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Giant pandas are struggling to reproduce, both in the wild and in captivity, and their gut microbes may be a contributing factor. Researchers have found that sexually competent pandas have a higher abundance of Clostridium bacteria in their gut compared to pandas with poor sexual performance. While the relationship between gut microbes and panda libido has been identified, it is not yet clear if it is the sole reason for their poor sexual performance. This finding has important implications for conservation efforts, as it could help conservationists adjust the pandas' diet in captivity to promote better reproductive success. [Extracted from the article]

Also, Venus's surface gravity is similar to that on Earth and to get back home, you would be going up the sun's "gravity gradient" (or on a long, roundabout gravitational slingshot journey). Would it be theoretically possible to build a large habitable dome on the surface of Venus, one of the most inhospitable places in the solar system? Anna Butcher, Brookton, Western Australia We know time slows down as gravity increases, so is the speed of light in high gravity different from its speed in low gravity?. [Extracted from the article]

Would it be theoretically possible to build a large habitable dome on the surface of Venus, one of the most inhospitable places in the solar system? Would it be theoretically [...]

When cubs are born via artificial insemination, panda mothers are more likely to reject them [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on several science researches as of 2015. Topics include a research by Peter Schultz of Brown University in Rhode Island and his colleagues which has found that rocks that enter the atmosphere as loosely bound piles of rubble can rearrange into a needle-like formation, another by Olav Strand which has found that Golden eagles in Norway regularly prey on reindeer calves, and another by Ronald Swaisgood and colleagues which shows that Giant pandas are interested in each other.

The article reports on the study conducted by researcher David Begun of the University of Toronto in Canada which reveals that the giant pand, whose scientific name is Ailuropoda melanoleuca, eveloved in Europe.

The article reports on a research by Guozhen Shen of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, which suggests the benefits of building a network of cool retreats in the forest to address the impact of climate change to giant pandas in China that are at risk of extinction.

EThe article discusses the global Red List of Threatened Species, including status reclassification of Eastern gorillas from endangered to critically endangered, near threatened status of plains zebras, and status change of giant panda from endangered to vulnerable.

The article discusses giant pandas, focusing on research into the sociability of the bears in the wild. Other topics include information on a study by research Vanessa Hull that used Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking to monitor five pandas in the Wolong Nature Reserve in China, the direct interaction between some pandas for weeks at a time, and how bamboo, the pandas' only food source, dictated their movements.

The article reports on a paper published in "PLoS One" by researcher Dingzhen Liu on the exposure of male giant pandas to scents of competitor males to increase sexual motivation behavior, suggesting a possible approach to improve mating success in captive breeding of pandas.

The article presents scientific news briefs as of October 22, 2011, including the spread of anti-vaccination rhetoric through the web site Twitter, the discovery of bamboo-digesting bacteria in the intestines of the giant panda, and a study into the misdiagnoses of viable embryos as miscarriages.

The article discusses research conducted by scientist Jianzhi Zhang on the role of the Tas1r1 gene in the evolution of taste preferences in giant pandas, said to have changed from meat to bamboo some millions of years ago.

This section offers world news briefs related to science. A French man, who was the first person to get both a face and a double hand transplant, died during an operation to treat a facial infection on June 15, 2009. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act allows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to restrict the marketing of tobacco products. According to researchers, female giant pandas can tell suitors apart from each other by their love calls.

This article reports that since 1960s the giant panda has become the poster child for all endangered species. In the past 20 years, half its habitat has disappeared in its native China. Pandas' sole food source, flowering bamboo, periodically collapses, and their pelts make them a target for poaching. But things are looking up for these cuddly bears. The last survey, in 2003, suggested that 1596 bears remained in China. This week, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing doubled the estimate, basing it instead on DNA fingerprinting of panda faeces in a key nature reserve, and suggested that there may be up to 3000 wild pandas in China.

The article reports that China's captive giant pandas are in bad health and urgently need better veterinary care, according to a study of pandas in the country's zoos. The World Conservation Union organised a survey of China's captive giant pandas between 1998 and 2000. Kati Loeffler of the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park in Washington D.C., studied 13 animals at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan. Almost every animal had gastrointestinal disease and dental problems.

This article informs that "charismatic megafauna" is the term that conservationists use to describe the flagship species that bring in the ecotourism dollars and may stir the conscience of a government. Without them it is much harder to establish projects that can preserve whole ecosystems and throw a lifeline to smaller, often less photogenic creatures. And they don't get much more charismatic than the giant panda, the strange vegetarian bear from the mountains of western China. It is informed that between 1975 and 1989 the giant panda lost half its remaining habitat to logging and agriculture. The survivors clung on as small groups in 24 forest fragments.