Pleasure, homosexuality and STDs in the animal kingdom. A specialist dismantles myths on how sex works outside our species

Forget about the idea that animals only have sex to reproduce. Dolphins, bats, rams, bonobos or lions show that homosexual pleasure and behaviors are also part of nature. And not only that: there are species that change sex, that transmit diseases such as chlamydia or that transform their body to imitate genitals. All this composes a panorama as unexpected as fascinating. Science and apartthe Xataka section that was born to look at science with magnifying glass and do it in the company of experts, Return with a new episode in Our YouTube channelalso available on Spotify and Ivoox. On this occasion, Ángela Blanco interviews Ricardo MoureBiologist and Doctor in Biotechnology, with a very clear purpose: to explore what biology has discovered about sex in animals and leave aside the myths that we still drag. One of the points of the conversation is homosexuality in the animal kingdom. Moure clarifies from the beginning: “To be correct at a technical level, in animals we cannot talk about homosexual individuals or homosexual animals. We talk about homosexual behaviors“And add concrete examples:” Among the rams, one in five has sex with both males and females, and one in 10 only with other males. “ Another of the issues raised by the interview is that of pleasure in animal sex. Moure recognizes the difficulty of measuring it: “In the case of whether animals feel some kind of sexual pleasure, this is complicated because, of course, we cannot get into the mind of an animal and know its subjective perception, but it is true that it has been investigated if there are species in which there is sexual pleasure.” The clearest examples appear in social species, from primates to cetaceans, where relationships do not always seek offspring. Among the most graphic examples mentioned by Moure is the relationship between sexual behavior and the size of the testicles. “The size of the testicles depends a little on this,” he says. The contrast is striking: “Gorillas can reach 200 kg, they have testicles that are like two olives (…) but instead bonobos (…) They have very large testicles”The key is in sperm competition, which favors species where females maintain relations with several males. It also stops in the biological mechanisms that allow some species to change sex. “When a male clown fish is widowed, it changes sex and becomes the female,” Moure details, remembering that all these fish are born males and that their role depends on the structure of the group. But there are more factors that alter the proportion of sexes: “humans also greatly affect the distribution of sexes because of climate change,” he says. The interview also addresses a less known aspect: sexually transmitted diseases in animals. “A case that draws a lot of attention is that of the Koalas. The Koalas in Australia have a CLAMIDIA EPIDEMIA that the species is being loaded, ”says Moure. The problem is serious because it causes infertility and is very difficult to treat. What we have advanced here is just a fragment of an episode loaded with data, anecdotes and explanations that show this aspect in the animal kingdom. In Science and apartRicardo Moure provides keys that invite you to think otherwise the relationship between biology and sex. The chapter is now available. Choose the platform you want to enjoy it. Images | Xataka In Xataka | Zoophilia is the last great sexual taboo of our societies. And there are voices that want to discuss it

Among generalist or specialist, companies already have their response

He initial astonishment against chatgpt It was not only because of that magical feeling of seeing how character responded to character, pattern inherent to the LLMs that humanized them to some extent. The astonishment was because they knew everything. They explained quantum theory and wrote poetry, summarized novels and armed a business plan in seconds. They seemed capable of anything, such as the classic first row student who dazzled because he analyzed Blasco Ibáñez with the same precision with which he resolved a differential equation. The question, sooner or later, always comes: What is the use of? In it Deloitte technological trends report for 2025 A track appears: many companies that had opted for these generalist models – large, complex, difficult to refine – are beginning to look at smaller and specific options. Models trained with less data, but much more relevant. Specialists, no todologists. It is no accident: that initial enthusiasm with the Llm It is running with a reality: knowing everything is not always useful. And the world of business does not value wisdom, the margin is valued. As sometimes it happens, this is a more philosophical change. And he looks a lot like an old debate in companies: that of human specialists vs. generalists. The expert who has dedicated his life to a single field that dominates as anyone … … Faced with the broad, curious, adaptable profile, with tangential knowledge. David Epstein explored it well in a book that I loved it‘Amplitude‘. That title made a somewhat uncomfortable thesis fashionable: in a changing world, specialization can become a cage. But the AI, perhaps in a counterfit, is returning luster to the specialist profile. Because? Because in practice, Generalist models are vague. They try everything but refine a little. An AI that advises doctors, lawyers or engineers cannot be improvised. It needs rigor. Context. Know the terrain. And that does not give it, the approach gives. There is a slightly thinner reading here. The turn to specialized models allows greater efficiency, but also more control. The big models are in the hands of a few: OpenAi, Google, Anthropic, goal … are closed, opaque, often expensive. The smallest models can be open, trained at home, adaptable to concrete niches. They look more like tools than oracles. It also has labor implications: If a generalist can do “everything”, it is a diffuse threat. If there are many specific ones, they may not come so to replace people, but to expand them. A doctor with an AI adjusted to his specialty, an architect with an assistant who knows how to read plans, an –ejem– editor with a co -pilot specialized in his sector. It is not the same to compete with a universal AI as collaborating with a refined tool. And this connects with something more important: A new knowledge economy. For years, we were told that “knowing everything.” Be versatile, navigate between disciplines. Now, companies reward the located, technical, deep knowledge. We already know that IA transforms workbut perhaps also our ideas about knowledge. What is worth, what matters. And there comes the question. What kind of intelligence do we want to enhance? One who knows a bit of everything and monopolis attention? Or many humble intelligences, distributed, each focused on solving their own problems? Choosing between generalists or specialists is how we want to live with AI. And what knowledge model we prefer for the coming world. Outstanding image | Elen Sher and Patrick in Unspash In Xataka | Deep Research is not just a new AI function. It is the beginning of the end of intellectual work as we know it

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