WEIRD STUFF: Scientists closer to making virgin births possible

Scientists closer to making virgin births possible

Women have moved closer to conceiving without men after scientists created the first virgin births in mammals.

Chinese experts have carried out virgin births in mice to create offspring from an unfertilised egg, and one scientist has claimed that immaculate conception could be possible for females within the next decade.

However, it took the researchers hundreds of attempts to create three mice that survived into adulthood, and women who try the technique have been warned that they could face several miscarriages.

Professor John Parrington -- from the University of Oxford -- said: "We are not yet in a world where we no longer need men, but this breakthrough in mice would be possible in women.

"There would be ethical and legal reasons why we can't do this yet, and women would probably have a lot of miscarriages before having a child at this stage, but if this technique keeps being refined, virgin births for women could potentially be possible in a decade."

-----------------

COVID-19 can affect the brain

A new study has revealed that scientists have found significant differences in MRI scans in patients before and after they were infected with COVID-19.

Even after a mild case of coronavirus, the overall size of the brain had shrunk somewhat -- with less grey matter in the parts relating to smell and memory.

The researchers are unsure whether the changes are permanent.

The study's lead author, Professor Gwenaelle Douaud, from the University of Oxford, said: "We were looking at essentially mild infection, so to see that we could really see some differences in their brain and how much their brain had changed, compared with those who had not been infected, was quite a surprise."

The experts have stressed that the brain is likely to heal.

Douaud said: "We need to bear in mind that the brain is really plastic -- by that, we mean it can heal itself -- so there is a really good chance that, over time, the harmful effects of infection will ease."

Researchers decode pig language

Experts have studied recordings of more than 7,000 grunts to work out their meaning and are able to match each sound to emotions, such as being happy, excited, scared or stressed.

It is hoped that the method can be developed into an app to help farmers to recognise how their pigs are feeling.

The scientists recorded the pigs' sounds in various situations, such as being reunited with family, fights between young, and playing with toys.

The team designed a computer algorithm to decode each action and found that short grunts signified happiness, while lots of vocalisations showed when a pig was scared or upset.

Dr Elodie Briefer, an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen, said: "There are clear differences in pig calls when we look at positive and negative situations.

"By training an algorithm to recognise these sounds, we can classify 92 per cent of the calls to the correct emotion."

---------------------