24 May 2009

The week in comments

Whether influenced by Mary Roach and the infamous "pig video" or Yves Behar and Forrest North's easy banter, there was a definite cheeky lilt to the comments this week. Here's a quick look at the fun:

On Dan Ariely's talk: Are we in control of our own decisions?:
So where's that slightly uglier version of myself ; D ? -- Evelyn via facebook

On Mary Roach's talk: 10 things you didn't know about orgasm:
.. and that's why we have swine flu. Good God Man, put on some gloves! -- Brenda via facebook

Disclaimer: That pig video does not represent the view of all Danes. ;-) -- Klaus

Mary Roach makes pig insemination fun -- rutila via Twitter

On Carolyn Porco's talk: Could a Saturn moon harbor life?:
So? IS THERE OIL THERE?! ;) -- Tom via facebook

On Yves Behar's talk on supercharged motorcycle design:
They should make these with baseball cards in the spokes. -- Mayo via facebook

But how about ending things on a sweeter note?

On the exclusive content provided to facebook fans after reaching 100,000 members:
Thank you for daily inspiration and my Master's thesis topic. Thank you for helping me blow minds, challenge preconceptions and change the world. I'm not ready yet, but someday I'd like to present my research at TED, I would consider it a lifetime accomplishment. -- Spencer via facebook

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20 May 2009

Q&A with Mary Roach: Revealing the science of sex

Yesterday, the TEDBlog caught up with author Mary Roach to discuss her brand new TEDTalk and her latest book, Bonk, that captures the most interesting tidbits on the science of sex throughout history. With amazing ease, Mary frankly addressed lack of orgasms among women, her sex life, and participating in clinical sex research with her husband. It's our sexiest Q&A yet.

So, are you excited to see your TEDTalk go up?

I’m delighted! I’m so excited about it. I just hope I don’t create moral outrage and sully the good name of TED with my little talk.

I’m sure you won’t. Jumping off, I’d like to ask at least one serious question -- you had such funny facts about orgasm, but what about the less funny, large proportion of women that have difficulty achieving orgasm? Did you come across research on this?

Well, I didn’t really go into the therapy aspect of sexual dysfunction. Mainly, I was looking at lab-tested physiological research. But, there’s a chapter in Bonk about the distance between the clitoris and the vagina and if a physical difference there could play a role in orgasm. You know, asking: Is there a single physical factor? I loved that research.

Actually, the guy doing this research was re-running numbers originally gathered by Marie Bonaparte, who is Napoleon’s niece, and had great personal difficulty achieving orgasm. She even had her clitoris surgically moved closer to her vagina. Unfortunately, she later became a Freudian theorist, and of course Freud said that the clitoris was for little girls and that all pleasure really came from the vagina. That couldn’t have helped her in her quest.

But, even if that physical difference is a factor, it’s not very large. You can change positions. I think it’s much more about how comfortable you are. They say that women’s sexual peaks are in their 30s or 40s, and I think that it happens because they’re more comfortable. It’s not some hormonal change that happens at that age. Of course, it would be nice to have more physiological insight on that.

By the way, Marie Bonparte’s husband turned out to be gay. But we know that’s not why she didn’t have orgasms as she had an affair with the Prime Minister of France, who was not gay, and couldn’t climax with him either.

You’re full of fun facts! Another semi-serious question -- the pig stimulation looks like a lot of work. Is a six percent increase in probability of fertilization really worth all that?

Well, I don’t have the numbers, but I’m guessing that it’s not as popular with smaller pig farmers. I can’t imagine them doing this for 12 piglets or so more a year. But, at larger farms with a big bottom line, it’s probably well worth it. Yeah, any mom and pop pig farmers would say, “Are you out of your mind?”

Now that we’re on the topic of animal orgasms, just wondering, have you come across any research of which species have orgasms? Do cockroaches have orgasms?

When researchers have bothered to look into it with different species, they’ve always found that they do have orgasms. But it’s not common that they do unless they’re trying to produce more pigs. I think it’s a big unknown.

And how do you prove it? How many iterations do you need -- you know, how many cockroaches do you need to examine before you can prove the negative? And how do you know what an orgasm looks like in all these different species? The pig in the video doesn’t look to us like she’s having an orgasm. Anne Marie Hedeboe, the representative from the Danish National Committee actually said, "Speaking for myself, I hope she does. But we're really just hoping to produce more pigs."

So, after two years of researching and writing a book about sex, is your sex life better?

Yeah, in very subtle ways. The book’s not a how-to but you do learn lot about how bodies work.

Also, there was a period of time when I was reading Human Sexual Response by Masters and Johnson, which is very detailed -- and that was hard because knowing this stuff turns you into a spectator in your own bedroom. You find yourself going,“Oh, are you having post-ejaculatory sensitivity today, honey?” So that was disturbing, particularly for my husband.

What about how other people see you? Now that you’ve written a book about sex, do people find you sexier?

You know, I was looking forward to that but it hasn’t happened. When I wrote Stiff, people thought I was this really twisted, weird person. Now, I thought they would think, “Mary’s really into sex. She’s really hot.” But, I haven’t gotten it. I’ve gotten three emails from men saying here’s my address if you want to try some new things. But that was it. Literally, three emails.

Well, there’s still time. And your TEDTalk is going up tomorrow.

That’s true. We’ll see!

READ MORE: Mary tells her story of having sex in front of a researcher, explains how she picks her topics and asks for suggestions to name her next book.

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20 May 2009

10 things you didn't know about orgasm: Mary Roach on TED.com

Bonk author Mary Roach delves into obscure scientific research, some of it centuries old, to make 10 surprising claims about sexual climax, ranging from the bizarre to the hilarious. (This talk is aimed at adults. Viewer discretion advised ... beware the pig video!). (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 16:43.)

Watch Mary Roach's talk from TED2009 on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 400+ TEDTalks.

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07 February 2009

TED 2009 minutes from Ethan Zuckerman: Crazy, sexy TED?

Ethan Zuckerman is blogging TED2009, as the conference unfolds. He chose to highlight a few of the boldest participants in yesterday's last session "Dare." Here's a look at what he had to say about aerialist Ueli Gegenschatz:

Ueli Gegenscatz at TED2009 Photo: TED/Asa Mathat

"They’re followed on stage by Ueli Gegenschatz, who is crazy, as far as I’m concerned. He tells us he’s “addicted to air”. What he means is that he’s addicted to jumping off things. He began with paragliding, then moved to skydiving, and eventually to skysurfing - diving with a stiff board allowing him to fall more slowly, and with twists and tricks. He’s best known for his wingsuit flying, jumping from high objects wearing a suit that allows him to control his rate of secent and fly laterally as well as down. Recent B.A.S.E. jumps have included a jump from the Matterhorn and from the Eiffel Tower in Paris."

Ueli was followed by author Mary Roach, whose new book "Bonk" explains the science of sex. She presented 10 things you might not know about orgasms, and Ethan's got the full list. To spice things up further, dance troupe Capacitor gave a technically brilliant and positively sensual performance.

It really was some crazy, sexy TED.

.

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