Masturbation is far more important in the timeline of human evolution than ever previously thought. In fact, we might not be here at all if it weren’t for primates masturbating thousands of years ago, a new study has claimed. New research from the Proceedings of the Royal Society B has focused on the effects of masturbating in male primates and its effects on ensuring reproductive methods. “Masturbation is common across the animal kingdom but is especially prevalent amongst primates, including humans,” the study authors said in a statement. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter They went on to say that masturbation “was most likely present in the common ancestor of all monkeys and apes” before saying that it might have influenced mating behaviour. “Masturbation (without ejaculation) can increase arousal before sex,” the authors wrote. “This may be a particularly useful tactic for low-ranking males likely to be interrupted during copulation, by helping them to ejaculate faster.” According to the researchers, regular ejaculation evolved as a trait among male primates where they faced competition. That’s because it “allows males to shed inferior semen, leaving fresh, high-quality sperm available for mating, which are more likely to outcompete those of other males.” It also helped male primates “by cleansing the urethra (a primary site of infection for many STIs) with ejaculate”. Things were less clear with female primates, with the study authors stating that “more data on female sexual behavior are needed to better understand the evolutionary role of female masturbation.” “Our findings help shed light on a very common, but little understood, sexual behavior,” said lead author Dr. Matilda Brindle, of University College London. “The fact that autosexual behavior may serve an adaptive function, is ubiquitous throughout the primate order, and is practiced by captive and wild-living members of both sexes, demonstrates that masturbation is part of a repertoire of healthy sexual behaviors.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Elon Musk has begun training for his anticipated fight against Mark Zuckerberg, sparring with the same partner as his tech rival. Podcaster and AI researcher Lex Fridman, who holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, said he was “extremely impressed” with Mr Musk’s strength and technique after practising with him on Monday. The session came just days after Mr Fridman grappled with the Meta boss, who has been learning jiu-jitsu since last year. Both billionaires are expected to face off in a mixed martial arts contest after Mr Musk challenged his tech rival to a “cage match” earlier this month. The 51-year-old Tesla boss has no prior experience with martial arts and claims to not do any exercise beyond picking up his children and “throwing them in the air”. He is a long-time friend of Mr Fridman, who has been practising jiu-jitsu for more than a decade and earned his black belt five years ago. “I did an impromptu training session with Elon Musk for a few hours yesterday,” Mr Fridman wrote on Twitter. “I’m extremely impressed with his strength, power, and skill, on the feet and on the ground. It was epic.” Mr Musk replied: “That was fun!” Mr Fridman added that he hoped the two tech bosses would continue to train at martial arts but not actually fight each other. Within hours of sparring with his friend, Mr Musk had taken up an offer from UFC legend Georges St-Pierre to train him for the bout. The former two-weight UFC champion is considered one of the greatest ever mixed martial artists, having retired in 2019 after winning belts at welterweight and middleweight. It is not yet clear when the fight between Mr Musk and Mr Zuckerberg will take place, though the UFC Apex centre in Las Vegas has been proposed as a potential location. The contest has been endorsed by UFC president Dana White, who said last week that both men were “absolutely dead serious” about fighting each other. “This would be the biggest fight ever in the history of the world,” he said. “Bigger than anything that’s ever been done. It would break all pay-per-view records... You don’t have to be a fighting fan to be interested in this fight. Everybody would want to see it.” Read More Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg ‘dead serious’ about cage fight, says UFC boss Elon Musk picks UFC legend to train him for Mark Zuckerberg fight Twitter hacker who took over Musk, Obama, Biden accounts gets prison sentence Elon Musk confirms cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg

By Paul Sandle and Kate Holton LONDON The long-running battle between Microsoft and Britain over the Activision Blizzard

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Black holes are the most confusing things out there in the universe and no-one really knows what they are – at least, that’s our very basic grasp of it. Now, though, a new study has posited a theory that black holes are structures created by unseen cosmic dimensions - or topological stars. And just to make it a little more confusing, these topological stars exist purely in the hypothetical realms of mathematics. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have been exploring string theory, which posits that particles in the universe are actually tied to extra (hidden) dimensions through vibrating strings. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter According to their findings, hypothetical topological stars could exist for real in the universe and they’re essentially formations of nothing which could appear in space. The study finds that topological stars would appear “remarkably similar to black holes in apparent size and scattering properties, while being smooth and horizonless”. The study, which was published in Physical Review D, found that these stars which until now have only existed in hypothetical form, look an awful lot like the black holes out in the universe. “String theory is a theory that reconciles quantum physics and gravity into a quantum gravity theory,” study leader Pierre Heidmann said. Speaking to Motherboard, he said: “Usually when you have a new theory like that, you have new degrees of freedom that come with it, and you can try to see what new fundamental objects can arise from that.” Co-author of the study Ibrahima Bah added: “It’s an interesting question to ask: Are there things other than a black hole [that] will give you a hint about what new physics could look like?” “But before you get there, you need to know how to tell whether you have a black hole or not, and to do that you have some prototype examples of things that are not black holes to be able to compare." As ever, black holes remain the most mysterious, and the most fascinating things out there. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

By Arriana McLymore and Deborah Mary Sophia NEW YORK A record amount of price-pinched holiday shoppers are expected

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Paul McCartney is offering more information on how artificial intelligence is being used for what he said will be a "final" Beatles song.

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Adin Ross announces that UFC fighters Sean O'Malley and Aljamain Sterling join his stream, coinciding with their UFC 292 main event clash on August 20, 2023