Scientists have spent the last 40 years trying to figure out why women have orgasms. The male orgasm has an obvious role in reproduction, but the female orgasm simply does not. The two explanations are that it is either the genetic byproduct of the male orgasm, similar to how males have nipples, or that it has some kind of a selective advantage. A recent study of orgasmability in twins and other siblings found a more similar results in identical twins than same-sex non-identical twins and other siblings, but it also showed no correlation with opposite-sex twins and siblings. Their conclusion is that it is genetic, but different genes are involved in the different genders. (New Scientist) PZ Myers at Pharyngula is not impressed, mostly due to methodology in part because they asked men and women different questions. Comparing two completely different and unrelated measures of orgasmability is quite literally like comparing the proverbial apples and oranges. There has also been some back and forth between Myers and one of the researchers.

Glow in the dark cats just might shed some light on genetic HIV resistance. Researchers inserted genes into a cat ovum prior to fertilization. They used a gene for a rhesus macaque protein that has been found to be able to resist feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and a jellyfish gene for tracking which cells have the gene. What they found is that the monkey gene gave the cats the resistance they were hoping for. Now that this has been found and verified they will have an easier time developing gene therapies for FIV and it should yield some insights into producing HIV resistance as well. (CNET News)

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute have now run five experiments looking for the presence of dark mater. So far three out of five have found something. This may help in solidifying the place of one of the leading explanations for where all that gravity is coming from in galaxies. (New Scientist)

A recent article in the journal Marine Policy calls for an end to deep-sea fishing. This is due to evidence that the populations and even ecosystems simply may not be able to sustain it. Oh, and by deep-sea wear talking about depths of 1706 feet below the surface. (Bend Bulletin)

Monitoring of wild bottlenose dolphins off the coast of Florida between 1988 and 2004 has shown that not only do they each have a unique identifying whistle, but if a pair of dolphins gets separated they will imitate that whistle with slight variation, such as not using the whole thing or going a little faster. It has been suspected for quite some time that whales and dolphins utilize some kind of language, but as far as I know this is the closest anyone has come to deciphering any of it, all starting with dolphin names. (New Scientist)

The Russian Space Agency has determined that their recent rocket launch failure was due to a manufacturing defect resulting in a clogged fuel line for a power generator that ran the pumps that fueled the main engine. They will be inspecting other rockets and trying to correct any possible production issues at the factory so that they can resume launches before we have to abandon the ISS in November. (New Scientist)

Astronomers have found an exoplanet 37 light years away that is in the “Goldilocks zone” and is only 3.6 times more massive than Earth. This is one of the best candidates for a planet that would support life. (The Guardian)