* Cracked has 7 insane conspiracies that actually happened.

* MetaFilter has a fun post on irrationalities in the stock market like the January effect, the weekend effect, and the Halloween indicator.

* Via Boing Boing, Scientific American tackles the science of orgasm.

But when a woman reached orgasm, something unexpected happened: much of her brain went silent. Some of the most muted neurons sat in the left lateral orbitofrontal cortex, which may govern self-control over basic desires such as sex. Decreased activity there, the researchers suggest, might correspond to a release of tension and inhibition. The scientists also saw a dip in excitation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, which has an apparent role in moral reasoning and social judgment—a change that may be tied to a suspension of judgment and reflection.

Brain activity fell in the amygdala, too, suggesting a depression of vigilance similar to that seen in men, who generally showed far less deactivation in their brain during orgasm than their female counterparts did. “Fear and anxiety need to be avoided at all costs if a woman wishes to have an orgasm; we knew that, but now we can see it happening in the depths of the brain,” Holstege says. He went so far as to declare at the 2005 meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Development: “At the moment of orgasm, women do not have any emotional feelings.”

We here at Gerry Canavan Industries are watching this research with great interest, as our G Spotter™ and CliMax 3000™ products have not yet caught on in the way we might have hoped.

* I forgot to link to Waxy's great compilation of obsessive fanboy supercuts, including such gems as every "What?" ever uttered on Lost, every "Dude" and F-bomb in The Big Lebowski, and every murder from the Sopranos. Below: Sen. Clay Davis.

A new days ago, I brought you news of the G Spotter™, which makes it possible "to determine by a simple, rapid and inexpensive method if a woman has got a G spot or not." We here at Gerry Canavan Industries are following that incredible device up with the CliMax 3000™, which can determine using a brain scan whether or not a woman has really had an orgasm or is just faking. I'll let the device's inventor speak for himself:

Professor Holstege said: "Women can imitate orgasm quite well."

I'll say. But, using science, at last this subterfuge can be exposed.

At left, a genuine orgasm. At right, the "tell-tale brain activity in a fake orgasm."



Remember, if it's not a CliMax™, it's just fake.

Holstege has some additional Science to share with would-be lovemakers:

"When you want to make love to a woman, you must give her the feeling of being protected."

This is precisely why the importance of hooking a woman up to brain-scanning equipment during the physical act of love cannot be overstated.

Also, lest it be said I never did anything for the good of humanity, allow me share another part of the study's results:

One thing that they found was putting the couples off the task was literally cold feet.

When they gave the couples socks to wear, about 80% of the couples were able to achieve orgasm compared with 50% previously in this staged environment.

This backs up earlier findings:

Dr Jannini said: "For the first time, it is possible to determine by a simple, rapid and inexpensive method if a woman has got a G spot or not."

The language in this BBC News story on the possibility of detecting the G spot using ultrasound is a fascinating document on the continued medicalization and pathologization of female sexuality in the 21st century.

And take note, would-be sex millionaires: my patent on the G Spotter™ is already pending.