When humans lost their penile spines and began enjoying their sexual relationships...

Image by wallyg via Flickr
When humans lost their penile spines and began enjoying their sex...

This week from Britain: It is a genetic mutation for which all men and their sexual partners can be grateful for. Scientists have identified the stretch of DNA that caused the human penis to lose its spines.

While many other mammals including chimpanzees, macaque monkeys, cats and mice have hard bristles on the sides of their penis, the male sexual organ is mercifully smooth in human beings. This has been traced to the loss of a genetic switch that activates the growth of penile spines.

This mutation almost certainly evolved as human beings became monogamous. As well as causing discomfort for the female, spines make the penis more sensitive and thus shorten the length of intercourse. Their loss would have made sex more satisfying, promoting pair bonding.

This discovery, published recently in the journal NATURE, offers important insights into human evolution. The research was done by by scientists at Stanford University in California.

Acknowledgements: The Times

http://huttriver.blog.co.uk

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• Genetic Errors Nixed Penis Spines, Enlarged Our Brains (wired.com)
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I Robot - Robot mimics human speech...

 I Robot -  Robot mimics human speech, gestures.



Japanese researchers have unveiled a robot that can mimic speech and gestures sent to it by video-phone, replicating a distant caller's presence.



Dubbed the Telenoid R1, the robot will allow "people to feel as if an acquaintance in the distance is next to you", according to its developers, Osaka University and the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute.



A sensor will transmit the caller's sounds and movements of the head, face and arms to a robot near the recipient, the developers said.

htttp//news.msn.co.nz/glamce/7939662/robot-mimcs-human-speech-gestures

For sale one brain and some blood...interested?

For sale one brain and some blood...interested?

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's blood and brain went on sale for $31276 on online auction website eBay before the company pulled the advertisement.

eBay explained the removal of the auction on the grounds that the company did not authorise the sale of human body-parts.