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Tech NewsWhy Is There No Male Birth Control Yet?
The injustice of our current contraceptive regime needs no elaboration. Enough to say that it’s bizarre, at this late date, that male birth control still does not exist. Every couple of years some scientist says they’re on the brink, and the same stale monologue jokes are hauled out of storage; afterwards they are placed back … Continued
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ScienceHealthBuying Birth Control Online Can Be Quick, Affordable, and Safe, Study Finds
For those antsy about getting their birth control online, a new study should offer some reassurance. With the help of secret shoppers, researchers found that several online sites and apps that prescribed contraceptives were generally affordable, timely, and safe. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of California Davis teamed up for the study, … Continued
By Ed Cara -
Tech NewsFertility App Downloaded by Thousands Is Reportedly Funded by Anti-Abortion Groups
Period tracking apps aren’t anything new, but recently, a few have been subject to greater scrutiny regarding their privacy, and efficacy—especially those marketed as contraceptive methods. The latest is Femm, which a Guardian report has found to be funded by anti-abortion campaigns. According to the Guardian, the app receives most of its funding from private … Continued
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ScienceHealthThe First Clinical Trial of a Male Birth Control Gel Is Under Way
An elusive medical advance might finally be within grasp, one that could make some couples’ sex lives a lot more convenient. This week, researchers officially kicked off the first wide-scale clinical trial of a male contraceptive topical gel. The trial, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), is set to … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
The FDA Has Cleared Its First Digital Birth Control App
Couples in the U.S. looking to either conceive or avoid pregnancy will now have a new tool available to them. On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration announced it has permitted a digital birth control app to be marketed as such in the U.S. The app, called Natural Cycles, is the first medical device of … Continued
By Ed Cara -
ScienceHealth
Accidental Pregnancies in the US Have Plummeted Thanks to IUDs
Unintended pregnancies are at a 30 year low in the United States. Experts say the welcome downtrend is mostly attributable to the burgeoning use of long-acting contraceptive methods, especially IUDs. A New England Journal of Medicine report out of the Guttmacher Institute shows that accidental pregnancies in the US have dropped by a whopping 18 … Continued
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Tech News
Pope Says It’s Probably Chill to Use a Condom in Regions Hit By Zika
Speaking to reporters earlier today, Pope Francis said it might be okay for women exposed to the Zika virus to use contraceptives to avoid pregnancy. His Holiness also reiterated the Vatican’s stance on abortion, which he described as an “absolute evil.” The Pope made the comments during an overnight flight on the papal plane back … Continued
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Tech News
Your Sex Education Data Sucks
The way we teach sex education in the United States is such a crazy-quilt of curricula that it’s hard to know what’s being taught to our high school students, or how accurately. And when we lack that kind of data, we can easily make some pretty terrible mistakes. Take, for example, Hannah Smothers’ article in … Continued
By Diane Kelly -
Tech NewsTell Us What Sex Ed in the United States Is Really Like
It’s hard to talk about sex education in the United States. Not just because conservative protesters try to prevent their local schools from teaching it, but because–as John Oliver pointed out last month in a spot-on segment of Last Week Tonight–lesson plans in US schools are wildly inconsistent, varying dramatically from one school district to … Continued
By Diane Kelly -
Tech News
Before we invented the tough, tearable plastic we use for condom wrappers, condoms came in tins of three. And as this 2006 post on Cardhouse shows, those tins were a canvas for some pretty amusing advertising. Like the Three Cadets “standing at attention”, or Dr. Robinson’s prescription pad (oh, these are just for my medical … Continued
By Diane Kelly -
Tech News
Why Birth Control Dispensers Look the Way They Do
The first working model of the now-iconic birth control pill dispenser is in the Smithsonian’s history collection. It’s built out of clear plastic, paper, and double-sided tape, held together by a snap from a child’s toy, with slices of wooden dowel standing in for pills. It was created to solve a vexing problem. In 1961, … Continued
By Diane Kelly -
Tech News
This Book Got The Author Sentenced to Three Months Hard Labor
Charles Knowlton didn’t think much of the laws of Massachusetts, at least when they interfered with his medical practice. By the time he opened a practice in the town of Ashfield, he had already been arrested in Amherst, MA for selling “infidel” books and had spent two months in the Worcester County Jail for grave … Continued
By Diane Kelly -
Tech News
There’s Better Birth Control Out There. Why Don’t Women Hear About It?
Teen birthrates are at an all-time low, but unintended pregnancies among young women are still a serious problem that disproportionately affects low-income families. A new study in The Lancet suggests that more training for healthcare providers could improve contraceptive use for these women. Cynthia Harper, a professor at the Bixby Center for Reproductive Health at … Continued
By Diane Kelly -
Tech News
Inventors Want Us to Have Better Safe Sex But Regulations Make it Hard
Some of you who’ve been reading Throb might think I’m a bit condom-obsessed, but that’s not accurate. I’m actually obsessed with people enjoying sex while preventing unwanted pregnancy and the spread of disease. And let’s be honest: no one is truly thrilled by latex condoms. In a word, they suck. Leaving aside the fact that … Continued
By Diane Kelly -
ScienceBiologyPablo Escobar’s Hippos Are Going Under the Knife for Contraception
By now you probably know the story of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar’s hippos, which are now wreaking havoc in Colombian wetlands. If you don’t, here’s a quick recap. While Escobar was in power, he worked on creating his own personal zoo on his property, Hacienda Napoles. He imported everything from rhinos and giraffes to … Continued
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ScienceBiologyA Hippo Learns The Only 100% Effective Birth Control is Abstinence
As part of their management of their animals, zoos get together to create breeding recommendations for each species. But sometimes the animals have their own plans. Despite being on contraceptives, a Los Angeles Zoo hippo delivered a surprise baby on Halloween. When the zoos that comprise the Association of Zoos and Aquariums get together to … Continued
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Tech News
Bill Gates Wants to Turn Your Birth Control On With a Remote
As far as contraception innovation goes, for the past several years, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundationhas been leading the pack. Next on the list? Revolutionizing actual bodily implants. Say hello to wireless birth control. Of course, implantable birth control itself isn’t anything new, but most current models are only good for about three years. … Continued
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ScienceBiology
Should A Virile Bear Be Castrated To Give Other Bears A Chance?
According to some estimates, approximately 1 in 200 men living today in historical Mongolia are descendents of Genghis Khan. Likewise, one particularly virile bear living in western Europe is the father, grandfather, or great-grandfather of every other bear born in his territory for the last two decades. Pyros is a 26 year old male brown … Continued
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ScienceBiology
The Odd Tale of the Hollywood Bison and the Quest to Save It
What links Hollywood, a chewing gum tycoon and contraceptive darts? It’s the story of an unusual herd of bison. Calvin Duncan crouches low to the ground and eyes his target. The female bison knows he’s there, just a few dozen metres away, but she keeps on chewing the grass. Duncan quietly raises his rifle to … Continued
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io9
How Iran Became One of the World’s Most Futuristic Countries
When we think about futurism, often we imagine cutting-edge technologies like bionic arms or weather machines for colonizing Mars. But if we really want to make it for another few centuries, we’re going to need something that Iran has already got. To understand Iran’s breakthrough, we need to go back in time to 1993, when … Continued