In January 1942, the leader of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, ordered the creation of the Dachau entomological institute. Its official mission was to find new remedies against diseases transmitted by lice and other insects: German troops were often plagued by typhoid, and there were concerns about a developing typhoid epidemic at the Neuengamme concentration camp.

But in an article for the science journal Endeavour, Klaus Reinhardt says protocols kept by the head of the institute allow no other conclusion than that the institute also pursued research into biological warfare.

In 1944, scientists examined different types of mosquitoes for their life spans in order to establish whether they could be kept alive long enough to be transported from a breeding lab to a drop-off point. At the end of the trials, the director of the institute recommended a particular type of anopheles mosquito, a genus well-known for its capacity to transmit malaria to humans.

With Germany having signed up to the 1925 Geneva protocol, Adolf Hitler had officially ruled out the use of biological and chemical weapons during the second world war, as had allied forces. Research into the mosquito project had to be carried out in secret.

A study of gay men in the US has found fresh evidence that male sexual orientation is influenced by genes. Scientists tested the DNA of 400 gay men and found that genes on at least two chromosomes affected whether a man was gay or straight.

A region of the X chromosome called Xq28 had some impact on men's sexual behaviour - though scientists have no idea which of the many genes in the region are involved, nor how many lie elsewhere in the genome.

Another stretch of DNA on chromosome 8 also played a role in male sexual orientation - though again the precise mechanism is unclear.

Researchers have speculated in the past that genes linked to homosexuality in men may have survived evolution because they happened to make women who carried them more fertile. This may be the case for genes in the Xq28 region, as the X chromosome is passed down to men exclusively from their mothers.

...While genes do contribute to sexual orientation, other multiple factors play a greater role, perhaps including the levels of hormones a baby is exposed to in the womb. "Sexual orientation has nothing to do with choice," said Bailey. "We found evidence for two sets [of genes] that affect whether a man is gay or straight. But it is not completely determinative; there are certainly other environmental factors involved."

There is a widespread but mistaken view about genes as a computer program running a robot, implying absolute genetic determinism of body traits. I think it was Richard Dawkins who came up with the alternative imagery of a cooking recipe: the end effect results from the interplay of the ingredients and also the circumstances set by preparation and cooking.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

Websites can link to freely available content without the permission of the copyright holder, the European Court of Justice says.

The court's decision came after a dispute in Sweden between journalists and a web company that had posted links on its site to online news articles.

A Swedish court had asked the EU court to consider whether this broke copyright law.

The "position would be different" for links that bypass a paywall.

Dr Peter Saunders, of the Care Not Killing Alliance, told the Mirror: `There may be nothing in this. But if a doctor has intentionally taken the life of a child in the UK, then that is murder because euthanasia is illegal under British law.' Dr Irwin's comments came as the news that Belgium had extended euthanasia to children was met with revulsion across the world, but only minor ripples of dissent among Belgians. `Belgium has allowed the killing on demand of terminally ill children and has headed for the ethical abyss. A state which allows something like this is a failing state,' the conservative German daily Die Welt screamed in a column. The law covering euthanasia of minors is different to the broader euthanasia law. Adults can opt for death by injection if they find their condition intolerable and pain too great. Cases have included deaf twin brothers about to go blind. But children must also be shown to be terminally ill. The child makes the decision, with parental consent.

Norwegian convicted mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has threatened a hunger strike if prison authorities don't upgrade his video game system to a PlayStation 3, among other demands.

"You've put me in hell," Breivik wrote to officials in November in a letter obtained by Agence France-Presse, "and I won't manage to survive that long. You are killing me."

Breivik currently has access to a PlayStation 2 console, but he has reportedly been less than pleased with the selection of games available.

"Other inmates have access to adult games while I only have the right to play less interesting kids games," the 35-year-old kid-killer wrote. "One example is 'Rayman Revolution', a game aimed at three year olds."