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PLOS ONE News and Media Roundup

In August, PLOS ONE papers made the news for research on morality in infants, the first domesticated turkeys, the dangers of sea slug mating, and more!

Are we born with a moral compass? Researchers from the University of Otago began with this question in their study, “Social Evaluation or Simple Association? Simple Associations May Explain Moral Reasoning in Infants”. In it, they recreated the conditions of Hamlin et al.’s 2007 study and found evidence to suggest that infants may not be born with an innate moral knowledge. The study was covered by The Huffington Post, The Atlantic, CBS and The Smithsonian Magazine.

A group of researchers has uncovered evidence of the earliest known instance of domesticated turkeys. The skeletal remnants of the Mexican turkey, or Meleagris gallopavo, in Mayan territory has led to additional hypotheses on the turkey trade in the Late Preclassic era (300 BC–AD 100).  The study was reported on by Science NOW and Examiner.com.

Gentlemen, are you feeling stressed? If you are, there is new research to indicate that you are more likely than your stress-free male counterparts to find heavier woman attractive. This research also found that stressed men find a wider range of women’s body types attractive. Read more about this article on the BBC, The Huffington Post, CNN and TIME.

In a recent study, researchers examined the relationship between pupil dilation and self-reported sexual orientation. Over three hundred participants of different genders and sexual orientations were shown visual sexual stimuli while researchers recorded their physical responses. Their findings indicate that pupil dilation is a strong indicator of sexual orientation. The study was covered by the LA Times, ABC, and The Huffington Post.

New research on the mating habits of the hermaphroditic sea slug, specifically the Siphopteron quadrispinosum, has yielded rather explicit findings. When S. quadrispinosum mate, the slug performing the male role will first inject the female with its fluids before copulation can occur. To discover what effects this violence may have on mating behavior or egg count, researchers studied the sea slug at different mating rates. The image above is Figure 1 of the manuscript. Read more about this article on Wired, io9, and Scientific American.

For more in-depth coverage on news and blog articles about PLOS ONE papers, please visit our Media Tracking Project.

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