Which gender is more generous? Given the social, subjective nature of the question and the influx of armchair philosophy into culture, everyone claims to have the right answer. What about an experiment?

A group of economists have found that, given the chance, women are more likely than men to avoid an opportunity to donate to charity.

The field experiment conducted by scholars at the University of Chicago and University of California, Berkeley tested people's motivations to give, whether they responded to social pressure or from an attitude of altruism, and concluded that when it's easy to avoid making a donation without being confrontational, such as not responding to a door-to-door solicitor, women are less likely than men to give.

Stromatolites, "layered rocks", are structures made of calcium carbonate and shaped by the actions of photosynthetic cyanobacteria and other microbes that trapped and bound grains of coastal sediment into fine layers. They showed up in great abundance along shorelines all over the world about 3.5 billion years ago and remain the earliest visible manifestation of life on Earth.

Reductions in Arctic sea ice levels may nfluence patterns of atmospheric circulation both within and beyond the Arctic, according to a simulation using  2007 ice conditions, the second lowest Arctic sea ice extent in the satellite era. 

Two 30-year simulations, one using the sea ice levels of 2007 and another using sea ice levels at the end of the 20th century, were used to access the impact of ice free seas. The results showed a significant response to the anomalous open water of 2007.

People generally like the idea of wind energy, they just don't want generation facilities anywhere near their homes. Or, in the case of offshore wind power, their yachts.

But remote, cold places may be a better fit and a new forecast says that government mandates and subsidies in the range of approximately EUR 75 billion could lead to between 45 and 50 gigawatts of wind energy in cold climates by 2017.

Hospitalization due to surgery or critical illness can lead to cognitive dysfunction -   inattention, disorganized thinking, altered consciousness and prolonged disruptions in learning and memory functions - in some patients, especially the elderly.

The mechanisms whereby surgery and/or anesthesia may lead to cognitive impairment remain unclear but research has demonstrated that inflammation and release of pro-inflammatory molecules, like cytokines, play an important role in causing brain inflammation and cognitive decline after surgery.

Camels, valuable in desert regions throughout the world because of their ability to carry heavy loads over long distances without food or water, are divided into two species, the one-humped dromedary and the two-humped Bactrian camel.

Despite the extremely arid conditions where they are popular, camels also still provide enough milk for human consumption and also have an important role as a source of meat. Camels are specialists when it comes to adapting to the environment. Some characterize them as sustainable food producers. 

Researchers say their more reliable projections of global warming estimates at 2100 have narrowed the predicted range of global warming.

Hikers in New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest often hit the trail less prepared than they should be, according to a survey that gaged readiness by how many of 10 essential items the hikers brought along. Which means hikers everywhere probably lack the same things, though experience obviously changes that.

Young and inexperienced hikers were most likely to lack multiple items recommended by the State of New Hampshire's HikeSafe program, according to a paper Wilderness&Environmental Medicine. Each year, scores of imperiled hikers require search and rescue missions in the state, but little quantitative research exists on how and why they end up in trouble.