All posts tagged: longheld

Scientists wired up volunteers’ genitals and had them watch animals hump to test a long-held theory

Scientists wired up volunteers’ genitals and had them watch animals hump to test a long-held theory

A recent experiment explored whether the simple visual cue of mating movements triggers sexual arousal in heterosexual men and women. The results showed that viewing muted clips of different animal species engaging in copulation failed to increase blood flow to the genitals or elicit self-reported arousal in either sex. These observations were published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. Lucie Krejčová, a researcher at Charles University in Prague, and her colleagues developed this experiment to test existing theories about human sexual response. They wanted to understand the specific visual triggers that cause the human body to physically prepare for sexual intercourse. Physical arousal often operates independently from a person’s mental or emotional desire. Historically, studies have suggested a divide between how men and women react to explicit imagery. Men typically experience an increase in genital blood flow only when looking at individuals of their preferred gender. Their bodily responses tend to align closely with their stated sexual orientation. Heterosexual women often exhibit a different physical pattern in laboratory settings. Past experiments indicated that these …

Gabriela Jaquez lives her long-held UCLA championship dream

Gabriela Jaquez lives her long-held UCLA championship dream

PHOENIX — Gabriela Jaquez, tone-setter. Culture-setter. Scene-setter. Firestarter. Elite job-finisher — around the rim and in life. UCLA’s first NCAA women’s basketball championship win was more coronation than ballgame, a 79-51 blowout of monumental proportions against perennial power South Carolina. Fittingly, it starred one of the members of the Bruins’ royal family: a Jaquez hooper stealing her opponents’ souls from the outset. UCLA’s Gabriela Jaquez drives ahead of South Carolina’s Tessa Johnson (5) during the first half of the NCAA championship game Sunday. (Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times) All Gabs, no brakes. Going downhill. Smirking gamely all the while. “Relentless,” Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said. “Relentless.” Definitely one of those “uncommon, courageous women” that UCLA coach Cori Close sought to play in her program. “Living her dream,” said former UCLA star Jaime Jaquez Jr., whom Bruins fans might be thinking of now as “Gabriela’s brother” instead of the other way around. Jaime led the UCLA men to the Final Four in 2021 and has gone on to make his name in the NBA as a contributor …

Ape’s pretend tea party challenges long-held beliefs about animal imagination

Ape’s pretend tea party challenges long-held beliefs about animal imagination

In a new research paper published in Science, cognitive scientists from Johns Hopkins University reported on a bonobo’s ability to participate in shared imaginative play that was previously considered unique to humans. Christopher Krupenye, an assistant professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins, was one of the leaders of this research and received help from Amalia Bastos, now a lecturer at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. In the course of the study, Kanzi, a 43-year-old bonobo currently living at the Ape Initiative, participated in many studies over his lifetime and has been shown to respond to spoken English by using a pointing gesture. During multiple controlled experiments conducted with Kanzi, he exhibited the ability to track and follow imaginary juice and grapes with his eyes, while understanding that the cups and jars were empty. “This is a groundbreaking discovery because it suggests they (bonobos) can think beyond their present,” said Krupenye. “Historically, imagination was considered a uniquely human trait. However, these findings indicate that this is not necessarily the case.” For …