In a paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, published in 2009, Joan Chiao and Katherine Blizinsky of Northwestern University, in Illinois, found a positive correlation between higher levels of the short version of the gene and mood disorders (China and Japan have lots of both) and with collectivist political systems.

ECONOMIST: The genetics of happiness

In the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Bernd Heinrich and Thomas Bugnyar of the University of Vermont, in Burlington, describe a series of experiments they have carried out on ravens.

ECONOMIST: Now, it seems, even the bird-brained have theories of mind

As they explain in a paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, other males may fight over access to the female and try to dislodge any male that has an inserted palp.

ECONOMIST: Why self-sacrifice makes perfect sense for spiders

Unfortunately for the textbooks, the latest estimate, made by Yvonne Stokes of the University of Adelaide, and which will be reported in the Proceedings of the Royal Society next month, is that it would take over 10m years for a window pane to flow perceptibly.

ECONOMIST: Non-dribbling glasses