Ultrasound As a Male Contraceptive 599
TeslaBoy writes "The BBC has an article about using ultrasound aimed at the testicles as a reversible male contraceptive. This can last for six months. With a grant of $100,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, researchers at the University of North Carolina will push ahead with more clinical trials, fine tuning, and safety tests."
Re:if 'twere permanent... (Score:3, Interesting)
How are children a selfish act?
Continue the species, taxpayers for social programs, potential to do something great, etc
Re:Club Of Rome Fascism (Score:2, Interesting)
However, the dark side to Limits To Growth (or I guess I should say "darker") is the prediction that this will fail and only a China style One Child Policy and mass sterilization programs will be effective for limiting population growth.
I don't see what the alternative could possibly be. As a species, we have two choices: 1) voluntarily limit our population, so that don't have so many problems with resources and environmental destruction (which leads to more resources shortages), or 2) ignore the problem, and suffer the consequences. Since the consequences of ignoring the problem would most probably be disastrous, as there's simply no way we can provide a 1st-world standard of living for 100 billion people (at least not without some major technological advances which aren't here yet and may take centuries to achieve), #2 sounds like suicide; it could result in severe environmental damage which would then lead to the world being unlivable for most humans, and a massive die-off would then happen along with the total collapse of civilization.
Ultrasound contraception sounds like a pretty good alternative. Even unwilling men could easily be subjected to it, perhaps even without their knowledge as they walk in a public area. Of course, the Catholic Church would be up in arms about this, but they've never had any realistic alternative for the problem, and deny the problem altogether.
Re:I'll need something a little more definite... (Score:3, Interesting)
I had thought about that too. It would take several weeks before it "kicked in" because of the lag time for sperm production. Shut down your testicles tomorrow and you'll still be fertile until the stored sperm in the epididymis is used up. Given that, I don't see this method as being particularly popular unless you can keep "zapping" the testicles to ensure they don't resume sperm production. If they do then you are looking at another few weeks of having to use alternate birth control methods and in that case what's the damn point?
Re:A word to the wise: (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:A word to the wise: (Score:2, Interesting)
Here is an example of why (Score:2, Interesting)
Anyone remember Therac-25?
The Therac-25 was a radiation therapy machine produced by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) after the Therac-6 and Therac-20 units (the earlier units had been produced in partnership with CGR of France). It was involved with at least six accidents between 1985 and 1987, in which patients were given massive overdoses of radiation, approximately 100 times the intended dose.[2] Three of the six patients died as a direct consequence. These accidents highlighted the dangers of software control of safety-critical systems, and they have become a standard case study in health informatics and software engineering.
(more after the link)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25 [wikipedia.org]
Also a sidenote, I see how some people program (which is scary), to have them develop a machine aiming stuff at my balls, I would need to be on ALOT of drugs to agree to that.
Re:if 'twere permanent... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Sign me up! (Score:4, Interesting)
Completely true story:
I broke up with my girlfriend a few weeks before my vacation. I have a high sex drive and she knew about this. She also knew that I masturbate into paper towels sometimes and throw them away when I'm lazy because my room is far from my bathroom. When I went on vacation I forgot to take out the trash... And I came in to my house to find it broken into with all my trash scattered around and a voicemail saying thanks for the child...
=|
Of course it didn't work but still, WTF.
Re:A word to the wise: (Score:3, Interesting)
That ones never good, because its always followed by blood and screaming...
then next thing you know some kid is kicking open a shitter door and someones being shot to collect some damned reward...
Re:Sign me up! (Score:3, Interesting)
I had a girlfriend who said she was on birth control. One time after sex she put a pillow under her butt. When asked why, she told me that gravity would help the sperm reach the egg. Then she explained that she was ovulating right then. Apparently she had been planning this with the help of a doctor.
I spent the next couple months in horror thinking she had been successful. That day was burned into my memory as the day my life was ruined. I couldn't stand the girl any more and she knew it. That was why she did it.
She taunted me by coming around about once a month asking if I wanted to have sex. Of course I didn't, she knew that and was rubbing it in. Then I realized the timing. Once a month. When I looked at the calendar it was once every 28 days. It didn't work the first time so she was trying to get more chances to get knocked up with the (hopefully expensive) help of her doctor!
I can only be thankful that she is as stupid as a James Bond villian. If she didn't tell me her plan before getting knocked up she could have been successful.
Re:Sign me up! (Score:3, Interesting)
The truth is stranger than fiction. I'm also tired of women always playing the victim when they can be just as malicious and stupid as men.
Re:How do you... (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes she was very lazy. It was one of the many things I disliked about her. She was also very unintelligent and had no education beyond highschool. She did a good job at hiding these flaws at first which is how we got together.
Am I rich? You probably wouldn't consider me rich, but this happened during the dot com boom. She probably expected me to become a multi-billionare.
The other person replying to you wasn't me. She wasn't successful. Sex during ovulation is more likely to not lead to pregnancy. It takes about 10 tries even if timed right. Through a little luck and a lot of arrogance and ignorance of science on her part, nothing happened. She didn't get pregnant, and her repeated attempts failed since she already told me her plan after the first try when she thought it was a done deal.
She feels like the most pathetic person I have ever met, but I suspect that people like her are quite common. You might not believe that guy whose ex stole his tissues from the trash but I don't doubt it for a second. She is no more idiotic or petty than the girlfriend I had. She had a stupid plan to get pregnant and believed it had worked before she had any proof. People like that are incapable of being successful in the real world and attempt to force an attachment to someone much smarter and successful like a parasite. Don't let this happen to you. We were lucky. Now we know how important male contraception is. Push for it. Once it is available use it. Think computer security. Don't trust a girl if you don't have to. If she is on birth control, you should use your own. Decrease the chances of pregnancy even more. At the same time you are preventing her from tricking you into an attachment you might not want right now.