Page 4 - Sex Facts

Men who quit smoking have improved sexual activity

This might be enough to get some people to quit. A study has found that men who quit smoking had improved erections and reached maximal arousal 5 times faster than smokers who relapsed.

Researchers recruited 65 men who were quitting using nicotine patches (and no other drugs) and they were willing to be… measured in a lab a few times. They found that men who had successfully quit improved their sexual performance. Interestingly, the men reported no subjective improvement in their own ratings of sexual functioning.

Read more about this study here.

France used to have impotence courts. Men were forced to prove their sexual prowess in court!

In the 16th and 17th centuries, France had impotence courts. Husbands could be charged with erectile dysfunction and had to prove otherwise in front of witnesses. A husband’s inability to perform was one of the few reasons that the Church would allow a marriage to be annulled, so disgruntled women who could afford the legal costs would regularly charge their husbands with “injurious non-consummation” before ecclesiastical courts.

The onus was placed on the husband to demonstrate his powers of erection before an expert team of priests, surgeons, and midwives. These learned observers would carefully examine his equipment to reach an opinion on its “elastic tension” and “natural motion,” before demanding “proof of ejaculation.” Any man who failed this test had only one more chance to avoid becoming a laughing-stock. He could demand Trial by Congress, where he would have sex with his wife before the team of experts as 100 percent proof that he could perform.

The astonishing piece of legal pornography would take place in a neutral territory agreed upon by both parties. The married couple was examined by the court to make sure they were not concealing any devices, were watched during the act carefully, and examined afterwards.

(Source)

Trees have a maximum height!

A group of scientists who have climbed 5 of the world’s 8 tallest trees have examined their physiology in detail and have concluded that trees probably cannot grow more than 130m or 426ft. The tallest trees in the world are Coastal Redwoods in California and Oregon, and they consume a ridiculous amount of water.

When they examined the specimens' water flow, leaf structure and density, photosynthesis capability and carbon dioxide concentration, all appeared to converge at their minimum levels of efficiency at the heights reached by the Humboldt redwoods. For that reason, they may not exceed more than 130m. They’ll be monitoring them in the future.

(Source)

A man built a hotel that was designed to kill its guests!

HH Holmes is one of the first documented American serial killers. One of his sickest and notorious schemes is a “Castle” he built in Chicago that he opened at the time of the 1893 World’s Fair as a hotel. The hotel had numerous rooms and ways to kill people and it was so effective, that it’s unknown how many victims he claimed.

Holmes bought a lot in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago and started building. The “Castle” as it was dubbed by the neighbors, was a full block in area and three stories high. He constantly changed the builders so that he was the only one who knew the full layout of the place. It has a maze of over 100 windowless rooms with doorways opening to brick walls, oddly-angled hallways, stairs to nowhere, door that only opened from the outside… overall a really creepy place.

After the hotel was completed, Holmes selected mostly female victims from among his employees, and guests that came in from the world’s fair. He would torture and kill them by doing things like locking them in soundproof bedrooms with gas lines that let them asphyxiate.

The entire story is fascinating. You should read more about it here.

Brazilian waxes are endangering crabs!

Pubic Lice are becoming an endangered species. As cases of this parasite become less and less common, doctors think that the popularity of bikini waxing, and in particular Brazilian waxing has played a large role in this development. For example, in Australia, no women have been seen with crabs at Sydney’s main sexual health clinic since 2008. Male cases have fallen 80% in 10 years.

Unlike with other endangered species, no one is mourning this loss. Scientists say that destroying their habitat is good, and we’ll continue doing it: about 80% of college students say they remove their pubic hair these days.

(Source)