Good news for all you narcissists!

A scientist has achieved a world first… by cloning himself.

In a breakthrough certain to provoke an ethical furore, Samuel Wood created embryo copies of himself by placing his skin cells in a woman's egg.

The embryos were the first to be made from cells taken from adult humans.

Unfortunately Dr. Samuel Wood's crop of clones died after only five days. His research, however, could seriously help eradicate some of the world's most troublesome ailments, like Alzheimer's. And biological order.

Political discussions undoubtedly touch on the idea of "moral values:" those nebulous norms and ideals by which we all live our lives, however depraved. While these "values" are often attributed to the right wing, a new study from the National Science Foundation claims that all voters, regardless of political affiliation, vote with their heart:

[Two] studies tested whether the effects of moral conviction on voting or intentions to vote were stronger for those on the political right or left.

"Even if their moral compasses are set in different directions, our results indicate that liberals and conservatives were equally likely to view their candidate choices and positions on issues of the day as moral convictions, and these moral convictions were associated with increased voting behavior and intentions to vote," [lead author] Linda Skitka said.

"When people perceive an issue in a moral light, it is more likely to impact behavior than when attitudes are perceived as strong but nonmoral," she said.

Are there really any amoral political issues?

HIV depends on human proteins to do its dirty work. While scientists had previously identified only 36 targets, new genetic research opens a whole new world. And mountains of more work:

The proteins it exploits have been dubbed HIV dependency factors, and 36 had been discovered. The new research, published online Thursday by the journal Science, found 273 of these potential HIV targets.
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It will take far more research to figure out the role each of these proteins plays in HIV's life cycle.

But most of today's AIDS drugs work by targeting the HIV virus itself. In August, the government approved sale of the first drug that works by blocking an HIV dependency factor, a cellular doorway called CCR5. The hope is that this longer list of those factors will point toward spots where similar drugs might work.

No one said it would be easy…

• Out's February issue proves what we already knew: Richard Simmons is the queen of all queens.

• Lauren Williams hung out with Phylicia Rashad and the rest of the cast from the Debbie Allen Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and all we got was this incredible post!

• Hummer inspired by NYC-based fag rag HX? Wouldn't be the first time…

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Science and sexuality meet again in today's Times, where journo Anjana Ahuja offers new angles to old legends:

Your fingers can point to many things – and not just physically. Scientists have discovered that people whose index finger is shorter than their ring finger run an elevated risk of getting osteoarthritis. The finding strengthens the curious biological importance that this index finger/ring finger ratio (known as 2D:4D) has on our lives. It has previously been associated with hormone levels, athletic prowess and sexual orientation.
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Lesbians are more likely to sport a “male” ratio than straight women, which supports the idea that sexual orientation is shaped by hormonal exposure in the womb.

In other vagina-related news, Sherri Shepherd and Star Jones will participate in an all-black production of The Vagina Monologues. And another gay man was just born…

And here we thought stereotypes were based in myth!

Women and gay men are likely to be the worst drivers, a new study has shown.

Research has revealed that both perform poorly in tasks involving navigation and spatial awareness when compared to heterosexual men.

Psychologists at Queen Mary, University of London, who conducted the study, believe the findings mean driving in a strange environment would be more difficult for gay men and women than for straight male motorists.

Both tend to rely on local landmarks to get around, and are also slower to take in spatial information.

The computer-based tests were carried out on 140 volunteers, and demonstrated that gay men, straight women and lesbians navigated in a similar way, sharing the same weaknesses.

One of the tests "involved exploring radial arms projecting from a central junction to receive 'rewards'". Straight and gay men had similar results on that particular challenge, which proves another myth: get a gay guy drunk enough and he'll explore his hetero side.

Managing HIV may get a bit easier for Europeans. The European Commission have given the green light to Atripla, a pill which combines three powerful drugs.

Atripla combines three existing drugs (efavirenz, tenofovir and emtricitabine). It has come into existence as a result of collaboration between three rival drug companies - Gilead Sciences, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck.

The single pill was licensed in the US in July last year - and is now given to half of all patients who are newly diagnosed there.

While the European Commission may have approved Atripla, it's up to individual countries to make it available.

• Japanese scientists have made a "humanoid robot" called Simroid, which can feel "pain".

• It's that time of the year again: Bid 2 Beat AIDS offers 1000s of collectibles on eBay. The eBay charity auction officially begins tomorrow, but they've already posted tickets for Mary J Blige's Tuesday show honoring BET's Stephen Hill.

• Popnography's Shana Naomi Krochmal and NPR "consider" bands who play queer.

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The wonderful world of science continues to burrow into sexual difference. A study out of Ontario contradicts earlier evidence by saying gay and bisexual men are more likely to write with their right hand.

A new study has provided a new twist on the connection between sexual orientation and right or left-handedness, claiming that gay or bisexual men have an elevated incidence of extreme right-handedness.

….The [study] reviewed 538 gay or bisexual men and 373 heterosexual men.

Bogaert asked about the sexual attractions and behavior of all the men. They were questioned about their right or left hand usage for 10 physical activities.

Gay men are also more inclined to exhibit extreme favoritism for either their left or their right hand. Straight men, meanwhile, seem to straddle the dexterous divide.

Bogaert claims his findings suggest a real connection between "neurodevelopmental anomalies" and sexuality. While that may be true, we'd like to see some examination of lesbian hands, too. Why are the gays always the guinea pigs?!

Gay people may be defined by their brains. And, no, we're not talking about blow-jobs.

New research out of Toronto suggests a link between the size of a male subject's posterior corpus callosum, which connects the left and right brain, to his sexuality. And, what's more, their genetic make-up.

A neuroscientist named Sanda Witelson previously proved that gays are more likely to be left-handed than their hetero counterparts. Another Witelson-helmed study showed that left-handed people have a larger posterior corpus callosum. Taken together, these findings have led Witelson in a surprising and potentially telling new direction…

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Tyra Banks used her nationally-syndicated talk show to explore the ins and outs of the world's greatest mystery: the vagina. And, of course, no vaginally-charged discussion would be complete without some puppetry, which we thought you could only do with the penis.

While the generally acknowledged gay/straight ratio of the populace is placed somewhere around one in 10, Dr. Eric Anderson of the University of Bath recently revealed the findings of a study he conducted which suggest that number spikes to one in three among athletes.

According to U.K. Gay News, Anderson also observed that "the sexual acts described [by participants] differed from acts of 'hazing' or team-bonding that often include pretend-homosexual acts." Kinda makes you wonder what Anderson's numbers would look like if he included the "pretend" stuff in his equations–chances are they'd probably come close to matching the gay/straight ratio at the New York Sports Club steam rooms and saunas this week.

"Third of Former School American Football Players Had Gay Sexual Relations: Study" [U.K. Gay News]