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LAS VEGAS: Computer security researchers have warned that online social networking websites are playgrounds for hackers who can easily take advantage of people's trust.

Opportunities for mischief abound as users place intimate details of their lives on profile pages and install mini-applications made by strangers that don't always have their privacy at heart.

In a trend pioneered with tremendous success by Facebook, social networking websites have opened their operating platforms to let outside developers craft fun, hip, or functional software "widgets" that can be added to profile pages.

Malicious code can be hidden in such applications, computer security specialists Nathan Hamiel and Shawn Moyer said at a premier Black Hat conference in Las Vegas.

"I can't necessarily attack Facebook or MySpace, but I can attack their users all day long," Moyer said. "Don't put anything on a Facebook account that you don't consider public."

People are prone to place faith in social networking widgets and links from friends, said Idea Information Security consultant Nathan Hamiel.

"People are going nuts adding applications they don't need," Hamiel added.

"Every time they do that they are showing an implicit trust in whoever wrote the application, and most people don't know who that is."

Hamiel and Moyer showed peers software capable of plundering profile information, swiping people's "friends," or locking people out of their own MySpace pages.

A pair of MySpace engineers who attended the demonstration said that hacks are known risks in today's social platforms and that they had Hamiel's application deleted by the end of the talk.

Fake postings on comment boards advising people to update software are ways to trick social network users into downloading malicious software that can commandeer control of machines, Hamiel said.

"Social networks really don't care if you get pawned or not," Hamiel said, using slang referring to a computer user being dominated and humiliated by hackers.

"People know if they go on a computer and download a programme they could get a virus. They don't have the same view of how dangerous that can be on a social networking site."

Hackers can write seemingly legitimate widgets that "go rogue" after spreading to enough social network members, according to Hamiel.

"It is not a problem with a particular site," Hamiel said. "It is a problem with social networking in general."

Even if tainted applications are deleted, the odds are that the data from profile pages was already copied onto an outside computer, according to Hamiel and Moyer.

"MySpace and Facebook have no control over my servers," Hamiel said. "Once the content is moved from their site they have no control over that."

Those thinking that they will stay safe by not having social networking pages may still vulnerable to trouble, according to the security specialists.

Another ruse is to create social networking profiles for people using information mined from the Internet and then for the imposters to send out "friends requests."

Those that take the bait give open doors to the private data in their profiles.

"We think you should make a profile for yourself before somebody else does," Moyer said. "Just don't put anything there that you don't consider public. And trust, but verify when people want to be your friend."

Source : TOI

You would have never thought that a kiss could help keeping dental worries at bay or a gratifying sexual act at night make you feel fit and fresh the next morning. But that's what studies across the web claim.

Healthy sex leads to a healthy life. You may have tried copious measures to get that extra glowing skin and shiny hair. You must have also worked out rigorously to achieve that perfect ten figure you've desired. But the key to your mind and heart is fulfilling sex. Even for those who lose their temper or are always in a depressed state of mind, 'sex' can be the solution.

A happy sexual life with your partner not only gets you in shape with better skin texture and silken tresses, it also burns extra calories, keeps you fit, combats asthma, relieves headache, reduces depression and tranquilises your mind. From make-up experts, hair stylists, sexologists and fitness connoisseurs – there's a common consensus that a vigourous sexual life leads to a healthy life – both physically and emotionally. We get them share more on this...

There have been several notions stating that 'sex' produces certain hormones that bring happiness, which lead to a fit body and a healthy mind. Shedding some light on this, Dr. Sanjay Chugh, specialist on sexual issues, states, "Sex contributes to general good health. Any sexual intimacy that is enjoyable and pleasurable promotes well being by providing several physical and psychological benefits. It is believed that sex boosts chemicals in the body that protects us against diseases. Research also suggests that sex and masturbation can help ease joint and muscle pain, combat depression, promote heart health and lengthen one's life span."

Dr. Samir Parikh, clinical physiatrist adds, "The basic fact is that a good sex life also means in a larger picture, a good relationship with one's partner and this makes the partner happier, less stressed and by virtue of that physically healthier."

Not just this, sex also accelerates blood circulation and one's basic metabolic rate, which further enhances the well-being of our mind and soul and helps us calm down.

On these emotional benefits, Dr Chugh adds, "A satisfying sexual relationship strengthens the bond between couples, making them feel secure and loved. The feeling of emotional connectedness adds to ones sense of belonging, which in totality helps them achieve a positive physical, psychological and spiritual state that is necessary for one's general health."

Elaborating further, on a scientific angle, Dr Avdesh Sharma, a consultant psychiatrist, and an expert on relationship issues shares, "Sex is a way of bonding at the physical, mental and emotional level and leads to health (including psychological) benefits. If it is used as a mechanical process, it may have limited benefits. There are physiological benefits of positive changes in parameters like pulse, heart rate, reduction in blood pressure (after an increase in B.P. specially if vigourous sex is tried), dilation of blood vessels and capillaries of the skin, leading to a 'glow', burning of a few calories (depending on the duration of the act and vigour), exercising of some of the muscles, thus improving lung capacity (during heavy breathing)."

However, we also need to understand that sexual acts work more in terms of improving resistance, but are not a safe guard or a treatment to illnesses. Any sexual act can neither be used as a treatment nor would it change your stresses of life, which one would need to resolve irrespective.

"The extra edge of sex may be due to the feeling of being wanted, an expression of emotions and certain hormonal and physiological changes that happen as an expression of love for another individual. Unfortunately, the benefits of sexuality are usually quoted out of context and people may look at this as a panacea for everything. But sexuality without emotions have limited value," concludes Dr Avdesh Sharma.


Fun Facts about Sex

Here are some lesser known fun facts about sex.

Have sex stay fit : Sex may seem like the safest sport you can take up. It de-stresses you, keeps you rejuvenated, elevates your moods and stretchs, tones and exercises your body muscles.

Expert opinion : Dr Ishi Khosla, clinical nutritionist, Director Whole Foods asserts, "Sexual acts certainly lead to a normal mental well-being and a healthy state of mind. This in turn creates a physically fit body. If there's an ill-health or manifestation of any problem, it would reflect on your outer body."

Dr Samir Parikh adds, "You would still need a balanced lifestyle, which means that if you compare two equals in terms of lifestyle age and other factors as a constant, then it's possible that a sexually active person feels better."

Sex burns extra calories : It is indeed a form of exercise and naturally burns one's calories too.

Expert Opinion : Dr Geetu Amarnani, wellness expert at Kolmet Hospital, opines, "While having sex, the BMP (basic metabolic rate) increases and that ultimately helps in burning the calories, so it's widely believed that one can shed that extra flab through sexual encounters."

Sex for glowing skin and hair : When women make love they produce the hormone oestrogen which makes their hair shine and their skin smooth.

Expert Opinion : Make-up expert Sylvie, also an expert on sexual issues asserts, "As sex helps releasing the extra level of frustration and stress on one's mind and body, so logically it leads to a glow on your face and your skin texture looks better too. Also, hormones in our body are activated at a faster rate than usual during sex, which helps in better blood circulation, adding that extra shine to one's skin and hair."

Sex brings relief from headaches, reduces depression and tranquilises your mind : A satisfying love-making session releases tension that restricts blood vessels in the brain. It brings you out of a depressed state of mind and acts as a tranquilliser.

Expert Opinion : Dr Sanjay Chugh, "The pleasure that is derived from a satisfying sexual act tends to relax one's mind, taking away headache. It releases endorphins into the bloodstream, producing a sense of euphoria and leaving you with a feeling of well-being. Good sex leaves the person feeling relaxed and satisfied thus acting like a tranquiliser."

A kiss to keep dental problems at bay : It is medically accepted that a kiss encourages saliva to wash food from the teeth and lowers the level of the acid that causes decay. It also prevents the build-up of plaque.

Expert Opinion : Dental expert, Dr. Vandana Jyoti opines, “Anything that increases salivation will help in bringing down the acid level, which causes damage to one’s teeth. It also prevents cavity. Other than a kiss, chewing gum and more of lemon intake also tend to act in the same manner. But one has to be extra careful, as it might act the other way round, in terms of spreading germs, if either of the two persons involved in a kiss is suffering from a tooth infection.

A new marriage guidance book is causing quite a stir in America. Authored by Mira Kirshenbaum, an American psychotherapist with 30 years experience in marriage counselling, it says that an extra-marital affair can actually help save your marriage, acting as an SOS call to encourage an unhappy couple to work on their troubled union.

In her latest book, When Good People Have Affairs , Kirshenbaum also argues that society today lacks a sympathetic view of infidelity and that adulterers are well-intentioned people who have simply made a mistake, reports The Belfast Telegraph.
"Cheating on your spouse isn't a moral act, but most men and women who have affairs are good people who made a mistake," writes Kirshenbaum. "They never thought that it would happen to them but, suddenly, they're in this complicated, dangerous situation."

She also insists that adulterers should never own up about their cheating because doing so will only cause more pain and heartache.

Kirshenbaum believes that the 'right kind' of affair can have a positive effect. "You could think of it as a necessary medical procedure. If your marriage is in cardiac arrest, an affair can be a defibrillator."
But Kirshenbaum - whose husband betrayed her when he had an affair - has been criticised by some peers. "The defibrillator is applied to somebody's heart when it has actually stopped and they are at the point of death," said Professor Leila Collins, a counselling psychologist and principal lecturer at Middlesex University. "If a relationship is at the point of death you terminate it."

Collins also points out that infidelity is rarely between the two people involved - that often spouses, innocent children and the wider family circle become unwitting collateral damage.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a columnist whose partner left her a student 14 years her junior, said Kirshenbaum's book made her "blood boil". "As one of the millions betrayed then abandoned by an adulterous partner, I cannot stomach the ceaseless compulsion to shed guilt and shame, the editing-out of the hurt and chaos caused within the family, the long-term damage to kids," she wrote in the Evening Standard.

In the book, Kirshenbaum lists some 'hair-raising' statistics that may cause some married couples to pause for thought: overall, she claims, some 47% of married men are likely to become emotionally or sexually involved with someone else, as are 35% of women.

For those concerned that their infidelity means the imminent demise of their marriage, she lists a few pointers. She says you should stay with your partner if your affair falls into certain categories, including trysts that are 'accidental', related to a mid-life crisis or some kind of attempt at 'revenge'.

source: TOI

WASHINGTON: A new study has revealed that frequent intercourse can cut erectile dysfunction (ED) risk in men.

Researchers from Finland have revealed that men who had intercourse more often were less likely to develop ED.

Over the period of five years, the team studied 989 men between 55 to 75 years from Pirkanmaa, Finland.

They found that men who had intercourse less than once per week were twice as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction. Further, the risk of erectile dysfunction was inversely related to the frequency of intercourse.

Out of 1000 cases, 79 cases had men who had sexual intercourse less than once per week, which dropped to 32 cases per 1000 in men having intercourse once per week.

The number further dropped to 16 per 1000 in those reporting intercourse 3 or more times per week.

In addition, the frequency of morning erections predicted the development of complete erectile dysfunction, with an approximate 2.5-fold risk among those with less than 1 morning erection per week compared with 2 to 3 morning erections per week.

"Regular intercourse has an important role in preserving erectile function among elderly men, whereas morning erection does not exert a similar effect," said Juha Koskimaki of Tampere University Hospital, Department of Urology, Tampere, Finland.

"Continued sexual activity decreases the incidence of erectile dysfunction in direct proportion to coital frequency," Koskimaki added.

The study indicates that regular intercourse protects men from the development of erectile dysfunction, which may, in turn, impact general health and quality of life. The study is published in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

source: TOI

WASHINGTON: Those who find it difficult to tell their partners how much they love them need not worry anymore, thanks to a new ‘Cyrano Suit’ that can provide enough confidence to a shy man to express his feelings confidently.

The suit has been designed to give its wearer the scripts/notes to act and perform as sensible and gentlemen with confidence.

It also provides the wearer the lines that may help him reveal his un-shown true feelings.

Apparently, the suit is also capable of suggesting what topics one should discuss with the woman in front of him.

Its designer Eugene Ahn claims that she has embedded a series of sensors in the suit’s arms and chest, which detect physical interaction with a woman.

She says that the system also uses a hacked receipt printer to deliver romantic lines straight to the breast pocket of the wearer.

“What it prints depends on the distance to the woman,” Wired News quoted her as saying.

LONDON: Forcefully flashing your teeth at work is dangerous for health, scientists have warned.

According to German researchers, forcing staff to be happy and polite all the time is likely to make them sick.

They believe most at risk are flight attendants, salesmen, call centre operators, waiters and other workers in close contact with the public.

Professor Dieter Zapf, a researcher at Frankfurt University, Germany, said fake friendliness led to depression, stress and hit the immune system.

This can trigger more serious ailments such as high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems.

"Every time a person is forced to repress his true feelings there are negative consequences," the Mirror quoted him, as saying.

In order to reach the conclusions, for over two years, 4,000 volunteers including shop workers and flight attendants, were put in an imaginary call centre and abused by clients.

Some could answer back, while others had to stay polite and friendly.

Those allowed to stand up to clients had a rapid heartbeat for a brief period, but those who had to remain friendly found their hearts were still racing long after the client had hung up.

Researchers decided "being friendly against one's will causes nothing but stress".

Prof Zapf said: "We are all able to rein in our emotions, but it becomes difficult to do this over a protracted period as cabin attendants are forced to on long-haul flights.

"These people need space away from the passengers where they can be on their own and let feelings run free.

"We have to get away from the 'customer is king' attitude and show more respect to those in service industries."

source: TOI

NEW DELHI: It's official now — ejaculation in less than 60 seconds from start of intercourse is "premature".

A 20-member panel of the world's leading sexual health experts, set up by the International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM), has for the first time defined premature ejaculation (PE) — a sexual dysfunction affecting 30% of the world's adult men.

Speaking to TOI from Orlando, eminent American urologist Ira D Sharlip, the study's main author, said the medical definition of PE — the bane of millions of men worldwide — was reached after "studying hundreds of international studies published on PE." The team's study, that backs the definition, will be published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine on Saturday. It will also be officially announced on May 19 at the American Urological Association's annual conference in Florida.

Dr Sharlip told TOI, "The definition of lifelong PE is now a form of sexual dysfunction in which ejaculation occurs within a minute of vaginal penetration, almost every time during intercourse. The previous definitions did not quantify the time limit and so many men who just reached a climax early, sometimes mistook themselves to be suffering from PE, causing them tremendous mental distress, depression, anxiety and marital discord."

According to Dr Sharlip, the hope now is that more people reaching climax within a minute will understand PE as a medical condition and seek treatment without suffering in silence.

He says the definition would also help drug companies identify actual PE patients when conducting a drug trail in the future. In September 2006, ISSM reportedly felt the need for an objective evidence based definition of PE. They then set up a committee of 20 experts representing every continent. The panel of experts agreed that the constructs that were necessary to define PE were time to ejaculation, inability to delay ejaculation and negative consequences from PE.

"We reviewed hundreds of published papers on PE, specially 20 that specifically addressed objective measures to pinpoint PE. The committee met in Amsterdam in October to reach a conclusive definition. Those with PE should be immediately put on a combination of psychological and drug therapy," Dr Sharlip said.

Reacting to the study, Dr Vikram Sharma, urologist at Max Hospital, told TOI that the standardization would now reduce incorrect diagnosis of PE cases across the world. Indian surveys have shown that 10% of all adult males in the country suffer from some sort of sexual dysfunction, a large chunk of which — nearly 7% — would be of PE.

According to Dr Sharma, PE most commonly affects Indian men aged 19-26 years and decreases by nearly 50% after they reach 30.

"Till now, whenever patients complained of PE or reaching climax before five minutes of intercourse, we first put them on counselling sessions. However, now we know that in patients who ejaculate within a minute, it is a pathological disorder that would need immediate medical intervention. In absense of any standardisation earlier, doctors failed to diagnose serious PE cases thereby prolonging mental and physical trauma for the patient," Dr Sharma said.

Experts say PE is humiliating for adult men and so many don't acknowledge and address it until it is too late.

Source: TOI

NEW YORK: Not all body flab is harmful -- hip fat is good but pot bellies are bad, claims a new study.

Previous studies have revealed that subcutaneous fat is merely the lesser of the two evils. Now, researchers in the United States have concluded that it could actually be positively beneficial.

A team at the Joslin Diabetes Centre in Boston has found that the worst kind is actually the excess fat on the internal organs, which causes a pot belly and is known as visceral fat.

According to them, people with visceral fat are more likely to suffer from heart disease and insulin resistance, which leads to type II diabetes, than those who put on fat under their skin on their hips and thighs.

In their study, the researchers, led by C Ronald Kahn, transplanted subcutaneous fat into the bodies of some mice and visceral fat into others.

They found the laboratory mice that had received subcutaneous fat ended up with lighter, leaner bodies and less insulin resistance than the animals that got visceral fat and, crucially, those that received no fat transplant at all.

"That increased body fat has a favourable effect is something I buy into," the New Scientist quoted John Miles of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester as saying.

If subcutaneous fat also has benefits in humans, the results could explain why liposuction, which removes this fat, does not reduce diabetes or other side effects of obesity, according to the researchers.

How subcutaneous fat exerts its positive influence remains a mystery, but Kahn suspects it secretes hormones that speed up metabolism.

Source : The Times Of India

NEW YORK: If a man's mother is highly educated, chances are the woman he marries will have a similar education, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Iowa found that nearly 80% of high-achieving men who were sons of mothers with college degrees married women with a similar education.

And 62% of men whose mothers had graduate degrees tied the knot with a graduate degree holder. "These young men look up to their mothers as role models. They grew up in a family where their mothers were educated women," sociologist Christine Whelan, who conducted the study, said.

"For an increasing number of these men ... when they make their own choices about someone who they think will be a good wife in the future or a good mother, they go back to their role models."

Whelan and her colleague Christie Boxer studied data on 3,700 people who took part in a survey about men and the educational level of the women close to them. All the men surveyed were considered to be high achievers in their 20s and 30s who earned salaries in the top 10% for their age group.

The researchers found that more than 70% of the men had mothers who worked while they were growing up, and that the same group was twice as likely to marry women who made $50,000 or more a year. Whelan, who interviewed more than 100 men and has written a book entitled 'Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women', found many men welcomed the idea of a working spouse.

Source : The Times Of India

CANBERRA: Smartening up and smiling are key tactics for job-seekers, but a simple well-delivered handshake could trump them both, according to a new study.

Research by the University of Iowa found applicants with a firm handshake are far more likely to get the job than candidates with a limp grip.

A solid handshake was found to be more important than dress or physical appearance as it set off the interviewer's impression of that person.

"We found that the first impression begins with a handshake that sets the tone for the rest of the interview," said researcher George Stewart, associate professor of management and organizations in the Tippie College of Business, in a statement.

Stewart said this was the first study to quantify the importance of a good handshake in a job interview. The study, to be published in September in the Journal of Applied Psychology , was conducted with 98 students in the Tippie College of Business participating in mock job interviews with local business representatives.

The interviewers graded each student's overall performance and hireability while five trained handshake raters also scored students on their handshake. The scores were then compared.

Stewart said the experts found that those students who scored high with the handshake raters were also considered to be the most hireable by the interviewers and seen as having more extroverted personalities and greater social skills.

The students with wimpy handshakes were judged to have less gregarious personalities and were less impressive. "We probably don't consciously remember a person's handshake or whether it was good or bad," Stewart said.

The key to a good handshake? A complete, firm grip, eye contact and a vigorous up-and-down movement, said Stewart.

This may work against women, however, because their grips tend to be not as strong. But other research finds women tend to be stronger in other nonverbal communication skills that seemed to offset their less brawny grips, Steward said.

And in the study, women who did have a strong handshake seemed to have an advantage over men.

A similar study in 2000 found that women who are more liberal, intellectual and open to new experiences had a firmer handshake and made a more favorable impression than women who were less open and had a less firm handshake.

Source: The Times Of India

TORONTO: Average-looking men with good manners are among the most trusted, while good-looking men are trusted the least, says a new survey.

The survey, conducted in Canada and US by public relations firm Ketchum Global Research Network and brand development firm MARC Research, showed men with good manners are considered more attractive than those without.

But only 17% of the Canadians surveyed trust good looking men. "Canadians and Americans both agree that good manners are critical to getting the attention of a potential love interest," researchers said in a statement.

"Canadians have an innate distrust of attractive people."

The phone survey of 515 Canadians and 515 Americans was conducted on behalf of Canadian Club Whisky, which is owned by Illinois-based Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc and part of Fortune Brands Inc.

The survey showed that Canadians care less than Americans about making money. About 50% of the Americans polled said they would be willing to shift to a seven-day work week for a wage increase, but only 36% of Canadians would do the same.

Source : The Times Of India

Frequent masturbation may help men cut their risk of contracting prostate cancer, Australian researchers have found. It is believed that carcinogens may build up in the prostate if men do not ejaculate regularly, BBC News reported on Wednesday.

The researchers surveyed more than 1,000 men who had developed prostate cancer, and 1,250 men who had not. They found that men who had ejaculated the most between the ages of 20 and 50 were the least likely to get cancer. Men who ejaculated more than five times each week were a third less likely to develop prostate cancer.

Sexual intercourse may not have the same effect because of the higher risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease, which could in turn raise the risk of cancer. "Had we been able to remove ejaculations associated with sexual intercourse, there should have been an even stronger protective effect of ejaculations," Graham Giles of the Cancer Council Victoria, who led the researchers, said in the article.

The prostate produces a fluid that is incorporated into ejaculation, which activates sperm and prevents them from sticking together. Studies on animals have shown that carcinogens

like 3-methylchloranthrene can be harboured in the prostate. Frequent ejaculation encourages the cancer-inducing fluids to "flush out."

Source : The Times Of India

Human memory is short. And we would do well to remember that, say researchers at the University of Missouri- Columbia. Their study on the storage capacity of the conscious mind or working memory, as reported by LiveScience.com , caps the limit at a mere three or four.

Working memory is a more active version of short-term memory, which refers to the temporary storage of information. Working memory relates to the information one can pay attention to and manipulate.

Scientists have long debated the number of items the human brain can recall instantaneously. Early research found the working memory cut-off to be about seven items. Now scientists think the true capacity is lower when people are not allowed to use tricks like repeating items over and over or grouping items together. "For example, when we present phone numbers, we present them in groups of three and four, which helps us to remember the list,’’ said psychologist Nelson Cowan, who co-led the study with colleagues Jeff Rouder and Richard Morey.

The study was published on April 14 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

While the average person may only be able to hold three or four things in mind at once, some people have achieved amazing feats of working memory. Contestants at the World Memory Championships often recall hundreds of digits in order after only five minutes. But even these masters of memory seem to start with the same basic capacities as everyone else, and improve their abilities with strategies and tricks.

Source : The Times Of India

Office computer keyboards could be filthier than toilet seats and cause serious diseases, according to a British microbiologist.

Tests were conducted on 33 office keyboards and compared with swabs from a toilet seat and a door handle in a public toilet. It was found that the keyboards containeddangerous levels of killer bacteria such as E coli and S aureus. E coli causes diarrhoea, stomach cramps and fever, while S aureus causes skin infections such as pimples, boils and abscesses.

Two keyboards had dangerous levels of coliform bacteria that are found in faeces and cause gastroenteritis. One keyboard was five times dirtier than the toilet seat and home to 150 times the acceptable limit of bacteria. "(It) was increasing the risk of its user becoming ill," said the micro- biologist, James Francis.

The results were published in the UK's Which? Computing magazine. The biggest source for contamination was people eating at their desks and dropping crumbs that lodge between keys and feed bacteria.

"The common causes of contamination are the user's poor personal hygiene, particularly failing to wash hands properly after eating, sneezing or coughing or using the toilet," says Dr SK Sarin of GB Pant Hospital.

Bacteria are also found on shared surfaces such as desks. "The best protection is washing hands with soap and water, especially before eating, and avoid touching the face and mouth," says Dr Shiv Lal, director, National Institute of Communicable Diseases.

Source : Hindustan Times

LONDON: A landmark research has shown that birds respond to a human's gaze, allowing them to pick up on very subtle signals and use them to their advantage.

In humans it is well-known that the eyes are said to be the 'window to the soul', conveying much about a person's emotions and intentions.

A group of researchers at the University of Bristol in Britain set up experiments that showed starlings will keep away from their food dish if a human is looking at it.

However, if the person is just as close, but their eyes are turned away, the birds resumed feeding earlier and consumed more food overall.

The research, published online in the April edition of Proceedings of the Royal Society B , describes the first explicit demonstration of a bird responding to a live predator's eye-gaze direction.

"This is a great example of how animals can pick up on very subtle signals and use them to their own advantage," said Julia Carter, a PhD student at Bristol.

Carter argued that a predator's head orientation and eye-gaze direction are more subtle indicators of risk, and useful since many predators orient their head and eyes towards their prey as they attack.

"By responding to these subtle eye-gaze cues, starlings would gain a competitive advantage over individuals that are not so observant. This work highlights the importance of considering even very subtle signals that might be used in an animal's decision-making process," Carter was quoted as saying in the report by the Science daily online today .

However, researchers cautioned that further studies would be needed to answer definitely whether birds understand that a human is looking at them,

Source: Times Of India