io9.com: Some insects and sea creatures produce sperm that is up to 10 times bigger than they are. Now scientists have used an innovative new x-ray technology to show how this bizarre situation evolved over hundreds of millions of years.
It sounds like a genetic aberration, but supergiant sperm can actually be an evolutionary advantage in several species. Fruit flies are a just a few millimeters long, but their sperm are 6 cm long. To top that, a human male would have to shoot out sperm that are up to 60 meters long. Another super giant sperm producer is a type of ostracod, a sea crustacean that looks like a tiny snail less than a centimeter long. Its sperm grows up to 10 times longer than its body.
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#6. Digit Ratio Theory
Deborah Arthurs, Daily Mail: A teenager who sold her virginity online for £8,800 has revealed the details of her tryst with the winning bidder. Alina Percea, 18, auctioned her virginity on a website so that she could afford to pay for her computing degree. The winner of the auction was a 45-year-old Italian businessman but she had no qualms about going through with the deal.
Alan Prendergast, Denver Westworld: John Francis Beech had a date with destiny last summer. He counted down the days on a calendar in his garage, crossing out each day leading to the final Sunday in July, on which he’d scrawled the word “OUT.” But first he had one last bit of business, one final appointment to keep.
Doree Shafrir, New York Observer: It’s likely that when Kari Ferrell walked into the Vice magazine offices in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, last month to interview for an administrative assistant job, they thought they’d hit the jackpot. Ms. Ferrell — petite, 22 years old, of Korean heritage — had a huge tattoo of a phoenix across her chest and a cute pixie haircut. She was talkative, funny, charming, adorable. She had a tattoo on her back that read “I Love Beards.”
