Monthly Archives: March 2003

Sperm may ‘sniff’ their way to eggs

The Times (of London) writes: “Scientists from the Ruhr University in Germany and the University of California in Los Angeles have discovered a ́chemical noseî, named hOR17-4, on sperm cells that allows them to sense high concentrations of a sperm- attracting substance called bourgeonal, which researchers believe works as a chemical road sign to mark the location of an egg.”

Cool stuff. UPI has a good story about it.

Iraq and environment

There is a fascinating article at New Scientist.

It outlines some of the environmental repercussions of war in Iraq. These aren’t things I’ve heard brought up in any other news. This is a very delicate ecosystem and the idea that we–both sides–could be causing horrible, irreversible damage just horrifies me.

Panda pr0n

The San Diego Zoo has streaming video (requires RealOne player) of Bai Yun and her new suitor Gao Gao… er… gettin’ it on. You just have to play Barry White when you watch it.

Apparently this is a great success for the Zoo. They’re hoping that Bai Yun will conceive naturally this time, even though artificial insemination worked well with Hua Mei.