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raid517

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Everything posted by raid517

  1. I repeat only that I have a passing interest in physics and electromechanics, and became curious about the function and operation of these systems after a conversation with a friend. It seemed after reading about them that some form of disruption might be possible and it was of interest to myself, my friend - and potentially the manufacturers of these devices if a passive form of disruption could be devised. My curiosity in this matter is in the same light that all hacking and disrupting practices take place, insomuch that ultimately by testing systems one can design more robust solutions. I don't see anything wrong with this, and I refute the suggestion that I have an intention of using the information for any kind of personal gain. But if you feel you must close the thread and close down discussion, then this is your prerogative also. Edit: I have saved you the trouble. There are probably other forums with more sober people who don't fear discussing how the many products in our world can be tested, perhaps even to breaking point, in order that they might be subsequently improved upon. Simply assuming ulterior motives, is like calling every hacker, ever inventor and every engineer who ever existed, a 'criminal.' Clearly however, all of our energies are best spent elsewhere.
  2. I don't think information on it's own is illegal. If that were the case then half of the consumer goods you use now that are electrical, or electronic in origin would be illegal, as they have been similarly tested in the past. I am interested to know if there is a weakness in the system, I think other parties who design these systems might be interested to know if there is a weakness in this system too. If you do not wish to comment then I invite you and others who feel similarly not to do so. That is your prerogative. I think I'm getting enough of an idea from reading around about these systems of possible ways they could be influenced or controlled. My interest in this topic, with the greatest of respect, is unlikely to diminish with your approval, or disapproval. It's a matter of proof of principle, and that is all at this juncture. As I said I don't know yet how or if I will use the information, but curiosity still drives me to ask if it is possible.
  3. Hi is the chemical nitrocellulose (commonly found in nail polish) a conductor, or an insulator? Specifically can common nail polish be used as an insulator, or a conductor?
  4. Yes I know you guys seem to prefer classical examples, but none of this really answers the original question. The point of the question is just meant to be a trivial but funny anecdote, derived from the often stated fable of an infinite number of monkeys over an infinite amount of time, typing the complete works of Shakespeare. In this case none of the variables are infinite, it's just meant to estimate how much energy typing on a keyboard uses up (when young people use Facebook etc.) over a given period of time. "5 Watts" isn't a very useful answer. Over what time period and with what frequency of typing and how many typing monkeys might you need to sustain this over a 20 minute period? Also what would the formula look like? Some assumptions may have to be made (regarding the efficiency of the keyboard as a generator of electricity and the speed of the person/monkey typing), but that's fine, it's just something that is intended to make a class of 8 to 12 year olds smile, before moving on to more serious matters.
  5. Oh it's just trivial and fun. It isn't meant to be serious at all.
  6. Hi, given that it should be relatively simple to design a computer keyboard that generated electricity via keypresses, maybe through some kind of induction coil arrangement of some kind for example, if you had a nearly unlimited (but not infinite) supply of monkeys, how many monkeys would you need and how many keypresses and with what frequency might be reasonable (say in words per minute, or key strokes per minute) to power an average 40 Watt light bulb for 20 minutes? I know it sounds like a dumb question, but it's for a young people's training event and we would like to show them that science can be fun and interesting, as well as useful and serious. As a biologist however, this is not my specialist area at all. I know some assumptions will have to be made, for example in estimating the potential efficiency of a computer keyboard as a generator of electricity, but that's purely an engineering question (and is thus again beyond my capacity), so that's fine. I'm basically looking for a formula, with the full explanation of the formula for non-scientists too.
  7. Perhaps I should have been clearer for you. I should have said that Melanotan 2 is not currently under investigation to be used as an aphrodisiac at all - it is being investigated as a drug therapy intended to treat "sexual dysfunction" - and that *therefore* your claim (or at least suggestion) that it should be regarded as an aphrodisiac, is open to question. It's use as a true aphrodisiac is therefore not currently under active formal investigation. No doubt if it became commercially available, people might be tempted to try to abuse it for this end (just as has been the case with Viagra), but it remains the fact that this is not an area of active consideration for this particular substance. Nor did I say aphrodisiac research wasn't ongoing - I said that it was either a 'very limited, to non-existent field' and that little active research (that I'm aware of) appears to have been conducted into this field in the past. I think there's probably a genuine reluctance to formally investigate substances that simply enhance the pleasure of the sexual act itself - and that a culture exists where much of the research into human sexuality has tended to focus exclusively on treating various types of sexual dysfunction. I don't know why exactly this may have been the case. But given the rather ignoble history of this subject, where claims have been made for substances derived for example such bizarre things as rhino horn, Spanish Fly and snake blood etc, perhaps this reticence is understandable. Also we already get in abundance that you don't think anyone in any circumstance should ever investigate aspirin for any of the potential qualities detailed above. (Which seems somewhat contradictory, given your previous insistence stating the importance of conducting tests in order to investigate the claim, lol). However as I have already stated, I'm perfectly fine with this. The reason I posted this item here was to allow for personal self-experimentation, in whatever way anyone reading this topic may wish. I would of course not seek to prevent anyone conducting a more formal trial. However it is entirely a matter for those reading this topic, to either use, or ignore this information as they see fit. Indeed I openly and actively encourage this. People should either take it or leave it, as almost certainly should you. Despite your frequent objections and obvious distaste for this subject, I still think that it is rather impractical if feel that there is anything you can do to prevent anyone from doing this. Nor would I presume to pre-empt anything you think. I think your passionate distaste for this topic is though rather obvious and has been made plain to everyone here reading your comments. I think the point that confuses everyone is however, exactly why you have chosen to go on, and on and on about it, when your dislike (or whatever you may wish to call it), of this subject was already made abundantly plain some days ago. We get it! - whatever it is exactly that you think we should get. Well done, bravo, you have proved your point! - whatever your point was supposed to be. Now why don't you do as I suggested previously (and as appears to be the only logical thing to do, given your dislike of this topic and lack of faith in any of the (informal) claims that have been made), and just go away and toddle off somewhere else and pick another topic with which to be equally disdainful? Personally, I would say good luck with that, and I hope you have a long, productive and fruitful future old chum!!
  8. Perhaps you should read the things you post more closely? The effect of Melanotan II is significantly different to that proposed (or hypothesised) here for Aspirin. Melanotan is a substance I have had read about and followed for many years (at least since 1998), firstly due to my interest in it as a tanning agent - and secondly because I became interested in it for another reason that is likely to piss you off just as much as my original statement, if I told you about it. But that's another matter. The reality is that the most recent proposed used for Melanotan 2 fall into a similar category as that of Viagra, by treating sexual dysfunction. In the case of men this is erectile dysfunction, and in the case of women, it treats a similar condition in the form of sexual arousal disorder - which in essence equates to some females inability to become sufficiently lubricated to indulge in, take part in, or enjoy sexual intercourse. Their status as an 'aphrodisiac' is however in some doubt. If you read reports of people who have used it for these purposes, many of them report the effect as being rather uncomfortable - due to it's often extended nature. Again the effect I have experienced with aspirin has no effect on sexual dysfunction whatsoever, and serves only to heighten the enjoyment of the final moments of climax itself. In this sense the effect is closer to those that might be expected for a true aphrodisiac, although again it does nothing whatsoever to increase desire, or improve sexual prowess, or treat any kind of disorder. It's effects are limited to the final few moments of the act itself. Research into drugs to treat various kinds of sexual dysfunction, has however been ongoing since even before Viagra was discovered.
  9. I'm not 'dismissing science' lol. I have already explained at length the reasons why it is impractical for me to conduct any such clinical trial. They are not just limited to the practicality of persuading a company to investigate the effect - which is likely to prove vastly more time consuming and difficult than you imagine, but are also due to my own lack of time, resources and specific expertise in this area. (And also because I simply have no interest in pursuing it as a formal research topic in my own career, as I have other areas of research I would prefer to pursue more). However I have already said that anyone who cares to, can do anything with it that they please - this includes (and is not limited to) conducting a full scale clinical trial - and development of analogues should they have both the desire or expertise to do so. However the purpose of posting this information here, is and was to simply allow for personal self-experimentation - and as much as you have tried to p*ss all over this topic (for reasons that increasingly appear specific and personal to you), unfortunately this is something you are unlikely to be able to prevent. My goal in this regard, in this deliberately limited context, has been achieved. Anyone reading this topic now, or perhaps referencing the term 'aspirin therapy' via a search engine like Google, may stumble on this topic and do whatever they wish with this information. They may ignore it (as I suspect you should), they may try it, they may discuss it with others and encourage them to try it, or as you so ardently appear to feel is necessary, they may conduct any kind of trial they wish to investigate the validity (or otherwise) of the effect. Nor is it valid to bring up the topic of erectile dysfunction (although after many years of taking aspirin I can categorically state that I have never encountered the issues you speak of) - and to somehow attempt to use this as a means to discount the effect. This has nothing whatsoever to do with erectile dysfunction. The effect is specific and limited and has been spelled out several times prior to this point. Moreover the exact physiological pathways involved can only be a matter of speculation at this juncture. I think the reality simply remains that (for whatever reason) you have decided that don't like this topic - and that you probably don't like me - and therefore that the best way to approach this matter is simply to be as much a pain in the posterior to me and to everyone else here reading this topic as you possibly can. Nor was I recommending that people do a 'scientific experiment', I was simply recommending a usage pattern that in my own experience provided for me the best contrast to enjoy and to notice the effect - and which would also probably serve to lessen the risks of long term aspirin usage. I do not wish others to cause themselves harm - and given the risk of serous stomach bleeding and other complications from long term aspirin use, I feel this was an entirely sensible and responsible thing to do. However the fact remains that your objections have done nothing to prove, or disprove the validity of this claim one way or another. This I think will be for others to decide, in whatever form they chose to do so, whether it be through self-experimentation, or by some other more formal means. I would prefer to give individuals this choice - and do not see why you feel such a strong desire to attempt to prevent this. Edit: However clearly if someone could come up with a clinically proven and effective 'aphrodisiac' type drug of this nature - even if it was some form of analogue, the market would be vast. There has never been, as far as I'm aware, any significant research into this area. Other claims have been made for a number of other substances. But if anything these claims are on far less of a scientific footing than any claim made for aspirin. Aspirin has already been shown to be physiologically active in a large number of ways. I think it would probably be much less surprising than you think if yet another physiologically active pathway for this drug was found. However despite how big such a market might be, since my own research field is currently limited to animal physiology, I do not feel it is a subject I am qualified to pursue. But as I said, anyone reading this topic may do anything with it as they wish.
  10. It has no effect at all (for me) in erectile dysfunction. The only effect it has is in significantly enhancing the pleasure of climax itself. My GP (and I) hypothesised that it might be something to do with improved blood flow - and therefore enhanced neurotransmitter transport between the penis and brain. However this was of course an entirely speculative suggestion. There still really hasn't been time for anyone to give this a real go. Try the few days on and few days off approach over the space of 3 or 4 weeks. This will give you an opportunity to compare the subjectivity of your experience, between those days when you take it and those days when you don't. In a sense this really is the downside to being unable to conduct a clinical trial. As much as you tell people that too short a period of usage will not be sufficient to provide a useful comparison, since initially it might seem too subjective to tell, as nor would too long a period of usage, since eventually the effect wears off, it's clearly still extremely difficult to control the conditions in which people take it, as people will often simply ignore this advice.
  11. It's the same weak derisory nonsense as ever. As it happens through the course of the years, I have spoken to my GP about it. He found it interesting and plausible, but like me could see no useful way to exploit the effect further. Exactly what would you do? How is there any merit in exploring this subject in any formal sense? This isn't Viagra. The effect is significantly different. You are not treating a physiological disorder. The effect is specific and limited to enhancing the pleasure of the final moments of the act itself. What exactly are you going to do with something like that? Rebrand aspirin? Market it as being something other than it is? The entire exercise would seem more than a little pointless. The best you could hope for is to inform people about it, and leave it for them to do with the information whatever they will. If someone did want to run a formal study, then all power and credit to them. However human physiology and sexual heath is by no means a field I have any personal experience in - nor do I feel it is a direction I would like my career to take. I have simply done here as I set out to do, which is to note an interesting effect that I have noticed for over the last 20 years, and place it in the public domain for others to explore should they see fit. Certainly people may take aspirin for short periods of time to treat toothache etc. But there is some degree of subjective experience involved here. If you take aspirin for a few days - and on the 2nd or 3rd day you enjoy a particularly pleasurable experience with your partner, the association may not always be obvious. It took me some time, perhaps over the space of 2 or 3 years before I was able to make the association. It was at that time that I began to experiment with different patterns of usage. It was throughout this process that I found that taking a few days off from using aspirin, provided a useful contrast to those days when I did take it Otherwise the effect appeared to diminish, or became increasingly difficult to distinguish. As for your argument concerning Viagra, I can only repeat that my own personal experience was that for nearly 20 years, I could not think of any useful place, or any useful circumstance in which I could share the information. I suspect if the effect has been noted previously by anyone, that they probably simply faced a similar dilemma to me. Moreover the effects of Viagra were discovered entirely accidentally, in the course of a full scale clinical trial into the use of this drug (then called 'sildenafil') as a treatment for a number of heart conditions, including angina. Clearly in the course of a full-scale clinical trail the potential to note unexpected physiological effects is greatly enhanced - as these will be screened for and scrutinised very carefully. Moreover if you have ever taken Viagra, you will note that there is a very pronounced physiological effect. An effect that indeed is both long-lasting and rather difficult to hide. I don't imagine it would take long in the course of such a trail for the effect in question to become evident! Such a similar clinical trial into the application of aspirin in the way I have suggested, has clearly never taken place, so the potential to make any similar useful observations is therefore clearly considerably lessened. Nor did I deride you from not doing an experiment. In fact my recommendation is that you toddle off and do whatever does, or does not please you most, and that you leave others to do the same. In fact since you clearly dislike this topic so intensely (although in my view with little rational basis), I would recommend that you never try this, and that you never revisit the topic again. Would this not be the most logical solution for you, given how vehemently you appear to have decided that this topic is of no interest or value to you? Also it is you, and not I who suggested the importance of doing a full scale formal trial. (A trial which you have subsequently dismissed as 'pointless'.) I am not certain you understand how research works, but such a trial is not a simple matter. It would take considerable time, money and resources to conduct and would require a large number of volunteers, all of whom would be required to reveal some intimately personal details of their day to day sex lives. Unless you have expertise in this field, I would suspect that being able to construct such a trial would be rather impractical. Who would you persuade to fund it? Where is the prestige and financial reward for doing so? A pill that anyone can already buy for pennies is likely to be of little interest to a great many funding bodies. Viagra was a novel drug, with a mass market appeal and application. Aspirin on the other hand has been with us in its current form since 1899. It cannot be patented, as it's patent has expired a very long time ago. Anyway I get it that you don't like this idea (even though you have so far given little rational explanation why and even though you have shown a willingness to do so without even as much as trying it for yourself). But that's fair enough. However clearly your protestations have proved nothing, other than that you don't like this idea and that you do not want to try it. This is also perfectly fine. I didn't set out here to prove anything. I set out only to share my own personal experiences - and to give other people the opportunity to try to see if they also could achieve a similar effect. It is of course entirely their choice should they chose to do so or not.
  12. I didn't say no one else could run a full scale trial. As I said I have neither the time, resources or money to do it. Nor do I feel that this is a direction that I would like my career to go in. I also think there is little money, or credit in yet another aspirin study. If maybe you think a useful aspirin analogue can be found that will have the same, or perhaps an even more enhanced effect, you are free to explore this at your leisure. However I have tried the majority of other commercially available anti-inflammatory/aspirin analogues at one time or other, and none of these have provided the same effect. I also would simply in my own part, be happy to have brought a little more happiness and fun to the world than may have been the case previously. Nor did I recommend that others should avoid undertaking a full scale test at all. What I did recommend is that no one should indulge in long term aspirin use without seeking proper medical advice and supervision first - and that since I feel that this could be potentially damaging, that taking short breaks between usage may be a sensible thing to do. Aspirin is notorious for causing gastro-oesophageal inflammatory problems, and it seems sensible to me to offer advice on the best way to limit this possibility. Also in answer to your final question (although there is no need to shout, as I'm sure everyone can hear your complaining loudly enough already), the advice given about taking regular short breaks, was also given simply because my experience has been that long-term continuous use is ineffective in achieving the desired effect - and that there appears to be a rule of diminishing returns after a few days of continuous usage. I am aware of several drugs like this - and I suspect if you are an expert on pharmacology, as you appear to present yourself here, that you must be aware of many of these drugs too. Also the advice about taking breaks was given purely in order to provide those interested in exploring this effect, with a useful contrast between those days when they had taken the drug and when they had not, since as the effect diminishes after some days, it may be difficult for them to make the connection. Moreover most people prescribed aspirin, are prescribed it for long-term usage. Therefore since the effect does diminish after a few days of use, if a user has a particularly pleasurable experience on one or two nights after starting usage, he (or she) may be inclined to attribute it to other factors. Lastly your question can be most simply answered by my own experience of this matter, in that it took me the best part of 20 years to think of an appropriate time and place, and an appropriate method in which to broach the subject. I just genuinely couldn't think where and how such a matter could be discussed. Even the choice of this forum seemed somewhat random. However since this subsection carried the title of a 'Biology forum', and since my own time was passing and I doubted I would ever be able to broach it in any other way, I thought that the association (as loose as it might be), was probably as good as it would get. My answer to your question therefore, is that even if anyone had noticed this before, I would guess that they faced a similar dilemma to me.Where exactly do you discuss matters of this nature - and who would you even speak to if you wished to? After all, research into active aphrodisiac substances is almost a non-existent field - so there appears to be few useful ways to approach the subject formally. Moreover people are probably more reluctant to discuss the intimate specifics of their sex lives than you may think. Particularly when it comes to the matter of sexual climax. People may feel some natural degree of reluctance and sensitivity about discussing these matters openly in public with others. I admit that this was also part of my own motivation for remaining silent for almost 20 years. As an ex-Catholic, such matters are often regarded as taboo. And even though I have dismissed the last vestiges of this belief system many years ago, some conservative elements of the instruction I received during that time have been more difficult to shake off than others. In any case I cannot understand why you will not even contemplate trying it - and would prefer instead to just sling as much mud at it as you possibly can? (Although with little effect up to this point.) I can only assume that perhaps you either lack the libido, or the opportunity to try? Should this be the case however, this is certainly not something I feel qualified to help you with. Nonetheless, if this is not the case, then why not try it - in whichever way you feel is most scientifically rigorous and appealing to you? I confess though that I have never previously thought the act of lovemaking as a science. However if you wish to treat it as such, I''m sure you will gain many useful insights in the course of your observations. (With notebook and slide-rule in hand no doubt!) However personally, just getting laid and having a little fun is probably more than enough for me.
  13. First I don't have the resources, or the time, or the money to run a proper full scale test. Second I am simply looking for some anecdotal evidence to see whether it might be worthwhile doing a full study at some point in the future. Perhaps when I do have access to these - and by chance my career somehow goes in that direction (which is unlikely), and I can also secure funding to run such a test, I may consider your advice more seriously then. This is after all a very esoteric subject, with no very useful applications other than helping (some, if not all) members of the population enjoy the act of sexual congress somewhat more than they may have done in the previously. Somehow I just don't see this being an attractive funding proposition for any of the research bodies I know of, or have worked with in the past. Thirdly, with the greatest of respect, you really are still just being a wet soggy towel over the whole matter, and have maintained your naysayer credentials intact from the outset. You really have decided from the beginning that for whatever reason, you really just don't like this idea. However the reality is that I don't really care if you like the idea or not. If you don't like it, then don't try it, don't participate and don't post anymore about why you don't like it. Just refusing to try it, dumping on the idea and coming here to complain about why you don't like it (although that is still far from clear at this point), isn't in the least bit helpful. It was posted here as a bit of fun, for guys (and girls too perhaps) to try and maybe see whether it worked for them or not. I mean what on Earth harm is there in that? If it helps some people enjoy their sex lives a little more from time to time, then that for me is a win enough. I'm not looking to build my reputation on what people do to get their rocks off. That's up to them. Lastly the above methodology was suggested simply because it's the one I used and found most effective (after 20 years of trying). I found that if I took aspirin for any more than a few days at a stretch, the beneficial effects wore off - or maybe I became so used to them that eventually I just didn't notice them any more. Taking (at least) a few days off also proved necessary for me, because taking aspirin for significantly longer periods than this caused gastral inflammation and chronic acid reflux, which significantly negated the benefits of the pleasurable effects. This was less of a problem 10 or so years ago, but has become more of a problem as I have become older. Perhaps younger people might be able to have shorter breaks, but I suggest that no one over does it too much, as long term aspirin use may have a number of risks associated with it. Taking days off also helps provide the pleasure seeker with a useful contrast between days when they have taken aspirin and days when they haven't. I stand by what I said. I believe I was simply stating something that was patently obvious. However your point is duly noted and will be considered fully.
  14. Right, so you have been taking it over a 3 week minimum period, noting your results (with breaks in between) in the manner suggested above? I only posted this a few days ago. There simply hasn't been time for you to do this. I'm not saying it will work for you, but for anyone who is interested in giving it a go, I would strongly suggest that you at least follow the above methodology before commenting.
  15. Yeah you are just another dumb naysayer, who can't even be assed trying it before dismissing it. Like I said if anyone does wish to be half-sensible about this, try the methodology as stated above. I'm not saying it will work for you, but I would be infinitely happier to listen to the views of those who were willing to be serious about giving it a go, than I would all the self-proclaimed 'geniuses' here, who are clearly just out to piss on things, in order to enhance their own 'reps'. Like I said this isn't a scientific experiment, nonetheless a lot of these guys are clearly incapable of even behaving rationally.
  16. Yeah, well regular daily use doesn't seem to have much of an effect for me either. It only seems to work if I stagger the dose over the period stated above. After some several days (between 3 to 5+) the effect diminishes significantly. I don't know why, but there may be some element of tolerance involved, although upping the dose does not improve matters either. The benefits for me are in any case mitigated by the necessity to stop after maybe 3 or 4 days anyway, as Aspirin causes me to have really chronic acid reflux and gastric inflammation, which quickly negates any positive effects anyway. I don't know how, or if it might affect females, as, as I said it's not a subject I have ever really broached before. However I have tried multiple ways and multiple methodologies of taking aspirin over 20 years, and the 3 days on followed by several days off and 3 days on etc, seemed to work best for me. Chocolate just makes me ill unfortunately. On another note Cocaine can certainly be used as an aphrodisiac, but the long term detrimental effects of usage are significantly greater than that for aspirin, lol. Nonetheless having explored many substances for their aphrodisiac qualities through the years, aspirin (for me) is the one I have returned to most regularly. (Although the effect was an entirely accidental discovery.) But what the hey, if it doesn't work for anyone else, I'm just happy that it works for me.
  17. @ John Cuthber This isn't a scientific experiment - and in any case there are obvious logistical and practical difficulties in setting up an experiment into this subject. Also sexual reproduction is not my specialist area. I am simply interested in the views of those who may be willing to try it (which you clearly haven't), to see if it might be worthwhile probing the effect more seriously and more formally in the future. I'm a mature student studying a masters in Biology, so I really don't have time to dig very deeply into it now. Nor am I certain I wish to. If anything if it works for anyone else, then I would simply consider it a service for them to enjoy it, in the same way I have. Also I don't see a great deal of personal merit, or benefit in this kind of research. Aspirin has been shown to be philologically effective in a wide range of scenarios. To add one more to the list (although potentially fun for anyone it may benefit) does not strike me as particularly interesting. I do find it quite revealing however that there are the typical round-up of naysayers, ready to discount the effect, without even running the very simplest of tests first - which is to do nothing more than to try it. I mean how hard can it be? (If you'll excuse the pun!) Anyway like I said, this isn't a treatment for impotence. It has nothing to do with Viagra. Nor is it strictly an aphrodisiac in the typical understanding of this term, since it does nothing (for me) to enhance the pleasure or sensuality of the act itself. The effect (again for me) is highly specific, in that it very significantly increases the pleasure of orgasm. It is limited to this effect alone. To put it another way, things tend to go with a bang, rather than with just a fizz when a small amount of aspirin is added to the mix.
  18. It's something I've always noticed. You guys can try it in the way I've described and eliminate it if you want. I think I probably have low blood pressure and am probably not in the best shape, so I always figured that maybe somehow the blood thinning properties of aspirin that improved the signalling to my central nervous system somehow. To be honest I haven't got a clue how it works, or why it has this effect on me. The enhanced end result though is often too profound to in my view simply be attributed to placebo. A fairer test would be to take 75 mg of dispersible aspirin for 3 nights prior to having sex. Get your wife/partner to give you this or a placebo, which only she would know. Get her to switch randomly from placebo to real aspirin from one week to the next, ensuring there are suitable gaps in taking the drug as above, and note your experiences and see if there is any noticeable difference. I don't know why no one has noticed it before. I have known about it and used it for this purpose for over 20 years. But it's an odd one. I always wanted to tell people about it, but couldn't think of a suitable platform where I could do it. Maybe other people with similar experiences encountered the same problem? Also it's worth noting that those on long term aspirin treatment are unlikely to get the same benefit. My own experiences seem to indicate that the effects only last for the first few days when taking aspirin - and then progressively diminish to become almost unnoticeable over the space of a week. The best approach seems to be a few days on, followed by several days off - and then to repeat the cycle. So maybe those on long term aspirin treatment don't notice it so much, or they do and by the time they think to say anything about it, they don't know who to say it to - and the effect may have worn off by then anyway? Anyway it's worth a shot. 75mg of aspirin won't kill you. Try repeating the cycle over a few weeks and come back and let us know. Also if it was just placebo, why would the effect seem to wear off after a few days? I'm not saying it isn't a placebo. I'm not ruling in, or ruling anything out. I just finally decided that it was something I had noticed for a lot of years, so maybe I should just put it out there. It's just one for the boys - and one for the girls if maybe it works for them too. Edit. I don't think a quick 3 day trial would be likely to prove conclusive for anyone. If anyone wants to try this, I would suggest a month trial at least, including days on and days off as above etc. Also placebo's effects tend to happen when you are expecting something to happen. Like you expect less pain, so you feel less pain, or you expect to feel less anxious when you take a pill, so you do. When I first started taking aspirin, it was simply because there was a lot of good publicity about it at the time regarding it's ability to reduce the risk of heart attacks. (Not that I was particularly at risk, but I was just slightly paranoid about this I suppose). It took me a good long while to make the connection between taking aspirin and my improved sexual experience, since this was not something I expected at all.
  19. OK I'm just going to put this out there and see what you guys think. It may be that my physiology is somehow unique and that this is why my body responds this way, so I can't gurantee repeatability in all cases. Anyway, I've always puzzled on how or where to broach this topic, but I admit that since being a young man I have occasionally (although quite frequently) used aspirin as an aphrodisiac. (And no I don't mean by giving it to my wife!) Through a chance discovery I found that taking a 75 milligram dose of aspirin several hours before sex massively increased the intensity of one's orgasm. To be clear it has a slightly differer impact on me than what traditional aphrodisiacs are envisioned to do, in that it does little or nothing to increase the pleasure or sensual nature of the overall experience. Rather it is just the 'end point' itself that is significantly enhanced. I have never really mentioned this to anyone before, as I rather feared that it might be dismissed as being ridiculous (and no doubt some people will say this here), but since there is little harm in doing so, I suggest you try it before dismissing it out of hand. Due to not wishing to discuss the matter in the past, I can't say if a similar effect might be observed in female orgasm, but I would be very interested in the results if anyone tried. Also there is a small proviso that the effect tends to wear off after a few days use, so that you might only be able to use it for two or 3 days, then take maybe a week off and then use it for 2 or 3 days again. Moreover larger doses of aspirin appear to have no effect, so increasing the dose does not improve the experience. I am genuinely interested if anyone tries this what their experiences and impressions are. Maybe I'm just a freak, but the difference for me is simply too profound to be dismissed as something imagined, or just some kind of placebo effect.
  20. OK I am probably going to feel dumb asking this but I have been given this paper to read: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/03/20/0807247106.full.pdf#page=1&view=FitH . However I'm not confident that I fully understand it. In particular I don't feel I fully understand the two central premises of the paper, which are: a) We demonstrate that specialists make more accurate resource-use decisions than generalists when the consequences of using a non-host are neutral or positive but not very positive. and b) Pronounced unsuitability of non-host resources in fact promotes higher decision accuracy in generalists. The paper then goes on to explain the following: I can only say I find the above statements confusing. Firstly what does "out perform cognitively" really mean? How can one organism be judged to be outperforming another on a purely cognitive basis, and how does this aid the process of the evolution of of specialists and generalist species? Secondly decision accuracy and speed are (presumably, given this paper) enhanced when a specialist encounters a non-host resource that is only minimally rewarding? But why would a species adapt to use only a minimally rewarding - non-host resource when there are plenty of other more abundant and better resources it could chose from? Would not the reverse be true, that specialisation may occur in circumstances when a species encounters a maximally rewarding resource? For example say a species adapted to use a single resource that met all of their dietary and nutritional needs, why would the presence of other less rewarding resources drive evolution in the direction of specialisation? Is this paper saying that although a species could live off of a wide variety of resources within it's environment, that it benefits somehow from not exploiting these? Lastly the second conclusion is even more confusing than the first, in that it states: To my undoubtedly small mind, I can't figure out what this means at all. In this case how why would a generalist choose to exploit a non-host resource that has negative fitness consequences for doing so? What exactly is a negative fitness consequence in this case? Could anyone please break this down into plain English for me? I should perhaps point out that this is just a model and that the researchers plan an extended field trip later in the summer to test the model out. To this end I would be happy if anyone was able to offer some meaningful criticisms of the paper. One criticism I did encounter was that neural network modelling on its own has fallen out favour somewhat over the last decade in biology, as it is now thought that other more recent mathematical/computer modeling techniques provide a more accurate picture of how the processes of generalisation and specialisation occur. But clearly until I understand what the paper is saying, can't give very many other useful criticisms of my own. Any help would therefore be very much appreciated.
  21. Mmm, I was pretty sure she said she got 5x more zinc out of the experiment than she put in, due to contamination from her apparatus. I went to a seminar she gave and I was pretty sure that's what she said. But this probably says nothing about mutation. It probably just means that this organism is very good at what it does. This is a quote from the powerpoint presentation she gave. "Cells grown in low Zn “find” extra Zn – almost 5× more than was originally added to the culture. Where is this from?" She then goes on to explain that she thinks (in fact she can be pretty sure) that this is due to contamination from her experiment. The 5x less number you quoted is also accurate, since studies have shown that zinc deficient E. coli strains can grow unaffected with up to 5x less zinc than zinc replete strains. If I misread the experiment, then so did my PhD Biology course tutor, as he made a similar assumption. I asked him and he told me to ask her what in the end probably was a very stupid question. I guess we both look pretty dumb at the moment, lol. What's the difference between "adaptation" and "natural selection"? As I said previously you appear to draw firm distinctions between "adaptive pressure" and "selective pressure", but you didn't explain this? Also what is the difference between a quantitative and semi-quantitative analysis? Can you please give an example and explain this a little too?
  22. So even though the strain of E. Coli was able to gather 5x more zinc from the apparatus than the researchers added to the experiment, despite going to extraordinary lengths to prevent this, there is no possibility that a mutation may have occurred and spread that could have produced this vastly increased affinity for zinc? In other words, although the conditions of this experiment were so unusual and so extreme and a condition was created that wild strains of E. Coli are hardly ever likely to encounter, it's safe to consider this full "zinc concentrating" mechanism as innate to this organism and to most other E. Coli strains? The thing that really struck me was the ability of this strain of E. Coli, to gather 5x more zinc from the apparatus than the researchers put in. Why should an innate ability to do this exist when the conditions of the experiment were so unique and unusual and would be unlikely to ever be encountered? I get it that this research was useful, in that it sought to uncover elements of the zinc regulatory pathway. This can certainly be achieved in experiments of this kind. Perhaps it is just a case of the question of an adaptation occurring is not significant in this context? Over what time scale (if at all) would one expect to see selection and mutation occurring under these conditions? I get that the conditions of this experiment were in many ways ideal for E. Coli growth and that there may have been less selective pressure than would normally be experienced under wild conditions (where there is a great deal of interspecific competition for resources as you said) and given that in this case the only limiting factor was less zinc than this organism may normally have had access to, that any potential for mutations may have spread more slowly. But are you saying that there would have been insufficient time within this experiment for such a mutation to have spread throughout this microbial community? I have often wondered why in microbial studies, many of which used an identical experimental set up and extreme resource depleted (or resource abundant) conditions, or in some cases where a less favourable food source was substituted for (for example) a glucose solution, such as a different type of sugar, microbiologists don't often take the potential for selection and mutation to occur in these conditions into account. Is this simply a matter of the time scales involved, and that the time scales are too short for selection to have any meaningful effect? I have seen many other examples using an identical set up to this again with some other resource depleted/abundant medium, in which selection and adaptation of E. Coli under these conditions was considered. So is it really just a matter of what question you are asking and over what time scale? Is it possible that any part (although certainly not all!) of the effect noted may have been the result of a selective mutation within this strain? Also you appear to draw a distinction between "adaptive pressure" and "selective pressure". But why should these be considered different? Finally I don't really understand your last comment? Is this just another way of saying that it depends on what question you are asking?
  23. Hi, I have been given the following paper by my course tutor to review: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19377097 Having read it I have become slightly puzzled by it. http://www.jbc.org/content/284/27/18377.full What I couldn't work out is why when the researchers had created such a unique condition wasn't an evolutionary and adaptive explanation given in the paper rather than just assume that this 'zinc concentrating' mechanism was common and innate to all strains of E. Coli. After all the condition they created would be so rare in nature that there would almost never be a reason for it to exist? So why should it be considered useful to regard it as common? Was it not more likely that the researchers had simply created a super strain of E. coli through induced selection within their apparatus that had a much increased affinity for zinc than most other strains? Why is it useful to do this? Why not include a discussion of the adaptive pressures set up by the experiment?
  24. Do you have a link explaining this difference in more detail? It would be useful to just have a place marker here I could refer back to.
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