A Nasal Spray Named Desire

A Nasal Spray Named Desire - And other news from science and technology. By William Saletan: "(For the latest Human Nature columns on stem cells, Pat Robertson, and abortion, click here.)

A new arousal drug is triggering debate over sexual doping. The drug, PT-141, is in final tests prior to possible FDA approval. It's being spun as pleasurable for women and better than Viagra because it targets your brain, not your blood. If this or another drug pans out as a reliable turn-on, experts speculate: 1) It will be officially marketed to people with sexual dysfunctions but unofficially sold to everyone; 2) it will make arousal a choice; 3) it will compress sexuality to fit invasive work schedules; and 4) it will let you dope your way around emotional or relationship problems instead of facing them.

The Vatican's top astronomer said "intelligent design isn't science." He said ID "should be taught when religion or cultural history is taught, not science." Meanwhile a powerful cardinal (and potential pope) argued that evolution doesn't explain everything but "is a scientific theory," whereas "the biblical teaching about creation is not a scientific theory." (For Human Nature's latest take on ID as science, click here.)

Fear can be genetically controlled. Scientists made mice bolder by disabling a gene that helps bad memories trigger unconscious fear. Upside: Because unconscious fear operates similarly among mammals, we could devise a drug to block the gene in humans, thereby relieving anxiety or post-traumatic stress. Downside: Nature gives us unconscious fear to keep us from repeating risky behavior. Lose the gene, and you could lose your life.

Regenerative cell technology is turning to a lucrative target: balding. One company is testing "hair cloning," in which follicle-producing cells from non-balding parts of your head are cultured in a lab dish, grown in large numbers, and injected into balding areas of your scalp. The concept showed promise in a tiny initial sample of men. (For Human Nature's latest take on real cloning, click here.)

A study indicates that oral sex can lead to mouth cancer. Swedish researchers found that 36 percent of mouth cancer patients, but only 1 percent of a control group, carried the human papilloma virus (or HPV), which can be acquired through oral sex. Study director's conclusion: "You should avoid having oral sex." (For Human Nature's take on the risks of oral vs. anal sex, click here.)

NASA will send robots to find extractable water and oxygen for a manned moon base. The four or five missions will prepare the way for a permanent station at the moon's south pole in 2018. Early betting is that it'll be easier to get water than oxygen.

Two patients received blood vessels made from their skin. Scientists put tiny bits of skin and vein in a lab dish, applied chemicals that caused specific kinds of growth, and harvested big sheets of tissue that were then rolled into vessels and implanted in the donors.

A woman's eye was eaten alive by ants at a hospital in India. The diabetic patient checked in with high blood pressure after a cataract operation and lapsed into a coma. Her family found her with ants crawling on her face. The hospital superintendent says ants like to bite diabetics because of their high blood sugar. At another Indian hospital, rats chewed off a patient's fingertip.

A government investigation says the FDA bent its rules to block over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill. The GAO report indicates 1) senior officials decided to reject such sales long before their scientific assessment was finished; 2) in so doing, they overruled the agency's internal and external science advisers on an over-the-counter sales question for the first time in 10 years; and 3) they justified the rejection by invoking an age distinction they had ignored in previous cases. (For Human Nature's take on pharmacies and morning-after pills, click here.)

Strenuous daily exercise extends lifespan by three to four years on average. To make it sound easier, the medical establishment says you don't have to run; walking helps. But the data suggest strenuous exercise buys you two more years than light exercise does.

Latest Human Nature columns: 1) The overconfidence of stem-cell liberals. 2) Pat Robertson vs. the pope on intelligent design. 3) Abortion, sexism, and the polls. 4) Does Alito treat women like girls? 5) Monty Python's flying creationism. 6) Two breakthroughs in the stem-cell war. 7) Bill Bennett's racial determinism. 8) The mainstreaming of anal sex.

William Saletan is Slate's national correspondent and author of Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War.