German Carpenter's Testicluar Valve Could Mean An On/Off Switch For Sperm

Press2ToContinue writes: A German carpenter has invented a valve which he claims will revolutionize contraception, by allowing a man to turn the flow of sperm from his testicles on and off at the flick of a switch. It (the switch, of course) is nearly an inch long and weighs less than a tenth of an ounce. It is surgically implanted on the vas deferens, the tube that carries sperm from the testicles, in a half-hour operation, and controlled by a switch beneath the skin of the scrotum.

So far Bimek is the only man who has the switches implanted, one for each testicle. I wonder what other switches we will see implanted into humans in the future? I think I'd like a valve for adrenaline control.

Comments

Just skip it.

[Anonymous Coward]

From a male's perspective....

1) Sex is expensive. Either you are paying a prostitute, which is expensive, or you are dating a woman, which is expensive, or you are married, which is the most expensive (especially when the divorce bill comes around and basically wipes you out).

2) Sex is time-consuming. Include the time invested in managing one's appearance, finances, etc., in order to acquire a partner, and then further time cost of maintaining that partner. This is slightly less of a problem for prostitution, provided you live in an area where it is readily available and legal (which most don't).

3) Sex is dangerous. It spreads disease. It makes you vulnerable to charges (false or otherwise) of rape, which can be life-destroying. It risks pregnancy which (if unwanted) can be life-destroying. Prostitution is illegal in most places.

4) Sex never satisfies. Or rather, the satisfaction never lasts. No matter how much you get, you still want more.

5) Sex is gross (your opinion may vary, but the more you learn about biology the more disgusting it becomes).

6) Sex is not necessary. To overcome the desire, just masturbate. To overcome loneliness, hang out with friends. Plenty of research demonstrates that friendship cures loneliness whereas romance does not (and in fact can make it worse). Google it.

One does not need any puritanical/religious beliefs to see that it is in one's selfish best-interest to avoid sex altogether. The stigma associated with being single is gone. You can more fully self-actualize if you can free yourself from slavery to this instinct which serves the species at your expense.

No, I am not a gross hairy nerd who can't get laid, so skip the ad hominem fallacies and focus replies on the actual content of the post, thanks.

Re:Just skip it.

[Grishnakh]

Consider this: A single guy in his 40's who's never married is a bachelor, a playboy, a swinger, etc. while a woman in her 40's who's never married is...a spinster. What else? Cat lady? Cougar? MILF? None of these terms have very positive overtones, and some are downright insulting.

I see some really selective stereotyping here. What about the "40-year-old virgin" guy? They made a movie about that 5 or 10 years ago. That guy definitely isn't considered a "playboy".

And how is a MILF considered "insulting"? That sounds like a compliment to me; usually older women are (were) seen as past their prime, not really someone a younger guy would want sex with. A MILF or cougar is. It's a compliment to women who aged well.

As for spinsters, I think part of the problem there might be the social circles that women are in. Who's actually calling you (or any women you know like this) a "spinster" or similar? This sounds like a problem largely of these women's own making, by voluntarily being in social circles that have these attitudes. The guy who's a 40yo virgin and hangs out with his nerdy friends doesn't have this problem because all his buddies are in the same boat; they might get shit from their parents but that's about it, and usually 40yos don't live with their parents any more. Remember also, women tend to be much more social than men, and are conditioned that way from early childhood. So older single men seem to frequently end up just living alone and being alone much of the time; they're not around anyone who's going to make up derogatory names for them and their singleness.

Also, you're absolutely wrong about a single 40yo guy being called a "swinger". A "swinger" is a married person who, together with their spouse, engages in extramarital sex. You've never heard of "swingers parties"?

But basically, you seem to be looking at George Clooney and assuming he's representative of all 40+ single men, which honestly is rather insulting because most men aren't blessed with his looks or charisma. Most 40+ men who are single are that way either because they're like the 40yo virgin guy (but not remotely as attractive as Steve Carrell; that's Hollywood for you), nerdy and/or unattractive and uninteresting to women, not because they've actively avoided marriage.

Re:Screw that (pun intended).

[VernonNemitz]

I first heard of something like this idea long before the Internet became popular. That old story also mentioned a problem, that when the vas is closed, it bursts. This is why when doctors do a vasectomy, they only tie ONE end of each cut tube (the end that leads toward the prostate, not the end connected to the testicle). This invention actually needs a Y-shaped valve, such that when it is closed, only the flow toward the prostate stops, while sperm can continue to flow out into the body cavity, as if one end of the vas had been cut but not tied.

Leave your balls alone.

[seoras]

I had 2 kids with my ex wife who then nagged me into getting a vasectomy.
It's very easy, easier than going to the dentist for a filling in fact.

However I then started getting pain in my nuts.
You see they tie off your vas and the sperm has no where to go - think of the car chase scene in the Blue's Brothers with all the cop cars piling up on top of each other. That's your epididymis swelling up with all the sperm piling up.
This German inventor's idea doesn't solve this problem however it does allow you to switch back on if you do get congestive epididymitis.

After I split with her I had it reversed.
2 hours on the table and a couple of big black grape fruits the next morning.
3 months for the bruising to fade.
I timed it to be when I was writing my thesis for my masters. Plenty of quiet, sitting down working time.

I've now got 5 kids and no.6 due in March. Pisses my ex off no end.
I still, occasionally, get congestive epididymitis.

Interesting fact. Vasectomy is illegal in France. Smart country.
The only positive was it raised my Testosterone level to somewhere near where it was when I was 16.
Going back to University for a year, single, sterile and horny as a teenager made for a very memorable time in my life. ;)

As a war veteran of vasectomy my advice is this.
Leave your nuts alone to do what they are supposed to do!

Re:Screw that (pun intended).

[dmr001]

Most vasectomy techniques involve tying (ligating) or fulgurating (burning) both ends. The vas doesn't seem to burst, but there is a complication called "sperm granuloma" where leaking sperm (often happens) can cause inflammation (also often happens) which can cause pain (doesn't happen that often) and in rare circumstances recanalization of the vas.

Granted, it's been a while since I performed a vasectomy but I was trained to ligate and cauterize/fulgurate both ends. Surgical implantation of this switch sounds tricky: the vas is a slippery little thing, the canal narrow, and the human body doesn't always take kindly to the implantation of foreign material.

FWIW, most of the volume of ejaculate isn't sperm, but prostatic fluid. Vasectomized guys are shooting blanks, but it's not easy to distinguish between the blanks and live ammo without a microscope. Check out the grin on this urologist as he explains the same.