HIV present among Irish students
Doctors at Ireland’s universities have admitted to treating Irish students for HIV. The Health Service Executive figures show that there are over 4,000 cases of HIV in Ireland but it is unclear how many of those cases are students. A recent study by Trinity College Dublin has reported that one in two students have had one-night stands, and that alcohol and drugs leads to an increase in risky behaviour.

Pleasure and profit – design a sex toy
Calling all budding inventors – get your thinking caps on. Love Honey, the online adult retailer, has launched a competition to create the ultimate new sex toy. The brief is wide and the judges will consider any products made for either men or women, to be used alone or by either gay or straight couples. The lucky winner will walk away with £1,000 in prize money as well as all those lovely royalties on sales. For full details see www.designasextoy.com.

If music be the food of love, sing up!
Here’s a lesson in love from the birds. Scientists have found that 49% of male nightingales don’t have a mate during breeding season because their dominant brothers have charmed all the available ladies. The male birds compete for mates through singing competitions. Dominant males start singing before their opponents have finished their songs and female birds find this tuneful aggression appealing. I think the producers of You’re a Star, The X-Factor and all those tiresome talent shows should consider putting this information to the test on humans. Might make for an interesting show for a change.

Sexton’s Miscellany
Virginity Tests
Sexual purity in females has traditionally been a prized commodity. Even today many cultures regard virginity as crucial to a young woman’s worth. Since the presence – or lack of – a hymen is an unreliable guide to virginity, some rather bizarre tests have been used to decide whether or not a girl was innocent of a man’s touch.

• In medieval Europe it was believed that a virgin could feel a pea placed under a mattress. This was used in the fairytale 'The Princess And The Pea' as a test for royalty.
• n China, virginity was tested using a pigeon’s egg. If the egg slipped into the vagina, the girl was not a virgin.
• 13th century Italian doctors believed that a virgin’s urine was clear and sparkling.
• Sometimes a team of experts were called in to test a girl’s virginity. The girl would be laid on a bed while doctors, midwives and matrons checked her. One of the tests involved using a wax penis to test the tautness of her vaginal canal.
• Europeans in the middle ages believed that the presence of non-virgins caused musical instruments to play out of tune. Imagine the chaos in Crawdaddy!