Extravagant Results of Nature’s Arms Race - NYTimes.com

Extravagant Results of Nature’s Arms Race - NYTimes.com: "Sexual selection was Darwin’s solution to a problem posed by the cumbersome weapons sported by many species, and the baroque ornaments developed by others. They seemed positive handicaps in the struggle for survival, and therefore contrary to his theory of natural selection. To account for these extravagances, Darwin proposed that both armaments and ornaments must have been shaped by competition for mates."

New Particle Throws Monkeywrench in Particle Physics | Universe Today

New Particle Throws Monkeywrench in Particle Physics | Universe Today: "Now, scientists have detected a new, completely untheorized particle that challenges what physicists thought they knew about how quarks combine to form matter. They're calling it Y(4140), reflecting its measured mass of 4140 Mega-electron volts."

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Finches choose sex of offspring

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Finches choose sex of offspring: "Colourful Gouldian finches can judge if a mate is genetically compatible just by looking at its head.

A female that mates with a male with the same colouring lays eggs that hatch much healthier chicks.

This new study has found that, when the female finches mate with a male that has a different head colour, they select the sex of their offspring - giving their chicks a better chance of survival."

Two interesting questions arise -- how much "compatibility" information is encoded in a peacock's feathers? How many other traits can animals explicitly select for?