Ep 261: Sex

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Sex

Parental guidance is advised as we examine the strange, sometimes fatal, always messy world of sex. Queue the sax and have a look at fish joined in a special bond, single celled yeast, bugs with a mathematical sense of timing, and females that make a meal of their suiters.

Here’s a video on Mitosis, simple cell division.

Mitosis: The Amazing Cell Process that Uses Division to Multiply!

And here’s a video on meiosis: when diploids become haploids.

Meiosis

Here’s a paper about the mating single celled yeast.

Population genomic analysis of outcrossing and recombination in yeast

Here’s a paper on some rather inbred wasps.

Functionally reproductive diploid and haploid males in an inbreeding hymenopteran with complementary sex determination

Here’s an article on how cicadas time their emergence.

How Do Cicadas Know When to Emerge from the Ground?

Here’s a video on the 17-year periodical cicadas.

17 Year Periodical Cicadas

Here’s a video about the unusual mating practices of angler fish

The Female Angler Fish’s Strangest Appendage: The Male Angler Fish

Here’s a video about the praying mantis, and her habit of literally biting her lover’s head off.

Praying Mantis Love is Waaay Weirder Than You Think

And here’s an article about some of the other deadly mating games played by insects and spiders.

Headless Males Make Great Lovers