Dutton - Secrets from the Sex Lab

Tim and Sally are a baffling couple. Tim loves sailing. Sally cant swim. Sally loves musicals. Tim would rather gnaw his own hand off than sit through Hairspray. Sally swore shed never date a guy who watches sports. Every weekend, Tim plants himself in front of ESPN in their home in Hoboken, New Jersey with a six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Sally never drinks beer. Ever.

We always joke that we would never have met on a dating Web site like Match.com because were such polar opposites, says Tim. So what prompted Tim to propose to Sally last year? And why did Sally accept?

For one, the sex is fantasticand they swear they both knew it would be from the moment they met. Tim and Sally first worked at the same publishing company. Tim was in ad sales; Sally in public relations. The minute they first bumped into each other at the coffee machine, Tim started teasing Sally about using skim milk rather than creamer in her coffee. It definitely wasnt love at first sight, Sally says. At first, I didnt even like Tim that much. And yet, every single molecule in Sallys body clearly disagreed with her mind. Whenever Tim came within ten feet of her, her breathing would get shallow, her mouth dry, her hands sweaty. Not that the sensation was unpleasant. On the contrary, it felt a lot like those moments in high school right before shed step on stage to perform a role in a playnerve-wracking but exhilarating, as if something amazing were about to happen. Could that something amazing be Tim? She decided to find out.

Sally began bumping into Tim regularly at the coffee machine, timing her trips for when she knew Tim would be there. Conversations over coffee morphed into lunch outings, then dinner. Is this a work date or a date date? Tim asked at the end of one evening with a grin. Because if its the latter, dont worry, I wont sue for sexual harassment. Then Tim leaned over the plate of calamari theyd been sharing and kissed her.

He knew Sally wasnt his type. Plus, the fact that they worked together was far from ideal. Still, for some unexplainable reason, hed been wondering what it would be like to kiss Sally ever since shed first frowned at his creamer remark by the coffee machine. As hed hoped, kissing Sally felt great. It felt right.

After that night, Tim and Sally started officially dating. Soon, they discovered that while they didnt see eye to eye on everything, they got along fantastically well in bed. Their health profiles also complemented each other in uncanny ways. Sally has excellent eyesight. Tims vision is terrible. Sally has high cholesterol. Tims cholesterol levels are low. Sally has never had a cavity. Tims teeth are soft and prone to them. I always thought stuff like that was weird with us, Tim says. Did our DNA somehow know that we could balance out each others weaknesses and create a healthy baby? I guess well have to find out someday if my hunch is right.

Given all that was conspiring against themdifferent interests, personalities, an awkward first encounter over coffee creamerhow did Sally and Tim end up together? Was it fate? Luck? Or was it because of a far less mysterious force called science? Applying the clinical precision of science to the messy arena of sexual passion might seem like a strange combination, but behind closed laboratory doors, scientists have been scrutinizing sex for centuries. Youre probably familiar with Alfred Kinsey, who rocked Americas perceptions of what people do in bed in the 1950s, but he is only one of hundreds of researchers who have examined sex and come to some startling conclusions. Here are just a few of the more recent discoveries from the field of sex research:

• To find your perfect partner, you should sleep with twelve people before settling down.

• If you ride a roller coaster with your date, you will appear more attractive once the rides over.

• An MRI scan of your brain can reveal if youre in love or just in lust.

• Theres a genetic test that can predict who will cheat and a vaccine may one day exist to keep cheaters faithful.

• Some people can have nose orgasms, or knee orgasms.

If You Could See What Ive Seen
A Day in the Life of a Sex Scientist

Sex makes us act in mysterious ways. Try as we might to explain it, all too often were left scratching our heads, stirred by forces that seem beyond our control or comprehension. One minute, youre at a party digging into the cheese dip. The next, youve dragged someone home and are burrowing into each other as if the meaning of life were buried between you. How does that happen?