Mary Roach is the kind of journalist who gets excited about the details of embalming, court cases involving ghosts and the mechanics of how exactly one uses the bathroom in space. So we are excitedly awaiting the release of her new book, Gulp, in which she explores the eccentricities of the digestive system. We have to admit, we are pretty amused by this trailer for the book, in which broccoli rides the roller coaster of the alimentary canal and then plays a little intestinal skeeball.

Watch the trailer and then watch Roach’s amazing TED Talk, “10 things you didn’t know orgasm.”

And bonus: check out Jon Ronson’s talk “Strange answers to the psychopath test,” as Ronson had the honor of reviewing Gulp in The New York Times.

Mary Roach: 10 things you didn't know about orgasm

In her talk “10 things you didn’t know about orgasm,” Roach digs deep into scientific research in sexuality — much of it recent, much of it ancient — and shares several hilarious and disturbing thoughts. It’s simply a must-watch. This week’s TEDWeekends on the Huffington Post digs deeper into the talk, with essays from Roach and several others. Read some selections here.

Mary Roach: Let’s Talk About Orgasm

In 2009, I walked onto the TED stage and gave a talk that included video of a Danish pig inseminator. The topic of the talk was orgasm, and the video related to a centuries-old debate over “upsuck”: that is, whether the contractions of the uterus during orgasm serve to draw the semen toward the egg and boost the odds of conception. In pigs, research suggests, this is the case. The inseminator up on the screen was practicing the Five-Point Stimulation Plan, a technique developed by Denmark’s National Committee for Pig Production, following research that showed a 6 percent higher farrowing rate among titillated sows. In other words, as a group, they produced 6 percent more piglets than sows inseminated while idly standing around the sty.

William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the pioneering sex researchers of the ’50s and ’60s, were upsuck skeptics. They didn’t believe orgasm facilitated conception, at least not in humans, and they worried that the belief might be hobbling fertility research. So they set out to prove their case. Read the full essay >>

Marnia Robinson: Why Stop Orgasm Research at Climax?

Mary Roach’s irreverent orgasm trivia reminds us that researchers, like porn makers, tend to snap their notebooks shut right after the money shot. Yet some of the most intriguing findings about orgasm may lie beyond its brief fireworks. Post-O data could one day help solve all kinds of mysteries, such as why lovers’ libidos often go out of sync — especially after those initial“honeymoon poppers” wear off.

After a rat satiates himself sexually (which is how rats normally mate, and requires an average of 2.5 hours and up to 7 ejaculations), he exhibits a pronounced 4-day cycle. He’s a bit fragile. His sexual motivation (libido) is nil-to-sluggish, and he’s hyper-reactive to a range of drugs. Why does this happen? Read the full essay >>

Robert Koehler: The Sex Closet

Mary Roach’s TEDTalk is about … well, our giggling, collective discomfort with the human body and its processes.

While we can publicly talk about sex in all its thrilling messiness with a little more candor than we could a few generations back, we still live most of our lives within an invisible envelope of politeness. What interested me about the video at least as much as the actual stuff I learned — for instance, that the longest ejaculation of sperm Dr. Kinsey ever measured was 8 ft. — was the fact that the TED audience (and I) laughed at it all. Why is this so funny? Why does explicit commentary on sexual arcana summon up the public guffaws? Read the full essay >>

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

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. So, while researching Bonk you and your husband actually participated in research on sex. What was that experience like?

It was very clinical. Not at all like sex. It was like an awkward, invasive medical procedure. At least, that’s how we both approached it.

And, Ed has a great capability for denial. He was fine with it, up to 15 minutes before we headed into the researcher’s office. I mean, all the pressure was on him. He had taken a Viagara, because otherwise there was no way … but still. We were not in an MRI, like some people thought. At least then you’d be in the tube, you’d have some privacy. It’s an ultrasound and the researcher has to hold the wand, physically, to you. It was difficult for Ed. For me, as the woman, I was just taking notes. I wasn’t engaged at all.

I just wanted to address the curiosity that I had, and readers had, about being a subject. It’s not common to use two people though. If it’s purely the physiology, you hardly need two people. But I was interested because Masters and Johnson had 200 couples come into the lab.

You went from Stiff to Spook, and nowBonk. How did you make this move from darker themes like death to sex? What’s the connection?

I don’t think either of the first books are about death. Well, maybe Stiff is a little bit about death. The second is about the paranormal, and spiritualism, and applying science to both in a totally bizarre way. To me, death is dark, pain, grief.

How do you pick your topics, then?

Picking my topics is sort of a process of elimination for me. Most things don’t work for me. I like to cover science and unexpected things happening in labs. Also, theoretical research doesn’t work for my style. I need scenes and interactions. Then, humor. I’m having the most fun when I can have fun with my work. So, there are very few things that work for me. It’s actually very difficult to find my material.

Your sense of humor really comes through in your work and your talk. How did you decide to go author rather than stand-up comic?

The choice between books and stand-up was really easy — I’m just not that funny in person. My husband is. He’s always got a witty comeback. I’m not a quick wit. I’m only funny on paper. I mean, I’m not totally humorless! It’s just that in person, I’m not quite the way I am on paper. It definitely wasn’t a conscious decision.

So, what’s next for Mary Roach?

My next book is about astronauts and all aspects of space. It’s also about trying to live in space, with no gravity, no air.

Interesting. Will it also be given a one-word, one-syllable title?

It doesn’t make for a good monosyllabic title. That was never a marketing plan, the titles. It’s a coincidence that we used. But, it just ended. Unless, you have a suggestion. If you think of something, email me.

Will do! Maybe someone in the TED community will come up with something. We could ask for suggestions.

That would be great!

I really enjoy TED. You know, you go to TED and you’re just blown away. And, when I spoke, it was after all these amazing people who are changing the world, and then here’s Mary Roach talking about pig orgasms. I thought, “I just lowered the bar for TED. Oh my God, what have I done?”

I was afraid that this would be the talk that TED doesn’t post — that they’d ensure that it was lost in some archive somewhere …

We couldn’t be happier to post it, Mary.

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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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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