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<\/div>Learning from mole rats<\/h2>\n
Feedback anticipates a bonanza of pharma-medico-lifestylish new-product announcements offering to boost everyone\u2019s level of hyaluronan, a substance recently shown to somewhat protect your cells against inflammation and early death if you are a naked mole rat.<\/p>\n
Marketers who specialise in inflammation of the populace won\u2019t have missed the Journal of Experimental Biology<\/i>\u2018s appreciation of hyaluronan. Beneath the headline \u201cUnderground anti-aging secrets from burrowing rodents<\/a>\u201c, the journal says: \u201cMost cells live in a blanket of molecules and minerals called an \u2018extracellular matrix\u2019. In naked mole rats, this blanket is woven from a thicker fabric: naked mole rats produce a heavier and larger version of the molecule hyaluronan, which is the backbone of this extracellular matrix.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Andrei Seluanov and Vera Gorbunova\u2019s team at the University of Rochester, USA, show, this extra padding protects cells from inflammation and early death.\u201d<\/p>\n The report ends with this almost poetical wink: \u201cthe Fountain of Youth may be embodied in the heavy hyaluronan of naked mole rats \u2013 nearly blind rodents, with lots of wrinkles and yellowed teeth\u201d.<\/p>\n Books can be dangerous in little-anticipated ways.<\/p>\n Feedback reminds you to be careful when using The Anarchist Cookbook<\/i><\/a>. If you don\u2019t cook your anarchist to the proper temperature, there may be problems.<\/p>\n Similarly with The Shredded Vegan Chef<\/i><\/a>. If you don\u2019t properly shred your vegan chef, distress can result.<\/p>\n If your hobby is astrophysics, the warning applies to The Whole Earth Cook Book<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After the world became aware two decades ago of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck<\/a>, more reports of \u201cDavian behaviour\u201d found their way into the public record. Here is a quick update.<\/p>\n The subject got its big boost in 2003 when Dutch ornithologist Kees Moeliker was awarded an Ig Nobel prize<\/a> for his now-famous paper \u201cThe first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard Anas platyrhynchos<\/i>\u201c. Moeliker told of two ducks that had an avian Davian encounter. Necrophilic behaviour is here called \u201cDavian\u201d because, in 1960, US ornithologist Robert W. Dickman gave necrophilia a new name \u2013 \u201cDavian\u201d \u2013 in his paper \u201c\u2018Davian behavior complex\u2019 in ground squirrels<\/a>\u201c, published in the Journal of Mammalogy<\/i>.<\/p>\n Now, Michal \u0158e\u0159icha and colleagues at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague have published a report that documents the practice among ladybirds (known as \u201cladybugs\u201d in some places). The report\u2019s title smacks of horror: \u201cMating with dead conspecifics in an invasive ladybird is affected by male sexual fasting and time since the female\u2019s death<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n This comes just three years after a report by Amber Lea D. Kincaid at Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida and colleagues, about necrophilia at sea: \u201cNecrocoitus in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) near Sarasota, Florida<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n Attention-grabbing, grim accounts can take a literary turn, as happened in a 2015 paper, about South American snakes, called \u201cThe sexual attractiveness of the corpse bride: Unusual mating behaviour of Helicops carinicaudus (Serpentes: Dipsadidae)<\/a>\u201c, by Ra\u00edssa Siqueira at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues. They write: \u201cWe observed a young male copulating, with the hemipenis fully inserted into a headless female. Specimens were collected, dissected and measured\u201d.<\/p>\n Literary works inspire other literary works, as is evident in a 2020 paper by Marco Colombo and Emiliano Mori at the University of Siena in Italy. The title is: \u201cThe \u2018corpse bride\u2019 strikes again: First report of the Davian behaviour in the Eurasian badger<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n Some medical papers have titles so intriguingly horrifying that \u2013 to anyone who loves a good horror story \u2013 the title almost begs the reader to NOT read the study itself.<\/p>\n Why avoid the complete study? Because one\u2019s imagination, when overstimulated, can conjure up wonders. In comparison, the actual you-could-go-see-it-yourself details might seem mundane, dull, even comparatively dreary. Reading them could produce literary disappointment and disgruntlement \u2013 maybe even the death of curiosity.<\/p>\n For example, consider a paper written by a medical team in Chiba, Japan. To a non-professional, it tells how doctors solve accidental jigsaw puzzles \u2013 puzzles each made of odd parts from some person\u2019s digestive organs. Chew, please, on the paper\u2019s title: \u201cRisk factors of unintentional piecemeal resection in endoscopic mucosal resection for colorectal polyps \u2265 10mm<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n Feedback invites you to send easily over-imaginable titles of actual published scientific reports, should you run across any. Please include full citations and links to the papers. Send to: \u201cHappily horrific titles\u201d c\/o Feedback.<\/p>\n Marc Abrahams created the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony and\u00a0co-founded\u00a0the magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Earlier, he worked on unusual ways to use computers. His website is\u00a0<\/em>improbable.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Got a story for Feedback?<\/b><\/p>\n You can send stories to Feedback by email at feedback@newscientist.com<\/a>. Please include your home address. This week\u2019s and past Feedbacks can be seen on our website<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nAnarchist cookbook tip<\/h2>\n
Post-deadly encounters<\/h2>\n
Happily horrific titles<\/h2>\n