Counting Chicks, After They Hatch

Cool Chick Fir0002/Flagstaffotos (GNU Free Documentation License)

So cute! Chicks can add and subtract, according to a new study.

Also in today's links: dwarf tossing, masturbation, and the degree of genetic relation between people in Europe.

• Speaking of small cute objects, bioethicists have tackled the issue of the moral rectitude of dwarf tossing.
• Australian scientists are using a "gene chip" to distinguish the genetic markers of people of various European ancestry. They've found that even groups that are closely related, such as Finns and Swedes, can be distinguished genetically.
• If the warming weather and budding flowers have brought an onslaught of itching, sneezing and running eyes, men may want to try masturbating -- on the theory that both the nose and genitals are controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, and thus ejaculation may soothe symptoms elsewhere in the body.
• With the economy in a downturn and people trying to conserve money by not buying such expensive specialty items as real maple syrup, the country could once again face the danger of exploding maple trees.