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Portables Science

Is Your Laptop Cooking Your Testicles? 293

Velcroman1 writes "Whoever invented the 'laptop' probably didn't worry too much about male reproductive health. Turns out, unsurprisingly, that sitting with a computer on your lap will crank up the temperature of your nether regions, which could affect sperm quality. And there is little you can do about it, according to the authors of a study out today in the journal Fertility and Sterility, short of putting your laptop on a desk. The researchers hooked thermometers to the scrotums of 29 young men (!) who were balancing a laptop on their knees. They found that even with a lap pad under the computer, the men's scrotums overheated quickly. 'Millions and millions of men are using laptops now, especially those in the reproductive age range,' said Dr. Yefim Sheynkin, a urologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, who led the new study."
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Is Your Laptop Cooking Your Testicles?

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  • Old, old news (Score:4, Informative)

    by toppavak ( 943659 ) on Tuesday November 09, 2010 @10:02AM (#34172978)
    There was a humorous TED talk [ted.com] on this over 2 years ago following quite a bit of media coverage on the same topic. I believe its also been explored whether internal diaper temperatures may do long term harm the development of the testes.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 09, 2010 @10:05AM (#34173020)
    or you can keep your lap cooker, i mean laptop off your junk on a flat surface.
  • by jeffmeden ( 135043 ) on Tuesday November 09, 2010 @10:17AM (#34173172) Homepage Journal

    Opportunity, man. Opportunity! The world didn't get where it is today because the upper class lived in a vacuum, creating and benefiting from prosperity out of thin air. Having these willingly uneducated, underprivileged people around is nothing but opportunity for those who are/want to be part of the ruling class. And considering there's only so much room at the top, why fight the trend by trying to balloon the population of the upper class?

    Thinking that the world is (or should be) one big, flat utopia was your first mistake. Your second mistake was, probably, watching Idiocracy and thinking "wow man that is SO true!" instead of "ha ha what a funny movie"...

  • Hot tub (Score:2, Informative)

    by rcnut ( 1840430 ) on Tuesday November 09, 2010 @10:49AM (#34173636)
    This is also why they say that you shouldn't sit in a hot tub before trying to conceive. Although they didn't say anything about trying to conceive while in a hot tub.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 09, 2010 @11:14AM (#34173962)

    Where I'm from, it's called "Mountain Oysters" and it's $24.95 a plate.

  • Re:clothes, too? (Score:4, Informative)

    by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Tuesday November 09, 2010 @11:24AM (#34174130) Homepage

    Scotsmen have a solution that should also help with the laptop-caused problem.

    Oh, aye! There's nothing like walking about in a kilt in 3 degrees celcius to keep the boys nicely aired out and cool. Trust me, I've done it.

    On a really windy day your buttocks can get a wee bit chilled -- though your sporran keeps the front of the kilt in place and held down. Though, on a boat deck, I once gave some German tourists more than they bargained for. ;-)

  • by c++0xFF ( 1758032 ) on Tuesday November 09, 2010 @11:53AM (#34174502)

    Fortunately, he doesn't mind. He even thinks they're funny [chucknorris.com]:

    I'm aware of the made up declarations about me that have recently begun to appear on the Internet and in emails as "Chuck Norris facts." I've seen some of them. Some are funny. Some are pretty far out. Being more a student of the Wild West than the wild world of the Internet, I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It's quite surprising. I do know that boys will be boys, and I neither take offense nor take these things too seriously. Who knows, maybe these made up one-liners will prompt young people to seek out the real facts as found in my recent autobiographical book, "Against All Odds?" They may even be interested enough to check out my novels set in the Old West, "The Justice Riders," released this month. I'm very proud of these literary efforts.
    ~ Chuck Norris

    Quite a reasonable response, if you ask me. He sees the humor and the value of free publicity.

  • by gknoy ( 899301 ) <gknoy@NOsPAM.anasazisystems.com> on Tuesday November 09, 2010 @01:55PM (#34176014)

    I should have waited to post until I found more about the books. Here's an amazon link:

    http://www.amazon.com/Justice-Riders-Chuck-Norris/dp/0805440321 [amazon.com]

    Sounds like enjoyable stuff.

  • Re:good (Score:3, Informative)

    by Beardo the Bearded ( 321478 ) on Tuesday November 09, 2010 @02:02PM (#34176132)

    I don't care because I've had a vasectomy. I know for a fact my sperm motility is 0 as I've had it tested. I can use a laptop, wear boxer briefs or bike shorts, and if it fries the tails of a couple of my swimmers no loss. They can't get past the Ti clips and the air gap. If they can, well then our next kid will be able to walk through the fuckin' walls.

    Mind you, my primary form of contraception is never having sex. My wife hates to try (her idea of foreplay is, "I think I'm drunk enough. Go.") and I had to give up after years of nothing but bad sex followed by 30 minutes of her crying afterwards. I'm no good for entertainment, no good for reproduction. What good am I?

    I don't want to post any more. I'm sad.

  • by mcgrew ( 92797 ) * on Tuesday November 09, 2010 @03:29PM (#34177556) Homepage Journal

    Too hot OR too cold lowers sperm count, which is why your scrotum shrivels in the cold. It's to keep your testicles at the proper temperature.

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