7 cm) versus long-term (length = 6.3 inches/16.0 cm, circumference = 4.8 inches/12.2 cm) sexual partners. These first estimates of erect penis size preferences using 3D models suggest women accurately recall size and prefer penises only slightly larger than average.

It has been suggested human female breast size may act as signal of fat reserves, which in turn indicates access to resources. Based on this perspective, two studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that men experiencing relative resource insecurity should perceive larger breast size as more physically attractive than men experiencing resource security. In Study 1, 266 men from three sites in Malaysia varying in relative socioeconomic status (high to low) rated a series of animated figures varying in breast size for physical attractiveness. Results showed that men from the low socioeconomic context rated larger breasts as more attractive than did men from the medium socioeconomic context, who in turn perceived larger breasts as attractive than men from a high socioeconomic context. Study 2 compared the breast size judgements of 66 hungry versus 58 satiated men within the same environmental context in Britain. Results showed that hungry men rated larger breasts as significantly more attractive than satiated men. Taken together, these studies provide evidence that resource security impacts upon men’s attractiveness ratings based on women’s breast size.

Introduction

In 2015, we conducted a cross-sectional, Internet-based, U.S. nationally representative probability survey of 2,021 adults (975 men, 1,046 women) focused on a broad range of sexual behaviors. Individuals invited to participate were from the GfK KnowledgePanel®. The survey was titled the 2015 Sexual Exploration in America Study and survey completion took about 12 to 15 minutes. The survey was confidential and the researchers never had access to respondents’ identifiers. Respondents reported on demographic items, lifetime and recent sexual behaviors, and the appeal of 50+ sexual behaviors. Most (>80%) reported lifetime masturbation, vaginal sex, and oral sex. Lifetime anal sex was reported by 43% of men (insertive) and 37% of women (receptive). Common lifetime sexual behaviors included wearing sexy lingerie/underwear (75% women, 26% men), sending/receiving digital nude/semi-nude photos (54% women, 65% men), reading erotic stories (57% of participants), public sex (≥43%), role-playing (≥22%), tying/being tied up (≥20%), spanking (≥30%), and watching sexually explicit videos/DVDs (60% women, 82% men). Having engaged in threesomes (10% women, 18% men) and playful whipping (≥13%) were less common. Lifetime group sex, sex parties, taking a sexuality class/workshop, and going to BDSM parties were uncommon (each <8%). More Americans identified behaviors as “appealing” than had engaged in them. Romantic/affectionate behaviors were among those most commonly identified as appealing for both men and women. The appeal of particular behaviors was associated with greater odds that the individual had ever engaged in the behavior. This study contributes to our understanding of more diverse adult sexual behaviors than has previously been captured in U.S. nationally representative probability surveys. Implications for sexuality educators, clinicians, and individuals in the general population are discussed.

Does a woman’s cognitive performance change throughout her menstrual cycle? Menstruation continues to be a taboo topic, subject to myths about how it affects women. Despite the considerable number of empirical studies, there have been few quantitative summaries of what is known. To address this gap, we conducted a meta-analysis of cognitive performance across the menstrual cycle, including the domains of attention, creativity, executive functioning, intelligence, motor function, spatial ability, and verbal ability. We included studies that measured women’s performance at specific points in the cycle for tasks that have objectively correct responses. Our analysis examined performance differences across phases using Hedges’ g as the effect size metric. Across 102 articles, N =  3,943 participants, and 730 comparisons, we observe no systematic robust evidence for significant cycle shifts in performance across cognitive performance. Although two results appeared significant with respect to differences in spatial ability, they arise from a large number of statistical tests and are not supported in studies that use robust methods to determine cycle phase. Through the use of Egger’s test, and examination of funnel plots, we did not observe evidence of publication bias or small-study effects. We examined speed and accuracy measures separately within each domain, and no robust differences across phases appeared for either speed or accuracy. We conclude that the body of research in this meta-analysis does not support myths that women’s cognitive abilities change across the menstrual cycle. Future research should use larger sample sizes and consistent definitions of the menstrual cycle, using hormonal indicators to confirm cycle phase.

In spite of 250 years of taxonomic classification and over 1.2 million species already catalogued in a central database, our results suggest that some 86% of existing species on Earth and 91% of species in the ocean still await description.

Neanderthal medical knowledge has long attracted scholarly interest. Evidence suggests they cared for sick, injured, and elderly group members, with possible use of medicinal plants. However, it remains uncertain whether such practices reflect deliberate medical strategies or instinctive self-medication akin to that observed in non-human primates. Here, we analyze and interpret traces of deliberate artificial manipulation of Chagyrskaya 64, a Neanderthal lower left second molar found in Chagyrskaya Cave (Altai Krai, Russia). The tooth exhibits a large human-generated concavity on the occlusal surface, created during the lifetime of the individual. Traceological and microtomographic analyses of the observed modifications, combined with experimental verification, reveal that the concavity in Chagyrskaya 64 is indicative of the earliest documented instance of caries treatment involving the drilling/rotating with a lithic perforator, ca. 59 ka. Evidence of two distinct types of manipulations requiring different tools, in addition to the drilling/rotating technique, necessitating complex finger movements, indicates that the Chagyrskaya Cave Neanderthals possessed the cognitive capacity to intuit the source of pain, comprehend the feasibility of its elimination, and deliberately select the most efficacious dental intervention. These patterns bring Neanderthal behavior closer to modern humans and differentiate that behavior from the instinctive actions of other primates.

This study introduces simple yet robust quantitative methods to detect local warming, distinguish among different types of warming, and compare warming trends across contiguous U.S. states using the concept of warming dominance.

Childlessness is an increasingly visible phenomenon. Once predominantly associated with high-income settings, it now spans diverse cultural, economic, and political contexts, including the Global South. Among recent demographic shifts, childlessness has emerged as one of the most ideologically charged and widely debated topics in public discourse, particularly through media narratives. Although media are often overlooked in mainstream public health models, they play critical roles as structural and intermediary determinants of health - shaping issue framing, amplifying voices, and legitimizing solutions. Yet little is known about how childlessness is represented in global media, especially outside the Global North and in the post-pandemic era. This study analysed news media representations of childlessness from a public health perspective, drawing on 131 news articles from 101 outlets across 86 countries (2015–2025). Articles were identified through systematic keyword searches in English and 12 additional languages, screened for relevance, and analysed thematically using Braun and Clarke’s inductive method. Our approach was discourse-sensitive, drawing on a social constructionist lens and informed by framing theories and reproductive justice. Five themes were identified: The guinea pig of the state; Crazy rich selfish animal lovers; No baby, no cry; Bringing children into a broken world; and Winter regret and loneliness. These narratives operate across structural, intermediary, and individual levels, fulfilling four discursive functions: politicising, moralising, pathologising, and humanising. By examining how childlessness is problematized or legitimized, this study highlights the media’s role in shaping reproductive narratives, stigma, and health equity across diverse contexts.

Recovering evidence for the intentional use of plants in the Palaeolithic is challenging due to their perishable nature as, unlike chipped stone or bone artefacts, plant remains are rarely preserved. This has created a paradigm for the Palaeolithic in which plants seldom feature, resulting in a partial and skewed perspective; in fact, plants were as essential to human life then as they are today. Here, we combine morphological and spectroscopic analyses (µ-Raman, µ-FTIR) to provide robust multiscale physical and biomolecular evidence for the deliberate pounding and grinding of Isatis tinctoria L. leaves 34–32,000 years ago. The leaf epidermis fragments were found entrapped in the topography of the used surface of unmodified pebbles, in association with use-wear traces. Although their bitter taste renders them essentially inedible, the leaves have well-recognised medicinal properties and contain indigotin precursors, the chromophore responsible for the blue colour of woad, a plant-based dye that is insoluble in water. We used a stringent approach to contamination control and biomolecular analysis to provide evidence for a new perspective on human behaviour, and the applied technical and ecological knowledge that is likely to have prevailed in the Upper Palaeolithic. Whether this plant was used as a colourant, as medicine, or indeed for both remains unknown, but offers a new perspective on the fascinating possibilities of non-edible plant use.

Weeds are currently present in a wide range of ecosystems worldwide. Although the beginning of their evolution is largely unknown, researchers assumed that they developed in tandem with cultivation since the appearance of agricultural habitats some 12,000 years ago. These rapidly-evolving plants invaded the human disturbed areas and thrived in the new habitat. Here we present unprecedented new findings of the presence of “proto-weeds” and small-scale trial cultivation in Ohalo II, a 23,000-year-old hunter-gatherers’ sedentary camp on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. We examined the plant remains retrieved from the site (ca. 150,000 specimens), placing particular emphasis on the search for evidence of plant cultivation by Ohalo II people and the presence of weed species. The archaeobotanically-rich plant assemblage demonstrates extensive human gathering of over 140 plant species and food preparation by grinding wild wheat and barley. Among these, we identified 13 well-known current weeds mixed with numerous seeds of wild emmer, barley, and oat. This collection provides the earliest evidence of a human-disturbed environment—at least 11 millennia before the onset of agriculture—that provided the conditions for the development of “proto-weeds”, a prerequisite for weed evolution. Finally, we suggest that their presence indicates the earliest, small-scale attempt to cultivate wild cereals seen in the archaeological record.

Abstract Reclamation of disturbances from oil sands mining requires effective soil management to ensure successful plant establishment and to promote recovery of native plant communities.

Psychedelic medicines have been studied as an adjunct to psychotherapy for over 100 years.

Psychedelic medicines have been studied as an adjunct to psychotherapy for over 100 years.

An interesting scientific article from 2013; who can say what the reproducibility is, probably get wildly different results when replicated, especially given the data set is essentially self selected which makes the results bias in many ways.

The technology to do this exists, but it will never happen. Like any other organism, humans will use up all available finite resources until death is certain.

cross-postowane z: https://szmer.info/post/15092

The authors describe and extensively document how a Raspberry Pi can be used to, for example, study how fruit flies react to light. Why is this interesting? It provides ways to build a system that can react to the subject’s changes in behaviour using a very accessible platform: the humble Pi.