. . "The hermaphrodite is not very mobile", she said.
"It is sort of the couch potato of the worm world."
. . Fundamentally, said Goodwin, the study proves
that "sex is good" for the species.
Nov 5, 03: Researchers said they had found erectile tissue
in the tentacle of a male octopus, the first time such
tissue has been seen in an invertebrate. Erections are key
to sexual reproduction in the males of many, but not all,
vertebrate species, but it was not known how broadly this
particular adaptation was used.
. . In most octopus males, the tip of one of their
eight arms is used to pass spermatophores, little packages
filled with sperm, to females during mating. They found the
extra modification in one species of shallow-water octopus.
The tip of the arm was swollen & distended.
. . They called the finding weird, saying biologists
have looked for erectile tissue in other mollusks, but not found them.
Oct 26, 03: 70% of women in the world --or at
least, of those who read Elle magazine-- are in love,
while nine out of 10 believe in staying faithful and two
thirds consider love a prerequisite for sex. The results
reinforce some old preconceptions -- the French are
romantic, Americans like spending and Britons are cold.
. . Opinion varied widely on questions of love and
sex: only a third of British readers thought love was a
prerequisite for sex versus six out of 10 Turks. Norwegians
attach the greatest importance to sexual satisfaction and
women from Hong Kong were the most willing to experience sex with both genders.
Oct 28, 03: A study shows female wolf spiders will eat
strange-looking males that try to mate with them, but spare
and even hook up with familiar-looking males. The findings
provide not just an interesting insight into spider behavior, but may help explain actions by "higher" animals, said arachnologist Eileen Hebets.
. . The female, which is slightly larger, can choose
to mate, to run away or to eat her suitor. Sometimes she
eats the hapless male after mating, Hebets said.
. . Hebets painted the legs of male spiders either
brown or black with nail polish, and then raised females
with either brown- or black-marked males, but not both.
. . When the females became sexually mature, she
would put into their boxes a male of either color and watch
what happened. The females were not exposed to males they
already knew -- just males marked with the same shade of nail polish. "They just look like somebody they might know. None saw the same male, ever."
. . The females were more likely to eat males painted
with the "wrong" color instead of mating with him. The more
a female had been exposed to males with their legs painted
a certain color, the more likely she was to eat a male
painted with the other color. "It could be this is a way of
learning your species and making sure that when you get
older, you are mating with the right species."
Oct 10, 03: The lives of Roman Catholics in some of the
countries worst hit by HIV/AIDS are being put at even
greater risk by advice from their churches that the use of
condoms does not prevent transmission of the disease,
according to a British television program.
. . The World Health Organization, guardian watchdog
of global wellbeing, rejected the Vatican view. "These
incorrect statements about condoms and HIV are dangerous
when we are facing a global pandemic which has already
killed more than 20 million people, and currently affects at least 42 million."
Only about a third of Chinese newlyweds enter the
bedchamber as virgins. In the most sexually active region
of China, 90% of people surveyed had had intercourse
before marriage, while in the least active, the figure was 44%.
Lawmakers, under intense pressure from the Catholic Church
not to legalize divorce in Chile, one of the few countries
in the world where it is banned, may include two marriage
modes in a new divorce law: with and without the possibility of divorce.
Oct 1, 03: SOCIO-BIO: For the side-blotched lizard, a
ubiquitous inhabitant of the American west, kinship is
about more than family. While many other animals
collaborate primarily with close relatives, these lizards
somehow sense deeper genetic similarities when deciding whom to help, says Barry Sinervo, an ecologist at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
. . The lizards come in three color varieties, each
of which denotes distinct mate-seeking behaviors. Oranges
aggressively try to steal females; blues try to guard the
females; and yellows try to sneak access. Only blue males
form alliances: They band together so they can defend a
much larger territory from sneaky yellows. When Sinervo
analyzed DNA from a group of blue males to determine how
they choose their allies, the results were unusual.
Cooperating blue males sought alliances with others having
the greatest overall genetic resemblance, regardless of
their kinship. A blue side-blotched lizard would choose to assist an unrelated lizard with a nearly identical genome over a less similar brother or cousin.
Oct 4, 03: PET radioactive-imaging and MRI magnetic-
imaging scans can now show whether a man and a woman are
truly in love by measuring the amount of activity in the
cingulate gyrus, an emotion center in the brain.
. . The male brain secretes less of the powerful
primary bonding chemical oxytocin and less of the calming
chemical serotonin than the female brain. So while women
find emotional conversations a good way to chill out at the
end of the day, the tired male brain needs to zone out all
that touchy-feely chatter in order to relax -- which is why
he wants the remote control to zap through "mindless" sport or action movies.
. . His brain takes in less sensory detail than a
woman's, so he doesn't see or even feel the dust and
household mess in the same way. Anyhow, the male brain
attaches less personal identity to the inside of a home and more to the workplace or the yard --which is why he doesn't get worked up about housework.
. . Male hormones such as testosterone and
vasopressin set the male brain up to seek competitive,
hierarchical groups in its constant quest to prove self-
worth and identity. That is why men, paradoxically (from a
hormonally altered new mother's point of view), become even more workaholic once they have kids, to whom they must also prove their worth.
. . The consequences are profound for a generation of
"liberated" women brought up to believe it is men who have to change, and men who must respond to a female way of relating in order for marriage to succeed.
. . Gurian says men can learn new skills and alter
their behavior but they will not be able to meet all of women's expectations.
A Saudi father demanded a suitor pay $270 just to have a
look at his daughter before marrying her. The father also
asked the prospective groom to pay $1,350, apparently as
down payment on a dowry, once his daughter --who is
currently divorcing her first husband and father of her child-- agreed to the marriage.
. . The groom, a Saudi who is already married and has
five children, paid both sums but called off the deal when
he found that the bride had been married before.
Oct 1, 03: Marriage in China used to be a matter for a
man, a woman — and the couple's employers. No longer.
Today, China eliminated a much-resented requirement for
couples to obtain their bosses' approval before tying the
knot, prompting thousands of couples to wed.
. . Couples lined up as early as 5 a.m. outside
marriage registration offices. Restaurants and hotel
banquet halls were booked solid in major cities, and
Beijing's streets were clogged with flower-bedecked motorcades.
. . The new marriage rules are among social reforms
that increasingly are freeing private lives from unpopular
government controls. Also beginning Wednesday, couples
won't be required to get health checks to marry, and those
wishing to divorce can do so without attending lengthy government mediation sessions.
. . But one of the most disliked official
restrictions —-the household registration system that
dictates where Chinese may live-— is still in effect. The
government has given no indication that it might be repealed.
Sept 27, 03: A Saudi man married four women in one night
only to prove to his estranged first wife that he was still
attractive. Under the country's Islamic law, men are
allowed to marry up to four wives at the same time.
Sept 29, 03: Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim
nation, is drafting regulations that could outlaw sex
before marriage, living together outside wedlock, oral sex,
and homosexuality. The draft revisions would also ban witchcraft.
. . Indonesians have long followed a moderate version
of Islam, although an emphasis on Muslim practices and
identity with Islamic traditions has gathered pace in
recent years. Beliefs in witchcraft and mysticism are still
widespread, especially on the main island of Java. And many
Indonesians are also generally relaxed about homosexuality.
Sept 24, 03: Italy's Latin lover reputation took a serious hit when a medical congress heard that six out of 10 Italian woman confessed they can't get satisfaction.
According to a survey of 600 men and women released during
the meeting of the Italian Society of General
Practitioners, the gigolos are no gos. Over two thirds of
the men, according to the study, confessed to the kind of
problems discussed in Viagra ads. She said the survey
indicates that half the people are not satisfied with their sex life.
Sept 23, 03: Forget Latin lovers --horny Hungarians are
now the most active between the sheets, leading a charge of
eastern Europeans in the global sex charts.
. . Condom maker Durex's annual global sex survey
published on Tuesday showed that Hungarian lovers enjoy sex 152 times a year. The French --fiercely proud of their sexual prowess-- only manage 144 performances a year.
. . The Italians and Spanish lag even further with
scores of 119 and 123 times a year, while Americans make
love an average of 118 times a year, Germans 120 and Australians 125.
. . Swedes chalk up a below-average score of 102
times a year, while Singaporeans only manage 96.
. . The survey of more than 150,000 people found
lovers across the globe are having sex an average of 127
times a year and 73% of people say they are happy with their sex lives.
. . The most sexually satisfied couples are in
Thailand with 92%, Vietnam with 90%, China and Spain with 83%, and Iceland with 80%.
. . Russians were the least happy with their lot. Only 59% said they were satisfied, despite having sex an average of 150 times a year.
. . One-night stands proved relatively popular across
the world with 45% of people admitting to having had one.
. . Nordic nights were the most adventurous -- 71% of Icelanders, 70% of Norwegians and 68 percent of Finns have had sex with someone they had just
met, compared with only 37% of Germans and 24% of Indians.
Sept 17, 03: Scientists have discovered fossils of the
world's oldest genitals --belonging to 400 million-year-old
insects-- in ancient rocks in Scotland. The penis of the
ancient harvestmen insects, commonly known as a daddy-long-
legs, was two-thirds the length of the body and remarkably
similar to the modern-day species, New Scientist magazine
said. "The discovery of the world's oldest genitals proves
that little has changed over the last 400 million years --at least for daddy-long-legs." Also uncovered was a long egg-laying organ called an ovipositor from a female.
. . "As well as genitals, the fossils have the oldest
known arachnid respiratory system, suggesting harvestmen's
ancestors had long since crawled out of the sea and learned to breathe."
. . Harvestmen arachnids are sometimes mistaken for spiders but they are more closely related to ticks or mites because they do not spin webs.
There is no law in Britain against public nudity, although
there are laws against indecent exposure —-which requires proof of intent to insult a woman-— or any behavior likely to cause "harassment, alarm or distress."
Aug 7, 03: Size is usually more of an issue but the shape
of the penis is also important because it evolved to dispel
other men's semen, according to scientists in the US. "They
found that the coronal ridge... could scoop out more than
90% of the cornstarch mixture (from the artificial
vagina) with just one thrust, while a phallus with no
coronal ridge only managed to remove 35%", New
Scientist magazine said Gallup and his team, who reported
their finding in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior,
said the depth of penetration was also important in expelling more semen.
. . Their findings were supported with surveys of
students who were questioned about their sexual
experiences. "Sexual intercourse often involved deeper more
vigorous penile thrusting following periods of separation
or in response to allegations of female infidelity", they said.
Aug 7, 03: A new survey from People's University in
Beijing showed that 28.7% of couples who are either
married or live together have intercourse less than once a
month. For 6.2% of the couples in the survey, there
had been no sex over the past year. American couples in
their 20s have sex three or four times a week on average,
falling to once a week when they reach their 50s.
In 2001 alone, Pfizer sold $1.7 billion worth of Viagra.
July 17, 03: Research by Australia's Cancer Council
Victoria found that the more often men ejaculate between
the ages of 20 and 50, the less likely they are to suffer
the disease that kills more than half a million men each year.
. . The survey of 1,079 prostate cancer patients and
1,259 healthy men found that those who masturbated or had
sex at least once a day in their 20s were a third less
likely to develop the malady. One theory that could explain
the new results is that semen may have a carcinogenic
effect on the cells lining the prostatic ducts if not
flushed regularly out of the pipes by ejaculations.
. . The study, conducted between 1994 and 1998 but
still being analyzed, did not focus specifically on
masturbation. Nevertheless, it was the largest so far to
ask participants not just about their sexual relations but
also about masturbation, and to analyze the answers. Giles
said the findings correlate with previous research that
showed Roman Catholic priests were 30% more likely to get prostate cancer.
July 8, 03: The green-eyed monster of jealousy is alive
and well - and living in Brazil, according to an
international study. It reveals that Brazilian men are the
most jealous; Swedish men and women are more concerned
about sex than any other nation, and Japan is the least jealous country.
. . Gary Brase --University of Sunderland, UK-- looked
at jealousy in many countries and found the expected
differences between men and women. He found that the
biggest difference between men and women was in Brazil; the
smallest in Japan. Another finding was that Swedish women
were the most concerned about their partners having sex with someone else.
. . Looking deeper into his survey, Brase noticed that
the fertility rate of the country seemed to make a big
difference. Countries with high fertility rates, like
Brazil, had men who were very jealous about their partners
having sex with others. Men in countries with a lower
overall fertility rate, such as Japan, were less bothered. Brase believes the results support the evolutionary view of the origin of jealous behavior.
. . It seems that males want to know if their rival
was good in bed; females want to know if he loves the
"other woman". It is well known than men are mostly jealous
about sex, while women are mostly concerned about emotional
attachments. Psychologists have conflicting explanations
for this, believing it comes either from evolution or from
culture. The new cross-cultural research suggests the former is more important.
July 9, 03: Geniuses and criminals may not seem to have
much in common but they both do their best work in their
30s --and mainly to impress the opposite sex.
. . When Satoshi Kanazawa, of the University of
Canterbury in New Zealand, studied biographies of
prominent, mostly male scientists, he discovered that they made their key discovery before their mid 30s, around the same age that criminal behavior peaks.
. . He believes the male competitive urge to attract
females is a driving force for the scientific and criminal
achievements. He added that the competitive drive decreases
with age and as men's priority shifts from competing for
women to taking care of their offspring. Kanazawa also
found that marriage dampens the drive in both arenas.
July 10, 03: A piscatorial transexual. Scientists could
have written a gender-bending plot twist to Disney's
"Finding Nemo": Clownfish have a natural ability to change their sex.
. . Clownfish, the aquarium pet of choice since the
release of the animated movie, live in such a rigid social
structure in the wild that if one of the dominant breeding
adults is removed, the size, status and even sex of the
other clownfish change rapidly to return the group to the status quo.
. . "If the female of the group dies, the male changes
sex and becomes the breeding female", said Cornell
University evolutionary biologist Peter Buston, "while the
largest non-breeder becomes the breeding male." Each group
of clownfish, he discovered, comprises a breeding pair and up to four non-breeders.
. . Some other species of fish are known to do the same thing.
July 9, 03: Chilean researchers say they are aiming to
develop a new pill to combat impotence that will have the
added bonus of being a male contraceptive, based on
experiments with the venom of black-widow spiders.
. . Last November, they discovered by accident that
one ingredient in spider venom could not only facilitate
male erection in a way similar to the popular Viagra pill,
but also render sperm infertile.
. . Several Chilean doctors were slightly sceptical of
the project before seeing scientific results.
Prostitution is legal in Greece, though only three
prostitutes can work in a single, obligatory brothel which
must not be near a school or a church.
June 26, 03: The U.S. Supreme Court struck down sodomy
laws that make it a crime for people of the same sex to
engage in "deviate sexual intercourse", a ruling that gives
gay rights advocates a major victory. [note that it affects straight couples too.]
. . By a 6-3 vote, the nation's highest court in an
opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy ruled a Texas
law violated constitutional privacy rights.
. . The court's three most conservative members, Chief
Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.
. . By a separate 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court also
overturned its 1986 ruling that upheld a Georgia sodomy law and that declared that homosexuals have no constitutional right to engage in sodomy in private.
June 25, 03: It's not just women who have biological
clocks, British researchers reported. As men get older, it
takes them longer to father a child. The time it took women
to get pregnant became noticeably longer when their partners were 45 or older.
Even adjusting for factors like frequency of intercourse and the age of the woman, it took a man five times longer to father a child if he was over 45.
June 23, 03: Ambitious and free-thinking, East European
youths are spurning the age-old institution of marriage to the point where the formerly communist region now has one of the lowest marriage rates in the world.
June 18, 03: The Canadian cabinet approved a new national
policy today to open marriage to gay couples, paving the
way for Canada to become the third country to allow same-
sex unions. "You have to look at history as an evolution of
society", Prime Minister Jean Chrétien told reporters after
a meeting of his cabinet. "According to the interpretation
of the courts, these unions should be legal in Canada. We
will ensure that our legislation includes and legally
recognizes the union of same-sex couples." Netherlands and Belgium do too.
. . The policy opens the way for same-sex couples from
the United States and around the world to travel here to
marry, since Canada has no marriage residency requirements.
Vermont has enacted a law providing for civil unions, which
allow gay couples many of the benefits of marriage. Legal
challenges to same-sex couples claiming rights and privileges deriving from their Canadian marriages seem certain to arise in at least some states.
June 17, 03: The modern western woman is now almost as
likely to cheat on her partner as a man. In an online
survey of 1,427 men and women aged between 25 and 35 by the
Hamburg-based GEWIS institute for social research for
"Woman" magazine, 53% of women said they had been
unfaithful to their partner, compared with 59% of men.
. . The survey revealed that non-sexual desires, such as the need for reassurance and understanding, were a primary motive among women for infidelity.
. . "In recent years, numbers of unfaithful men and
women have evened out a lot." As the frequency of cheating
rose, the gap between the sexes was reduced, and eventually
reversed. Some 17% of woman said they had cheated
two or three times, as against 22% of men. But when
it came to having cheated four or five times in the course
of a relationship, women moved ahead of men with eight% against four.
May 29, 03: An Indonesian electronics salesman bought two
uniforms at a market and posed as an army officer to win
the hearts of six brides. But seven proved an unlucky
number for the bogus soldier when the father of his next
bride turned out to be a real soldier who checked his credentials.
Men in a remote village in the desert of western India are struggling to find wives as women flee the community because of an acute water shortage.
. . Would-be brides are reluctant to marry into
families in the village of Saderi, 300 miles southwest of
New Delhi, because they would have to walk long distances
every day to fetch water. In a reversal of Indian
tradition, whereby brides pay hefty sums for the hand of a
groom, the men in Saderi are offering to pay dowry in a
desperate attempt to woo women to their village.
Temperatures can touch 111.2 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer months.
May 1, 03: Traffic pollution can affect male fertility by
damaging sperm, Italian scientists said. After studying 85
attendants at tollgates on Italian motorways, researchers
at the University of Naples in southern Italy discovered
the men had poorer quality sperm than other young and
middle-aged Italian workers in the same area. They
identified nitrogen oxides and lead as the most likely causes.
. . Sperm motility, or ability to swim, was lower,
which could affect its ability to fertilize. About one
third of all infertility cases are due to a male problem.
Apr 29, 03: The Alabama House voted against a bill that
would have removed a ban on sexual devices, such as
vibrators, from the state's obscenity law. The ban on
sexual devices was added at the last minute when the
obscenity law passed the Legislature in 1998. However,
maybe they're not as stupid as they sound...
. . A federal district judge in Birmingham has twice
ruled that the ban is unconstitutional. The first ruling
was overturned by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the
second ruling has been appealed to the appeals court.
. . The sponsor of the bill, Rep. John Rogers, D-
Birmingham, said because of the court ruling, the obscenity
law is unenforceable as long as it contains the ban on sex toys.
In Seattle, rain-soaked citizens celebrate the return of
sunshine with an annual summer solstice parade featuring traditions like samba dancers, colorful floats and --believe it or not-- nude bicyclists.
. . But with officials regularly hinting they may
crack down on this cheeky biking trend, a local nudity
advocate has sued the police, demanding they keep their
pants on while he takes his off. He cites a Washington state law he says defines nudity as indecent only if it is likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm.
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster has radically changed the
lives of worms in the region, which now enjoy more sex.
Scientists in Sebastopol have compared the way worms
reproduce around Chernobyl, where radioactivity levels in
the soil are 100 times higher than normal, with their cousins elsewhere.
. . Nearly a quarter of irradiated worms are seeking
out partners to reproduce sexually rather than asexually,
against 5% in less-affected areas, the research
showed. This is because sexual reproduction allows the
worms to transmit their most radioactivity-resistant genes
to their offspring, giving them the most chances of adapting to their new environment.
New York City has to fork out $10,000 for arresting a
woman who appeared topless at the 2001 Coney Island Mermaid
Parade, her lawyer says. "A woman has a constitutional
right to appear in public topless, the same right that men have."
Apr 21, 03: A company that markets a "morning-after pill"
applied for U.S. permission to sell the pill without a
prescription, saying women need quicker access to emergency
contraception. "Plan B" can prevent pregnancy when taken
within 72 hours of sex, but is most effective when used within 24 hours. A prescription requirement would keep women from getting the product in time.
Feb 21, 03: Florida law prohibits same-sex marriages, and
bars homosexuals from adopting children. Circuit Judge
Gerard O'Brien said Florida law did not require marriage
license applicants to prove their gender. A man who was
born a woman won custody of two children, with the judge
ruling he is legally a male and his marriage to their
mother did not violate Florida's ban on same-sex unions.
"Women complain about premenstrual syndrome, but I think of it as
the only time of the month that I can be myself." --Roseanne
. . "Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place." --Billy Crystal
Apr 17, 03: A German company said it wants to market a new
condom to improve men's sexual performance by numbing the
penis to prevent premature ejaculation. The condom, which would carry thin film of anaesthetic on its inner lining, has yet to win regulatory approval.
Apr 16, 03: That winking glow of the firefly that
brightens summer evenings and sends children scampering
with jars is basically a big boast akin to a peacock's
elaborate tail, U.S. researchers say. Male fireflies who
mustered up a longer fluorescent flash delivered a bigger
"nuptial gift" to their mates -- who in turn produced more
baby fireflies. "Pretty much all they do once they turn
into adults is reproduce. Most other things also eat. Some
organisms also watch TV. But there aren't any distractions from sex for fireflies."
Apr 11, 03: Italy's infamous men of honor may be macho but
they are not too turned on by sex, Sicily's pre-eminent
specialist on the Mafia psyche said. "The virile Mafia boss
is a thing out of American movies", said Girolamo Lo Verso,
who recently compiled the report "La Psyche Mafiosa" based
on hundreds of sessions with Mafia wives and children and even a few turncoats.
. . "We found that real mafiosi are more interested in
power and being in command than sex", psychoanalyst Lo
Verso said in a telephone interview from Palermo. "They
have hurried sex with their wives in order to have children
and some have lovers to prove their virility, but it's not
really a situation of passion", he said.
Apr 9, 03: Britain's 5,000 transsexuals are awaiting a
landmark ruling that could help in their battle for legal
recognition of their marriages. The House of Lords said
five law lords would rule in the case of Elizabeth
Bellinger, 55, a male-to-female transsexual who is seeking
recognition for her marriage of over 20 years. Britain is
one of just four countries in Europe that refuses to
recognize sex changes. The others are Ireland, Albania and Andorra.
"Relationships are hard. It's like a full time job, and we should
treat it like one. If your boyfriend or girlfriend wants to leave you,
they should give you two weeks' notice. There should be severance pay,
and before they leave you, they should have to find you a temp."
Apr 3, 03: When in the mood for romance, a female finch
ignores fancy feathers and melodic songs. She goes for the
guy with the vivid colored beak, a sure sign of health and
vigor among the finches, according to a new study.
. . Researchers in England and France experimented
with the diets of male birds and found that increasing the
content of carotenoids, a type of antioxidant that plays a
key role in disease resistance, caused the beaks of zebra
finches and European blackbirds to take on a strong, reddish color.
. . And when females were given a choice of mates,
they almost invariably preferred the males with the
brightly colored beaks. During the test, the female flies
from one end of the cage to the other, looking over the
males. Eventually she makes a choice and then "hangs around
the one she likes best", said Blount. Nine out of 10 female
finches selected males with the brightest beaks.
Mar 31, 03: Vietnam, alarmed by nearly a million unmarried
cohabiting couples, is offering wedding licenses door to
door to make it easier for people to tie the knot. Vietnam,
with a population of 80 million, had an estimated 929,319
unmarried couples living together last year.
In Brazil, 25,000 to 27,000 women undergo breast
augmentation annually. "They say now that a Brazilian woman
goes to the plastic surgeon as often as she goes to the dentist."
. . Silimed is the world's third largest maker. Their
clients --plastic surgeons worldwide-- charged between $500
and $1,200 for packs ranging from modest 40 cubic
centimeters (2.5 cubic inches) to buxom 600 (36.5 cubic inches).
. . Increasingly popular, although expensive, silicone
packs are coated with a thin layer of polyurethane foam,
which Robert says sharply reduces the chances of an implant
and the breast deforming. "Sometimes the breast with an
implant starts looking like there's a billiard ball inside,
but polyurethane helps to avoid it."
Apr 2, 03: Human sperm become excited when exposed to the
scent of lily of the valley, doubling their speed and
homing in on the aroma, a German scientist said.
. . Hans Hatt, a biology professor at Ruhr University
in Bochum, said knowledge about a newly discovered odor
receptor on the sperm's surface could enable researchers to
devise alternative contraception methods or, unfortunately, ways to boost fertility.
. . "This is the first time sperm has been shown to respond to smell."
. . Another compound, undecanal, was found to block
the attraction and could be used for contraceptive ends.
The Tuscan town of Vinci, more commonly known for its
Renaissance artist son Leonardo, is renovating a car park
complete with soft lighting and special trash bins for condoms. "We're just recognizing that young people love each other", Mayor Giancarlo Faenzi.
. . Italians talk of a "Car-ma Sutra", illustrating
positions best suited to specific car models. Car sex is
not illegal in strongly Catholic Italy --as long as the
windows are covered up. But woe betide anyone who is
spotted in flagrante, whatever their age. Last month, an 85-
year-old man and his 74-year-old lady friend were caught having sex in a car park.
In Africa, homosexuality is illegal among men in 29
countries and among women in 20 countries. South Africa,
however, has the most permissive gay rights legislation in
the whole world, including a national gay rights law that
bans some anti-gay discrimination. South Africa allows
homosexuals in its military, and the partners of gay and
lesbian civil servants are now entitled to full pension
benefits upon their death. In many Islamic countries,
homosexuality is a crime, punishable by imprisonment,
flogging, and even death. In Australia, for example,
"buggery" was a capital offense until 1861. But most states in Australia dropped their sodomy laws long ago, with the conservative island of Tasmania being the last to do so.
. . In pre-European North American cultures,
homosexuals were sometimes referred to as Two-spirited. The
Two-spirited condition was viewed as a gift from the
Creator, granting the ability to see the world from two
perspectives at the same time. This greater vision was a
gift to be shared with all, and Two-spirited beings were
revered as leaders, mediators, teachers, artists, seers,
and spiritual guides. They were treated with the greatest
respect, and held important spiritual and ceremonial responsibilities.
Mar 14, 03: Biologists at the University of Pennsylvania
said they found male perspiration had a surprisingly
beneficial effect on women's moods. It helps reduce stress,
induces relaxation and even affects the menstrual cycle.
Researchers collected samples from the underarms of men who
refrained from using deodorant for four weeks. The extracts
were then blended and applied to the upper lips of 18 women, aged 25 to 45.
. . The women rated their moods on a fixed scale for a
period of six hours. The findings suggested something in
the perspiration brightened their moods and helped them
feel less tense. Blood analyzes also showed a rise in
levels of the reproductive luteinizing hormone that typically surge before ovulation.
. . Wysocki, a study co-author, said the research
could point to a "chemical communication" subtext between the sexes that enables men and women to coordinate their reproductive efforts subliminally.
Mar 16, 03: Most newlyweds experience a brief emotional bounce after their wedding, but they eventually return to the same outlook they had on life before they tied the
knot, according to a new study. "We found that people were
no more satisfied after marriage than they were prior to
marriage." People who were already satisfied with their
lives before marriage were more likely to stay married longer.
. . The study also found that widows and widowers were
less likely to regain the same level of happiness they had
during their married years, especially if their marriages were satisfying. Most people who lost a spouse but did not remarry took about 8 years to recover emotionally.
Of the 1,170 human societies cataloged in Murdock's
Ethnographic Atlas, over 72% permit multi-spouse relationships. See the file.)
Mar 5, 03: Every year, tens of thousands of women gather
at a Hindu temple in southern India and worship in the
nude, despite efforts to stop them. For 17 years,
authorities and social reformers have tried to prevent the
devotees from disrobing as they bathe in the Bhadra River
and roll around the temple of the Hindu goddess Renukamba.
And on Wednesday, officials said they have once again
banned nudity during the temple fair from March 9-11 in the
village of Chandragutti in Karnataka state.
. . Many of the devotees are young women who are
performing an initiation rite to enter prostitution, while
others are fulfilling vows they have made to the goddess.
Mar 4, 03: A German artist has applied for a license to
open a brothel in Berlin for sexually frustrated dogs and
says it will be the first of its kind anywhere. Karl-
Friedrich Lenze, 54, said he planned to charge dog owners $27 per half hour of happiness. "If dogs can't get what they want, they get cranky --just like people."
Feb 23, 03: The traditionally "female" hormone
progesterone makes male mice aggressive towards their offspring. It overturns the textbook view that testosterone prompts males to threaten their pups.
Feb 27, 03: Men and women generally agree about how
attractive another person is, and are often quite accurate
in predicting how others will rate their own appearance,
new study findings show. Raters were most likely to agree
about the attractiveness of another person if all raters
were male, and the person being rated was female, Marcus
and Miller note. The least agreement among raters occurred when men rated other men.
Feb 26, 03: A Gucci advertisement featuring a woman with
her pubic hair cropped in the shape of a letter "G" got the
go-ahead from Britain's tough advertising watchdog. Sixteen outraged members of the public had complained. [I have the JPG (PNG, actually) It's no big deal.]
Masks used to be such an integral part of Venetian life
that at one stage they were worn well beyond the carnival
period and streets were full of anonymous faces --and the
licentious behavior they allowed-- for eight months of the year.
. . When the "Serenissima" Republic of Venice fell
under Austrian rule in the late 18th century, hiding behind
a papier mache face was considered a threat and
masquerading was banned until the carnival was re-instated in 1979.
Feb 21, 03: Florida law prohibits same-sex marriages and
bars homosexuals from adopting children. Circuit Judge
Gerard O'Brien said Florida law did not require marriage
license applicants to prove their gender. A man who was
born a woman won custody of two children, with the judge
ruling he is legally a male and his marriage to their
mother did not violate Florida's ban on same-sex unions.
Feb 21, 03: British school children are to be
controversially asked to consider oral sex instead of
intercourse as part of a drive to cut the country's high
teenage pregnancy rate. With nearly 39,000 girls under 18
conceiving each year, Britain has the highest teenage
pregnancy rate in Western Europe. The government wants to
halve it by 2010. In line with that aim, students have already been offered condoms, oral contraceptives and easier access to counselors in schools.
. . Sex education teachers are being trained to
discuss with youngsters various "stopping points" on the
road to full sex in a bid to reduce the number of teen
pregnancies, the government said. The idea is to encourage
pupils to discover "levels of intimacy", including oral sex, which stop short of full sexual intercourse. "Another 'stopping point' is to hold hands", she added.
Feb 20, 03: A Florida law requiring some women to
advertise their sexual history in newspapers before placing
children for adoption looks set to be struck from the
statute books in the face of widespread opposition. Dubbed
the "Scarlet Letter Law" by critics, the 2001 law applies
to women who do not know who fathered the children they want to put up for adoption.
. . It requires them to try to find the father by
running newspaper ads in cities where conception might have
occurred, listing their names and descriptions, the
children's names, the names and descriptions of men they
had sex with and the dates they had sex.
. . "One can scarcely conceive a more egregious
intrusion than such forced disclosure of one's sexual
relations in the mass media", the American Civil Liberties
Union said in a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the law.
. . The law was passed to protect men's parental
rights and to assure adoptive parents the adoption would
not be challenged afterward by men who belatedly learned they fathered children.
Feb 18, 03: Penis extensions are the top cosmetic surgery
treatment for British men while women choose liposuction or
breast enlargement, medics said. The Harley Medical Group,
which runs 10 private clinics in Britain, released figures
for 2002 which showed more than a third of operations on
men were for penis extensions, followed by nose surgery and liposuction.
Kissing the Right Way May Start in the Womb
. . When you kiss your sweetheart this Valentine's
Day, you may well turn your head to the right, echoing a
preference born in the womb, a researcher suggests. A
researcher reports that he spied on 124 pairs of adults who
turned their heads left or right while kissing on the lips
in public places in Germany, Turkey and the United States.
Two-thirds of the kissers went to the right, he found.
Feb 13, 03: Fed up with giving his wife the usual flowers
and chocolates for Valentine's Day, one Brit is opting for
a more unusual present --a vasectomy that will be broadcast
on live radio on Friday, February 14. "Some women get
flowers, but my wife is getting my vasectomy", the 31-year-
old father of two said. "She's got to be one of the
luckiest women in London: it's the most romantic thing I've ever done."
. . The 10-minute procedure under local anaesthetic
will be accompanied by a "snip-by-snip" commentary by Xfm radio DJ Christian O'Connell.
Feb 7, 03: In 1990, Singaporean women, on average, gave
birth to 1.87 babies in a lifetime. That fell to 1.42 by
2001. Singaporeans below the age of 40 have sex six times a
month, far lower than many other societies. Singapore
ranked *last* in a global list of the most sexually-active nations.
Feb 4, 03: Viagra, Levitra [maybe after "levitation". get
it?] and Cialis all work by blocking an enzyme known as PDE-
5 which affects blood flow to the penis. There are 30
million men with ED [erectile dysfunction] in Europe.
Cialis is manufactured near London. Pfizer has a "mark two" version of Viagra for women in clinical trials, which should be finished in a couple of years.
. . Both Cialis and Viagra have been priced in Britain
at the same level of 19.34 pounds ($31.68) for a pack of
four pills and Brown said the product would be priced at
competitive levels to Viagra in other countries.
. . In the United States, Cialis has an "approvable
letter" from the Food and Drug Administration, indicating
the authorities are ready to approve the product pending resolution of some outstanding issues. Its U.S. launch is expected in the second half of 2003.
. . It may rival Viagra and last longer and act
quicker, but Briton Russell Cialis is not happy that the
latest anti-impotence pill to hit the market shares his
name, and wants the company to change it. The public relations executive and his family do not want their name linked to a drug that boosts male libido.
Jan 31, 03: (G'hog day: Feb 2) Groundhogs that emerge from
their dens in early February are probably looking for
sweethearts, not shadows, a researcher says. And what's
more, the girl groundhogs invite the boys in for a visit.
Their scouting done, the groundhogs then return to
hibernating until the March mating season. Although a male
might stay with a female for as long as two days, they
don't appear to mate then. Instead, the visits might be a
necessary ritual of courtship for the normally anti-social creatures.
Jan 22, 03: Forget dieting --there's nothing like love to
help you shed those extra pounds, according to a survey
published by an Italian health magazine this week. Eight
out of 10 Italians find that a new love interest is the
best way for both men and women to get into shape. But the
slimming effects of romance don't last forever. For a third
of Italians, the pounds stay off only until marriage; and for 23%, a first child can bring those love handles back on for *both mama and papa.
Jan 22, 03: Yaakov Schlosser heads Israel's Men's Rights
in the Family. The fringe party believes men get a raw deal
in divorce courts and by being forced to pay child support
to girlfriends who committed "sperm theft" --sexual
relations with the aim of getting pregnant. Schlosser
espouses an "anti-sperm theft" party platform that would
enable a man to force a woman to have an abortion if she
planned to give birth to a child he did not want.
Jan 15, 03: It is only by a quirk of evolution that our
sexual organs and excretory organs are united. This has led
to the human race seeing sex as dirty and embarrassing. If
alien sexual appendages developed in different locations,
aliens would not have hang-ups, and their entire sexual
psychology would be different. - Clifford A. Pickover, The Science of Aliens. [What crazy engineer would run a sewer line thru a recreation area!?]
Jan 12, 03: Brazilian women, beautiful but downtrodden by
a macho Latin culture, look forward to a fairer deal in a
new civil code. The code, which updates social rules in
Latin America's largest country of 170 million people,
formally ended many of the most sexist laws that allowed
men to rule the roost in government, business and at home.
. . Replacing a 1916 text, the code states that a
bridegroom can no longer throw out his bride if he
discovers that she is not a virgin. It also gives women
equal rights to men in marriage. Despite some protests, the
new code doesn't recognize homosexual unions as a framework
for a family. Adultery is still considered a reason for
ending a marriage, which some lawyers consider unfair
because Brazilian society is more tolerant of promiscuity
by men. The legal aid for marriage is reduced to 18, from
21, and children can become independent at 16. Adopted
children and those born out of wedlock now enjoy the same
rights as those born within marriage. And men can request
paternity tests whenever they want, and no longer have to
do so within two months of a child's birth.
The Greater Blue-Ringed Octopus in Australian waters
cannot figure out the sex of its partner until a specially
modified arm has checked out the target. So... males were
equally likely to start to copulate with other males as
females. Most male-to-male copulations ended rapidly in
amicable separation; while in male-female copulations, the
male was less enthusiastic about departing and would
take more than an hour and a half... to ensure
fertilization, the scientists said.
6/18/02: Psychologists at St. Andrews University in
Scotland has debunked the theory that opposites attract.
They say people really want a partner who looks a lot like
what they see in the mirror. After recruiting volunteers to
rate the attractiveness of faces flashed on a computer
screen, the researchers found that both men and women gave
higher scores to the countenances that more closely
resembled their own. When the researchers used a program to
morph each subject's face into a gender-reversed version,
the responses got even more enthusiastic. "The ideal was a
slightly changed version of themselves, what an identical twin of the opposite sex would look like if such a thing were possible", says David Perrett, who led the study.
Three new drug rivals to Viagra:
. . German Bayer Group: "Vardenafil".
. . Eli Lilly's: "Cialis" (pronounced see-al-is).
. . Abbott Laboratories' is "Uprima", which will go on
sale in the Netherlands after winning marketing approval
from the European Commission. Abbott's Japan-based partner
Takeda Chemical Industries will sell it as "Ixense".
Nov 5, 02: The side-blotched lizard is the most common
lizard in the American west. It lives among rocks west of
the Rocky Mountains from Canada to the Baja Peninsula in
Mexico. The animal is small —-with the male reaching about 2.3 inches and the female about half that-— but it has a complex mating and reproduction system.
. . "It would be like a human female who marries a
short, dumpy rich guy and then has an affair with a
muscular 20-year-old to have a handsome son who grows up in
a mansion and goes to the best schools."
. . The female is "incredibly promiscuous", commonly
mating with five or six males per reproductive cycle. The
female collected the sperm from many partners in a special
body cavity, called the spermatheca, before it was allowed
to fertilize her eggs, Calsbeek said. Then, somehow, the
female caused the sperm from big males to make sons, while
the sperm from the small males was used to make daughters.
Nov 8, 02: Germany's top court has ordered the state of
Bavaria to allow partner-swapping, dismissing complaints
from residents in the conservative southern state by ruling
that "swinger clubs" are not immoral.
Prostitution is legal in France, although current laws
make overt soliciting punishable by fine.
For the fetus to get enough nutrients to grow a hefty brain, the placenta has to aggressively invade a mother's uterus, says a new theory. But that can also provoke her immune system, causing dangerous complications.
. . However, recent research suggests that exposure to
a man's semen helps a women's immune system prepare for pregnancy (New Scientist, 9 February, p 32). So low rates of conception in humans reduce complications during pregnancy by giving a woman's immune system more time to adapt.
. . Human fetuses spend 60% of their energy on
their brain, three times as much as other mammals. Twenty
weeks into pregnancy, the placenta attacks the uterine wall
for a second time, burrowing in more deeply than in any other mammal.
. . But burrowing deeper is risky. It can provoke the
mother's immune system to attack the placenta, which is
loaded with foreign genes from the father. This can trigger
pre-eclampsia, where the placenta leaks toxins into the
mother's circulation, causing blood pressure to spike
dangerously. Within hours it can escalate into kidney
failure, brain haemorrhaging and death.
. . Pre-eclampsia occurs in three per cent of
pregnancies. We are also far less fertile: a bitch that
mates just once when it is on heat usually gets pregnant,
yet women typically take six months to conceive.
. . Women who have sex with the father for over a year
before getting pregnant have a five per cent chance of
developing high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia compared
with a massive 40 per cent chance for those who have only
been having sex with the father for four months or less.
. . Robert Martin, an anthropologist at The Field
Museum in Chicago, questions whether invasive placentas are
linked to larger brains. "Dolphins have a non-invasive placenta, yet the next biggest brain sizes after humans are found in dolphins", he says.
Oct 10, 02: Reproductive physiologist Roger Short, from
the University of Melbourne's obstetrics department, said a
few drops of lemon juice can be a cheap, easy-to-use
solution to protect women from both HIV and pregnancy. The
juice should be squeezed onto a piece of sponge or cotton
wool and placed into the vagina before sex, he said. "We
can show in the lab that lemon juice is very effective in
immobilizing human sperm and also very effective in killing HIV."
Sep 13, 02: Sex was first recognized in the fossil records
more than 500 million years ago and the oldest known penis
is about 100 million years old, a conference heard. It
belongs to an ostracod, an early crustacean related to
crabs, shrimps and water fleas, and was found in a fossil
sample unearthed in Brazil. In fact the ostracod fossil had not one penis, but two.
. . Siveter, an expert in paleontology, believes
ostracods are very sexy animals because they have the
second longest sperm in the animal kingdom. A one
millimeter ostracod can produce a single sperm 10 millimeters long.
. . "An ostracod has the longest sperm to body ratio of any animal known to man, so clearly it has to have special equipment to deal with the sperm.
Sept 11, 02: Scientists in the United States have come up
with news that may help millions of men --they have
succeeded in growing major parts of penises in the
laboratory. The test tube penile parts were successfully
used to rebuild the members of rabbits who --after rest and
recuperation-- put them to the use that rabbits are famous for.
. . "They were able to copulate, penetrate and produce
sperm", Anthony Atala, whose team at Harvard Medical School
carried out the experiments, told New Scientist magazine.
He said the researchers were now trying to grow entire
penises in the test tube. But he also said the technique
was at an early stage and that it would be a while before
the technique was tried with human tissue.
. . The scientists had only been successful in growing
the erectile tissues of rabbit penises --not the entire
organ-- and in all cases, the erect member had the reduced
firmness of a 60-year-old against that of a more virile 30-year-old.
To date, the youngest premature baby that has survived was
delivered after just over three months in the womb! The
womb is where the baby grows --a man's body has no such
organ, but the embryo could be implanted somewhere in the
abdominal cavity, and it would attach itself and grow --at great risk to both.
Sept 4, 02: MicroSort Sperm Separation technology for screening sperm, the Genetics & IVF Institute in Fairfax, Virginia. It costs $2,300. Couples pay extra for the
fertilization procedure. About 80% of the babies are
girls. The success rate of the process is higher for female chromosome sperm (90%) than for male chromosome sperm (73%), "so we have many people trying for girls", Seitz said. There are also inherited diseases --e.g Hemophilia & a certain Muscular Dystrophy-- that mostly/only boys get, so those parents who know their susceptibility are the first to get this service; later, we'd expect mostly a boy-choice.
Aug 5, 02: Based on official figures, about 300,000 women
are engaged in the sex trade in Iran and the numbers is
steadily rising. The latest idea is the so-called "chastity
houses", regarded by some religious leaders as a more
acceptable version of brothels, to both shelter poor street
women and satisfy the sexual needs of men who cannot afford
to get married. The idea has been widely publicized in the
Iranian media but, with prostitution long held as a
"cardinal sin", few dare to openly endorse it and most
officials have dissociated themselves from it.
. . At least one senior cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad
Mousavi Bojnurdi, has come out strongly in defense of the
plan, provoking an uproar among feminist and conservative groups.
. . Under the scheme, couples would register for a
temporary, Islamicly correct marriage and receive a license
as well as free contraceptives and health advice. The
license would legitimize their relationship and make them
immune from harassment by the modesty police, who prowl the
streets looking to arrest young couples who are out together but are not related.
. . The idea of "chastity houses" is similar to
"Sigheh", or temporary marriage, practiced among some
Shi'ites as an alternative, though it is not common in
Iran. In Sigheh, couples exchange vows for a limited period. The man pays a small sum to the woman but is not bound by any other obligations.
July 3, 02: Viagra-like drugs designed to increase sexual
pleasure and orgasms may work better for some women than
others --depending on the size of their "G spot." The area
inside the vagina famous for producing incredible orgasms
was first dubbed the G spot in 1950. It contains in the
Skene's glands, an enzyme called PDE5 which is involved in
female arousal. If the Skene's glands are large and there
is plenty of PDE5, researchers believe Viagra-like drugs
should work well but they might be less successful in women
with a small G spot. "But even for those with a small G
spot or none at all, Viagra-type drugs might have some
effect, as PDE5 is found in the clitoris too", New Scientist magazine said.
June 21, 02: Hormone replacement therapy for men? Extra
testosterone may help men fight symptoms of "male
menopause" like grumpiness and loss of strength, scientists
said. However, it can slightly raise their risk of prostate cancer.
Washington Post writer, June 02: "Women, how can we know
what is 'natural' for us when we are treated as unnatural
for wanting our lust, our freedom? There are still huge
areas of sexual practice that women may or may not enjoy -
anal sex, for instance, or rape fantasies - that we can't
really discuss. Of course, mystery makes for great sex --
and earnest, clinical examination around the water cooler
does not. But we have to fathom a better way of filleting
what deserves to remain mysterious from what does not."
June 17, 02: A Taiwanese man who claims to have castrated
about 50 people and was caught with human testicles in the
refrigerator of his suburban Detroit home may not have committed any crime, police said. There may not actually be a law against it, when voluntary.
June 12, 02: A hormone patch made by Novartis AG may help
menopausal women shake off their typically low libido and
enjoy more intense orgasms than women taking hormone pills, the Swiss drugmaker said.
. . "At the end of the eight-week study, the Estalis patch was
associated with a increase in ability to have orgasm,
intensity of orgasm, ability to have multiple orgasms,
sense of control/timing of orgasm and a sense of relaxation
and well-being after orgasm, as compared with the two oral therapies", it said.
. . Menopausal symptoms include declining sexual
function, hot flushes and night sweats, disturbed sleep and
memory loss. Women also run a higher risk of developing
osteoporosis. Novartis said more than a third of women over
the age of 50 may need treatment for these symptoms.
June 7, 02: Japan's cash-strapped government decided today
to clamp down on child care benefits for single mothers,
blaming a rising divorce rate for a big rise in costs. The
number of divorces annually has almost doubled since 1990,
with 264,000 couples formally breaking up in 2000.
June 7, 02: Once staunchly conservative and strongly
influenced by the Roman Catholic Church, Quebec gave legal
status today to civil unions of same-sex couples, as well
as allowing gay couples to adopt children, Attorney General Paul Begin said.
. . Quebec will become the second province to legalize civil
unions of same-sex couples. Nova Scotia was the first.
Quebec however said that the unions won't be called marriages.
. . The bill, adopted by the Quebec legislature, gives
same-sex couples the same rights and obligations as married
heterosexual couples, including adoption and artificial
insemination. Gays and lesbians will now get most of the
benefits of married couples, including health and insurance
benefits, tax status and rights to benefits after divorce or death.
. . Quebec couples who opt for civil unions may divorce simply by signing an agreement before a notary public, provided there are no children involved. The
biological mother and another parent will be recognized as "co-parents". Couples who opt for traditional marriages must still go to court to divorce.
. . It was pointed out that 20% of all couples
living in Quebec had common law status, while 3% were gays or lesbians. More than 75% of Quebecers support civil unions for homosexuals, polls show.
March 28, 02: A new edition of the 1,700-year-old Sanskrit
sex manual, the Kamasutra, has hit bedside tables, but this
time around, women's needs have wrestled themselves on top.
"The new translation of the Kamasutra reflects the original
emphasis on a woman's pleasure and the importance of
gratifying her", says the Oxford University Press in its
promotional materials. Women have started getting a better
deal since the Kamasutra was first translated for Victorian
England --at work, at home and in bed. With the changing times, nuances that were overlooked in the first publication (1883) have now come to light.
Jan 29, 02: Exercise not only loosens the muscles and
clears the mind --it also makes the arteries more stretchy
and less prone to hardening, researchers said.
Feb 6, 02: Sex, and plenty of it, not only increases the
odds of getting pregnant, it can also help avoid problems
that sometimes lead to miscarriages and stillbirths, New
Scientist magazine said. Having sex early and often, even
oral sex, with the intended father can reduce the chances
that the mother's immune system will reject the fetus.
. . According to reproductive biologists at the University of
Adelaide in South Australia, far from being an exercise in
futility, plenty of sex --even a full year before
conception-- helps guard against a litany of ailments.
. . The more accustomed the woman's immune system is to the
man's sperm, the less likely her body will be to reject the
fetus, which contains foreign proteins from the father, according to the scientists.
. . Sperm is full of foreign proteins, so the woman's
immune system goes into high alert at the first sign of it,
but the scientists said it also contains components that
promote acceptance by the woman's body. "If there's
repeated exposure to that signal, then eventually when the
woman conceives, her (immune) cells will say: 'We know that guy, he's been around a long time, we'll allow the pregnancy to continue'" Dekker added.
Polly Want a Divorce? - A Chinese housewife is seeking divorce
claiming the family's talking bird dropped clues on her
husband's illicit affair, state media said. The woman said she uncovered the affair when their mynah began saying things like "Divorce", "I love you" and "Be
patient" after it overheard the husband's telephone calls with his mistress.
. . The woman said she noticed the feathered tattle-tale's
strange new vocabulary after she returned from a month-long
visit with her parents that started in May. Already
suspecting her husband was having an affair, she observed
that the bird became particularly talkative whenever the
telephone rang, confirming her suspicions.
. . She brought the bird to a law office for
consultation, hoping it could testify in court. "Can my
mynah be used as witness?" Lawyers were not optimistic.
"The judges are unlikely to rule against your husband based
only on the mynah's words", attorney Wu Di told her.
A man seeking gratification in the red-light district in
the German town of Aachen was surprised to run into his
wife, who was secretly working as a prostitute, police said.
. . Prostitution is not illegal in Germany, but police were
required to calm an argument between the couple that broke out
after the chance encounter in the small hours.
Three young Colombian women preyed on men by smearing
their breasts with a powerful drug and luring the victims
into taking a lick, before making off with their wallets and cars, police said.
. . The women stood by the side of the road near bars and
restaurants in wealthy parts of the capital Bogota, striking
seductive poses to lure men driving by to stop.
. . After licking the women's breasts, the men lost all
will-power. They came to their senses hours later to find
they had lost their wallets and cars but with no memory of what had happened.
July 27, 01: A new drug being developed would eliminate menstruation altogether, while still allowing women to get pregnant. Another drug would eliminate both periods and pregnancy. A paper published in the Journal of Human Reproduction shows that in rhesus macaque monkeys, one drug stopped menstruation while still allowing pregnancy. Another version of it stopped both ovulation and menstruation. If the drugs, called progestin antagonists, are also successful in humans, they could treat women with the painful symptoms of endometriosis. "Not only will women be free from the monthly bleeding episode, they will not have the cramps, bloating, and mood changes."
. . The drugs block the action of progesterone, a hormone responsible for thickening the uterine lining to make a home for a fertilized egg. If a woman is not pregnant, progesterone levels in the blood fall. The decrease in progesterone is the signal that leads to menstruation.
. . A possible obstacle to widespread use of the drug is the erroneous notion that it's unnatural or unhealthy not to get a period every month. "Many women believe that having a monthly period is necessary for their well-being. This belief dates back to the Dark Ages when people were bled for just about any ailment, and it should remain there."
Viagra, the anti-impotence drug that has improved the sex
lives of men, also works for women, Italian sexologists reported.
. . The Italian findings conflict with those of a
study of 577 women presented last year at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists which found the placebo was more effective than Viagra.
. . Pfizer said it was still assessing whether the
drug, available only on prescription, could be developed for use by women.
Kids From Homosexual Families 'Doing Extremely Well'
. . A University of Southern California analysis of studies on the subject:
. . Teenage boys with homosexual parents were more
sexually restrained then their counterparts who were raised
by heterosexual couples. And boys raised by lesbian couples
exhibited less aggressive and more nurturing social
behavior then boys raised in heterosexual families.
. . On the other hand, teenage girls showed an
opposite trend. Girls raised by lesbians gravitated toward
less stereotypically feminine dress, play and occupations,
Biblarz said. They also appeared to be more sexually
adventurous and less chaste than girls raised by heterosexuals.
. . The study also showed that more children from homosexual households gravitated toward same-sex relationships although they were not statistically more
likely to identify themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual.
. . There seemed to be no difference in the mental
and emotional health of children based on whether their parents were homosexual or heterosexual, or in the quality of the parent-child relationships, the analysis said.
. . "They are doing extremely well", Biblarz said.
"There's no evidence that in terms of their adjustment and
development and well being ... that kids (from homosexual
families) are suffering greater harm." He added that
"Children brought up by lesbians and gay men are well
adjusted, have good levels of self esteem, are as likely to
have high educational attainments as children raised in
more traditional heterosexual families."
. . Biblarz said the USC study focused mainly on
children raised by lesbians, because fewer studies of co-fathers exist. He added that there seemed to be advantages to lesbian over heterosexual parenting in that co-mothers tend to be more involved in their childrens' lives and more
nurturing than heterosexual couples. They also exhibited
greater harmony in their parenting approaches, he said.
A quarter of Thai men have more than one wife, despite the
fact the country outlawed polygamy decades ago, according
to a study by Thai doctors. "I would say that around 25 to
30% of married Thai men maintain another wife, in
another house", Nongphanga Limsuwan, a doctor at Bangkok's Ramathibodi Hospital said.
. . So-called "minor wives" have been a feature of
Thai society for centuries, with men maintaining long-term
mistresses who get money, gifts and often her own house.
Some men have several such "wives", even though polygamy was outlawed in 1932.
. . A quarter of 80 married men interviewed for the
study admitted to having more than one wife, and the real
percentage was likely to be even higher due to the
reluctance of Thai men to admit to having minor wives. "Men
do not want to reveal the problem because it would no
longer be accepted by most people in Thailand", she said.
. . The survey found that most of these husbands were
businessmen between the ages of 30 and 50, while minor
wives tended to be college graduates between the ages of 20
and 30. Of the men interviewed, 35% did not think
polygamy was morally wrong, while 55% said they had
intended from the outset to have more than one wife. Half of the men with minor wives said they would finish the relationship if their first wife found out.
. . "Most men I talked to do not want to lose their first wife --they want to have both.
The Reykjavik Commercial Workers Union surveyed its members in October. The findings were based on 3,400 answers.
. . Blonde employees earned 10% less than their light brown haired colleagues, whose monthly pay averaged ($2,700). People with very dark hair came second, followed by red-and grey-haired individuals. All these were ahead of
blondes. Women earned 18% less than men.
. . Men above the height of 179 cm were paid 16.5
percent more than men 10-15 cm shorter. Women taller than
179 cm took home 213,000 crowns compared with 195,000 crowns for females below 165 cm.
May, 01: A team led by Dennis McFadden of the University
of Texas studied weak, echo-like sounds produced in the
inner ear. The researchers found that these sounds are more
pronounced in the ears of heterosexual women than in those
of homosexual or bisexual women.
May 1st, 01: The presence of an extra copy of a human sex
gene can transform an embryo from boy to girl and produce
genitalia that doctors cannot determine to be male or female, researchers said.
. . Researchers at UCLA, who conducted a study
appearing in the American Journal of Human Genetics, said
the problem of babies born with this condition was
relatively common. They said they hoped their findings
would help doctors ascertain more accurately and quickly the sex of these babies and perhaps lead to ways of correcting the defect before birth.
Other names for breasts, if you really wanna know. The
word-count of such things must signify something about human nature.
Compiled by amateur etymologists Parker Bennet and Tom Mannis.
Angel Cakes, Doozies, Loaves, PT Boats,
Apples, Double-Whammies, LobLollies, Pumpkins, Balboas,
Dueling Banjos, Love Mellons, Rangoons, Balloons, Dugs,
Love Muffins, Rib Balloons, Bangers, Dumplings, LuLus, Rib
Cushions, Bangles, Dunes, Macaroons, Rivets, Bassoons, Ear
Muffs, Mambos, Roundies, Baubles, Eclairs, Mammaries,
Sandbags, Bazongas, Eggplants, Mammies, Satellites,
Bazookas, Enchiladas Mams, Scones, Bazooms, Flapjacks,
Mangos, Scoops, Beacons, Flappers, Marangos, Set, Beanbags,
Flesh Bulbs, Maraschinos, Shakers, Bebops, Flesh Mellons,
Marimbas, Shebas, Betty Boops, Floaters, Marshmallows,
Shermans, Big Boppers, Floats, Mau Maus, Shimmies, Bikini
Stuffers, Fog Lights, Mausers, Silos, Billibongs, Fried
Eggs, Meatballs, Skin Sacks, Blinkers, Fun Bags, Meat
Loaves, Skooners, Bombers, Gagas, Melons, Smoothies,
Bombshells, Garbos, Milk Cans, Snuggle Pups, Bon Bons,
Gazingas, Milk Fountains, Spark Plugs, Bongos, Gazongas,
Milk Shakes, Specials, Bonkers, Glands, Molehills, Spheres,
Boobers, Globlets, Mommas, Spongecakes, Boobs, Boobies,
Globes, Mondos, Spuds, Gob Stoppers, Montezumas, Stacks,
Boops, Gongas, Moo Moos, Stuffing, Bops, Goombas, Mother Lodes, Sugar Plums, Bosom,
Grapefruits, Mounds, Sweater Meat, Boulders, Grillwork,
Montain Peaks, Sweater Puffs, Bouncers, Guavas, Muchachas,
Sweet Rolls, Bra Buddies, Gum Drops, Muffins, Tahitis, Bra
Stuffers, Handsets, Mulligans, Tamales, Breasts, Hand
Warmers, Mushmellons, Tartugas, Bronskis, Headers, Nancies,
Tatas, Bubbas, Head Lamps, Nectarines, Tattlers, Bubbies, Headlights, Niblets, Teats, Buds, Headphones, Nibs, Tetons, Bulbs, Headsets, Nippleoons, Thangs, Bulges, Hefties,
Nippleos, Thingumajigs, Bullets, Heifers, Nippers, Tidbits,
Bumpers, Hemispheres, Nippies, Titbits, Bumps, Hills Nips,
Tits, Bust, Hindenburgs, Nodes, Titskis, Busters,
Honeydews, Nodules, Titters, Busties, Honkers, Noogies,
Titties, Butterballs, Hood-Ornaments, Nose Cones, Tomatoes,
Buttons, Hoohas, Oboes, Tom-Toms, Caboodles, Hooters,
Oompas, Tooters, Cams, Hot Cakes, Orbs, Torpedoes, Cannon
Balls, Hottentots, Ottomans, Tortillas, Cantaloupes,
Howitzers, Padding, Totos, Carumbas, Hubcaps, Pagodas,
Twangers, Casabas, Huffies, Pair, Tweakers, Cha-chas,
Humdingers, Palookas, Tweeters, Charlies, Hush Puppies,
Papayas, Twin Peaks, Chihuahuas, ICBMs, Parabolas, Twofers,
Chimichongas, Jawbreakers, Pastries, Tympanies, Chiquitas,
Jemimas, Paw Patties, U-Boats, Coconuts, Jibs, Peaches,
Umlauts, Congas, Jobbers, Peakers, Wahwahs, Corkers, Jugs,
Peaks, Waldos, Creamers, Jukes, Pears, Warheads, Cream
Pies, Jumbos, Pects, Watermelons, Cuhuangas, Kabukis,
Peepers, Whoppers, Cupcakes, Kalamazoos, Pillows,
Windjammers, Curves, Kazongas, Pips, Wobblers, Dingers,
Kazoos, Plums, Wongas, Dinghies, Knobbers, Pointer-Sisters,
Woofers, Dingos, Knockers, Points, Yabbos, Dirigibles,
Kongas, Pokers, Yams, Domes, Kumquats, Polygons, Yayas, Doodads, Lactoids, Pompoms, Zeppelins, Doorknobs, Lip Fodder, Pontoons, Zingers, Doozers, LLamas, Potatoes.
A California Appeals Court has upheld a jury's decision to
give a woman $1.08 million because a doctor surgically
enlarged her breasts without her permission, but the woman
has decided against getting the operation reversed...
because (she says) she no longer trusts doctors. She went
from size 34B to 40DD. [poor kid! but she's keepin' 'em!]
2001: San Francisco plans to become the first U.S. city to finance sex change operations for city workers under its health care benefits program, officials said. The proposal, which is expected to receive final approval from the city
Board of Supervisors and Mayor Willie Brown, would permit city employees to
claim up to $50,000 of the cost of sex reassignment
surgery, Supervisor Mark Leno said. "This is a medically
diagnosed condition --gender identity disorder. One does
not enter in to this cavalierly. It really is a matter of
equal benefits for equal work" Leno said. The change, which
would go into effect July 1, would make San Francisco the
first U.S. city to partially finance sex changes for city
workers. The total cost for such surgery is estimated at about $37,000 for male-to-female procedures, and about $77,000 for more complicated female-to-male operations.
The boom demand, especially in Rio and Brazil's Carnival-
loving northeastern beach cities, is for everything from
breast implants to tummy tucks and reconstructive surgery.
It has made Brazil the world capital of plastic surgery in
per capita terms --surpassing former champion, the United States, in 2000.
. . Demand from women who want last-minute
improvements before Carnival is really strong. The five
days of wild parties and elaborate parades kicks off on
Feb. 23, but the rush to go under the scalpel begins as early as November.
Oct 9th, '00: Vigorous regular sex can make you look up to
seven years younger, researchers claimed. Energetic love-
making can reduce fatty tissue and release endomorphins
from the brain which are natural painkillers and reduce
anxiety, according to the authors of a new book "Secrets of the Superyoung."
.
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