Sex

Meet some of the people featured in the July 2014 issue of The Scientist

Sex is an inherently fascinating aspect of life. As researchers learn more and more about it, surprises regularly emerge.

July 2014's selection of notable quotes

Not to be outdone by vertebrates, invertebrates employ a suite of interesting structures and behaviors to accomplish procreation.

Did 20th-century pharmaceutical and technological advances shape modern sexual behaviors?

A mysterious iridovirus outbreak in a lab colony of crickets reveals the virus’s ability to spur increased sexual activity.

Meet the researcher struggling to gain approval for his medical device, which was originally designed to relieve back pain, but turned out to be an orgasm inducer.

Meet the retired chemical engineer who has made quite the impression on paleoentomology by uncovering ancient secrets of insect coitus.

Scientists who study the biological roots of sexual orientation should continue working with educators, policy-makers, and the public to put their data to good use.

Researching the causes of sexual orientation should be guided by scientific, not social, concerns.

Scientists devise a precision-targeted system for training, tracking, and tweaking fruit fly social behavior.

Birds do it. Bees do it. We do it. But not without a physical, biochemical, and genetic price. How did the costly practice of sex become so commonplace?

Scientists report for the first time that a snail’s seminal fluid proteins can suppress the mating success of the male side of its hermaphroditic partner.

The disproportionately endowed carabid beetle reveals that the size of female—and not just male—genitalia influences insemination success.

A new class of pheromones, triacylglycerides, helps male fruit flies mark their mates to deter rivals.

In lieu of a career in punk rock, James Pfaus opted to study the brain signals underlying sexual behavior and then see what happened when he manipulated them.

Assistant professor, Psychology and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan. Age: 36

A guide to mass spectrometers that can handle the top-down-proteomics challenge

New approaches to diagnosing bacterial infections may one day allow the identification of pathogens and their antibiotic susceptibility in a matter of hours or minutes.

There are no FDA-approved drugs to treat low sexual desire in women, but not for lack of trying.

Penises and vaginas are not just simple sperm delivery and reception organs. They have been perfected by eons of sexual conflict.
 

Sex on Earth, Wild Connection, The Classification of Sex, and XL Love

For centuries, scientists have been trying to understand the mechanics of human intercourse. MRI technology made it possible for them to get an inside view.