The Great Sperm Race

By Alex in Science & Tech on Mar 15, 2010 at 2:09 am

Avi Abrams of Dark Roasted Blend has a neat collaboration with National Geographic Channel. In his post, The Great Sperm Race: The Most Extreme Race on Earth, Avi has got exclusive images and videos from "Sizing Up Sperm" – a NatGeo feature that uses real people to represent 250 million sperm on their quest to be the first to reach the egg:

The story begins in the testicle — depicted as a building that would be 3,000 feet, more than double the height of the Empire State Building, if the sperm were human-sized. Next it’s a high-speed evacuation from the skyscraper along a 10-mile, ultra-fast water slide to the female, where the constant barrage of threats begin. For the sperm, landing in the female’s vagina is like storming the beaches on D-Day, only facing chemical weapons in the form of a deadly acid attack on the hundreds of millions of invaders. [...]

The survivors press on into the cervix high above them. In our people-sized sperm world that would mean climbing a ladder a mile into the sky, a gravity-defying feat that only a few will achieve. Once the heights have been scaled, they reach a cervix Stephen King style. It consists of hundreds of tiny branching tunnels that trap, crush and slowly kill sperm.

Link | Sizing Up Sperm official website


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  1. felixthecat
    Mar 15th, 2010 at 5:27 am

    Interesting event….how many people came, and how many were expected to come?

    On another note, the ecological damage caused by so many runners to this fragile ecosystem will take centuries to repair.

  2. Ioana
    Mar 15th, 2010 at 5:45 am

    Well, I personally think it’s a great idea, fun, amusing, and definitely creative! Hope I get to see it real soon

  3. Foreigner1
    Mar 15th, 2010 at 6:52 am

    I’d like to see the contract that those folks had to sign if this were for real-

    “Participant is fully aware and in agreement that participance will lead to almost certain mutilation and / or death during a gruelling run with near unsurmountable obstacles. Participant will however do it’s utmost best to get to said destination. If participant however will reach said destination, it will do the utmost to join in making the best offspring possible.”

    Answered all in truth- Place – Date – Signed —

  4. Gauldar
    Mar 15th, 2010 at 9:34 am

    If only I had the same degree of motivation as the sperm I developed from had.

  5. LisaL
    Mar 15th, 2010 at 12:26 pm

    Very cool. I think it’s super interesting :D

  6. Tempscire
    Mar 15th, 2010 at 12:34 pm

    Put like that, it seems unlikely humans are as fertile as we are! :x

  7. Lea
    Mar 15th, 2010 at 4:15 pm

    Tempscire: I concur…and yet the evidence….

    I saw that on the TV guide last night but didn’t really think about it…I’ll have to watch it when it comes back on.

  8. Kate
    Mar 15th, 2010 at 5:03 pm

    Interesting post.

    I’ll be the Grammar Nazi, though, and protest “has got.” Maybe just “posted” would be better. :-P

  9. blitz
    Mar 15th, 2010 at 9:41 pm

    “…how many people came, and how many were expected to come?”

    hehe… you funny man

  10. Taylor
    Mar 15th, 2010 at 9:59 pm

    I saw this about a year ago in Scotland. I was skeptical too but ended up watching it because I was stuck in a hotel with nothing else to do. It ended up being totally fantastic. I don’t want to to spoil it for anyone, so I’ll just say it may or may not contain Ninjas.

  11. ross
    Mar 16th, 2010 at 1:08 pm

    This was shown in the UK last year as ‘The Great Sperm Race’, and was quite good. It’s a bit hyped-up, but it’s still pretty informative. I’ve used it in science classes for my year 7s (11-12) this year, when we’ve done our science sex-ed classes and they’ve enjoyed it. Especially as there’s a flash game to go with it.

  12. ted
    Mar 16th, 2010 at 11:43 pm

    From what I say, it seemed pretty inane.

  13. ted
    Mar 16th, 2010 at 11:43 pm

    “saw”. oops. I almost never say anything inane.

  14. Ilan Ben Menachem
    Mar 18th, 2010 at 12:56 pm

    very good article and also too much good scenery.


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