Features

The Hidden Side of Sex

Sly Guys
Capsule Reviews

Capsule Reviews
Sex on Earth, Wild Connection, The Classification of Sex, and XL Love
Freeze Frame

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

Laser-Guided Chastity
Scientists devise a precision-targeted system for training, tracking, and tweaking fruit fly social behavior.
Speaking of Science

Speaking of Sex
July 2014's selection of notable quotes
Editorial

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

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

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

Accidental Orgasms
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.

A Rock and a Hard Place
Meet the retired chemical engineer who has made quite the impression on paleoentomology by uncovering ancient secrets of insect coitus.
Critic at Large

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

Going Beyond the Lab
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.
The Literature

Semen Says
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.

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

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

Sari van Anders: Sexy Thoughts, Sexy Data
Assistant professor, Psychology and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan. Age: 36
Bio Business

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

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

Imaging Intercourse, 1493
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.
Lab Tools

The Sooner, The Better
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.

Bird’s-Eye Proteomics
A guide to mass spectrometers that can handle the top-down-proteomics challenge
Profiles

Let’s Talk About Sex
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.
Contributors

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

The Sex Paradox
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?