Heated Seats Are the New Hot Tub

Those heated seats that warm your hocks so well in winter could be warming other parts of you that need to stay cooler to produce children.

According to a study by New Scientist magazine, heated seats can raise testicular temperatures enough to inhibit fertility--in much the same way a hot tub soak can kill off active sperm cells.

Some 30 German men were studied, and the results published in the Fertility and Sterility medical journal say heated seats could raise temperatures in the scrotum to 37.3 degrees--while 35.5 degrees Celsius is the optimum baby-making temperature. In the study, one man's vitals were gauged at 39.7 degrees C.

Scientists say the differences may seem small, but the rise in temps could be enough to put a damper on sperm production and motility. It's the same as if the men worked in a hot factory or drove a taxi all day, they noted.

Drive via Jalopnik heated seatsEnlarge PhotoThose heated seats that warm your hocks so well in winter could be warming other parts of you that need to stay cooler to produce children. According to a study by New Scientist magazine, heated seats can raise testicular temperatures enough to inhibit fertility--in much the same way a hot tub soak can kill off active sperm cells. Some 30 German men were studied, and the results published in the Fertility and Sterility medical journal say heated seats could raise temperatures in the scrotum to 37.3 degrees--while 35.5 degrees Celsius is the optimum baby-making temperature. In the study, one man's vitals were gauged at 39.7 degrees C. Scientists say the differences may seem small, but the rise in temps could be enough to put a damper on sperm production and motility. It's the same as if the men worked in a hot factory or drove a taxi all day, they noted. Drive via Jalopnik