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If you think itЙs impossible to have sex while you sleep, think again, according to a new study.

There are at least 11 different sex-related sleep disorders, collectively referred to as МsexsomniaН or Мsleepsex,Н that affect people who are otherwise psychologically healthy Д causing them to unknowingly engage in various sexual activities during the night.

Carlos Schenck, a psychiatrist at the , and his colleagues have studied a number of behavioral disorders associated with sleep.

МAny basic instinct can come out in the context of sleep,Н Schenck told LiveScience. МAll sorts of things can happen.Н

Recently, he and his colleagues turned their focus to sex-related sleep disorders. They conducted computerized medical literature searches for studies published between 1950 and 2006 related to sleep and sexual behavior and looked through a number of sleep medicine textbooks. They also analyzed data from a previously completed internet survey that had gathered data from 219 people, 92 percent of whom had experienced multiple МsexsomniaН episodes.

Among other things, they found that people Д mostly men Д sometimes masturbate, initiate sex with a partner and reach orgasm during sleep. They usually have no memory of these activities when they wake up, learning about them only if a partner or roommate tells them. Some of these activities can also have legal consequences, such as if someone initiates sex without a bed partnerЙs consent, noted Schenck.

People are at-risk for developing when they also tend to suffer from other sleep disorders Д such as sleepwalking or sleep terrors, according to Schenck. МSexsomnia doesnЙt come out of nowhere,Н he said. But Мfor whatever reason, sexual behaviors become part of the repertoire.Н

While people might feel ashamed to learn from their partners that they are exhibiting these behaviors while they sleep, these disorders are not indicative of psychological problems, noted Schenck, whose recently published book, Sleep: The Mysteries, The Problems, and The Solutions, has a chapter devoted to sex-related problems. МBizarre and inappropriate behavior during sleep does not necessarily reflect a daytime psychological problem.Н

And МsexsomniaН disorders are easily treated with medication, he added.

If anything, people who become aware of their problem but donЙt seek help put themselves at an even greater risk. МThe longer you go with this problem without getting it treated, the more you can then develop a secondary psychological problem,Н such as depression, said Schenck, whose study is published this week in the journal Sleep.

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Your dog may be a lot smarter than you think, according to a new study conducted by European scientists.

Like many animals, dogs have long been known to copy human actions by imitation Д for example, for a dog to pick up a ball with its mouth after it sees a human pick up a ball by hand.

But the new research, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/03/AR2007060300960.html, shows that canines might also think about how to imitate another dog’s behavior by considering the circumstances of the original action Д a form of reasoning until now seen only in humans.

“The fact that the dogs imitate selectively, depending on the situation Д that has not been shown before,” study leader Friederike Range of the told the Post.

Range and her Austrian and Hungarian colleagues trained a border collie, Guinness, to release a tasty snack by pushing down on a hanging wooden bar with her paw Д an action somewhat contrary to normal dog behavior, because dogs generally prefer to move objects with their mouths.

They then made Guinness do so repeatedly while two groups of other dogs watched.

The first group of dogs watched Guinness push the bar with her paw Д while her mouth was preoccupied with holding a ball.

When it was their turn to push the bar, about 80 percent of them did not copy Guinness exactly, and used their mouths instead of their paws. So did a of dogs that did not watch Guinness at all.

A second group watched Guinness push the bar with her paw again Д but without anything in her mouth, leaving it unclear as to why she used her paw instead.

Of this group, about 80 percent used their paws rather than their mouths, copying her exactly and going against their natural doggie instincts.

The scientists figure that most of the dogs in the third group may have thought Guinness knew something they didn’t, and that they had better copy her exactly.

“What’s surprising and shocking about this is that we thought this sort of imitation was very sophisticated, something seen only in humans,” Brian Hare, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, told the Post. “Once again, it ends up dogs are smarter than scientists thought.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/03/AR2007060300960.html

The Australian trademark #930990 belongs to an American company which has its headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California. The application to bag the word “IPHONE” was lodged by Apple Computer Inc on October 17, 2002 - a year after the first iPod rolled off its Chinese production line.

That became one of the earliest triggers to rumours that Apple was planning to bring out a mobile phone. Not any phone, but one that would include features and the functionality of Apple’s much admired and desired digital music player.

Now - after four-plus years of speculation and false dawns - such a device has been revealed, although it will not be available in Australia until next year.

What is possibly the world’s most anticipated digital gadget was launched yesterday in San Francisco by Apple’s theatrical chief executive, Steve Jobs. He introduced the device as being composed of three “revolutionary” products: a new iPod, a mobile phone and an internet communicator.

His modest target is to take just 1 per cent of the world mobile-phone market within 18 months of the phone’s June US launch. But that’s just for starters.

Apple’s decision yesterday to drop the “Computer” from its official name shows that it wants to cut its ties with the niche markets associated with its Macintosh computer line and dock its wagon to the mass market of its successful iPod range.

Apple, which began life 31 years ago selling geeks a $US666.66 computer kit, is about to launch itself into the mobile phone handset market with $US499 ($6 and $US599 offerings.

The iPhone’s genetic ties to the iPod will ensure it begins life with a big headstart. Family background counts for a lot in the fickle world of gadgetry.

Almost all the hype to date has been generated by Mac and iPod “fanboys” - enthusiasts who get their kicks out of ogling over Apple’s long line of superbly designed products. With a string of hits under its belt, Apple’s design team led by the brilliant Englishman Jonathan Ive have mastered the knack of transforming functional products into svelte and tactile objects of desire.

But the iPhone will have to survive the trials faced by most first generation products. The phone will almost certainly come up against many of the complaints levelled at its cousins: scratch or cracked screens, battery issues, expensive repairs and inconsistent after-sales service.

Then there’s the competition. When the iPod was launched in 2001, the digital music player market was in its infancy with several standards looking to take over from where Sony’s cassette-playing Walkman left off.

The mobile phone handset market, by comparison, is much more mature. It is dominated by a so-called gang of five: Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG.

At least two of the big guns, Nokia and Sony Ericsson, already have very similar products: handsets that bundle together functions that allow you to place or take a call, snap a photo, play music and surf the internet. And the iPhone is more pricey than many of the handsets it’s up against.

And there’s the spectre of a dud like Apple’s Newton. Launched in 1993 while Jobs was in exile, the personal digital assistant was also hailed as revolutionary, but was probably ahead of its time and bombed.

Those concerns don’t appear to be worrying the market. Apple’s share price shot up more than 8 per cent on news of the iPhone imminent release, pushing the stock to an all-time high. And the shares of most of Apple’s new competitors went in the opposite direction. Worst hit were Research In Motion and Palm, makers of the Blackberry and Treo “smartphones” favoured by the corporate set.

The expectation is that, just as the iPod set the standard for all other digital music and media players to follow, so too will the iPhone.

Apple also has a reputation for creating intuitive ways for humans to work with machines. With the first Macintosh in 1984, it introduced us to the mouse and the graphical user interface that we’ve come to know as the icons on our computer screens. With the iPod we got the simplicity of the clickwheel and the shuffle function which changed music listening from being a linear experience into a random one.

Looks won’t count for much if the phone is klunky to use and if it fails to hook up seamlessly - as it promises to do - with your computer.

If the iPhone succeeds it will not only prolong the life of the iPod and the Apple franchise well into the next decade, but it also realise the dream of gadget users everywhere: one gizmo that looks after all your daily needs.

Stephen Hutcheon is the online technology editor for smh.com.au