nature vs. nurture

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Twins Reunited After 78 Years

Record-breaking separation adds to nature vs. nurture debate

(Newser) - After nine months together in the womb but a lifetime apart, twins Ann Hunt and Elizabeth Hamel have finally been reunited. The pair—whose reunion after 78 years is a new world record—were born to an unmarried domestic servant in England in 1936 who was going to put both...

Dolphins' Hunting Tools Mostly Used by Females

Dolphin moms pass skills on to daughters; males do their own thing

(Newser) - Beside humans, few other animals use tools to get their everyday chores done. Even fewer of them are marine mammals, so researchers in Australia were surprised to catch bottlenose dolphins employing conical sponges to dig in the seafloor. Mostly female dolphins use the snout-protectors, and only if their mothers showed...

Obesity Genes Mainly Affect Your Brain

DNA behind appetites, tastes, and how likely we are to feel full: study

(Newser) - Overeating is all in your head, but you can blame that on your DNA, the Times of London reports. Of the seven gene variations connected with obesity, five affect the brain’s wiring, suggesting that an inherited tendency toward slimness has more to do with appetite and impulse control than...

Cheating, Corruption Rampant in Ant Society

Secret elite exploits workers with its DNA

(Newser) - A power-mad elite is secretly rigging the system so their offspring rise to power, LiveScience reports. That’s the situation a team of researchers has discovered in ant society—not exactly the epitome of community collaboration once thought. Until now, it appeared that any properly-fed larvae could hatch into a...

Even Babies Know Friend From Foe
Even Babies Know Friend From Foe

Even Babies Know Friend From Foe

In study, infants show social judgment long before they can talk

(Newser) - Babies know how to pick out friends from enemies even before they can talk, a new study suggests. The findings could mean that such social behavior is innate rather than learned from parents, said researchers at Yale University. In the study, babies 6 to 10 months old clearly preferred playing...

Twins Split by 'Science' Reunite
Twins Split by 'Science' Reunite

Twins Split by 'Science' Reunite

Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein raised in different families as part of scientific study

(Newser) - Three decades into a bizarre nature-versus-nurture experiment, Elyse Schein abruptly discovered she and a twin sister had been separated at birth and adopted into separate homes—all in the name of science. They eventually found each other in 2004, and now talked with CBS about their new memoir, Identical Strangers....

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