The female orgasm has been a topic of debate among evolutionary biologists (and among many other people as well, of course). Is it adaptive, or a by-product of the male orgasm? Does it suck sperm into the uterus, or strengthens the pair bond? Or did it ‘tag along’ with the development of the male orgasm?

A new study, published in Animal Behaviour, takes a look at the question. The authors argue that, if the female orgasm is an evolutionary by-product, similar genes would lie at the root of orgasmic function in both sexes. Consequentially, opposite-sex twins and siblings would share more similarities in their susceptibility to orgasm.

Mark, a graduate student in bio-engineering with a history of depression, registers for a scientific conference on evolution, which attracts no suspicion at all; why should it. He takes potassium ferrocyanide, a yellow salt easily available in gardening supply stores, and boils it with automotive battery acid. Over a few weeks, Mark distills a few liters of highly toxic prussic acid, enough to kill thousands.

An interesting fellow is doing an interesting thing. Scott Cassell aims to "raise awareness around the detrimental state of the ocean along the Southern California coastline" with a specific focus on the decline of sharks. Says Cassell,

If we lose an apex predator from the food chain it causes other species to then have population explosions. For example, Sharks and Tuna are the natural predators of the Humboldt squid. If you kill off all the sharks, the squid population (each female can potentially have 20 million "babies") will begin to overpower the part of the food chain below them. They will eat anything and everything.

Every three hours, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope scans the entire sky. Every year, the satellite's scientists reanalyze all of the data it has collected about the high energy universe.

The Sheriff of Nottingham will be pleased. It only took 800 years, but poachers can now be tracked down through tests for human DNA on deer remains, according to research led by scientists at the University of Strathclyde.

Aside from being silly, since most 'poachers' are actually just poor people feeding a family, just like they were in Robin Hood's day, identifying deer poachers can be problematic because these 'crimes' are not discovered until long after the event - and no one cares.  These 'poachers' also field dress the deer carcass (hunters wear gloves) so little human DNA is left behind.

Some viruses change the behavior of their host, notable examples being the zombie ants and cat-loving rodents. Another example of such a ‘mind-controlling’ virus is the baculovirus, controlling its host, the gypsy moth caterpillar. A new study has identified a single gene that enforces this control on its host.

Can professional teachers in a crowded classroom hobbled by arcane government policies teach kids well?   Probably, in most cases, but institutionalized education and their unions have gone to war against any changes to the status quo, even when the status quo is clearly broken.  The only acceptable change is more money.

Home schooling can do a great job, if it is structured and has a formal curriculum.  It may even be an advantage, according to a new study in Canada.

Kepler-19b, which orbits the Sun-like star Kepler-19 650 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra, has been found to have an 'invisible' world tugging on it.

How do astronomers know, since it's invisible?  Kepler-19b alternately runs late and early in its orbit, the first definite detection of a previously unknown planet using this method. No other technique could have found the unseen companion.   Kepler-19 is a 12th-magnitude star and can be seen by backyard telescopes on September evenings.

A new alginate binder material for lithium-ion battery electrodes could boost energy storage and perhaps help eliminate the toxic compounds in batteries - good news for Prius owners who are concerned their batteries may be doing more harm to the environment than their emissions are saving.