Friday Weird Science: The Million Diatom Orgy

Sci is unfortunately unable to get her hands on the real journal article behind this week’s weird science. That’s because it isn’t out yet. But look for it soon in “Deep-Sea Research II”, which to Sci sounds a lot like an awesome sequel to an action-biography about Jacques Cousteau. I would definitely go and see those movies. I would buy them. SOMEONE SHOULD MAKE THESE MOVIES.
EDIT: GOT THE PAPER!!! Thanks very much to Dr. Sarno, who responded so quickly to my email. It should also be up online soon.
Ok.
For this week’s Friday Weird Science, I present to you:
Sarno et al. “A massive and simultaneous sex event of two Pseudo-nitzschia species”. Deep Sea Research II, 2009.
aka: Massive Simultaneous Sex Event Documented
I bet journalists LOVE it when they get to use “sexually explosive” while covering marine biology. I would.
So what happened? In the Gulf of Naples off the coast of Italy, on Sept. 20, 2006, millions of diatoms of two different species came together for one crazy event.
Whoa there.
Diatoms?

Friday Weird Science: Sex: the good, the bad, and the ugly

We know that a lot of organisms, from humans to bacteria to birds to bees, have lots of sex. But what has mystified scientists for years is WHY. I mean, it’s fun and all (unless you’re a poor beetle girl stuck with this), but what purpose does it serve? On the face of it, in fact, sex seems to be pretty BAD for about half of the population: the women. For example, there’s a lizard out there than can reproduce both asexually and sexually. When it reproduces asexually, it producing nothing but girls, all of whom can reproduce both asexually and sexually. Net win. But when it reproduces sexually, it will produce about 50% BOYS, which can only reproduce sexually, and if they aren’t lucky and their courtship messages suck, they won’t even do that. Why bother?! Why not just keep reproducing asexually and passing your genes directly on (no mixing!) to hundreds of thousands of lizards?

For many years scientists puzzlesd over this one. But recently, a series of three new hypotheses has been formed. Welcome to the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Zimmer. “On the origin of sexual reproduction” Science, 2009