A team of European penguin researchers found some unexpected results when they turned infrared heat sensing cameras on a group of emperor penguins they were studying. The outer layer of the birds feathers, they found, was actually colder than the surrounding air. While it goes against common sense, keeping their outermost layers ice-cold may actually help penguins stay warm deeper inside -- where it counts.

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The sea slug chromodoris reticulata might not have a catchy name, but it can do a neat trick never before seen in the animal world. After mating, the hermaphroditic sea slug, which has both male and female sex organs, loses its penis. Don't fret for it though, as the slug can regrow a new one within 24 hours.

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We've brought you stories about some of the more interesting techniques animals will go to to improve, even slightly, their chances at breeding. Heck, you barely need us for that -- head down to your local watering hole any Friday night and you'll no doubt get to glimpse folks going to some lengths for the chance to land a mate, even (or especially) just for one evening. A study published online today in the journal Biology Letters suggests that we may have a winner in the "weird ways to get freaky" sweepstakes, though. Researchers studying the Atlantic molly, a small tropical fish related to the guppy, found that some smaller, less dominant examples of Atlantic molly manhood have developed a curious mating tactic -- to improve their chances of breeding with a female, they will first copulate with other males to demonstrate their sexual fitness.

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Cheating men may have reason to feel nervous that their significant others know what they're getting into on the side, while women engaging in flings could have an easier time hiding their indiscretions from their mate. That's according to a recent study from the University of Western Australia. Published this week in the journal Biology Letters, the study found that women were reasonably accurate at determining how faithful a man had been in his life just by looking at his face. Men in the same study, meanwhile, showed no such skill, thereby living up to the stereotype that we're never paying attention to anything. Way to go, dudes.

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We've all found ourselves ducking friends, loved ones, significant others and co-workers when they develop a sniffle or two. We're not the only species to show that rather mercenary brand of common sense, though. A recent study shows that the common house finch, usually an intensely social avian, can tell when other finches are ailing and will avoid sick members of their own species to prevent the spread of disease.

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Researchers from Oxford University have discovered that humans who live in polar regions (far from the equator) have evolved bigger eyes and larger brains to help them process information at the low level of light typical in those areas. A team of anthropologists led by Eiluned Pearce collected 55 skulls dating from the 1800s that represent 12 different populations around the world. By measuring the eye socket and brain volumes and plotting the data against the latitude of each individual's home country, the researchers were able to compare eye and brain size with location. The researchers found a positive correlation between size and latitude. People from cold climates, like the northern-European country of Scandinavia, had the biggest brains, and people from warm climates close to the equator, like Micronesia, had the smallest. According to the researchers, these bigger brains are not the result of increased intelligence, but rather the need for a larger portion of the brain devoted to vision. This helps the brain overcome the low-light conditions caused by bad weather and long winters in northern climates.

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This is both adorable and encouraging: A group of eight- to ten-year-olds in England wrote and published a journal article in the very legit "high-powered" scientific journal Biology Letters. According to an excerpt from the article's abstract, the study covers "whether bees could learn to use the spatial relationships between colours to figure out which flowers [to visit]." With the exception of the abstract, the kids wrote the entire article themselves. What have our kids been doing lately? The 25 kids, who attend Blackawton Primary School in Devon, England, conducted the study through the educational science program, "i, scientist," which encourages children to conduct their own scientific research and is overseen by the kids' head teacher, David Strudwick, and neuroscientist Beau Lotto, whose son, Misha participated in the study. (There's a half-hour video about the program here.) The kids are officially "the youngest scientists to publish an article in a Royal Society journal."

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