ScienceShot: More Babies, More Problems
Raising offspring is so stressful that it could take years off your life. That’s the conclusion of a new study on Western jackdaws (Corvus monedula), crowlike birds that live in both cities and rural areas across Europe. Over an 8-year period, researchers manipulated the number of young that 186 parent birds across the Netherlands had to raise. They tracked the jackdaws with colored leg bands, ensuring that those who received extra nestlings one year also did so the next year, and those who lost nestlings always raised smaller broods. Over time, both mother and father birds who parented more young—about six or seven birds instead of two or three—had a 34% to 64% drop in remaining life expectancy, the researchers report online this month in Ecology Letters. A 2-year-old parent bird’s average remaining lifespan, for example, dropped from 2.64 years to 1.73 years. In reality, these numbers probably underestimate the total lifespan cost of reproduction, the scientists hypothesize, because the experimental setup didn’t take into consideration the effects of producing and incubating eggs. The results likely hold true for other bird species—the jackdaw’s parenting behaviors are typical for nesting birds. No word yet on whether they apply to humans.See more ScienceShots.Sign up for our daily newsletterGet more great content like this delivered right to you!Country *AfghanistanAland IslandsAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAnguillaAntarcticaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBermudaBhutanBolivia, Plurinational State ofBonaire, Sint Eustatius and SabaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBouvet IslandBrazilBritish Indian Ocean TerritoryBrunei DarussalamBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombiaComorosCongoCongo, The Democratic Republic of theCook IslandsCosta RicaCote D’IvoireCroatiaCubaCuraçaoCyprusCzech RepublicDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Faroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabonGambiaGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuadeloupeGuatemalaGuernseyGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHeard Island and Mcdonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)HondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran, Islamic Republic ofIraqIrelandIsle of ManIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJerseyJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKorea, Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwaitKyrgyzstanLao People’s Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacaoMacedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMartiniqueMauritaniaMauritiusMayotteMexicoMoldova, Republic ofMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNiueNorfolk IslandNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinianPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPitcairnPolandPortugalQatarReunionRomaniaRussian FederationRWANDASaint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da CunhaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Martin (French part)Saint Pierre and MiquelonSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSint Maarten (Dutch part)SlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSouth SudanSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSvalbard and Jan MayenSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwanTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailandTimor-LesteTogoTokelauTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofVietnamVirgin Islands, BritishWallis and FutunaWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabweI also wish to receive emails from AAAS/Science and Science advertisers, including information on products, services and special offers which may include but are not limited to news, careers information & upcoming events.Required fields are included by an asterisk(*)
Pullella Gopichand said India’s Rio Olympic Silver medalist PV Sindhu is far from a complete package still and said the 21-year-old is yet to show the world what she is capable of.Sindhu became India’s first female athlete to win a Silver medal at the Olympics. She also happens to be India’s youngest ever medalist. The shuttler stormed into the final of the women’s singles event before losing a hard-fought match to world number one Carolina Marin to settle for Silver.Gopichand, delighted with her effort, said she is primed for much bigger things.”She is far away from complete transformation. She is only 21 has another 10 years of career ahead of her.WATCH VIDEO HERE “The world still hasn’t seen the best of Sindhu. When she becomes what I see in her now, she will be head and shoulders above the rest in the world,” Gopichand told the media at his academy in Hyderabad. (Also read: Sindhu, Gopichand thank Telangana government for grand felicitation)The 42-year-old said he was proud of his ward for the way she performed under pressure at the Olympics. It was of course a well-planned campaign. Gopi, regarded as the best badminton coach in the country, oversaw Saina Nehwal’s Bronze in London four years ago and besides Sindhu, guided Kidambi Srikanth to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Lin Dan.Gopichand said it helped that the entire badminton contingent stayed in the same flat at the Games Village.”We were lucky that we were all staying in the same flat. There was no outside interaction and it helped us plan the whole thing to perfection,” he said.advertisementSindhu, overwhelmed with the attention on her return home, said she was grateful to her parents for all their sacrifices. He mother, P Vijaya, quit her job to ensure her daughter reached the Gopichand Academy early in the morning. (Also read: Telengana Deputy Chief Minister promises additional coach for PV Sindhu)” I am very thankful to my parents because they have done a lot for me,” she said.Sindhu said throughout the campaign, she never thought of the medal but insisted she believed in herself to deliver. “Gopi sir also believed in me and we decided to take it one match at a time.”Sindhu and Gopichad, who landed in India earlier today, were given a grand welcome by the Telangana government at the Gachibowli Stadium.