[{"totalItems":"32,274","totalPages":10758,"currentPage":0,"items":[{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235262","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235262,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235262","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/samsung-galaxy-s9-and-s9-plus","path_alias":"samsung-galaxy-s9-and-s9-plus","label":"Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+","content":" The focus is on the smartphones' cameras. The Samsung Galaxy S9+ (on the right) features dual cameras for the first time in this line of phones. Samsung Samsung is unveiling the latest iteration of its flagship phone, the Galaxy S9 and its larger sibling, the S9+, today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. While there\u2019s plenty to say about these shiny new Android phones, much of it revolves around just one part of the device: the camera. It\u2019s that picture-taking, augmented-reality-enabling, silly-content-making aspect of the S9 that Samsung is emphasizing the most as it announces this pair of devices. More control over how to capture light and dark scenes The Korean electronics giant is touting just how great the cameras are on the new devices. The S9+ features two cameras on the back, arranged one above the other. That\u2019s the first time a Galaxy S device has had two cameras, although the Samsung Note8 does have that feature. On the S9+, the second camera is permanently zoomed in twice as much as the main one, allowing you to get optically closer to a scene without having to move your feet or rely on crappy digital zoom. This is a fairly common arrangement, like the one found in some iPhone models, and helps enable fake blurry backgrounds. They positioned the small fingerprint sensor just below those two cameras. But the real news is what they\u2019ve done with the main camera, on both the S9+ and the single camera on the smaller S9: Samsung gave this camera two different aperture settings. The aperture, if you\u2019re unsure, refers to the opening through which light enters when the camera is taking a picture. Confusingly, a smaller aperture number actually means that the diameter of that hole is bigger; a larger physical aperture means more light can enter, meaning that a camera is \u201cfast\u201d\u2014the shutter can be open for a brief moment and take in more light than if the aperture is smaller. With the S9 phones, you can choose to set the aperture of the camera as wide open as f\/1.5, which is a good choice when shooting a dark scene, or set it at f\/2.4, a standard option for settings with normal light. People who don\u2019t want to choose can just leave the camera in automatic mode, and it will use the best aperture for the situation. Samsung says the S9 will automatically shift to the largest aperture setting when the lighting is below 100 lux. For comparison, the S8 and S8 Plus cameras had a fixed aperture at f\/1.7. (Most smartphone cameras have a fixed aperture that you can\u2019t change.) Samsung says that when the camera on the S9 is set to an aperture of f\/1.5, 28 percent more light can enter. In reality, that light make a huge difference, because every bit helps reduce the amount of digital noise that appears in the photos. Slow down the scene But besides the old-school, photography-class-fun of being able to manually choose the aperture on your fancy smartphone\u2019s camera, there\u2019s more stuff to do with the S9\u2019s imager. Samsung now offers a setting called \u201cSuper Slow-mo,\u201d which shoots at an insane 960 frames per second, as opposed to the more standard 240. That results in an \u201calmost Matrix-like\u201d effect, Omar Irizarry, a product marketing manager at Samsung, said during a press preview event. The resolution is a little lower in Super Slow-mo, though\u2014it\u2019s not full high-def, but instead is 720 resolution. You\u2019ll need copious amounts of light for this slow-motion effect to look good. There\u2019s also a function that helps the slow-mo kick in at just the right time: when the camera detects motion within a box area on the phone\u2019s screen, the super slow-motion feature starts. Meet AR Emoji\u2014and don\u2019t call them Animoji The S9\u2019s camera will allow you to create augmented-reality cartoon characters of yourself in a feature that Samsung calls \u201cAR Emoji.\u201d The obvious comparison here is with Animoji, which Apple introduced with the iPhone X and allows you to transform your face on screen into a talking, moving, emoji\u2014like of a cat, dog, or pile of poop. Samsung\u2019s AR Emoji is in the same general ballpark as Apple\u2019s Animoji, although with it you can create a Bitmoji-like cartoon character of yourself\u2014you snap a selfie, select male or female, and then you can adjust aspects of the character like the color of the skin, hairstyle, and clothing. You could also turn yourself into a rabbit, for example, or give a photograph of yourself a pair of augmented-reality sunglasses. Galaxy S9 phones will create a cartoon emoji version of you using its front-facing camera. This is a silly rendering of the author. Samsung Bixby can help you buy makeup Bixby, Samsung\u2019s answer to Apple\u2019s Siri or the Google Assistant, still has a dedicated button on the side of the device to summon it. Intelligent features accessed through the camera are also under Bixby\u2019s umbrella, such as pointing your camera at something you want to identify and then purchase online. They\u2019ve also improved the way Bixby handles textual translation: show the camera a sign in another language, and it will overlay the translation in real time on your screen. Also, at the intersection of AR and commerce, the S9 offers a makeup feature. You can virtually try on different shades of lipstick from the likes of Sephora and then buy them, of course. Tougher hardwear The S9 will offer stereo sound, so you can crank your tunes 40 percent louder than with the S8 through its speakers, Samsung says. The screen on the S9 is 5.8 inches on the diagonal, and the S9\u2019s is 6.2 inches, like the S8 family before it. For those accidental drops, the company says that this iteration of the Galaxy family has \u201crefinements for enhanced durability,\u201d like the incorporation of 7000-series aluminum. You can choose from three colors if you live in the U.S.\u2014midnight black, coral blue, and lilac purple. Unlike an iPhone, but like Galaxy and Note devices before it, it does have a headphone jack. Preorders begin on March 2, and it will be in stores on March 16. ","teaser":" The focus is on the smartphones' cameras. The Samsung Galaxy S9+ (on the right) features dual cameras for the first time in this line of phones. Samsung Samsung is unveiling the latest iteration of its flagship phone, the Galaxy S9 and its larger sibling, the S9+, today at the Mobile World","ss_name":"robverger","tos_name":"robverger","ss_name_formatted":"robverger","tos_name_formatted":"robverger","is_uid":1720,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-02-25T17:19:08Z","ds_changed":"2018-02-25T17:38:01Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-02-25T17:38:01Z","bs_field_sponsored":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":false,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"ts_bonnier_summary":"
Samsung unveiled the latest iteration of its flagship phone, the Galaxy S9 and its larger sibling, the S9+.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
Samsung unveiled the latest iteration of its flagship phone, the Galaxy S9 and its larger sibling, the S9+.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
Technology<\/a><\/div>","timestamp":"2018-02-25T17:38:02.615Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/02\/c3.1_s9_9_gray_purple_1p.jpg?itok=LBiu5F3T&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[209613,212892,210130,212886,224393,224407,63,224104],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["technology"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Rob Verger"],"tm_vid_1_names":["samsung Android smartphones Apple iPhone iPhone X Technology"],"spell":["Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+"," The focus is on the smartphones' cameras. The Samsung Galaxy S9+ (on the right) features dual cameras for the first time in this line of phones. Samsung Samsung is unveiling the latest iteration of its flagship phone, the Galaxy S9 and its larger sibling, the S9+, today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. While there\u2019s plenty to say about these shiny new Android phones, much of it revolves around just one part of the device: the camera. It\u2019s that picture-taking, augmented-reality-enabling, silly-content-making aspect of the S9 that Samsung is emphasizing the most as it announces this pair of devices. More control over how to capture light and dark scenes The Korean electronics giant is touting just how great the cameras are on the new devices. The S9+ features two cameras on the back, arranged one above the other. That\u2019s the first time a Galaxy S device has had two cameras, although the Samsung Note8 does have that feature. On the S9+, the second camera is permanently zoomed in twice as much as the main one, allowing you to get optically closer to a scene without having to move your feet or rely on crappy digital zoom. This is a fairly common arrangement, like the one found in some iPhone models, and helps enable fake blurry backgrounds. They positioned the small fingerprint sensor just below those two cameras. But the real news is what they\u2019ve done with the main camera, on both the S9+ and the single camera on the smaller S9: Samsung gave this camera two different aperture settings. The aperture, if you\u2019re unsure, refers to the opening through which light enters when the camera is taking a picture. Confusingly, a smaller aperture number actually means that the diameter of that hole is bigger; a larger physical aperture means more light can enter, meaning that a camera is \u201cfast\u201d\u2014the shutter can be open for a brief moment and take in more light than if the aperture is smaller. With the S9 phones, you can choose to set the aperture of the camera as wide open as f\/1.5, which is a good choice when shooting a dark scene, or set it at f\/2.4, a standard option for settings with normal light. People who don\u2019t want to choose can just leave the camera in automatic mode, and it will use the best aperture for the situation. Samsung says the S9 will automatically shift to the largest aperture setting when the lighting is below 100 lux. For comparison, the S8 and S8 Plus cameras had a fixed aperture at f\/1.7. (Most smartphone cameras have a fixed aperture that you can\u2019t change.) Samsung says that when the camera on the S9 is set to an aperture of f\/1.5, 28 percent more light can enter. In reality, that light make a huge difference, because every bit helps reduce the amount of digital noise that appears in the photos. Slow down the scene But besides the old-school, photography-class-fun of being able to manually choose the aperture on your fancy smartphone\u2019s camera, there\u2019s more stuff to do with the S9\u2019s imager. Samsung now offers a setting called \u201cSuper Slow-mo,\u201d which shoots at an insane 960 frames per second, as opposed to the more standard 240. That results in an \u201calmost Matrix-like\u201d effect, Omar Irizarry, a product marketing manager at Samsung, said during a press preview event. The resolution is a little lower in Super Slow-mo, though\u2014it\u2019s not full high-def, but instead is 720 resolution. You\u2019ll need copious amounts of light for this slow-motion effect to look good. There\u2019s also a function that helps the slow-mo kick in at just the right time: when the camera detects motion within a box area on the phone\u2019s screen, the super slow-motion feature starts. Meet AR Emoji\u2014and don\u2019t call them Animoji The S9\u2019s camera will allow you to create augmented-reality cartoon characters of yourself in a feature that Samsung calls \u201cAR Emoji.\u201d The obvious comparison here is with Animoji, which Apple introduced with the iPhone X and allows you to transform your face on screen into a talking, moving, emoji\u2014like of a cat, dog, or pile of poop. Samsung\u2019s AR Emoji is in the same general ballpark as Apple\u2019s Animoji, although with it you can create a Bitmoji-like cartoon character of yourself\u2014you snap a selfie, select male or female, and then you can adjust aspects of the character like the color of the skin, hairstyle, and clothing. You could also turn yourself into a rabbit, for example, or give a photograph of yourself a pair of augmented-reality sunglasses. Galaxy S9 phones will create a cartoon emoji version of you using its front-facing camera. This is a silly rendering of the author. Samsung Bixby can help you buy makeup Bixby, Samsung\u2019s answer to Apple\u2019s Siri or the Google Assistant, still has a dedicated button on the side of the device to summon it. Intelligent features accessed through the camera are also under Bixby\u2019s umbrella, such as pointing your camera at something you want to identify and then purchase online. They\u2019ve also improved the way Bixby handles textual translation: show the camera a sign in another language, and it will overlay the translation in real time on your screen. Also, at the intersection of AR and commerce, the S9 offers a makeup feature. You can virtually try on different shades of lipstick from the likes of Sephora and then buy them, of course. Tougher hardwear The S9 will offer stereo sound, so you can crank your tunes 40 percent louder than with the S8 through its speakers, Samsung says. The screen on the S9 is 5.8 inches on the diagonal, and the S9\u2019s is 6.2 inches, like the S8 family before it. For those accidental drops, the company says that this iteration of the Galaxy family has \u201crefinements for enhanced durability,\u201d like the incorporation of 7000-series aluminum. You can choose from three colors if you live in the U.S.\u2014midnight black, coral blue, and lilac purple. Unlike an iPhone, but like Galaxy and Note devices before it, it does have a headphone jack. Preorders begin on March 2, and it will be in stores on March 16. ","samsung Android smartphones Apple iPhone iPhone X Technology","Rob Verger","
Samsung unveiled the latest iteration of its flagship phone, the Galaxy S9 and its larger sibling, the S9+.<\/div>","
Samsung unveiled the latest iteration of its flagship phone, the Galaxy S9 and its larger sibling, the S9+.<\/div>","
Technology<\/a><\/div>"],"bm_field_feed_builder_exclusion":[false],"im_field_author":[224104],"bm_field_display_social":[true],"bm_field_exclude_from_cl":[false],"bm_field_last_updated":[false],"sm_field_sponsor_label":[""],"bm_in_nps":[false],"sm_field_subtitle":["The focus is on the smartphones' cameras.\n"],"bm_field_display_author_bio":[true],"im_field_tags":[209613,212892,210130,212886,224393,224407,63],"im_vid_2":[224104],"sm_vid_Authors":["Rob Verger"],"im_vid_1":[209613,212892,210130,212886,224393,224407,63],"sm_vid_Tags":["samsung","Android","smartphones","Apple","iPhone","iPhone X","Technology"]},{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/235264","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":235264,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/235264","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/olympic-athlete-sex-performance","path_alias":"olympic-athlete-sex-performance","label":"Superstition keeps a lot of Olympians from boinking. But what does the evidence say?","content":" Many of the Olympic Village's 110,000 condoms likely went unused due to superstition. Just do it. DepositPhotos Consider, if you will, the Olympic Village. Close quarters. Dorm-like accommodations. Thousands of young, hot athletes at the peak of their physical performance. It\u2019s no wonder that dating apps like Tinder light up the moment the Olympics begin\u2026 and that the Village has a reputation as a sort of sex Shangri-La. But despite the condoms that reportedly litter the Olympic Village by the end of the Winter Games\u2014a record 110,000, or 38 per athlete, were provided this year\u2014many will go unused because of pre-game superstitions. Plenty of elite athletes abstain from sex before competing\u2014even though there\u2019s no scientific evidence to support their decision from either a physical or psychological perspective. Supposedly, athletes who swipe left on sex before competitions have an advantage on the field. Theories vary as to the exact reason why. There\u2019s the \u201cpeople who have been told not to boink save up their aggression for the field\u201d theory. There\u2019s the \u201cit lets athletes focus on their game, not how much game they have in the Olympic Village\u201d theory. And there are various theories that once someone orgasms, they lose strength. All three could potentially devastate performance, especially at the Olympics, where athletes often only have a single shot at a medal. And plenty of winter athletes do abstain accordingly. Chad Hedrick, who won a gold medal in Turin in 2006 and four other medals at the Winter Games, refused to get it on before getting on the ice, and in 2006, snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler told ABC News that she and now-husband Chris Hotell don\u2019t have sex for a stretch before competing. But the scientific evidence suggests all that discipline may have been in vain. In 2016, an international group of researchers conducted a systematic review of sex-before-competition studies. Their work, which was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, revealed serious issues with the existing data on the subject. It turns out there\u2019s no across-the-board agreement on how to study whether sex affects athletes, and no two studies use the same methods. Since there aren\u2019t multiple studies using the same method across different sports\u2014and since sample sizes are tiny\u2014there\u2019s plenty of work to do before we can make any conclusions. That said, the studies that do exist all suggest that sex doesn\u2019t hurt\u2014and could even help\u2014sports performance. A 1968 study that compared men\u2019s grip strength after abstinence and after sex found no correlation between the two. Over time, research became more complex. In a 1995 study, scientists tested men on a treadmill and measured their aerobic power, oxygen uptake, and other aerobic factors both after they\u2019d had sex and after they\u2019d abstained. Sex didn\u2019t make any difference in their performance. There is a catch, though: It might make sense to have sex the night before an event instead of, like, literally right before. In 2000, researchers compared the cardiac activity, testosterone levels, concentration, and heart stress of 15 elite athletes two hours and ten hours after sexual activity. When athletes had just done the deed, they took longer to recover from the stress tests than when they\u2019d waited. Athletes generally have more, better sex than the rest of us, at least according to a 2004 study. But couldn\u2019t the physical exertion of, say, a whirlpool orgy in the simmering sexpot that is the Olympic Village wipe out your ability to perform? Nope: According to a 20-author article in the New England Journal of Medicine, it turns out that, despite its seeming intensity, sex burns a measly 210 calories per hour. Given that the average man lasts for about six minutes, that\u2019s not exactly a workout. There could be psychological benefits to pre-competition sex, too\u2014since sex can be relaxing and fun, it could improve an athlete\u2019s performance just by giving their mood a lift. But the data is just too sparse to really create sex guidelines for elite Olympians. One huge blind spot is masturbation: scientists haven\u2019t really studied how jilling off can jack up (or tank) sports performance. And there\u2019s no telling how particularly good or bad sex might affect a ski run or a skate. That said, superstition is rife in elite athletes, and the power of the placebo effect means that even if a sexless night doesn\u2019t help you achieve a gold medal, it can seem like it does. All we really know is that athletes might want to wait a while after sex before showing up to their star event. But even that isn\u2019t backed up by a huge body of research. And given that Olympians have some of the most fine-tuned bodies on Earth at the moment they arrive to compete, they might come to regret those lonely nights. (Yes, most of the available data on athletic sexy-times focuses on dudes. That's because scientific studies disproportionately focus on cisgendered men \u2014and if sex is involved, those men are almost always heterosexual. We realize that not every athlete at the Olympics is a person with a penis in pursuit of a vagina, so we hope competitors of other persuasions feel equally empowered to get it on as much as they desire.) ","teaser":" Many of the Olympic Village's 110,000 condoms likely went unused due to superstition. Just do it. DepositPhotos Consider, if you will, the Olympic Village. Close quarters. Dorm-like accommodations. Thousands of young, hot athletes at the peak of their physical performance. It\u2019s no wonder that","ss_name":"Rachel Feltman","tos_name":"Rachel Feltman","ss_name_formatted":"Rachel Feltman","tos_name_formatted":"Rachel Feltman","is_uid":1586,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-02-25T14:43:12Z","ds_changed":"2018-02-25T14:43:12Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-02-25T14:43:12Z","bs_field_sponsored":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":false,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"ts_bonnier_summary":"
Despite the condoms that reportedly litter the Olympic Village by the end of the Winter Games, many will go unused because of pre-game superstitions.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
Despite the condoms that reportedly litter the Olympic Village by the end of the Winter Games, many will go unused because of pre-game superstitions.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
Health<\/a><\/div>","timestamp":"2018-02-25T14:43:12.989Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/02\/depositphotos_144864599_original.jpg?itok=hFq9ZU26&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[224374,208120,200448,212430,224106],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["health"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Erin Blakemore"],"tm_vid_1_names":["Sports Olympics sex Health"],"spell":["Superstition keeps a lot of Olympians from boinking. But what does the evidence say?"," Many of the Olympic Village's 110,000 condoms likely went unused due to superstition. Just do it. DepositPhotos Consider, if you will, the Olympic Village. Close quarters. Dorm-like accommodations. Thousands of young, hot athletes at the peak of their physical performance. It\u2019s no wonder that dating apps like Tinder light up the moment the Olympics begin\u2026 and that the Village has a reputation as a sort of sex Shangri-La. But despite the condoms that reportedly litter the Olympic Village by the end of the Winter Games\u2014a record 110,000, or 38 per athlete, were provided this year\u2014many will go unused because of pre-game superstitions. Plenty of elite athletes abstain from sex before competing\u2014even though there\u2019s no scientific evidence to support their decision from either a physical or psychological perspective. Supposedly, athletes who swipe left on sex before competitions have an advantage on the field. Theories vary as to the exact reason why. There\u2019s the \u201cpeople who have been told not to boink save up their aggression for the field\u201d theory. There\u2019s the \u201cit lets athletes focus on their game, not how much game they have in the Olympic Village\u201d theory. And there are various theories that once someone orgasms, they lose strength. All three could potentially devastate performance, especially at the Olympics, where athletes often only have a single shot at a medal. And plenty of winter athletes do abstain accordingly. Chad Hedrick, who won a gold medal in Turin in 2006 and four other medals at the Winter Games, refused to get it on before getting on the ice, and in 2006, snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler told ABC News that she and now-husband Chris Hotell don\u2019t have sex for a stretch before competing. But the scientific evidence suggests all that discipline may have been in vain. In 2016, an international group of researchers conducted a systematic review of sex-before-competition studies. Their work, which was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, revealed serious issues with the existing data on the subject. It turns out there\u2019s no across-the-board agreement on how to study whether sex affects athletes, and no two studies use the same methods. Since there aren\u2019t multiple studies using the same method across different sports\u2014and since sample sizes are tiny\u2014there\u2019s plenty of work to do before we can make any conclusions. That said, the studies that do exist all suggest that sex doesn\u2019t hurt\u2014and could even help\u2014sports performance. A 1968 study that compared men\u2019s grip strength after abstinence and after sex found no correlation between the two. Over time, research became more complex. In a 1995 study, scientists tested men on a treadmill and measured their aerobic power, oxygen uptake, and other aerobic factors both after they\u2019d had sex and after they\u2019d abstained. Sex didn\u2019t make any difference in their performance. There is a catch, though: It might make sense to have sex the night before an event instead of, like, literally right before. In 2000, researchers compared the cardiac activity, testosterone levels, concentration, and heart stress of 15 elite athletes two hours and ten hours after sexual activity. When athletes had just done the deed, they took longer to recover from the stress tests than when they\u2019d waited. Athletes generally have more, better sex than the rest of us, at least according to a 2004 study. But couldn\u2019t the physical exertion of, say, a whirlpool orgy in the simmering sexpot that is the Olympic Village wipe out your ability to perform? Nope: According to a 20-author article in the New England Journal of Medicine, it turns out that, despite its seeming intensity, sex burns a measly 210 calories per hour. Given that the average man lasts for about six minutes, that\u2019s not exactly a workout. There could be psychological benefits to pre-competition sex, too\u2014since sex can be relaxing and fun, it could improve an athlete\u2019s performance just by giving their mood a lift. But the data is just too sparse to really create sex guidelines for elite Olympians. One huge blind spot is masturbation: scientists haven\u2019t really studied how jilling off can jack up (or tank) sports performance. And there\u2019s no telling how particularly good or bad sex might affect a ski run or a skate. That said, superstition is rife in elite athletes, and the power of the placebo effect means that even if a sexless night doesn\u2019t help you achieve a gold medal, it can seem like it does. All we really know is that athletes might want to wait a while after sex before showing up to their star event. But even that isn\u2019t backed up by a huge body of research. And given that Olympians have some of the most fine-tuned bodies on Earth at the moment they arrive to compete, they might come to regret those lonely nights. (Yes, most of the available data on athletic sexy-times focuses on dudes. That's because scientific studies disproportionately focus on cisgendered men \u2014and if sex is involved, those men are almost always heterosexual. We realize that not every athlete at the Olympics is a person with a penis in pursuit of a vagina, so we hope competitors of other persuasions feel equally empowered to get it on as much as they desire.) ","Sports Olympics sex Health","Erin Blakemore","
Despite the condoms that reportedly litter the Olympic Village by the end of the Winter Games, many will go unused because of pre-game superstitions.<\/div>","
Despite the condoms that reportedly litter the Olympic Village by the end of the Winter Games, many will go unused because of pre-game superstitions.<\/div>","
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Throughout the week I spend hours scouring the web for things that are ingenious or clever or ridiculously cheap.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
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Throughout the week I spend hours scouring the web for things that are ingenious or clever or ridiculously cheap.<\/div>","
Throughout the week I spend hours scouring the web for things that are ingenious or clever or ridiculously cheap.<\/div>","
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