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Using Nanotechnology To Build Thinner, Stronger Condoms
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Discovery Magazine reports that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has granted $100,000 to Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) to develop a nanoparticle coating for condoms that will make them more comfortable and stronger while simultaneously keeping them thin to preserve – and increase – sensation in order to make them more appealing to use. According to the Gates Foundation, in the time that condoms have been in use, not much has changed: '[Condoms] have undergone very little technological improvement in the past 50 years. The primary improvement has been the use of latex as the primary material and quality-control measures, which allow for quality testing of each individual condom. Material science and our understanding of neurobiology has undergone revolutionary transformation in the last decade, yet that knowledge has not been applied to improve the product attributes of one of the most ubiquitous and potentially underutilized products on earth.' The nanotechnology that the Boston doctors intend to use for their improved condoms will be superhydrophillic nanoparticles that coat the condom and trap water to make them more resilient and easier to use. 'We believe that by altering the mechanical forces experienced by the condom, we may ultimately be able to make a thinner condom which reduces friction, thereby reducing discomfort associated with friction increases pleasure, thereby increasing condom use and decreases rates of unwanted pregnancy and infection transmission.'"
Now you know, ladies.
News for nerds.
Isn't friction what generates sensation? That's part of the problem with condoms now, no feeling.
How long before we're hiring kids to go pick up nano pore condoms off the beach so we can recycle them in to materials to keep the nanobots off our lawns?
Probably never, but I finally get to make the reference!
for my size please. eeeehhhh....WTF!!!
I come to Slashdot only to read sigs. One you are reading is mine.
Well, the pregnancy prevention part is pretty simple - outpatient surgery will fix you right up.
Preventing microbe transfer when bodily fluids are mixed and parts are in direct contact - well, that's quite a bit more challenging without a physical barrier.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Seems like a dick move to me.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
my wife and i will start having sex without a condom and i'll only put it at the very end
after ten years of marriage we only have 2 kids
I am not a homosexual necrophiliac, said Tom, in dead earnest.
Thanks, try the veal.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
I agree, this will be fantastic. I'm sick of wearing these bandages on my hands all the time.
How about you not try to ignite a flame war on an unrelated story? This is about condoms, not circumcision. It's an issue for both cut and uncut men. Take your rant elsewhere, please.
Everything is better with chainsaws.
Condom nanotubes
There already are different sizes condoms based on your measurements (96 available sizes). They-Fit is the brand and they have an on-line store (European company).
I have tried them and they are pretty much spot on :-).
Their largest size makes Magnum look like a condom for mice. And their smallest size goes to well veeery small.
One interesting tidbit from that article:
If you are affected, you can opt for polyurethane condoms, which protect against pregnancy just as well. Polyurethane is thin and strong and effectively conducts body heat and, according to some reports, is more compatible with sexual pleasure than latex.
I've never heard of polyurethane condoms either. Hell if I didn't find them at Walgreens! ( http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/trojan-supra-lubricated-premium-polyurethane-condoms/ID=prod2303823-product )
Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
A product that 99% of slashdotters will never get to use, despite the coolness of it being nano-technology. Then again, 99% of slashdotters don't get to use supercomputers either, but Slashdot reports on them. Maybe when we get sex robots, but then again you really don't need a condom for a machine unlikely to get pregnant.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
While they are at it, could they please make condoms biodegradable. After plastic bags, condoms are probably one of the worst culprits in terms of emitting plastic into the ocean and nature (unlike plastic bags, condoms are often flushed down the toilet).
Isn't this what the "wearable computing" poll was all about?
You will not drink with us, but you would taste our steel? - Walter Matthau, The Pirates
Which is perplexing because you're infertile...
Bill Gates should use some of that clout of his to actually so some good re: condoms.
First, get on the phone and blast that mysogynistic virgin running the Catholic Church and make him promote condom use, especially in Africa. Then get US teens some proper, frank, honest and mandatory sex ed classes with all the gory details so that you combat the US having the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world, according the the Center for Disease Control, who notes that 30% of women below age 20 get pregnant in the US. If those happen, then he can claim to be doing some good re: sex and condoms.
DaveyJJ
You put it on your dongle to practice safe hex.
Multiple sizes come in condoms! ....I'll get my coat....
640 micrometers should be enough for anyone!
>I hate you Citation Needed people so much.
independent citation needed
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.