Laptops – the high tech male birth control device? |
| Date Added: June 26, 2007 01:47:07 PM |
As early as 2004, medical journals were reporting about the possible effects of laptop computers on the reproductive capability of males. The infertility may be brought about by increased temperatures in the scrotal area, compounding the atypically male posture of bringing the thighs closer together to balance the laptop, which also accounts for the increased scrotal temperature.
Studies conducted by Yefim Sheynkin at the State University of New York and published in the journal Human Reproduction have observed the effect of heat from laptop computers on scrotal temperature, and implications are that constant laptop use may join the list of possible causes of infertility, along with drug use, alcohol abuse, smoking, obesity and pesticides.
Using 29 volunteers with ages ranging from their early twenties to their mid-thirties, Sheynkin found that men who sat with their thighs together to balance a laptop caused scrotal temperatures to rise by 2.1C. But when the Pentium 4 based laptops were turned on, average temperatures rose by 2.6C on the left of the scrotum and 2.8C on the right. While detractors claim that such temperatures may also be achived while sitting in a hot tub or in a sauna, men undeniably spend more time working on their laptop computers than steaming themselves, thus effectively zombiefying the x's and the y's.
It also seems that the more powerful a laptop computer is, the more heat it generates. Various owners of Macintosh computers who have upgraded through the years will attest that the newer high-end models generate a lot more heat than the vintage models. Member Charles at macopinon.com states that while the “Core 2 Duo did improve on the Core Duo . . . in general, the MacIntel notebooks run substantially hotter than even the faster PPC notebooks, while the old PPC 603e PowerBook 5300s and 1400s would never get much more than lukewarm to the touch and didn't have cooling fans at all. The first really hot-running PowerBooks were the early generation G3s, and they ran considerably cooler than the MacBooks and MacBook Pros.”
The emergence of mobile computing has contributed to the use of laptop computers, and more and more young men have been spending more time with machines rather than their sweethearts on their laps. And while less-heat laptops have been made possible with the introduction of the Core 2 Duo processor used on the later model Sony Vaio and Lenovo ThinkPad computers, their over-all priceyness still compells companies to provide their mobile employees with the high-end but more affordable high-heat models.
Lately men are also eyeing laptops over desktops, having discovered that gaming and mobility go best with coffee at the nearest wi-fi outlet. It looks like the more the big boys go for the big toys, the more they are exposing themselves to the possibility of a progenyless future. While this may be offset by attachments like laptop coolers, pillows and books strategically placed between man and machine, the better solution may be to keep laptops where they belong—on desktops.
Written By: Rich Olson - Staff Writer - www.Portal4Health.com |