Okay, I think I have things back under control. Or as back under control as they ever get. Or back under control enough to manage a link roundup, anyway.

Believe it or not, the first edition of The Origin of Species discussed giraffe tails, not necks. Photo by ucumari.

• This is a pithy lead-in. This is a brief description of the scientific news to which I will link. (This link also names the source)
• Necks for sex? Sounds like a stretch. Did you think biologists know why giraffes have long necks? Think again. (Laelaps)
• GM pesticides: still pesticides. Bt toxin produced as a built-in insecticide by genetically modified plants has been detected in agricultural runoff. (Observations)
• Time to revise the kosher laws? A fish called the European eelpout suckles its young, after a fashion. (BBC)
• Self-fulfilling expectations. When reminded about gender stereotypes, men make riskier financial decisions, and women make safer ones. (Not Exactly Rocket Science)
• A convenient genetic bundle of “magic” traits. A single region of inverted DNA is behind substantial adaptive change—and reproductive isolation—between two forms of the wildflower Mimulus guttatus. (The Intersection)
• Berry-Go-Round! The 31st edition of the botany-themed blog carnival is online this week at A Blog Around the Clock.
• Masturbating squirrels. From the journal that brought you fruitbat fellatio. (PLoS ONE)
• If you buy real estate, pick your hemisphere carefully. The first documented planet in the “habitable zone” of another star (just close enough for water to stay liquid) is about three times the mass of Earth, and tidally locked to its sun. (Science 2.0, Discovery News)

And the video for the week: tickling a slow loris. Not sure the critter is laughing, exactly, but it seems to be having fun.

First, the meta-news: Months ago now, Pepsigate drove some of the leading lights of ScienceBlogs in search of new homes, and with new developments this week most of them now have. Mostly this has been through the formation of brand-new science blogging networks, which are snapping up more than just the SB Diaspora. GrrlScientist and The Lay Scientist have been at Guardian Science blogs for awhile now; PLoS launched PLoS Blogs with Deborah Blum, Steve Silberman, and the Obesity Panacea guys among others. Now Wired Science has brought in Brian Switek, Mary McKenna and David Dobbs to join Jonah Lehrer and others in their new network, and Bora Zivkovic has accepted a well-deserved position as Community Editor for the Scientific American blog network. If you’re having as much trouble keeping up with all this as I am, here’s a nice graphical explanation [PDF].

A cooperative-breeding pied babbler. Photo by Blake Matheson.

Now, on to the science:

• Effort where effort is due. A new analysis finds that tigers might be most effectively conserved by focusing efforts on just six percent of their current habitat. (Conservation Magazine)
• When it rains, it pours. The ongoing human-driven extinction of worldwide diversity may not be greater than past mass extinctions, but it’s happening a lot faster. (Gravity’s Rainbow)
• Must. Resist. Urge to. Anthropomorphize. An analysis of hundreds of bird species suggests that cooperative breeding behavior—where offspring stick around to help raise their siblings—is associated with lower promiscuity. (It Takes 30)
• Trust me, it’ll make your life better. Get that dissertation published! (Open Source Paleontologist)
• Not when I’m getting up for a 6 a.m. run, it isn’t. Two experiments with rats provide evidence that endurance exercise can be addictive. (DrugMonkey)
• See a little farther. The 27th edition of The Giant’s Shoulders history of science blog carnival is out this week at Entertaining Research.
• Maybe standing on those shoulders made you dizzy? The 2nd edition of the Carnal Carnival is online, hosted by Dr. Carin Bondar. This edition’s carnality: barf.

And now, Richard Attenborough presents flying squirrels:

A scarab. Photo by bloomgal.

• Pretty sure that violates the five second rule. Some well-preserved specimens suggest that wooly mammoths ate their own dung, at least occasionally. (Brian Switek)
• You rock, rocks. A newly discovered Burgess Shale outcrop is already yielding freaky new Cambrian Explosion-era fossils. (Wired Science)
• Not versed in the social graces. A study of domesticated wolves finds that they’re much slower than domestic dogs to look for guidance from humans. (The Thoughtful Animal)
• Afraid you’ve picked up bed bugs during fieldwork? Try baking your clothes in your car. Seriously. (dechronization)
• How is a scarab like a mantis shrimp? Scarabs might also be able to see circularly polarized light. (Arthropoda)
• So a sense of humor and good conversation does help? Male house finches can compensate for less-attractive plumage by expanding their social circle. (A Scientific Nature)
• I know you’re out there. I can smell you eating. Predators can detect the chemical interaction of insect herbivores’ saliva and plant compounds. (Bioblog, original article in Science [$a])
• In which a tenured faculty member is literally worse than some baboons. Sexual coercion—and lack thereof—in our evolutionary relatives illuminates a sadly human case study. (The Primate Diaries in Exile)

And now, via Everyday Biology, They Might be Giants on photosynthesis, with a chorus of anthropomorphic insects.