Tuesday - February 26, 2008

Science Fiction becoming science fact

In Larry Niven’s Ringworld books, Louis Wu was a “wirehead”; a “current addict” who had an electrical implant hooked up to pleasure centers of his brain. Jacking into his “droud” he could bliss out for days on end. Later on this concept evolved into a “tasp”, a sort-of weapon like a stun gun that could disable people by instantly sending them to that happy place. We’ve seen similar devices in Sci-Fi films, from Barbarella, to Woody Allen’s Sleeper, to the more recent Demolition Man. The idea goes back a long way, probably at least to accupuncture and sexy back rubs. Heck, we even feed a similar idea to our children! You remember that twisted cartoon Ren & Stimpy, when Stimpy invented the Happy Helmet?

An evening with your remote is about to be revolutionized.  In just two to three years, you may be erupting into orgasm with the simple touch of a button. A new gadget — the “Orgasmatron” — basically promises a near-instant orgasm by targeting your lower back.

When anesthesiologist Dr. Stuart Meloy was working on a device for treating chronic pain, I’m sure he wasn’t thinking that his spinal cord stimulator could one day treat orgasmic dysfunction. But soon after powering up an electrode that had been placed into the spine of a woman with chronic back pain, the patient began moaning and hyperventilating. She not only reported decreased pain, but an orgasm!

Meloy decided to conduct a study of 11 women, six of whom had never had an orgasm and five of whom had lost the ability to orgasm. Ten of the 11 were stimulated by the device’s electrodes, which were implanted into the bottom part of the women’s spinal cord (the 11th participant never used her device during the nine-day trial). Using a remote control, Meloy stimulated the device’s electrodes, which fire impulses to the brain in blocking pain signals.

The women who had had orgasm at previous points in their lives interpreted the signal as an orgasm.

Stuart Meloy, whose spinal implant causes orgasms in most women, has patented the device and tested it on several women and men a couple of years ago. Now he needs to go through another round of tests as he preps the device for FDA approval to treat “female orgasm dysfuntion,” defined simply as an inability to have orgasms. Here’s a diagram of how it works. A small box about the size of an Altoids tin is attached to two thin wires that snake under your skin and attach to the nerves in your spine responsible for sexual pleasure. Send electricity through the wires, stimulate the nerves, and watch the hot results.

According to an article last week in the Los Angeles Times:

Women who have used the device say they feel as if their clitoris and vagina are actually being stimulated, to quite realistic effect. ("One woman asked me, ‘Would it be considered adultery if I gave the remote control to someone other than my husband?’ “ Meloy says.)

Some volunteers also report fleeting episodes of clenched foot muscles, Meloy says, probably a result of electrical pulses leaving the spine and stimulating nearby motor nerves. (He wonders if the phenomenon might somehow be related to a common orgasm description: “My toes curled.")

And when the device’s pulse intensity is cranked up to maximum, Meloy says, some women find their vaginal and rectal muscles squeezing rhythmically in time with the pulses, even before the orgasmic finale.

Meloy says he has also implanted two impotent men with the device. Both volunteers were able to achieve an erection, he says, and reportedly had powerful ejaculations.
...
Design work is underway to get the cost of the procedure down to about $12,000—roughly the price of breast implants, Meloy says.

He plans to shrink the size of the internal processor to the size of two sticks of gum and the external processor to roughly the size of a belt pager, all while ensuring that the system is durable enough to withstand shear forces of typical use.

Before Food and Drug Administration approval could be granted and the device sent to market—Meloy estimates that’s probably still two or three years away—the new design will need to be tested in another study, he says. But there will be no animal testing phase. “I don’t know how to ask animals, ‘Where do you feel the tingling?’ or ‘Do you want a cigarette?’ ”

And here you were, only worrying whether your work job would become obsolete because of technology. Not to worry. Most men will still hog the remote control.

LA Times article
geeky sci-fi blog article
FoxNews article

Posted by Drew458     on 02/26/2008 at 12:46 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner