Avian mothers create different phenotypes by hormone deposition in their eggs

An increasing number of studies in a variety of taxa demonstrate the role of maternal sex steroids on offspring development. In avian species, mothers deposit substantial amounts of androgens in their eggs, and experimental evidence indicates that these maternal androgens influence the chick's early development. Despite the well-known organizing role of sex steroids on brain and behaviour, studies on avian maternal egg hormones almost exclusively focus on the chick phase. Here, we show experimentally that in Black-headed gulls maternal androgens in the egg enhance the development of the nuptial plumage and the frequency of aggressive and sexual displays almost 1 year after hatching. We conclude that maternal sex steroids may be a key factor for the determination of subtle but important individual differences within the same sex and species, which may have important consequences for Darwinian fitness and evolutionary processes

Alien demonology:the Christian roots of the malevolent extraterrestrial in UFO religions and abduction spiritualities

Initially, the sacralisation of the extraterrestrial led to an understanding of the alien as a fundamentally benevolent, messianic figure—a ‘technological angel’. This was largely because of the Cold War environment in which much UFO religion arose. Those attracted to the myth looked beyond a politically and militarily unstable planet to extraterrestrial saviours. Furthermore, because UFO religions have their roots in the Theosophical tradition, the religious understanding of the extraterrestrial tended to be fundamentally indebted to the concept of the wise and benevolent ascended master. The aim of this article is to examine the technological angel's foil. The central thesis is that, in their construction of the malevolent alien, UFO religionists and abductees turn not to Theosophy and Eastern religious traditions but to the myths and symbols of Christian demonology. Moreover, in exploring the origins and nature of the demonologies of contemporary UFO religions and abduction spiritualities, the article also draws attention to the importance of popular culture in the West, which, itself influenced by the Christian tradition, contributes to the formation of both popular demonology and also UFO mythology, which are in turn synthesised in UFO demonologies