A strange fact about sperm
1 Arnie Ray's mind controls sperm
Over the years, artists have created countless incredible concepts. But there are few thoughts that are stranger than brain sperm. Ani Lui is a researcher and artist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who uses cutting-edge technology to bring this bizarre concept to life. Lui is known for creating research-oriented art that combines science, culture and new technologies. One of his most recent works is mind-controlled Spermatozoa, an installation in which she uses her mind to guide the movement of live sperm.
The electroencephalogram (EEG) headset tracks the electrical activity emitted by her brain and then converts it into digital signals. These pulses affect the charge around a human sperm sample. One of the strangest properties of human sperm is that it changes direction to adapt to the electromagnetic field around it. This phenomenon is called electrochemotaxis, and this is true of all mammalian sperm. Ani Lui's extensive artistic adventures are not limited to brain-controlled sperm. Another of her works, Botany of Desire, features specially designed plants that respond to chemicals in her lipstick. As a result, in this work, Lui is able to make the plants flower simply by kissing them.
2 Record-breaking ancient sperm
Scientists have discovered the world's oldest fossil sperm (100 million years ago).
In 2020, researchers made headlines when they discovered 100 million-year-old sperm, the oldest known sperm in the world. Scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found prehistoric germ cells preserved in amber discs in northern Myanmar. The controversial sperm comes from an ancient, never-before-seen mesozoan. The mesomorph is a strange crustacean that looks almost like a shrimp in the bivalve shell of a clam, hence the nickname "seed shrimp". While most mesembrans are about 2.54 mm (0.1 in) long, their sperm can grow up to 11.8 mm (0.46 in). Scientists found 39 mesembrans in their small amber samples, most of which belonged to a species previously unknown to the scientific community. The length of each seed shrimp is about 0.59 mm (0.02 in). Researcher He Wang found four eggs and a strange protein in one of the female spiders, a mesozoan sperm dating back to the Cretaceous period. This unprecedented discovery is now crowned as the world's oldest confirmed sperm. That's more than the previous record holder, a 50-million-year-old worm sperm found in a cocoon in Antarctica.
3 Fertility doctors have 49 children
A fertility doctor in the Netherlands secretly gave birth to 49 children with his sperm
In 2019, DNA evidence showed that a Dutch fertility doctor had mistakenly given birth to 49 children with his own sperm. Medical expert Jan Karbaat abused his power to make many women pregnant. Deception occurred mainly in the 1980s. At the time, Karbat was working at a clinic in Bijdorp, near Rotterdam, although the clinic closed in 2009 over a series of allegations. According to Rex Law Firm, "There is serious suspicion that Carbat used his own sperm in the clinic. "In 2017, after some of the donated children began to suspect their true parents, he was taken to court. The doctor died the same year at the age of 89, but authorities managed to seize some items from his home to provide DNA evidence. DNA testing was done in 2017, but the results had to be hidden due to other legal processes. Calbat's sperm donor children had to wait two years for full recognition by the court. Joey, one of the 49, said he could finally "end" his parenthood. "After 11 years of searching, I can move on with my life. I'm glad I finally got it. ”
4 British spies use semen to make invisible ink
Colonel Mansfield Cumming, the head of MI6 spies at the time, ordered his spies to use semen as invisible ink.
Stealth ink is an important tool for any spy. It allows you to smuggle information without being detected; The message is readable only after a chemical fluid has been applied. In fact, the concept of invisible ink dates back to ancient Greece and Rome, and lemon juice was originally the Allied preferred method of stealth communication in World War I. While effective, it also has some limitations. Lemon "ink" can only be used on paper. It needed iodine to read the message, and most destructively, the enemy realized this and began to sniff out the message with a citrus smell.
So, in 1915, Mi6, a British secret intelligence agency, instructed their agents to use semen as invisible ink. It is said that a Consulting Expert on a British official named Mansfield Smith Cumming was speaking on the matter at the University of London. There were even reports that a spy in Copenhagen kept a bottle filled with semen for such use. But this gave his letter a tearful stench, after which Cumming was said to have had to remind his men, "Every letter needs to be reprocessed." ”
