Babysitting whales look after calves while mums go snacking

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.

September 23rd, 2009 LONDON - A new research by scientists has determined that blue whales have had to increase their 'singing' to cope with noise pollution from ships. Man-made noise such as ships' engines has caused hearing loss in whales.

September 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has determined that killer whales have to raise their voices to be heard over ship noise, and the effort may be wearing the whales out as they try to find food amid dwindling numbers of salmon. According to a report in National Geographic News, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) carried out the research.

September 6th, 2009 LONDON - Are you feeling powerless as a parent? Then, here's some food for thought: a new research has claimed that a mother's beliefs even before her baby is born predict how well her infant will sleep at night later. According to researchers in Israel, if an expectant mum thinks that babies who cry at night are suffering distress and need comforting and soothing back to sleep, then her newborn is likely to wake more frequently during the night than if she believes babies should learn to settle themselves.

September 2nd, 2009 SYDNEY - Secret Soviet whaling between 1947 and 1973 wiped out some humpback whale population in the Pacific, according to a new study. Wally Franklin, doctoral student at the Sydney based Southern Cross University's Whale Research Centre and co-director of The Oceania Project, co-authored the paper.

August 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Hydrophones have revealed that bowhead whales can sing in different voices to attract a mate and thereby ensure the species' survival. This is probably because global warming has opened up the Northwest Passage in 125,000 years, enabling the 100 tonne bowhead whales of the northern Pacific to reach Disko Bay in Greenland to mate with other whales.

July 22nd, 2009 LONDON - Younger siblings' suspicions have been confirmed: Parents, especially mothers, favour their 'precious first borns' (PFBs) over the children they have later, concludes a new study. Among examples of attention lavished on the PFBs, mothers admit to rubbing shampoo into their own eyes to test it doesn't sting, pulling prams backwards for miles to avoid direct sunlight and even sterilising the steriliser, reports The Telegraph.

July 7th, 2009 LONDON - a report published by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has suggested that watching whales is far more profitable than eating them. According to New Scientist, the report found that revenues from whale watching in 2008 reached 2.1 billion dollars, which is double the amount earned a decade ago.

June 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists have warned that a new form of unregulated whaling, called 'bycatch', is becoming a growing threat to whales along the coastlines of Japan and South Korea. According to Scott Baker, associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, DNA analysis of whale-meat products sold in Japanese markets suggests that the number of whales actually killed through this "bycatch whaling" may be equal to that killed through Japan's scientific whaling program - about 150 annually from each source.

June 18th, 2009 Australia, NZ to study Antarctic whalesWELLINGTON, New Zealand — Australia and New Zealand announced Thursday a non-lethal whale research expedition to the Antarctic, a direct challenge to Japan's research program that kills up to 1,000 whales a year. The six-week expedition, to set sail in a New Zealand ship early next year, will prove that whales can be studied without killing them, the two governments said in a joint statement.

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 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Acoustic experts confirmed tracking a singing blue whale 112 km off the Long Island and New York City early this year, even as the second one was heard singing in the far distance. These endangered blue whales are the largest animals ever to have lived on this planet, and their voices can travel across an ocean.

April 2nd, 2009 LONDON - A Brit woman has designed a special 'shawl' that turns into a baby hammock to protect mums' modesty while breast-feeding in public. Mother-of-one Keira O'Mara, from Birmingham, has developed the Mamascarf, which completely covers the upper half of the body.

March 17th, 2009 LONDON - 'Busy' British parents are finding it difficult to pass on simple recipes, says a new research, which found that three-quarters of mums do not give their children regular cooking lessons. On the behalf of the Potato Council, 2,039 people were interviewed and it was found that one-fifth of mothers said they rarely or never taught their children to cook.

March 16th, 2009 LONDON - British mums do more than 32,000 pounds of household work every year, according to a new survey. Commissioned by insurers Legal and General, the survey showed that household chores like childcare, cleaning, and cooking would cost an average of 32,812 pounds, if families had to pay outsiders to do them.