Light news day apparently

BBC World News:

Laptops may damage male fertility

Using it on your lap could be risky
Men who use laptop computers could be unwittingly damaging their fertility, experts believe.

Balancing it on the lap increases the temperature of the scrotum which is known to have a negative effect on sperm production, researchers found.

Coupled with the rising popularity of these computers - about 150m people use them worldwide - much more research is needed say the US authors.

The State University of New York findings appear in Human Reproduction.

Lead researcher Dr Yefim Sheynkin, from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, said: "Laptops can reach internal operating temperatures of over 70°C.

"They are frequently positioned close to the scrotum, and as well as being capable of producing direct local heat, they require the user to sit with his thighs close together to balance the machine, which traps the scrotum between the thighs."

The researchers asked 29 healthy male volunteers aged between 21 and 35 to take part in an experiment.

They then recorded the temperature changes to the scrotum caused by laptop use and different seating positions over one hour time periods.

Just sitting with the thighs together, a posture needed to balance a laptop, caused scrotal temperatures to rise by 2.1C.

Heating up

When the men used a laptop in this position the average temperatures increased by 2.6C on the left of the scrotum and 2.8C on the right.


It is worrying that having a laptop on your knees for only an hour can increase the temperature of the scrotum so significantly.
Dr Allan Pacey of the British Fertility Society

Dr Sheynkin said: "The body needs to maintain a proper testicular temperature for normal sperm production and development (spermatogenesis).

"We don't know the exact frequency and time of heat exposure capable of producing reversible or irreversible changes in spermatogenesis.

"But previous studies suggest that 1°C above the baseline is the possible minimal thermal gradient."

He said any changes might be reversible, but that repetitive use of a laptop in this way might cause permanent damage.

"Until further studies provide more information on this type of thermal exposure, teenage boys and young men may consider limiting their use of laptop computers on their laps," he said.

Speaking on behalf of the British Fertility Society, Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in Andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: "We already know that increasing the temperature of the testicles can affect sperm production.

"It is worrying that having a laptop on your knees for only an hour can increase the temperature of the scrotum so significantly.

"Men who use laptops regularly should be very careful.

"Further work is needed to see if regular laptop use is a risk factor in male fertility."

Do not attempt sexual relations, as years of TV radiation have left your genitals withered and useless.

Chief Wiggum: [checking under the covers] Well I'll be damned.

Elaine from Seinfeld: "I don't know how you guys walk around with those things"

We should be encouraging this sort of thing.

*buys peeps a laptop for christmas*

wow, you really have a teenie tiny hardon for me huh?


good for you


maybe i should buy you a gun and hope you shove it half way down your throat and pull the trigger?

I love guns.

I love sperm.

This sounds like the beginning of a Charleton Heston speech . . .

So... you're saying I should STOP having sex with my laptop? Fat chance.

Woohoo! Vasectomies were way too pricey and hurty!

so i should be using my laptop & then going into the jacuzzi ?

When I get married, I'm gluing a laptop to my husband's crotch (er, temporarily). It's cheaper, anyway...

I've asked my husband repeatedly to use the tray I got for him to lift the laptop off of his body, but he won't do it.

I guess he must enjoy being neutralized.....


.suxor.

funny ive never even onced used my laptop on my lap. ever.

"I love guns. I love sperm.
I love shootin' guns. I love sh "

I laughed out loud at this.

Finally, a computer for your lap.