The Coolidge Effect

Male rearousal time can be reduced, in many species, by the opportunity to mate with a novel female as opposed to the same female. This has been termed the Coolidge Effect.
This makes perfect sense in an evolutionary context but I think it also makes an amusing statement about the stereotypical gender perspectives of humans. These different gender perspectives are best exemplified by a joke which was the source for coining the term, Coolidge Effect.

… an old joke about Calvin Coolidge when he was President … The President and Mrs. Coolidge were being shown [separately] around an experimental government farm. When [Mrs. Coolidge] came to the chicken yard she noticed that a rooster was mating very frequently. She asked the attendant how often that happened and was told, “Dozens of times each day.” Mrs. Coolidge said, “Tell that to the President when he comes by.” Upon being told, President asked, “Same hen every time?” The reply was, “Oh, no, Mr. President, a different hen every time.” President: “Tell that to Mrs. Coolidge.”

Amazing diapers

We usually use cloth diapers on our 10 month old, however occasionally we get some disposable diapers. They are amazing. The polymer sodium polyacrylate is responsible for the super absorbent properties of disposable diapers which allow me to be irresponsible and change our baby less frequently. The sodium within the polymer draws in water through osmosis. Sodium polyacrylate can absorb 500 times its weight in water, however the osmotic potential is decreased in the presence of urine since it already contains some salts. Below is a video demonstrating the amazing absorbent properties of this polymer, fortunately without displaying the graphic nature of a disposable diaper in a real world scenario.

The Best Prescription

I'm not up to date on the latest stats on the best preventative medications, however here is a entertaining video my wife pointed out to me on the best prescription ever. This intervention decreases risk of death from all causes by 23%. The side effects include an improved quality of life. Is there any intervention that comes close to being as an effective preventative prescription?