HOW DOES IT FEEL?

There’s still so much we don’t know about sex, despite the fact that millions of us are doing it at any given moment. For our weeklong series, The Science of Pleasure, we’ve teamed up with our sister site Futurism for an exploration of how our brains process pleasure, and what we can do to make such bliss even better.   

To kick things off, Brit Dawson looked at the Orgasmatron, a device created in the late 1990s that could make women cum with the push of a button. And yet, as Dawson reports, it never really took off (for myriad reasons), disappearing rather quickly. Meanwhile, Ian Lecklitner examined GABA, a neurotransmitter that affects pleasure, motivation and anticipation — and is giving dopamine a run for its money.

Check back both here (i.e., MEL) and here (i.e., Futurism) for more boned-up (and completely scientific) installments, which, again, will roll out throughout the week.

IT'S-A ME, NAKED MARIO!

Is that Mario with a little peen? 

The mustachioed ex-plumber went viral earlier this year, as Nintendo fans went berserk wondering if the toy was a licensed product. It wasn’t, but we spoke to creator Dano Brown to get the story of how he dreamt up the nude spoof and went to work creating it.    

CUM TOGETHER

Speaking of the science of pleasure, could we be on the precipice of a crowd-orgasming future? Magdalene Taylor talked to futurist Ross Dawson about the companies making strides toward integrating computers and brains, and what that means for the transmission of emotions (and fluids). Per Dawson:

“A while ago, we achieved direct brain-to-brain communication, and since then, we’ve achieved multi-person brain communication. These were cognitive communication, which could enable collective intelligence. There has been relatively little specific focus on pleasure stimulation, though.”

We have the technology, but we won’t be cumming together quite yet. It’s just as well. We should work on getting better in bed first, anyway.

DEEP CUTS

An Oral History of Limewire: The Little App That Changed the Music Industry Forever

And the untold story of a Spotify killer that never saw the light of day

BEST OF THE REST

Can tennis get you jacked? Porn stars’ hair secrets. Which of the 18 official tie knots do you really need to know? The disturbing glorification of the Unabomber. Winterizing your shoes. The gullibility of Gen Z. Kurt Angle puts off working out at home, too. The best soap for your nastiest stank. A very vegan egg brunch. Gumby is who we all aspire to be.

TWEET OF THE DAY