The birds, the bees and the platypuses : crazy, sexy and cool stories from science

Michael Gross has been writing about science full time for the last eight years and as a night time hobby for the previous seven.

From his treasure troves, he now presents his favourite science stories from these 15 years.

What are the attractions that make him revisit a topic or reread an article again and again?

Often, it's the sheer craziness of wildly unexpected findings or grotesquely oversized challenges.

In other stories, there is a sexy element or an unexpected insight into the human condition. And sometimes, when reporting new and future technologies, the author just can't help thinking: "cooooooool!" So here are more than 60 crazy, sexy and cool science stories for you to enjoy.