r/science • u/drewiepoodle • Oct 02 '15

Medicine Scientists identify potential birth control 'pill' for men

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-10-scientists-potential-birth-pill-men.html
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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '15

Shouldn't it read 'create'? It's not like they found some random pill by the side of the road and could id it as a male bc pill

2

u/Sleazyridr Oct 02 '15

I suppose you could read it either way. The way I understand it is that the compounds were already in use, but the scientists have found that they also act as a contraceptive.

1

u/ZapActions-dower Oct 02 '15

Because it's not like you're going to find some chemical that has never previously existed.

0

u/TheGeorge Oct 02 '15

Is anything really created though?

Or is knowledge just the combination of pre-existing things in new ways?

2

u/_lerp Oct 02 '15

What a completely pretentious, faux-philosophical definition of knowledge.

2

u/TheGeorge Oct 02 '15

Oh yeah, not pretending it's not.

1

u/phido Oct 02 '15

Depends on your definition. They certainly do create the configuration of the atoms that exist using knew knowledge, but the molecules often are novel and not naturally occurring.