http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/sexdifferences/ en-us Sun, 1 Nov 2009 03:25:49 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2375678/posts THE emergence of the H1N1 swine flu has added urgency to what has become an annual ritual for millions of Americans: getting a flu shot. The good news is that scientists have developed a vaccine against the H1N1 virus. But it is taking much longer than expected to produce the hundreds of millions of doses the government had planned to distribute. And it is still too soon to know how effective the vaccine will be in preventing swine flu. In all likelihood, we’d have a better H1N1 vaccine — and more of it — if in our preparations we had... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2375678/posts#comment Sun, 1 Nov 2009 03:25:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2324209/posts New twist in Semenya gender saga By Gordon Farquhar BBC sports news correspondent Tests have revealed Caster Semenya's testosterone level to be three times higher than those normally expected in a female sample, BBC Sport understands. Analysis prior to the World Athletics Championships and the 18-year-old's big improvement prompted calls for a gender test from the sport's governing body. It was made public only hours before the South African, who has been backed by her nation, won the 800m in Berlin. A high level of the hormone does not always equate to a failed drugs test. But the news will... BBCNews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2324209/posts#comment Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:18:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2323794/posts Expert: Tests Extra-Complicated and Could Well Prove Inconclusive; South African Champ's Backers Call Probe Racist, SexistSouth Africans planned to rally in support of track champion Caster Semenya - celebrating her win in the 800 meters at the world championship, and denouncing questions about whether she should be allowed to compete as a woman as racist and sexist. The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) has initiated gender tests on Semenya. The tests are expected to take weeks to complete. They are extremely complex, involving a physical medical evaluation and including reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and gender... CBS News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2323794/posts#comment Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:12:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2322661/posts The controversy over South African athlete Caster Semenya's gender has given the public a view into the complexities of gender. At first blush, the issue should be fairly straightforward: a person is either a male (with an X and a Y chromosome) or a female (with two X chromosomes). But the reality is that a number of conditions can blur the gender line. After her 800-meter final on August 19 at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, the International Association of Athletics Federations announced that they had asked Semenya to undergo tests to verify that she was female, with IAAF... Scientific American http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2322661/posts#comment Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:36:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2322011/posts The family and friends of the teenager who struck gold in the women's 800 metres at the World Athletics Championships but now faces sex tests hit out yesterday at claims she could be a man. And South African Caster Semenya was also backed by her government, who called her the country's 'golden girl' and a role model for young athletes. Caster, whose rapid improvement over the last year raised eyebrows, won the women's title with a crushing performance in Berlin on Wednesday. The governing body of world athletics, the IAAF, has asked South Africa to test their star 18-year-old's gender... Daily Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2322011/posts#comment Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:53:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2315268/posts Environmentalism cannot explain all behavior It is obvious and true that one’s environment influences one’s behavior. A Chinese will tend to act differently than a Russian; for example, they will tend to celebrate different holidays and show variation in respect to their elders, purely because of socialization. No one disputes this. It is also true and obvious that one’s physiology and biology, one’s neurochemical makeup, influences one’s behavior. A 250-pound, muscle-bound man is more likely to play for the NFL than is a short, 150-pound, desk-bound man. Goldberg is fond of repeating, “an adult male’s ability to grow a moustache... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2315268/posts#comment Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:53:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2311642/posts Men and women really are different. The findings of hard science – in endocrinology, brain structure and function and genetics, for instance – have forced rational feminists to admit that, statistically speaking, men and women have different aptitudes, interests and responses, little though this is yet understood. Such generalisations never apply to an individual, of course, and although – for instance – women are underrepresented at the extremes of intelligence and statistically are less good at higher maths, chess, musical composition and physics, any one woman might be brilliant. Similarly, while women tend in general to be less aggressive and... Times of London http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2311642/posts#comment Sat, 8 Aug 2009 23:39:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2264038/posts Neuroscientists found woman's partner status relevant for her interest in the opposite sex A study by neuroscientist Heather Rupp and her team found that a woman's partner status influenced her interest in the opposite sex. In the study¹, published in the March issue of Human Nature, women both with and without sexual partners showed little difference in their subjective ratings of photos of men when considering such measures as masculinity and attractiveness. However, the women who did not have sexual partners spent more time evaluating photos of men, demonstrating a greater interest in the photos. No such difference was found... Springer Science + Business Media http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2264038/posts#comment Wed, 3 Jun 2009 19:58:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2262335/posts As the nation embarks on high school graduation season, The Choice was reminded of a study published last summer that sought to compare male and female high school valedictorians. The goal of the study, by an economics professor at Meredith College in North Carolina, was to examine the college choices, intended majors and career aspirations of high-achieving boys and girls, and see if there were any differences. Specifically, the study examined 150 valedictorians from high schools from the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, and surrounding counties. Its main conclusion? That when stacked up against the boys, the female valedictorians tended... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2262335/posts#comment Mon, 1 Jun 2009 19:02:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2186377/posts Women are less tolerant of each other than men are, according to a new study which may explain why some women prefer to have a male boss.The research, published in the US journal Psychological Science, found that women formed a negative view of their peers much quicker than men did. The team from Emmanuel College in Boston asked male and female college students to rate their room-mates under different scenarios. When asked to judge how they would rate their room-mates if they carried out a single fictional act of negative behaviour, after they had been otherwise completely trustworthy, women were... The Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2186377/posts#comment Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:20:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2174589/posts Little girls may be made of sugar and spice and all things nice, but their armpits smell of onions. And while free of slug or snail odours, men's armpits pack a powerful cheesy whiff. That's the conclusion of research in Switzerland that involved taking armpit sweat samples from 24 men and 25 women after they had spent time in a sauna or ridden an exercise bike for 15 minutes. The researchers found marked differences in the sweat from men and women. "Men smell of cheese, and women of grapefruit or onion," says Christian Starkenmann of Firmenich, a company in Geneva... abcnews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2174589/posts#comment Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:00:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2174174/posts LONDON: It is often suggested that there's natural smell in females that arouse males, but a team of testers have now found that women smell of onions while men smell of cheese. A Swiss team of researchers, who studied the armpit sweat samples from 24 males and 25 females, found marked differences in the sweat from men and women after they had spent time in a sauna or 15 minutes on an exercise bike. "Men smell of cheese, and women of grapefruit or onion," said Christian Starkenmann of Firmenich, a company in Geneva that researches flavours and perfumes for food... PTI http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2174174/posts#comment Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:47:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2155195/posts ScienceDaily (Dec. 28, 2008) — To whom would you rather give money: a needy person in your neighborhood or a needy person in a foreign country? According to new research by Texas A&M University marketing professor Karen Winterich and colleagues, if youÂ’re a man, youÂ’re more likely to give to the person closest to you î º that is, the one in your neighborhood î º if you give at all. If youÂ’re a woman, youÂ’re more likely to give î º and to give equal amounts to both groups. Winterich, who teaches marketing at Texas A&MÂ’s Mays Business School, says she can... Science Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2155195/posts#comment Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:23:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2145828/posts Men tend to perform better than women at tasks that require rotating an object mentally, studies have indicated. Now, developmental psychologists at Pitzer College and UCLA have discovered that this type of spatial skill is present in infancy and can be found in boys as young as 5 months old. While women tend to be stronger verbally than men, many studies have shown that adult men have an advantage in the ability to imagine complex objects visually and to mentally rotate them. Does this advantage go back to infancy? "We found the answer is yes," said Scott P. Johnson, a... PhysOrg http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2145828/posts#comment Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:17:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2139404/posts Male superiority on mental rotation tasks may develop within a few months after birth The gender gap in spatial abilities — charted for more than 30 years — emerges within the first few months of life, years earlier than previously thought, psychologists report. Males typically outperform females on spatial-ability tests by age 4, especially on tasks that require mental rotation of objects perceived as three-dimensional. Yet, two studies of 3- to 5-month-olds, both published in the November Psychological Science, conclude that a substantially greater proportion of boys than girls distinguish a block arrangement from its mirror image, after having first... Science News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2139404/posts#comment Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:53:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2133348/posts There is an enormous and growing body of research, encompassing the fields of biochemistry, neurobiology, physiology and psychology, which all point to a clear conclusion: that there are profound differences between men and women. These go well beyond the obvious physical appearances and reproductive differences; men and women differ at many levels, and also approach relationships differently. As such, this document rests upon, and makes the case for, these four foundational principles: 1. Gender differences exist; they are a fundamental reality of our biology and impact our psychology. Our maleness and femaleness is a key aspect to our personhood. 2.... http://www.gendermatters.org.au/ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2133348/posts#comment Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:08:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2102125/posts WASHINGTON: Americans may like to make fun of girls who are good at math, but this attitude is robbing the country of some of its best talent, resear chers reported on Friday. They found that while girls can be just as talented as boys at mathematics, some are driven from the field because they are teased, ostracized or simply neglected. "The US culture that is discouraging girls is also discouraging boys," Janet Mertz, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who led the study said in a statement. "The situation is becoming urgent. The data show that a majority of the top... REUTERS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2102125/posts#comment Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:15:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2066078/posts Women are slower than men in running, in swimming, in cycling. Whether it is a 100-meter race on the track or a marathon, a 200-meter butterfly swim or a 10-kilometer marathon swim, the pattern holds. And even though some scientists once predicted that women would eventually close the gender gap in elite performances — it was proposed that all they needed was more experience, better training and stronger coaching — that idea is now largely discredited, at least for Olympic events. Researchers say there is no one physiological reason for the gap, although there is a common biological thread. “To... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2066078/posts#comment Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:24:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2065221/posts Women have puzzled over it for years—why the heck do men do the things they do? Why do they profess their love for you one minute, then ignore you the next (say, when an Attila the Hun special turns up on TV)? Why can they not remember our birthdays? Let science explain some of these conundrums—and help you rev up your relationships! Be patient with his memory The hippocampus, where initial memories are formed, occupies a smaller percent of the male brain than the female brain. If on your first date he can't remember where you work, even though you... MSN - Lifestyle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2065221/posts#comment Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:53:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051415/posts If you believe that girls fare significantly worse on math than boys in high-school tests, you would have been right — twenty years ago. Thanks to a concerted effort by parents and schools to get more girls in advanced math classes, the test-score disparity has completely disappeared, according to the National Science Foundation: Hotair.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051415/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:48:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051382/posts Zip. Zilch. Nada. There's no real difference between the scores of U.S. boys and girls on common math tests, according to a massive new study. Educators hope the finding will finally dispel lingering perceptions that girls don't measure up to boys when it comes to crunching numbers. "This shows there's no issue of intellectual ability--and that's a message we still need to get out to some of our parents and teachers," says Henry "Hank" Kepner, president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in Reston, Virginia. It won't be a new message. Nearly 20 years ago, a large-scale study... Science Now http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051382/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:59:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051100/posts Today’s headlines mostly got it wrong: * The New York Sun said "Study Shatters Myth That Boys Are Better At Math." * The New York Post said "Girls = boys in math skills." * The New York Daily News said "Math gender differences erased." * The New York Times said "Math Scores Show No Gap for Girls, Study Finds." Only the Wall Street Journal got it right: * "Boys' Math Score Hit Highs and Lows." This is, of course, a political topic. This is evidenced by the Times beginning their take on the story by recalling the fate of Larry... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2051100/posts#comment Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:39:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048400/posts Oops ! He forgot your birthday again. Well do not blame his memory for this innocent forgetfulness as the the reason behind it is down in the genes. While men may fail to match a woman's ability to remember the date of an anniversary, they are better at storing a seemingly endless cache of facts and figures and all this is because of genetic differences. Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, have found that males use different genes from females when making the new connections in the brain that are needed to create long-term memories. They believe... Web India 123 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2048400/posts#comment Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:30:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034089/posts When It Comes to Brains, Size MattersIn a study of 200 university students, the researchers found that women and men performed similarly on tests of language and reading skills. Differences in brain organization between men and women may be driven by sex differences in brain size, they said. “People have said women have relatively larger language areas of the brain,” said Christine Chiarello, UCR professor of psychology. “In none of our language tasks were women better than men. When you account for differences in brain size between men and women there are few differences in the relative size of areas.... Physorg http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2034089/posts#comment Fri, 20 Jun 2008 22:08:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031862/posts LONDON (Reuters) - Gay men and straight women share some characteristics in the area of the brain responsible for emotion, mood and anxiety, researchers said on Monday in a study highlighting the potential biological underpinning of sexuality. ADVERTISEMENT Brain scans also showed the same symmetry among lesbians and straight men, the researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "The observations cannot be easily attributed to perception or behavior," the researchers from Sweden's Karolinska Institute wrote. "Whether they may relate to processes laid down during the fetal or postnatal development is an open question." A number of... Yahoo News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2031862/posts#comment Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:42:45 GMT