Chemical Cocktail in Fly Saliva

A cocktail of chemicals found in the saliva of black fly could help us to develop better drugs, and maybe even a vaccine, against river blindness.River blindness, or Onchocerciasis as it’s also known, affects 17 million people worldwide, and is the world’s third leading infectious cause of blindness...

Jackdaws know when they are being watched

Do you behave differently when you’re being watched? It now seems that Jackdaws, birds related to crows and ravens, do the same.  At the least, they recognise the importance of the human eye with regards vision and attention, and seem to be more aware of being watched by a stranger. Writing ...

Exchanging food for sex

Wild female chimpanzees will copulate more often with males who regularly bring them meat, according to a study published in the open access journal PLoS One this week.Mate selection by females is a puzzle in chimpanzees as well as in humans, but there is some indication that more successful hunters...

This Week in Science History - Available Insulin

This week in science history saw, in 1923, purified extracts of the hormone insulin being made widely available for the treatment of diabetes. Sarah Castor-Perry explains more...