Most intriguing sex lessons of 2009
By Sally Law, LiveScience’s Science of Sex Columnist
As 2009 comes to a close, LiveScience looks back at the year’s nine most intriguing sex lessons. We’ve loved. We’ve learned. And we’ve had some of our sexual suspicions confirmed by scientific research.

Pulling out works:
Well, most of the time. In a paper published in the June issue of Conception magazine, researchers claimed that withdrawal was "almost as effective as the male condom" when it came to pregnancy prevention
Growing pains:
According to a study from the University of Turin, penis extenders might work — a particular brand that used traction to gradually stretch the penis over time was found to increase flaccid members’ length by almost one inch.
Pill popping:
In February, the Federal Drug Administration mandated that Bayer, the manufacturer of Yaz birth-control pills, fix their commercials that promoted Yaz as a weapon against acne and PMS and downplayed its potential health risks.
The pursuit of pleasure:
Men who are very sexually active in their 20s and 30s — especially those who masturbate frequently — are at higher risk for prostate cancer , said researchers at the University of Nottingham. But that risk decreases as a man ages, and once he’s in his 50s, even small levels of sexual activity can help protect him from the disease.
This is a test:
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released new guidelines for cervical-cancer screenings: Women should wait until age 21 to get their first Pap smear, and should be checked every three years (instead of annually) if they have a history of normal test results.
Sweat smells:
A man’s sweat smells different when he’s sexually aroused - and women can tell the difference between the smell of sexual sweat and the regular stuff, according to a study in The Journal of Neuroscience.


The study, published in the Journal of the Amercian Medical Association, has sparked renewed debate over robotically assisted surgery, and over how much surgeons should be obliged to tell patients about their success rates.Evidence suggests that robotic prostate cancer surgery, far from being the saviour of men, is leaving them with more incontinence and impotence than traditional techniques.However, the pioneers of robotic surgery in Australia have defended the procedure, saying the research was flawed.
