Hispania F1 team and Dallara part company

May 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Formula One newcomers Hispania (HRT) will take over development of their car after ending a partnership with Italian chassis maker Dallara, the Spanish-based team said on Wednesday.

“HRT F1 Team, Hispania Racing, and Italian chassis manufacturer Dallara Automobili S.p.A have together agreed on amicable terms not to pursue their collaboration,” they said in a statement ahead of Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix.

“Hispania Racing will continue to develop and improve the Dallara designed F110 chassis via its own development program,” added the team.

Dallara completed the car driven by Brazilian Bruno Senna and Indian Karun Chandhok this season after a late rescue of the cash-strapped team.

The car had been commissioned by Campos Meta, which was renamed Hispania after a takeover by major shareholder Jose Ramon Carabante in February. The team have yet to score a point in six races.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by John O’Brien; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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Peter Andre ‘hoping to woo Kim Kardashian with Bee Gees collaboration’

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 20 (ANI): Singer Peter Andre is to write a romantic song with Bee Gees legend Robin Gibb to crack America and woo Kim Kardashian, according to sources.

Andre, 37, and Gibb, 60, are fixing dates to write the song, and the Australian singer is hoping that it will attract 29-year-old Kardashian’s attention.

Andre and Gibb had met at the World Music Awards in Monaco, where they got on well together.

“Peter went down well at the awards and was in demand. Robin and Peter got on really well and they agreed they would get their diaries sorted to work together,” the Daily Star quoted a source as saying.

“It could be the perfect duet for him to crack America and it’s likely to get Kim’s attention,” the source added. (ANI)

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Cops, thieves, ordinary people apply different logic when making decisions

May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 5 (ANI): Police officers and criminals are more consistent in their judgements than ordinary people, according to a new study.

However, police officers’ reasoning is more similar to that of ordinary people than to that of thieves.

This conclusion might have significant implications on criminal jurisdiction. For the purpose of this study, a 120-people sample was taken. The sample consisted of 40 expert criminals, 40 expert policemen and 40 students unrelated to criminal activities

The study conducted by the University of Granada, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, revealed that policemen and ordinary people reason differently than criminals when making decisions. That is, they reason in different ways.

The research was conducted by Rocío García-Retamero from the Department of Experimental Psychology and Behavioural Physiology of the University of Granada, and Mandeep K. Dhabi from the Institute of Criminology (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom). (ANI)

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Beyonce turns to Posh for new tour’s dresses

April 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 29 (ANI): Guess whose door Beyonce Knowles knocked when she wanted to Spice up her stage gear— it was none other than pop-star-turned designer, Victoria Beckham.

Beyonce was so impressed by Posh’s latest clothing collection that she personally contacted her to work on designs for her gigs in the States this winter.

“Beyonce is a big fan of Victoria”s work, and was given a couple of samples from the new collection – including some sunglasses which she has been wearing at any given opportunity,” the Mirror quoted a source as saying.

“Victoria was flattered and has agreed, in principle, to suggest some designs.

“While Beyonce already has the sunnies and a few dresses, it is Victoria”s more elegant full-length designs that she particularly loves as they are a real departure from her usual glitzy stage costumes.

“This collaboration could be the start of something big,” the source added. (ANI)

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Schools join forces to help disabled kids

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Canberra’s public and private schools will combine resources and expertise to help students with special needs.

Education Minister Andrew Barr has established a working group consisting of representatives from all sectors to share expertise and resources.

Mr Barr says it is hoped the closer collaboration will make it easier for students with disabilities to move from one school to another.

“What we have identified is there is often a disconnect when a student with a disability leaves a school that they’ve been at for a long time and then transitions into a new school environment,” he said.

“It’s really important that those linkages and a proper handover occurs and that can be even more complex if the transition is from a public school to a non-government school and vice versa.”

Mr Barr says the working group will create closer ties and partnerships between schools.

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India, Malaysia mull producing films jointly

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Kuala Lumpur, Apr 7 (ANI): Malaysia and India are exploring ways to cooperate in producing films.

National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) director-general Mohd Mahyidin Mustakim said Finas and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) were working out the venture.

This came about during a visit by South Indian film star Kamal Haasan to Kuala Lumpur on Monday, The Star reports.

“Kamal Haasan’s visit is a result of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s trip to India earlier this year when Finas, Persatuan Karyawan Malaysia and FICCI signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on film production,” Mohd Mahyidin said.

He said the collaboration could lead to opportunities for Malaysia’s film industry in the international market. (ANI)

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Tamil fans throng Malaysia’s Cyberjaya to get a glimpse of Kamal Haasan

April 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Cyberjaya (Malaysia), Apr 7 (ANI): Hundreds of Tamil movie fans thronged the Cyberview Lodge Resort and Spa here to get a glimpse of Indian superstar Kamal Haasan.

The Tamil cinema veteran was not in Malaysia as an actor, but as the chairman of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (FICCI) south entertainment committee to discuss a proposed collaboration with the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) a proposed collaboration.

“We are pleased to collaborate with MDeC on a mutually beneficial matter which is of special interest to our entertainment division. We hope the collaboration will enhance the development of the creative and entertainment industry in the two countries,” Haasan said yesterday.

He attended a discussion with the National Film Development Corp of Malaysia (Finas) on Monday, The Star reports.

“Finas saw a glimpse of what I have in my dreamscape for this collaboration. We are talking about going international,” explained Haasan.

The collaboration is expected to develop a strategic alliance on activities related to the media and the creative industries.

It is also part of Malaysia’s efforts to develop world-class co-production initiatives in broadcasting and digital content.

Both parties are looking at the possibility of jointly producing six to eight feature films as well as starting a visual effects hub in Malaysia for the South-East Asian market.

MDeC chief executive officer Badlisham Ghazali said the collaboration was a big opportunity for the broadcast and creative industries of both countries. (ANI)

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Cisco Brings Business Collaboration to the iPad With Cisco WebEx Meeting Center Available Immediately in the App Store

April 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

SAN JOSE, CA, Apr 02 (MARKET WIRE) —
Further enhancing the online meeting experience for participants, Cisco
(NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced Cisco WebEx Meeting Center for the Apple
iPad. This free business application allows participants to join and
engage in robust online meetings right from their iPad with a few simple
taps on the screen.

The Cisco WebEx application is available today via download from the App
Store. Once downloaded, participants easily engage in meetings by tapping
the meeting URL found in the email or calendar invitation. This
application provides users another way to benefit from today’s widespread
global WiFi access.

Facts/Highlights:

– Cisco WebEx Meeting Center for the iPad provides robust in-meeting
features that take full advantage of the iPad-optimized user
experience. Using animation, visual effects, user movements and touch,
the user experience is simple and intuitive.

– The in-meeting experience allows participants to view shared
presentations, applications and desktops. It also allows users to view
the meeting participant list, see who’s talking, and chat privately or
with all attendees using the chat window on the screen.

– Users can take advantage of Cisco WebEx VoIP audio directly from the
iPad or request a call-back on a phone for easy audio conferencing
with data sharing.

Supporting Quotes:

– “Plantronics is constantly pursuing solutions that enhance mobile
collaboration between our employees, partners and customers,” said
Steve Kjaer, IT Director, Plantronics. “With Cisco WebEx Meeting
Center on the iPad, people can quickly join a WebEx VoIP meeting to
present information and share applications from anywhere they might be
working.”

– “The Apple iPad with the availability of Cisco WebEx online meetings
makes a simple, but very powerful interface,” said Zeus Kerravala,
Distinguished Research Fellow at Yankee Group. “The trend of using
personal devices for business purposes is here to stay, moving from
tech savvy users to the mainstream. As a result, business productivity
will be able to reach new levels.”

– “This latest innovation continues to showcase Cisco’s ongoing
commitment to bringing the value of collaboration to users on their
device of choice,” said Debra Chrapaty, senior vice president and
general manager, Cisco Collaboration Software Group. “When a powerful
collaboration solution like Cisco WebEx Meeting Center for the iPad is
combined with an intuitive and WiFi enabled user experience,
businesses and users both win.”

Links:

– Podcast introducing Cisco WebEx Meeting Center for the iPad
– Cisco WebEx Meeting Center
– Cisco WebEx Meeting Center on the iPhone

Video:

Tap into your next WebEx meeting by tapping your Apple
mobile device:
www.webex.com/apple

Technorati Tags: Cisco, Cisco WebEx, Cisco WebEx Meeting Center, Apple,
Apple iPad, iPad, App Store, business collaboration, collaboration,
online meetings, web meetings

About Cisco Collaboration
From award-winning IP communications to
mobility, customer care, Web conferencing, messaging, enterprise social
software, and interoperable telepresence experiences, Cisco brings
together network-based, integrated collaboration solutions based on open
standards. These solutions, as well as services from Cisco and our
partners, help promote business growth, innovation and productivity. They
also help accelerate team performance, protect investments, and simplify
the process of finding the right people and information.

About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking
that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, this
year celebrates 25 years of technology innovation, operational excellence
and corporate social responsibility. Information about Cisco can be found
at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to

http://newsroom.cisco.com.

Cisco, the Cisco logo, Cisco Systems, and Cisco TelePresence are
registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its
affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other
trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their
respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a
partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This
document is Cisco Public Information.

For direct RSS Feeds of all Cisco news, please visit “News@Cisco” at the
following link:

http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/rss.html

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Cisco Press Contact:
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Cisco
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lefrank@cisco.com

Industry Analyst Contact:
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Cisco
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rhoshimi@cisco.com

Investor Relations Contact:
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Cisco
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marilmor@cisco.com

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Lady Gaga, Elvis Presley top dream duet list

March 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, March 27 (ANI): Lady Gaga And Elvis Presley duet can be the best collaboration, according to a new poll.

The ‘Poker Face’ hitmaker and the ‘Candle in the wind’ singer topped the survey conducted by website Match.com.

The voters were asked to select the two singers they would most like to see perform together, reports The Daily Express.

Michael Buble and Nina Simone followed them while soul stars Aretha Franklin and Luther Vandross came third.

Will Young/Barbra Streisand ranked fourth.

And Bonnie Tyler and Meatloaf collaboration was positioned fifth in the list. (ANI)

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Was Lady Gaga born gay?

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 24 (ANI): Lady Gaga is said to have grouped herself with women who she said are born gay in a recent radio interview.

Her sexuality has earned much speculation, and she recently let it slip that she’s gay.

“There are transsexual women and transgender women and suddenly it becomes poisonous because there are some people in this world that believe being gay is a choice,” Fox News quoted her as saying.

“It’s not a choice, WE are born this way,” she told 2Day FM’s Kyle & Jackie O Radio show while on tour in Australia last week.

As she discussed the racy music video for her latest Beyonce collaboration ‘Telephone,’ Gaga continued to hint that she is gay.

“For me, this video is groundbreaking because it has one foot in the art community and one foot in the commercial world,” she added.

Her representatives declined to comment, when asked for clarification. (ANI)

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New gadget turns bees into reliable sniffers

March 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, March 23 (ANI): Bees could soon replace dog squads meant for smelling explosives and drugs – a group of British companies have come up with a gadget that helps turn groups of bees into reliable sniffers at a time.

The device has been developed by biotech firm Inscentinel in collaboration with ML Electronics and Realise Product Design.

Each group of bees is exposed to a range of odours. The bees are rewarded with syrup when a particular odour is present. After a few hours the insects learn to associate the reward with that odour.

“If a bee smells something it has been trained to detect it sticks its tongue out expecting food,” New Scientist quoted Andrew Redman of Realise, as saying.

This Pavlovian reflex can be detected using a beam of infrared light by the bee”s head which gets blocked by the insect”s tongue.

The trained bees are now placed in an odour detector called a VASOR (Volatile Analysis by Specific Olfactory Recognition), which houses bees in individual compartments.

The training device is currently being tested. (ANI)

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Women with swine flu more likely to suffer critical illness if pregnant

March 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Mar 19 (ANI): Pregnant women with swine flu are 13 times more likely to become critically ill than non-pregnant women infected with H1N1, concludes a new study.

The research, published on bmj.com, included pregnant women in Australia and New Zealand.

Boffins concluded that 11 percent of mothers and 12 percent of babies died as a result of being admitted to intensive care with swine flu.

The authors, led by Dr Ian Seppelt from the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care (ANZIC) Influenza Investigators in collaboration with the Australasian Maternity Outcomes Surveillance System, assessed the data relating to all women with swine flu who were pregnant or who had given birth in the last 28 days and were admitted to an ICU in Australia or New Zealand between 1 June and 31 August 2009.

The results show that women who were more than 20 weeks pregnant were 13 times more likely to be admitted to an ICU than non-pregnant women who had swine flu. (ANI)

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Self-earning schemes initiated for militancy victims in Jammu and Kashmir

March 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Srinagar, Mar 19 (ANI): The Jammu and Kashmir Government has initiated self-earning schemes in collaboration with a local NGO for the victims of militancy.

Rabiya Baji, who runs a knitting center, says she began it with the aim of giving employment to poor women who have been affected by militancy. The center opened a few days ago to an excellent response.

Baji”s center has been provided with sweater-knitting machines and other items for women to manufacture woolen goods.

“The government is also giving some aid and I”m helping those people who have become aimless so that they not only get employed but also give others employment,” said Baji.
The vocational training provided by Baji”s center has found many takers.

“The conditions here are so bad that in some families the people have lost their brothers, fathers and others. With vocational training we would be able to earn and improve our family”s condition,” said Rehana, a victim of militancy.

The women who take up training are also given rations and a stipend. (ANI)

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Madonna launching Material Girl line

March 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Madonna and her 13-year-old daughter Lourdes will launch a line of teen clothing called Material Girl in the United States this August.

The mother-daughter collection will focus on affordable back-to-school clothes but will also include footwear, handbags and jewellery.

It aims to add a fragrance in 2011.

The line is a joint venture between Madonna and the Iconix Brand Group, which purchased the Badgley Mischka brand in 2004 and includes other leading labels such as Mossimo and Ed Hardy.

“The Material Girl collection was inspired and designed in collaboration with Madonna and her daughter Lourdes, along with Iconix Brand Group’s in-house fashion department,” a statement from Iconix said.

- AFP

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Computers ”understand women more than men”

March 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Mar 5 (ANI): Voice recognition computers find men harder to understand than women, Edinburgh University scientists have found.

In the study, researchers recorded phone calls and studied how much of conversations a recognition system could understand, and after analyses they discovered that computers failed to understand men”s speech because they make “umm” and “err” sounds more frequently.

The research also revealed that computers made mistakes with words which sound similar and can occur in similar contexts, such as “I saw him” or “I saw them”, reports The BBC.

Boffins said it was hard to design a computer that could understand so many different kinds of voices but this research should help improve it.

The study, a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and Stanford University in the US, was published in the journal Speech Communication.

Dr Sharon Goldwater, of Edinburgh University”s school of informatics, who led the research, said: “Voices vary from one person to the next and it is challenging to design a computer system that can understand lots of different voices.

“We hope that by closely studying how people speak and how machines process this, we can help create better systems that will be simple and efficient for people to use.” (ANI)

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Commonwealth Games will be the best: Kalmadi

March 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Mar 5 (ANI): The Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games, Suresh Kalmadi, has asserted it will be the best ever sporting event.

Addressing media persons here on Thursday, Kalmadi said: “It will be the best Commonwealth Games ever. There is no doubt about it. Now, all the people, even our biggest critic, the Australian Foreign Minister, has gone back and said that it has got a potential better than Melbourne. So the people who are concerned are very satisfied. But we still have to improve.”

He also announced the collaboration between Commonwealth Games-2010 and Spic Macay, a non-governmental organisation for to reaching out to Indian youth to be a part of the mega event.

Welcoming the helping hand extended by Spic Macay, Kalmadi mentioned that even staunch critics of the preparations for the games have changed their views and appreciated the organisers efforts.

Kalmadi further noted that a series of test events are being conducted, and any flaws, if at all would be rectified.

“We are having test events and that is mostly, at the moment, about the field of play. So we are satisfied with what we are seeing, but we are learning a lot from these test events because when the Commonwealth Games come, it will be perfect. So, we have learnt a lot and we are drawing a lot of lessons from these test events as it should be and implement in the Commonwealth Games,” added Kalmadi.

He also claimed that the Commonwealth Games-2010 would leave behind world-class sporting infrastructure in the country. (ANI)

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Padho Punjab-a mission to spread literacy in rural Punjab

September 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Amritsar, Sep.18 (ANI): Education in government-run-schools of Punjab has been found to be lacking the kind of quality and standard expected of it.

A survey conducted under ‘Padho Punjab’ programme revealed that most of the primary kids in the State could not read or write. Over 50 per cent of the standard V children cannot read a story in Punjabi, over 25 per cent cannot write Punjabi letters and almost 40 per cent cannot subtract and almost 70 per cent do not know how to divide.

To raise the standard in the government-run schools, especially in rural areas, ‘Padho Punjab’ or, Study Punjab, a joint venture between the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, a literacy drive of the Central Government, and a non-governmental organisation is being carried out. It is hoped to transform the lives of underprivileged children.

Training is being given to teachers and block primary education officers under ‘Padho Punjab’ to improve education standard in government-run primary schools.

Being conducted under ‘Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan’ (education for all) in collaboration with ‘Pratham’, a non-government organization, the project aims to improve teaching abilities of government schoolteachers.

Initially, the trainers are teaching students for two hours a day. Later, they will include this pattern in their routine teaching as well.

‘Padho Punjab’ project has made a huge difference to a number of underprivileged students. The students of primary schools, who are being taught Hindi, English, Punjabi and arithmetic, have shown tremendous progress since its launch on July 7, 2008.

“Besides regular classes, the students have been divided into three groups, on the basis of their abilities. A group consists of children, who are weak in studies and they are given special attention as per ‘Padho Punjab’ scheme. It helps strengthen their abilities and skills. Now, English is also taught to these students,” said Sandeep Seyal, Center Master Trainer.

“We want children to take admission in government-run schools rather than private schools. The children are now being taught to recite poems in English. We are teaching how to greet people and as they change and grow they motivate others as well. People now know that we teach English in government schools. The children have started doing well because of the hard work put in by teachers and an improvement in infrastructure,” said Gurpreet Singh, Block master trainee.

“The children are now showing keen interest in studies. There is a play-way method being used for children who earlier used to consider studies a burden. They are now curious about learning new things. English has played an important role in bringing about this transformation,” said Suman, a teacher at Primary school in Village Kameerpura.

In academic year 2008-09, the Punjab government had spent 40.6 out of 53 million dollars, sanctioned for the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in the State.

The amount was spent on developing school infrastructure, recruitment of teachers and providing stationary to children.

The ‘Padho Punjab’ project has given a fillip to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in Punjab, by significantly improving the quality of primary education in the state. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)

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Scientists map melting history of Greenland’s ice sheet

September 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, September 17 (ANI): Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen have mapped the history of the melting of the Greenland ice sheet.

Numerous drillings have been made through both Greenland’s ice sheet and small ice caps near the coast.

By analyzing every single annual layer in the kilometres long ice cores, researchers can get detailed information about the climate of the past.

But now, the Danish researcher Bo Vinther and colleagues from the Centre for Ice and Climate at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with researchers from Canada, France and Russia, have found an entirely new way of interpreting the information from the ice core drillings.

“Ice cores from different drillings show different climate histories. This could be because they were drilled at very different places on and near Greenland, but it could also be due to changes in the elevation of the ice sheet, because the elevation itself causes different temperatures,” explained Bo Vinther about the theory.

Today, the ice sheet is more than three kilometres thick at its highest point and thinning out towards the coast.

Four of the drillings analyzed are from the central ice sheet, while two of the drillings are from small ice caps outside of the ice sheet itself.

By comparing the Oxygen-18 content in all of the annual layers from the four drillings through the ice sheet with the Oxygen-18 content of the same annual layers in the small ice caps, Bo Vinther has calculated the elevation course through 11,700 years.

Just after the ice age the elevation of the ice sheet rose slightly because when the climate transitions from ice age to warm age, there is a rapid increase in precipitation.

But at the same time, the areas lying near the coast begin to decrease in size, because the ice is melting at the edge.

When the ice melts at the edge, it slowly causes the entire ice sheet to ‘collapse’ and become lower.

The calculations show that in the course of about 3,000 years, the elevation changed and became up to 600 meters lower in the coastal areas.

But in the middle, it was a slow process, where the elevation decreased around 150 meters in the course of around 6,000 years.

It then stabilized.

The new results show the evolution of elevation of the ice sheet throughout 11,700 years and they show that the ice sheet is very sensitive to the temperature.

The results can be used to make new calculations for models predicting future consequences of climate changes. (ANI)

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New air filter system can destroy up to 99.9 per cent of bugs on aircraft

September 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, September 16 (ANI): British researchers have developed an air filter system that destroys up to 99.9 per cent of infectious viruses and bacteria as well as pollutants that can circulate in the confines of an aircraft, especially on long-haul flights.

According to a report in The Times, the machine has been developed by aerospace giant BAE Systems, in collaboration with Quest International, a small company based in Cheadle, South Manchester, UK.

The device, called AirManager, uses a controlled electric field to filter out and destroy any airborne particles or germs as they pass through an aircraft’s air conditioning system, emitting only clean, sterilized air.

After four years of development and tests, BAE says it has received its first orders from a major European airline and announced the technology is also being considered for use in NHS hospitals as a way to stop the spread of “superbugs” such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

The air on board a passenger jet must be pressurized in order for passengers to be able to breathe, but scientists and lobby groups have previously claimed that passengers can be exposed to toxins as a result of the “bleed air” system that is used to redirect air from the engines to the cabin and cockpit.

Air inside the cabin is then circulated and re-circulated up to 30 times an hour, far more than in conventional air conditioning systems, meaning that infectious viruses and bacteria can quickly spread.

Unlike conventional filters, which are designed to sieve out particles from the air as it passes through perforated barriers at high speed, David Hallam, an engineer and founder of Quest International, said that the AirManager used an “avalanche of electrons” emitted in a closed electric field to break down and destroy the atomic structure of any pollutants or germs.

“This works with swine flu, avian flu, norovirus, MRSA, even a modified form of anthrax,” Hallam said.

Hallam said that he originally designed the “close coupled field” in the late 1990s to rid nursing homes of biological odours caused by bacteria.

But, the filter was later found to have an effect in reducing the airborne transmission of bacteria such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and Clostridium difficile.

BAE Systems expressed interest in the technology four years ago for use on aircraft and the system was recently tested on the flight deck and cabin air systems of Boeing 757 and Avro RJ passenger jets by five European airlines, with successful results. (ANI)

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Study on sheep shows link between personality, survival, and reproductive success

September 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, September 16 (ANI): Canadian researchers have established a link between personality, survival, and reproductive success by carrying out a study on male bighorn sheep.

Denis Reale, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at UQAM and Canada Research Chair in Behavioural Ecology, says that the new study offers insight into personality differences in animals and humans, from an evolutionary perspective.

Since 1969, several teams of researchers have been studying this population of bighorn sheep in Alberta, Canada. They have collected considerable data over the years.

Working in collaboration with researchers from the University of Sherbrooke and the University of Alberta, Reale identified the rams in terms of boldness and docility.

The researchers then conducted paternity tests to determine which rams were reproducing.

They point out that in a system like that of bighorn sheep where there is strong competition among the males for impregnating females, large size and high dominance status are normally key factors in a male’s success.

Males usually attain these conditions in the prime of life, between 6 and 12 years, the researchers say.

However, the paternity tests showed that some young males manage to fertilize females.

The researchers also concentrated on the risk associated with participation in the rut-males can be injured or fall from a cliff in fighting.

Reale and his colleagues hypothesized that the young males that manage to reproduce would be the boldest and most combative, and analysis of the data confirmed it.

However, in exchange for sexual precocity and risk-taking, these rams often die younger than their more docile peers. The latter, instead, invest in the long term, breed later and reach an older age.

Based on their observations, the researchers came to the conclusion that their findings indicate a variation in the personalities and life histories of the population, with two extreme types: one that could be characterised as “live fast and die” and the other as “slow and steady wins the race”.

Depending on their personality, the males managed to breed and to transmit their genes, but in different ways.

The study demonstrates that personality has a direct influence on the lifestyle of individuals.

A research article describing the study has been published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. (ANI)

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