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BOB HIRSHON (host):
The key to long-lived virility. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have found that male mice who live with female mice remain reproductively capable twenty percent longer than males that live alone. Mice from each group were placed with novel females every two months. The fertility of the bachelors began to decrease at 26 months of age, while the males that had cohabitated with females didn’t begin to lose fertility until 32 months of age. The scientists don’t yet know if the effect extends to other species.
In other news, University of Zurich researchers have found that the hormone oxytocin can increase marital harmony. Couples were given a nasal spray containing either oxytocin or a placebo. Then they were asked to discuss a conflict they’d had. The couples who had gotten the oxytocin tended to laugh about the conflict, while the other couples began to fight about it and criticize each other.
I’m Bob Hirshon for AAAS, the Science Society.