10 Things You Didn’t Know About Orgasm (VIDEO)

In this TED talk, author Mary Roach describes ten facts about orgasm. Although these facts are somewhat obscure and won’t necessarily impact your own sex life one way or another, they will certainly entertain you and perhaps even make for some great cocktail party conversation! Among the many fascinating topics addressed is the idea that genital stimulation is not necessary to produce orgasm. In fact, Roach details cases of people who can bring themselves to orgasm through activities as mundane as touching their eyebrows and brushing their teeth.

Other topics include “in-utero masturbation” (yes, you read that right), the possibility of orgasm after death, and the fact that “the big o” can cure chronic cases of hiccupping (no need to hold your breath or breathe into a paper bag anymore!). As is that weren’t enough, you will also learn my new favorite sex fact: “Cheese crumbs spread before a pair of copulating rats will distract the female, but not the male.” Sometimes I wonder why scientists study anything other than sex…

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Mary Roach is the author of Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, a must-read for anyone interested in the scientific study of sexuality. For more sexy reading suggestions, click check out this page. If you would like to purchase Bonk (or anything else from Amazon.com), please consider doing so through this link and a portion of the purchase price will go toward keeping this blog running.