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Josh Wickham / Univ. of Florida / IFAS file
Researchers found that a high-mercury diet had an effect on the mating behavior of white ibises confined in a net-covered aviary at the University of Florida. They said the degree of homosexual pairing increased along with the birds' mercury exposure.
A years-long study at the University of Florida suggests that mercury pollution can alter the hormones of white ibises to make males more likely to mate with other males.
"We knew that mercury can disrupt hormones -- what is most disturbing about this study is the low levels of mercury at which we saw effects on hormones and mating behavior," Peter Frederick, a wildlife ecology and conservation professor who led the study, said in a news release this week. "This suggests that wildlife may be commonly affected."
The study was published online on Wednesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Frederick and his co-author, Nilmini Jayasena, were hasty to warn against drawing any inferences about the roots of human homosexuality. They didn't set up the experiment to find out what makes birds gay -- rather, they were trying to figure out why ibises in the Everglades went through a stretch of poor breeding in the early 1990s, followed by a baby boom in the late 1990s.
Scientists knew that improvements in the birds' watery habitat was one factor behind the increased breeding, but they suspected that mercury concentrations played a role as well. During the downswing in breeding, low-level mercury contamination made its way increasingly into the Everglades via municipal and medical waste incineration -- but that waste became more regulated at about the same time as the start of the baby boom.
To find out if there was a connection between mercury contamination and a low birth rate, the university set up a 13,000-square foot net-covered aviary in 2005. They brought in 160 ibises, and divided the birds into four groups with equal numbers of males and females. Each group was fed a different diet -- low, medium or high mercury, or no mercury at all. The highest level of mercury was no higher than what the birds would have consumed if they had been in the wild during the early 1990s.
In 2006, about 55 percent of the high-mercury-diet males were nesting with other males. Frederick said the degree of male-male pairing was proportional to the degree of mercury in the diet. That played a role in breeding differences, as well: In comparison with the control group, high-mercury males were less likely to be approached by females during courtship. All of the mercury-consuming males were less prone to perform the ritual head bows and bobs that are part of the ibises' mating ritual.
Frederick and Jayasena, who was Frederick's doctoral student and is now based at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, reported that the high-mercury-diet females produced 35 percent fewer fledglings than the females in the control group.
The study lasted for three breeding seasons. After the experiment, the birds were put on a cleansing, mercury-free diet for several months and then released back into the wild.
Does all this mean homosexuality is linked to mercury pollution? For the ibises, maybe. For humans, almost certainly not. Frederick pointed out that there have been a number of long-term studies on the effects of mercury on humans, and none of those studies has noted a change in sexual behavior. Speaking more generally, the researchers noted that sexual preference is a much more complex phenomenon for humans than it is for birds.
In a report on Nature's website, a German expert on animal physiology cautioned that the results might not even be applicable to other bird species. Heinz Köhler of the University of Tübingen told Nature that this might be something that's just between ibises. "Their behavior may be less fragile and more robust to methylmercury," he said.
More perspectives on the research:
- Nature: Mercury causes homosexuality in male ibises
- BBC: Mercury 'turns' wetland birds homosexual
- New Scientist: Mercury poisoning makes male birds homosexual
- Miami Herald: Mercury makes ibises gay, study says
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If homosexuality were 'natural,' then 'natural selection' would have eliminated them eons ago. (It's the plumbing).
Read and expand your understanding of our world.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=homosexuality+and+evolution&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart
It's a psychological disorder. Prior to the last 20 years or so, it was cured through counseling. Homos no longer want to be cured, they want to legislate, or litigate the other 99% of the population into accepting them as though they were 'NORMAL'. That didn't work in the Roman empire, and it won't work now. The average number of sex partners homos have is astounding
The 800 pound gorilla in the room is the fact that gay men can not donate blood. That alone says that sexual promiscuity among gays is very high.
Don-- medical science has proven through brain scans that homosexual's brains are wired to be attracted to the same sex-- that's biology my friend, and the only thing that counseling will do (at least the kind of counseling you're referring to) is repress their natural instinct, and any psychologist, psychiatrist or psychoanalyst worth his salt will tell you that repression can lead to some very ugly behaviors.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080617151845.htm
I recall seeing a news article once where homos were intentionally going to give blood to infect the blood supply because they couldn't get more funding for aids research. Then they disrupted a CBS news broadcast because of aids monies also. A vindictive bunch...then they got the Ryan White act, that gave civil rights to a disease, aids, over cancer patients, or any other disease. It's part of the Americans with Disabilities act, they gave it that name to disguise the fact that the primary motivator for it's passage was the sodomy lobby.
HEY! Don't use the word 'gay'. It's a slur, a bad word. Like the 'N' word. Or is it that way only when female children of a certain woman use it?
Good call Jack. Hipocrisy at it's finest. I don't use that word as it means happy. Like the carol' gay happy meetings'. I say homosexual as it leaves NO doubt as to what I'm talking about. They commandeered the word, it wasn't given to them.
Oh how I long to be back in Bedrock, where we all had a gay old time......Fred Flintstone.
"the researchers noted that sexual preference is a much more complex phenomenon for humans than it is for birds."
Birds have preferences? Did Darwin consider this?
What ever happen to scientists talking about humans or birds in terms of sexuality, rather than so-called preference, or orientation?
I have been told humans get their emotions from the animals,
and it seems to be happening with us, too. Isn't that funny?
Oh wow, I have gotten about 3 or 4 different samples from major brands. It is not difficult to find them. Search online for "123 Get Samples" you can find them easily.
I KNEW San Fransisco had too much mercury in it's water supply!
The problem I see about this study is - NOT whether something/someone is gay or not, bi or not, etc.
It seems to me that the REAL question that should be asked is HOW MUCH MONEY WAS WASTED TO CONDUCT THIS STUDY??!! With all the diseases, mental problems, handicaps there are today that desperately need as much research as possible to maybe find a cure - researchers wasted money on THIS?
What's next? Finding out the sex of rocks?
Hmmm, doesn't Nancy Pelosi's husband run Starkist tuna?
It's a conspiracy, Nancy Pelosi's turning San Francisco gay to win votes.
HAL9000-0, Whose definition of "normal" and "abnormal" are you using? You can't just make up definitions then apply them to life. Give some objective reason as to WHY these behaviors are "normal" or "abnormal." I hope Newsvine doesn't suspend me for this. I was suspended for a week for expressing an opinion. I said that anyone who WANTS a war to be fought was a barbarian. I wonder now if asking for an objective definition of "normal" and "abnormal" will violate their so called "Code of 'Honor.'" Anyway, I just don't by that you can assign a label to something then condemn or accept it for falling within the arbitrary label that you made up.
nor·mal
–adjective
1.
conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.
2.
serving to establish a standard.
3.
Psychology .
a.
approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment.
b.
free from any mental disorder; sane.
dictionary.com
@Hal - so by your definition of normal. Homosexuality is quite normal. It has existed since mammals walked the earth, and is common among many species.
I've read your other posts on newsvine and it seems that you are really trying to convince yourself that the urges you feel are wrong. Its ok embrace them and be yourself. Newsvine is not the military, you can ASk and Tell.
...all that's missing from your comment is a respirator sound and "...come to the dark side."
With Yoda in the background saying "Fag you are, yess...hmmm?"
Well said, Etothex. I've been trying to explain to Hal about the studies that show that the more adamantly homophobic you are, the more likely you are to have homoerotic tendencies. And to think that these psychological studies are fairly well known-- well known enough to be mentioned in the wikipedia article "homophobia" even:
This is rubbish. Everyone is capable of HS behavior but because of the moral taboo against it the possibility of actually going there is 0. IOWs, there are boundaries we impose upon ourselves I don't cheat on my husband, because I have these boundaries. I recognize good looking people, but my mind doesn't go any further than that because of these boundaries. I don't steal, although I am capable of it, because I know it is wrong, and I do not allow the thought to creep in. There are certain things, because of certain moral convictions where I just wont go! Even when I was single, the thought of getting involved with a women was so far removed that the chances of it were zero. Single women can have some very close friendships but that's as far as it goes, because since the beginning, same sex relationships of a sexual nature have been taboo. If someone wants to cross the line, then they must suffer with the fallout.
so according to the study the pro homo guy was pushing 1.1 percent are gay.
So why do they have so much political clout?
Hmm.....
Well, Well, Well !!!
All you hate mongers and bigots against Judeo/Christian values, lo and behold, we find that there are instances where gayness is caused by environmental factors. Who wudda thunk!!
This report singlehandedly destroys years of feverish effort to convince the world that gay is totally gene based.
Sorry Charley, your pink panties are not hereditary. Deal with it!
@slumdog - we have also found that psychosis and schizophrenia lead to messianic delusions, and delusions of granduer. They have also found that by using electromagnetic radiation around an area of the brain you can have the experience that "God is with you". So with your logic we have just disproven religion. Thank you.
(1) I wonder how many of you actually read the article. Note that it says, "Frederick pointed out that there have been a number of long-term studies on the effects of mercury on humans, and none of those studies has noted a change in sexual behavior." It also states in the beginning of the article that, "Frederick and his co-author, Nilmini Jayasena, were hasty to warn against drawing any inferences about the roots of human homosexuality." Based upon how many bigoted opinions I'm seeing, I wouldn't doubt that some of you just read the f*&%@!$ title and made judgment off that. (2) Even if homosexuals aren't influenced by some kind of "gay gene", what basis do we have from excluding them from the same rights as heterosexuals? Or why do we look at them differently for that matter? Some people are way to ethnocentric to accept a standard that they believe "destroys their norms." Really? Legalizing gay marriage doesn't destroy the existing definition, it doesn't even replace it. It enhances it is what it does. And abnormal doesn't necessarily mean bad, it just means unusual, hell even unique is a good synonym for it.
What is it about scientific studies that brings the haters and ignorant out of the woodwork in yet another pitiful attempt to justify their bigotry? The researchers specifically warned not to draw conclusions about HUMAN behavior from this study about this particular species of BIRD. But nooooooooooooo...
Maybe in the next study the researchers can observe the sexual changes in male bigots when fed mercury and preferably lots of it.
Unless you are gay, please stop commenting on whether homosexuality is genetic or not. There is no way you could possibly know. Additionally, unless you know every gay person in the world, stop making these stupid general statements about how gay people think or act. This article is about measurable levels of mercury affecting the observed behavior of birds. It will never make sense to me that even if evidence is presented as simple facts of observed behavior for everyone to see, some people will dismiss it because they "have a feeling." Seriously, what is that?
Hahaha! Funniest article headline I've read all week. By the way, the gayest birds? Flock of Seagulls.
Hmmm. I wonder. Oh well, we may never know how humans are affected by all these chemicals.
i belive that can happen with humans i was in traffic and i am not gay , not that there is anything wrong with it , but i had my windows down and a large truck in front of me and a bus behind me , when i got downtown i awas checking out the guys instead of the women as i do, it was a funny feeling in my private area so now i try avoid the worst traffic , wow that was close , what if i had acted on my feelings wow
I think someday in the future science will be able to deal with the fact that there is a biological as well as a physiological urge to try and help our planet to survive and that this so called "abnormal" behavior is actually a behavior mod...ification of so many species on our planet who can MORE than sense the fact that the planet is SICK and that they do not want to propagate more of whatever species they might be until the planet looks like it might be on the upswing. There have been studies too in humans that linked homosexuality with the alcoholism/addictive genetic predisposition and once again I suggest that more is at work here. It is only human beings who are over-populating our planet and decimating all of the other species off of it and if human beings just were tapped more into their animal instinct of rational behavior they would stop listening to the Pope and start listening to the planet.
Yes, as it will be interesting to learn the long term side effects of GMO food, too!
A whole year to find about gay birds and millions of dollars of federal grants, can I have millions of dollars to, so i can show my female dog is gay, it licks my female dog all the time.
This country went to hell, with all the hatred, disrespect and turkey projects.
I look at this this way, Dr. King died to give blacks their civl rights, and woman receive their civil rights, You have interracial families, but the Majority have a problem with gay rights, WHY, it is going to happen,so prolonging it is not going to work, Federal Judges are turning everything over. Even florida overturn gay adoption, its just a matter of time and then it will be like any other day, life goes on.
I always like to read about these expensive "scientific" studies and then find out that most of these Doctoral Students used our university money and then returned to their home countries. In this case the student returned to Sri Lanka with an education and USA research money. Leaving us with about 20 pages of information that is already being questioned by other PHD candidates who are chomping at the bit for more money to either verify or refute this piece of "research". Seems like it would have made more sense to have spent money for research into CAPTURING mercury that escapes when businesses and homeowners dispose of used Flourescent light bulbs that get crushed and broken in dumpsters and garbage trucks.
ALLRIGHT!!! Bec Croche are gay! So does that mean we Coonasses can go back to killing them and making gumbo. If they're gay, they're going to go extinct anyway. I'm writing to my local Wildlife and Fisheries Dept. to see if they will re-write the law that bans hunting Bec Croche, and make it OK to kill the queer ones. Hell we will be doing our part to perpetuate the species!
Yea...Yea....that's the plan!
Okay reading all your post gave me losts of entertainment. I am a Christian but I feel you are all wrong! One it said not to use this to compair to humans and right away that is what everyone tried to do. Then others of you are saying that gay animals are going to hell. Well animals do have souls so they don't go to heaven or hell. You have to have a soul for that. Also any christians on here you are being judgmental of your fellow man by telling them the way they live their life is wrong. Okay agree or disagree but Jesus would love no mater what and he did. He said he disagreed but he accepted. That is what is wrong with Christians today and why they are so looked down upon. we are looked at as judgmental because of things like this. Loving others is one of Gods most important commandments and what you are all writing is not writting in love. Just think about that. I have many friends who are gay and I love them as much as the rest of my friends. I don't agree with their life style but it is what it is and they know that.