8 ms·

The Couple Who Shagged in an MRI Machine for Science

134 points by Anon84 6y ago

Something1234 6y ago
I don't think too many people will comment on this, but it's really quite cool and I wish it wasn't so taboo. Especially considering how illuminating these kinds of first stories are. I wonder if the article will inspire new genres of porn.
- bawolff 6y ago
  You might be interested in the tv show https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Sex https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Sex
  - Something1234 6y ago
    I wanted to watch it, but I never got around to it. Thanks for the reminder. I was watching sex sent me to the er which was pretty cool, it reminded me of dark matters. At the same time it turned my hulu recommendations to trash. Say la vie. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Matters:_Twisted_But_True https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Matters:_Twisted_But_Tr...
tamaharbor 6y ago
The man is claiming there was magnetism shrinkage.
Symmetry 6y ago
There was a bit on those experiments in Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach. She has a good way of writing that's both funny and informative.
- LorenPechtel 6y ago
  Yup. She can make anything interesting.
tantalor 6y ago
> THE PENIS IS MARKED "P" WITH THE BALLS MARKED "SC." Who copy edits this?
DoreenMichele 6y ago
Excerpts from different parts of the piece: “I realised I was the only woman in the room,” she recalls, and describes a pang of exasperation. “It was like, of course I’m the only woman in a study about women’s bodies!” And at that moment Pek knew they’d achieved something more significant than an arts project; they’d re-written around 500 years of anatomical assumptions. It's actually really interesting stuff.
- denton-scratch 6y ago
  I found the article provocative, but annnoyingly flat. There's just one 2D image from the MRI scan; an MRI "image" is a 3D image that you can pan, tilt, scroll and colourise, and so on. That 2D B+W image look like something from the sixties - you hardlyu need an MRI scanner to make a picture like that.
readingnews 6y ago
Interesting it says that all other participants in later studies needed viagra, and they were the only ones who did not. They apparently were so happy with one another, they needed no special tools to get the job done while in a room with a lot of noise and other people, perhaps. MRIs are noisy things, and I find their comments interesting.
- Rastonbury 6y ago
  I'd venture that the ability to get it up in an MRI or having researchers watch the act has little to do with how happy people are in a relationship
  - givehimagun 6y ago
    Right - I just assumed they were more comfortable with people watching than the others.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
  They were acrobats, which probably helped. I'm surprised this article didn't mention that tidbit. > Only one couple was able to have sex without Viagra. The authors wrote: "The reason might be that they were the only participants in the real sense: involved in the research right from the beginning because of their scientific curiosity, knowledge of the body, and artistic commitment. > "And as amateur street acrobats they are trained and used to performing under stress."
- denton-scratch 6y ago
  Have you ever been in an MRI machine? The racket is almost deafening, and the scan lasts 20 minutes. It's very cramped; I'm kinda astonished they could get two people into the machine at the same time. I can't imagine having a shag inside one. I guess you'd have to be really horny.
  - audiometry 6y ago
    When I take the mri, it feels like the roof is 6” from my face. Maybe they had a more novel coupling than boring old missionary. Or maybe they weren’t fully down the tube???
Barrin92 6y ago
>“In many ways I think we’re going backwards,” Ida says. “I grew up in a time when sex wasn’t a big deal, and we’d always go bathing naked and people seemed more open minded. Now, people just seem to be getting more and more conservative.” An observation I've made too. I don't think it's an accident that this was done in the Netherlands given that in central and Northern Europe in particular there was always a healthy and open attitude towards nudity and sexuality and a "Freikörperkultur" I noticed this with the decline of mixed saunas and changing rooms in public baths and I don't know if it's an Americanisation of culture but people seem to become increasingly neurotic about sexuality and people's bodies.
- bongoman37 6y ago
  Probably harder to acknowledge but also immigration from cultures less comfortable with sex/nudity and more conservative in general.
- hn_throwaway_99 6y ago
  Totally agree, but it's even happening in America, too. My pet hypothesis is that the Internet has made it so pretty much the primary or only way some people are exposed to nudity is in highly sexualized (and unrealistic) scenarios. For example, when I was a kid/youth, everyone just changed and showered in the locker room. Nudity wasn't "flaunted", but it was just a natural consequence of, well, changing clothes. As I got older, I noticed that most of the younger generation (I'm Gen X, so basically talking about Millennials) would do the "under the towel caterpillar shuffle" to change. This always struck me as completely bizarre: the caterpillar shuffle was something you did when you needed to change your bathing suit outside, in public, not in a men-only locker room. Honestly, it struck me as kind of sad.
  - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
    > This always struck me as completely bizarre: the caterpillar shuffle was something you did when you needed to change your bathing suit outside, in public, not in a men-only locker room. Alternate theory: I wonder if this has anything to do with society acknowledging that homosexuals exist. Twenty years ago, most straight people probably wouldn’t think about that. Once you realize, why would it matter if you’re in a single-sex environment or not?
0898 6y ago
I'm curious: do Americans know what shagging is?
- jxidjhdhdhdhfhf 6y ago
  Only because I've watched Austin Powers

134 points by Anon84 6y ago

I don't think too many people will comment on this, but it's really quite cool and I wish it wasn't so taboo. Especially considering how illuminating these kinds of first stories are. I wonder if the article will inspire new genres of porn.

bawolff 6y ago
You might be interested in the tv show https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Sex https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_Sex
- Something1234 6y ago
  I wanted to watch it, but I never got around to it. Thanks for the reminder. I was watching sex sent me to the er which was pretty cool, it reminded me of dark matters. At the same time it turned my hulu recommendations to trash. Say la vie. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Matters:_Twisted_But_True https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Matters:_Twisted_But_Tr...

tamaharbor 6y ago

The man is claiming there was magnetism shrinkage.

Symmetry 6y ago

There was a bit on those experiments in Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach. She has a good way of writing that's both funny and informative.

LorenPechtel 6y ago
Yup. She can make anything interesting.

tantalor 6y ago

> THE PENIS IS MARKED "P" WITH THE BALLS MARKED "SC." Who copy edits this?

DoreenMichele 6y ago

Excerpts from different parts of the piece: “I realised I was the only woman in the room,” she recalls, and describes a pang of exasperation. “It was like, of course I’m the only woman in a study about women’s bodies!” And at that moment Pek knew they’d achieved something more significant than an arts project; they’d re-written around 500 years of anatomical assumptions. It's actually really interesting stuff.

denton-scratch 6y ago
I found the article provocative, but annnoyingly flat. There's just one 2D image from the MRI scan; an MRI "image" is a 3D image that you can pan, tilt, scroll and colourise, and so on. That 2D B+W image look like something from the sixties - you hardlyu need an MRI scanner to make a picture like that.

readingnews 6y ago

Interesting it says that all other participants in later studies needed viagra, and they were the only ones who did not. They apparently were so happy with one another, they needed no special tools to get the job done while in a room with a lot of noise and other people, perhaps. MRIs are noisy things, and I find their comments interesting.

Rastonbury 6y ago
I'd venture that the ability to get it up in an MRI or having researchers watch the act has little to do with how happy people are in a relationship
- givehimagun 6y ago
  Right - I just assumed they were more comfortable with people watching than the others.
rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
They were acrobats, which probably helped. I'm surprised this article didn't mention that tidbit. > Only one couple was able to have sex without Viagra. The authors wrote: "The reason might be that they were the only participants in the real sense: involved in the research right from the beginning because of their scientific curiosity, knowledge of the body, and artistic commitment. > "And as amateur street acrobats they are trained and used to performing under stress."
denton-scratch 6y ago
Have you ever been in an MRI machine? The racket is almost deafening, and the scan lasts 20 minutes. It's very cramped; I'm kinda astonished they could get two people into the machine at the same time. I can't imagine having a shag inside one. I guess you'd have to be really horny.
- audiometry 6y ago
  When I take the mri, it feels like the roof is 6” from my face. Maybe they had a more novel coupling than boring old missionary. Or maybe they weren’t fully down the tube???

Barrin92 6y ago

>“In many ways I think we’re going backwards,” Ida says. “I grew up in a time when sex wasn’t a big deal, and we’d always go bathing naked and people seemed more open minded. Now, people just seem to be getting more and more conservative.” An observation I've made too. I don't think it's an accident that this was done in the Netherlands given that in central and Northern Europe in particular there was always a healthy and open attitude towards nudity and sexuality and a "Freikörperkultur" I noticed this with the decline of mixed saunas and changing rooms in public baths and I don't know if it's an Americanisation of culture but people seem to become increasingly neurotic about sexuality and people's bodies.

bongoman37 6y ago
Probably harder to acknowledge but also immigration from cultures less comfortable with sex/nudity and more conservative in general.
hn_throwaway_99 6y ago
Totally agree, but it's even happening in America, too. My pet hypothesis is that the Internet has made it so pretty much the primary or only way some people are exposed to nudity is in highly sexualized (and unrealistic) scenarios. For example, when I was a kid/youth, everyone just changed and showered in the locker room. Nudity wasn't "flaunted", but it was just a natural consequence of, well, changing clothes. As I got older, I noticed that most of the younger generation (I'm Gen X, so basically talking about Millennials) would do the "under the towel caterpillar shuffle" to change. This always struck me as completely bizarre: the caterpillar shuffle was something you did when you needed to change your bathing suit outside, in public, not in a men-only locker room. Honestly, it struck me as kind of sad.
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  > This always struck me as completely bizarre: the caterpillar shuffle was something you did when you needed to change your bathing suit outside, in public, not in a men-only locker room. Alternate theory: I wonder if this has anything to do with society acknowledging that homosexuals exist. Twenty years ago, most straight people probably wouldn’t think about that. Once you realize, why would it matter if you’re in a single-sex environment or not?

0898 6y ago

I'm curious: do Americans know what shagging is?

jxidjhdhdhdhfhf 6y ago
Only because I've watched Austin Powers