reproduction
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Spider Bondage Exists And It Is Gnarly As Hell
Spiders are notorious for their bizarre and often violent mating practices. New research shows that, in order to avoid getting eaten during sex, male nursery spiders will tie up their partners with silken threads. And yes, it’s as horrible as it sounds.
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Cyborg Sperm Could Revolutionise Fertility Treatments
Some men produce sperm that are poor swimmers, a major cause of infertility. To help, researchers from Germany have developed motorised cyborg “spermbots” that can be guided directly to an egg.
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In Tight Spaces, Sperm Slither Rather Than Shimmy
Sperm usually swim in a 3D shimmy: a spiral wave travels down the whippy flagellum and rotates its head in a circle around its long axis. That “bulk swimming” is fine most of the time, but it isn’t a great option when a sperm cell gets close to a surface. That’s when they switch to…
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Can We Turn Stem Cells Into Eggs?
Northwestern University biologist Jonathan Tilly is certain he’s found egg-making stem cells in adult mice. If he’s right, it would refute decades-old work that showed female mammals finish making all their eggs before or shortly after birth. This might make it possible to grow new eggs inside the ovaries of older women.