Smarter Men Have More Sperm 

Melinda Wenner, Special to LiveScience,

LiveScience.com

Women tend to like smart men because they're usually

more successful and better providers. But here's another

reason: Their sperm is better, a new study says.

Researchers at King's College London, the University of

Delaware and the University of New Mexico recently

compared results from five intelligence tests given to 425

Vietnam War vets in 1985 as part of the U.S. Centers For

Disease Control and Prevention's Vietnam Experience

Study. These vets, aged 31 to 44, also provided sperm

samples, so the researchers analyzed the sperm per

milliliter of semen, plus how many of the sperm swam

normally, and other measures of sperm health.

The smarter the men were, the more sperm they produced 

and the better their wee ones swam - and it didn't matter

how old the men were or whether they smoked, drank or

were obese.

But why might these two seemingly unrelated traits be

linked? Why would calculus aces or business consultants

make better sperm?

Turns out that intelligent people are generally healthier

than their less-clever peers - studies have shown that

brainiacs are, for instance, less likely to suffer from heart

disease and Alzheimer's. Scientists have suggested that

smart people may score less stressful jobs in safer places 

and that they may make better lifestyle choices, for

instance by exercising more and eating better. In other

words, maybe bright people actually listen to the Surgeon

General.

But these newest findings, to be published in an upcoming

issue of the journal Intelligence, found that negative habits

had little effect on sperm quality, so they don't support

that theory.

The researchers instead speculate that intelligence might

be passed down as part of a larger package of good

attributes. One gene can influence multiple traits, so the

genes involved in smarts may somehow improve sperm

quality - and perhaps other characteristics as well.

This could help explain, then, why intelligence can be so

sexy: It could simply be an indicator that a person has a

lot of good genes and traits, says study co-author

Geoffrey Miller, a psychologist at the University of New

Mexico.

·           When a Woman Smells Best 

·           Sniff and Swim: How Sperm Find Eggs 

·           Sex News and Information 

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