Like the time we watched A Nightmare On Elm Street aged 8, we’re not quite sure we’ll ever look at life quite the same way again.
Did you know that right now, thousands of people are having sex? Or that male giraffes are mostly bisexual?
Or what about the number of calories semen contains? (It’s a lot less than a Jaffa cake).
Read on for extracts from the new book Sex: 369 Facts To Blow You Away by Sadie Cayman.
1. There are at least 100 million acts of sexual intercourse each day. In other words, around 65,000 couples are having sex at this moment around the world.
2. There are seven calories in a teaspoon of semen.
3. Researchers from the University of California found that men who helped with the housework got 50% more sex than those who did none.
4. Agalmatophilia is a sexual attraction to statues or mannequins.
5. Reports claim that the highest number of orgasms experienced by a woman in an hour is 134; by a man, 16.
6. Complete sexual inactivity may lead to a reduction in penis size.
7. Russian woman Tatyana Kozhevnikova is reported to be the world-record holder for lifting the most weights – 14kg – with her vaginal muscles.
8. The proteins in sperm give it anti-wrinkle properties when rubbed into the skin.
9. Of all nations, the Greeks claim to have the most sex (87% say they have sex once a week).
10. Approximately one in every 50 women has an extra nipple.
11. Wearing two condoms does not give extra protection against leaking; it actually raises the chances of breakage due to friction.
12. Prostitution is legal in most countries, including Iran, where ‘temporary wives’ can be obtained for a few hours, though it’s a crime to advocate it, or aid or abet a woman to enter prostitution or operate a brothel – punishable by execution.
13. One testicle hangs a little lower than the other so they don’t strike each other when a man is moving.
14. According to a 2012 survey, 60% of Britons prefer to have sex with the light off.
15. A ‘merkin’ is a pubic wig; the word was first used in 1617. They were originally used by prostitutes in the fifteenth century who had shaved their pubic hair to combat lice, or to cover up signs of disease.
16. The man who invented Kellogg’s Corn Flakes was a zealous campaigner against masturbation, and believed a healthy diet would reduce sexual thoughts.
17. The global research site OnePoll.com reported that women believe Spain, Brazil and Italy produce the best lovers. Englishmen were believed to be ‘too lazy’.
18. Strippers earn more money when ovulating, probably because of sexually-stimulating pheromones they release at that stage of their menstrual cycles.
19. In ancient China, drinking mercury or lead after sex was believed to prevent pregnancy; unfortunately, it often resulted in sterility or death.
20. On a biological level, men have evolved to focus on the features of a woman that suggest fertility – large breasts, a small waist and full hips indicate that a woman is young, healthy and probably not already pregnant.
