If I were going to describe the perfect contraceptive, it would go something like this: no babies, no latex, no daily pill to remember, no hormones to interfere with mood or sex drive, no negative health effects whatsoever, and 100 percent effectiveness. The funny thing is, something like that currently exists.
The procedure called RISUG in India (reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance) takes about 15 minutes with a doctor, is effective after about three days, and lasts for 10 or more years. A doctor applies some local anesthetic, makes a small pinhole in the base of the scrotum, reaches in with a pair of very thin forceps, and pulls out the small white vas deferens tube. Then, the doctor injects the polymer gel (called Vasalgel here in the US), pushes the vas deferens back inside, repeats the process for the other vas deferens, puts a Band-Aid over the small hole, and the man is on his way. If this all sounds incredibly simple and inexpensive, that’s because it is. The chemicals themselves cost less than the syringe used to administer them. But the science of what happens next is the really fascinating part.
The two common chemicals — styrene maleic anhydride and dimethyl sulfoxide — form a polymer that thickens over the next 72 hours, much like a pliable epoxy, but the purpose of these chemicals isn’t to harden and block the vas deferens. Instead, the polymer lines the wall of the vas deferens and allows sperm to flow freely down the middle (this prevents any pressure buildup), and because of the polymer’s pattern of negative/positive polarization, the sperm are torn apart through the polyelectrolytic effect. On a molecular level, it’s what supervillains envision will happen when they stick the good guy between two huge magnets and flip the switch.
With one little injection, this non-toxic jelly will sit there for 10+ years without you having to do anything else to not have babies. Set it and forget it. Oh, and when you do decide you want those babies, it only takes one other injection of water and baking soda to flush out the gel, and within two to three months, you’ve got all your healthy sperm again.
The trouble is, most people don’t even know this exists. And if men only need one super-cheap shot every 10 years or more, that’s not something that gets big pharmaceutical companies all fired up, because they’ll make zero money on it (even if it might have the side benefit of, you know, destroying HIV).
If this sounds awesome for you or your loved one, get the word out. Share this article. Or link. Or this link. Or this one. Or this one. Sign this petition. Do something! A revolutionary contraceptive like this needs all the support it can get.
UPDATE: A lot of people are asking to be kept in the loop. So here’s the clinical trial/mailing list sign-up from the Parsemus Foundation to get further information about this procedure’s development. And again, please fill out the short non-spam petition to get the procedure funded and keep buzz going.
UPDATE: Could This Male Contraceptive Pill Make a Vas Deferens in the Fight Against HIV?
WHAT DO YOU THINK????
That Cuba has already developed four vaccines or inoculations against different types of cancer is without doubt important news for humanity. The World Health Organisation says each year about 8 million people die from this illness.
However, the international mainstream media have almost totally ignored this news.
Last year, Cuba patented the first therapeutic vaccine against advanced lung cancer in the world, called CIMAVAX-EGF. In January, the second one, called Racotumomab, was announced.
Clinical testing in 86 countries shows that these vaccines, although they don’t cure the illness, do managed to reduce tumours and allow for a stable stage of the illness, thereby increasing hope and quality of life.
The Molecular Immunology Centre of Havana, a Cuban state organisation, is the creator of all these vaccines.
In 1985 it developed the vaccine for meningitis B, the only one in the world, and later others that fight hepatitis B and dengue. For years, the centre has been conducting research to develop vaccines against AIDS-HIV.
The other Cuban state-run centre, Laboratories LABIOFAM, has developed homeopathic medicine for cancer such as VIDATOX, created from the blue scorpion’s venom. Cuba exports these medicines to 26 countries, and takes part in joint companies with China, Canada, and Spain.
All of this goes against the well-enforced stereotype, reinforced by the media silence regarding advances achieved by Cuba and other global south (so-called Third World) countries, that vanguard medical research takes place only in so-called developed countries.
Ugandan girl, 19, makes deworming tablet: Innovation. The medicine, made of dried pawpaw seeds, sugar and cassava flour or banana flour.
“My dream is to become a veterinary doctor but I am also an emerging innovator,” says Christine Nalukwago, the girl behind the research which might lead to the discovery of locally-made de-worming tablets.
Nalukwago, 19, currently a Senior Six student at Kitante Hill School, says she hatched the idea of coming up with a solution to parasitic worms in children while staying with her grandmother.“My grandmother used to give us dried pawpaw seeds to chew when we were still young but we didn’t know the use. But one day, she told us that they expel worms from our bodies,” she says.
Nalukwago says she became inquisitive after her grandma’s revelation and when she joined secondary school where she has access to laboratories, she chose to carry her research forward.
“At first, the results were not good but I kept on trying,” says Nalukwago, who offers Physics, Chemistry, Agriculture and sub-Math as a subject combination.
How it is done: Nalukwago says some of the substances she mixes to develop the ‘drug’ includes; dried pawpaw seeds, sugar and cassava flour or banana flour.
“I mix them in equal quantity and leave them in a clean open place to concentrate. Sometimes the whole process takes a week when there is enough sunshine or two weeks when there is little sunshine,” Nalukwago explains.
She says after final tests in the laboratory, she tried the drug on a worm and it died instantly. (read more via Daily Monitor)
Meanwhile in the Silent Hill Wal-Mart parking lot…
WHAT IN THE NAME OF WALTER IS THAT
Makin my way to hell
Walking fast, demons past
The revolutionary ‘contact lens’ loaded with stem cells that restores sight - by helping the eye heal itself naturally
A ‘contact lens’ loaded with stem cells could be a way to naturally repair or retain sight. Scientists hope the biodegradable implant loaded with stem cells that then multiply will allow the body to heal the eye naturally.
Stem cells are the building blocks of tissue growth. They can transform into any other type of cell the body is built from and so should be able to repair everything from the brain to the heart. The scientists at the University of Sheffield who developed the implant now hope the new technique could help millions of people across the world retain or even regain - their sight.
The technology has been designed to treat damage to the cornea, the transparent layer on the front of the eye, which is one of the major causes of blindness in the world. With the new implant, by mimicking structural features of the eye, the researchers have developed a new method for producing very delicate thin membranes to help graft stem cells onto the eye itself.
Using a series of complex techniques, the researchers are able to make a disc of biodegradable material that can be fixed over the cornea. The disc is loaded with stem cells that then multiply, allowing the body to heal the eye naturally. Standard treatments for corneal blindness are corneal transplants or grafting stem cells onto the eye using a donated human membrane as a temporary carrier to deliver these cells to the eye.
But for some patients, the treatment can fail after a few years as the repaired eyes do not retain these stem cells, which are required to carry out repair of the cornea. A key feature of this new disc is that it contains small pockets to house and protect the stem cells, to keep them in the eye and also grouped together.
‘The disc has an outer ring containing pockets into which stem cells taken from the patient’s healthy eye can be placed,’ said Dr Ílida Ortega Asencio, from Sheffield’s Faculty of Engineering.
‘The material across the centre of the disc is thinner than the ring, so it will biodegrade more quickly allowing the stem cells to proliferate across the surface of the eye to repair the cornea.’
Without this constant repair, thick white scar tissue forms across the cornea causing partial or complete sight loss. The researchers said another advantage of the disc is that it is biodegradable and made from the same material already used in sutures, so it will not cause a problem in the body.Laboratory tests have shown that the membranes will support cell growth. As a result, clinical trials are expected to begin shortly in India, as the Sheffield scientists are working in conjunction with researchers at the LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad.
Commenting on the disc, Dr Frederick Claeyssens, lecturer in biomaterials at the University of Sheffield, said: ‘We also believe that the overall treatment using these discs will not only be better than current treatments, it will be cheaper as well.’
The research is published in the journal Acta Biomaterialia.
When we think of scientists and researchers, a passion for discovery, not a penchant for daredevil antics, is usually what comes to mind. Yet many a researcher has faced injury, illness and even death in the name of scientific breakthroughs. After all, when dissecting the mysteries of plague and plutonium, it doesn’t take much for things to go terribly wrong.
I’m going to prove this wrong one point at a time, color-coded style for simplicity. Remember, children, I only highlighted the things that are utter bullshit. For bonus fun, read just the parts that are not highlighted, i.e true.
Red— Oxytocin is released at many point in a person’s life for any number of reasons; including the ones mentioned above, social interaction, and masturbation.
Orange— Oxytocin does help foster an attachment in social situations, sex, and during its other times of release, but the attachment is by no means lifelong.
Yellow— Contrary to the hot mess way up above, men also release it during all the same situations women do, excluding the baby-having ones.
Green— Once the hormone levels fade back to baseline, there is no permanent change in thought or emotion due to the increase in Oxytocin
Blue— Oxytocin cannot cause lasting psychological damage unless there is a complete lack of its ability to be made, received, or processed.
Indigo— Humans are certainly not designed to have only one partner. The head of the human penis is extremely effective at removing the seed of other males, not to mention the fact that evolutionary biologist theorize that a woman’s moaning during sex was intended to attract other males to ensure pregnancy.
Violet— Multiple releases of Oxytocin actually increase the ability to synthesize more Oxcytocin. So, in theory, having more sex and positive social experiences will make you a more empathetic person and help you release more of it during situations where it is required.
Look at you, being wrong in all the colors of the rainbow.
My hero
In case you ever wanted to know what NASA has done for us, and why we should invest in it, well, here you go.
“Chemists answer “What’s the most dangerous chemical you’ve ever handled?”
Sometimes, science can be pretty fucking terrifying.”
One of the more chilling photographs I’ve ever seen is also one of the simplest - a vial of live HIV. Science will fuck you up and write everything down while doing so.
Everyone remembers the omnipresent sand bucket in every high school chem lab, used to douse errant flames or explosions. There is a chemical, however, that would simply go on to set said sand bucket on fire.
Chlorine trifluoride is a stronger oxidising agent than oxygen itself, and will merrily pull the oxygen out of brick, sand and asbestos tile to keep burning. It was briefly considered for self-igniting flamethrowers in WW2 by the Germans, but dismissed as an option, as it was considered more difficult to handle than fluorine gas.
Reblogging for later use.
That’s actually a theory incorporated into M-theory (string theory)
Sorry, I just used the word theory three times.
Basically, there is a possibility, if string theory is correct and atoms are actually made up of tiny strings vibrating in 10 dimensions, we could have infinite parallel universes inside each and every quark contained in our body. We’re huge to them, and tiny to the universe WE are contained in.
How bout that? There could be billions upon trillions of creatures, things, worlds, inside each atom inside us. Infinite universes in one quark.
Mia your geek is showing.This is why I study physics.
…whoah. brb, contemplating this forever.
So does that mean that when we die all those billions of universes and creatures die within us?
Scientists successfully generate gasoline out of thin air
Breakthrough technology takes carbon, hydrogen and oxygen from CO2 and water in the air to create methanol and then converts it into gasoline.We’ll never hear about this again. And we may never hear from those scientists again.
Amazing though.
Big Oil’s gonna be piiiiiiiiissed
Somebody go put these folks in the witness protection program before they get hits put on them by ExxonMobil
just in time for me to get my first whip
PUT THIS EVERYWHERE.
Now HERE’S a post that needs 4 million notes!
EVERYBODY REBLOG
I’ve actually heard of a man mysteriously disappearing after he refused to the government to not go through with his making of a substitute of gasoline with water. So everybody needs to reblog. Seriously.
Scientists successfully generate gasoline out of thin air
Breakthrough technology takes carbon, hydrogen and oxygen from CO2 and water in the air to create methanol and then converts it into gasoline.We’ll never hear about this again. And we may never hear from those scientists again.
Amazing though.
Big Oil’s gonna be piiiiiiiiissed
Somebody go put these folks in the witness protection program before they get hits put on them by ExxonMobil
just in time for me to get my first whip
PUT THIS EVERYWHERE.
Now HERE’S a post that needs 4 million notes!
