Are artificial human sperm actually identical to natural kind?

October 9th, 2009 LONDON - Artificial skin covering prosthetics and humanoid robots might resemble real skin to the 'T', but when touched the difference is apparent. John-John Cabibihan at the National University of Singapore and colleagues from Italy, Norway and France, have found that fake skin responds very differently to being touched.

October 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a breakthrough study, scientists have successfully created nerve cell connections with the help of artificial substances, a major advance, which the researchers say, will help make nerve cell repair possible. Scientists from Montreal NeurologicaI Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) and McGill University created the artificial nerve cell connections using plastic beads coated with a substance that encourages adhesion, and attracts nerve cells.

October 7th, 2009 LONDON - Graz University scientists in Austria say that compound found in human sperm, known as spermidine, may prove the next weapon in the fight against ageing. They have found that spermidine slows ageing processes, and increases longevity in yeast, flies, worms, mice, and human blood cells by protecting cells from damage.

September 30th, 2009 LONDON - In a new-twist to the traditional two-parent family, two married lesbian women in Britain are all set to become mums to babies they both have conceived from a same straight male friend. Emma Flanagan and Laura longed for kids after their marriage on Sept 2, 2006, and found a unique solution to have their own family.

August 25th, 2009 LONDON - A group of researchers from five European countries are designing a robot using human anatomy as a blueprint. The Eccerobot project has been designed to duplicate the way human bones, muscles and tendons work and are linked together.

August 2nd, 2009 LONDON - Discovering a lock-and-key mechanism between sperm and egg cells, scientists may have moved a step further towards sparing infertile couples the pain, anguish and expense of fruitless IVF treatments. Dr. Martin Brinkworth, a member of the team at the universities of Bradford and Leeds that discovered the lock-and-key mechanism, says that their work could help understand why so many couples with no apparent reproductive problems are unable to conceive.

July 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Instead of batteries, artificial muscles driving robots or prosthetic limbs might soon be powered by a kind of alcohol that can make people blind, say researchers. "You can imagine robotic soldiers fighting ahead of human soldiers and getting a drink of alcohol to fight on," Live Science quoted materials scientist, Ray Baughman director of the University of Texas at Dallas NanoTech Institute as saying.

July 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of University College London and University of Oxford researchers say that a study on the evolution of ejaculation strategies has shown that attractive males release fewer sperm per mating to maximise their chances of producing offspring across a range of females. Writing about their findings in the journal American Naturalist, the researchers say that their findings suggest that, paradoxically, matings with attractive males may be less fertile than those with unattractive ones.

July 10th, 2009 LONDON - Attractive males release fewer sperm per mating to maximise their chances of producing offspring across a range of females, according to a new study. The findings by researchers at UCL (University College London) and the University of Oxford suggest that, paradoxically, mating with attractive males may be less fertile than those with unattractive ones.

July 10th, 2009 MELBOURNE - A new piece of research on red junglefowl, an ancestor of chickens, has shown that males can adjust the speed and effectiveness of their sperm, based on whether they find their mate attractive. Published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study adds to the growing body of evidence that males from promiscuous species, including humans, increase the chances of fertilisation when the female is deemed to be attractive.

July 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Having sex every day improves men's sperm quality, an Australian study has revealed. In a study of men with fertility problems, researchers found that daily ejaculation for a week cut the amount of DNA damage seen in sperm samples.

June 18th, 2009 Tiny crustacean big on reproductionWASHINGTON — When it comes to sexual reproduction, it turns out that size does matter, at least for a group of ancient crustaceans called ostracods. Modern versions of these tiny animals also have extra large sperm, but not to the extent of their relatives 100 million years ago, researchers report in Thursday's edition of the journal Science.

June 15th, 2009 LONDON - Biologists studying sperm whales in the North Atlantic have found that mothers use organised babysitting sessions so they can go hunting for food. Scientists at the University of St Andrews, Durham University and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, have discovered that females share responsibility for the younger members of a pod by establishing networks of carers.he whales are specially adapted to allow them to make long, deep dives.

May 1st, 2009 LONDON - Spiders in Israel have been seen indulging in a violent but evolutionarily effective mating strategy, which guarantees direct fertilisation of eggs in the ovaries. In the so-called traumatic insemination, males of the Harpactea sadistica species pierce the abdomen of females, and thus fertilise their eggs directly in the ovaries.

January 24th, 2009 LONDON - A novel method, developed by scientists for testing the health of a sperm before it is used in IVF, boosts chances of conception. University of Edinburgh researchers have created a way of tagging individual sperm quality, so that only healthy ones are used in fertilising an egg as part of IVF treatment.