Barely There? Chinese Company Debuts World's Thinnest Condom

It's so thin it set records. A Chinese company has created the world's thinnest latex condom, snagging the Guinness World Record for the barely-there rubber.

The so-called Aoni condom measures just 0.0014 inches (0.036 millimeters) thick, beating the previous record-holder, Okamoto of Japan, reported The Province. The ultra-thin condom was manufactured by Guangzhou Daming United Rubber Products, a China-based company that produces roughly 200 million condoms annually.

Currently, the Aoni is available only in Asia, but Victor Chan, who led the project, is eventually hoping to introduce the product to North American markets. He said the design process for the thin but durable Aoni 

"It was quite tricky," Chan told The Province. "It took a lot of work to arrange the right mix and fine-tune the ingredients to give us the right performance."

Chan is also working on developing a vibrating condom that targets a woman's G-spot and a sanitizing condom that is coated in silver nanoparticles, reported The Province.

Innovations in condom technology have gained traction lately. Last year, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged funding for research into the development of new condoms that are more pleasurable to wear. The initiative aims to lower rates of unplanned pregnancies and reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases by making improvements to condoms and encouraging more people to use them.

One such project, led by researchers at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, is attempting to use stretchy materials known as superelastomers to make condoms thinner. Another project, led by scientists at the University of Manchester in the U.K., is mixing latex with graphene — a form of carbon that has been dubbed a "super material" — to create condoms that are thinner, stronger and more elastic.

Both projects have received $100,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In 2012, Planned Parenthood launched an initiative during National Condom Week to track the use of protection across western Washington state. Local Planned Parenthood chapters visited college and university campuses and distributed 55,000 condoms with QR (or Quick Response) printed on the packaging. Users were then invited to scan the codes with a smartphone after using the protection to "check in" anonymously on a map of safe sex.

In addition to more serious efforts, some innovators have taken to flexing their creative muscles when introducing new condom products. Last year, J & D's Foods, headquartered in Seattle, unveiled its bacon condom, which is patterned to resemble a slab of bacon and is flavored with the company's Baconlube.

2015 NATIONAL CONVENTION

CHILDCARE DURING THE CONFERENCE

To help ensure that our national convention is a place for all atheists, including those with families, American Atheists partnered with Camp Quest Smoky Mountains to provide day camp activities on site during our 2015 National Convention in Memphis.

Camp Quest provides an educational adventure shaped by fun, friends and freethought, featuring science, natural wonder and humanist values. Camp Quest Smoky Mountains will be offering the Camp Quest Signature Programs: Socrates Cafe, World Religions, and Famous Freethinkers; along with crafts, science experiments, games, and physical activities.

Camp Quest day camp activities were provided to children ages 8-12 from 9:00am to 6:00pm Thursday through Saturday and from 9:00am until 3:00pm on Sunday.

Atheism at a glance

Atheism at a glance

Atheism is the absence of belief in any Gods or spiritual beings. The word Atheism comes froma, meaning without, and theism meaning belief in god or gods.

• Atheists don't use God to explain the existence of the universe.
• Atheists say that human beings can devise suitable moral codes to live by without the aid of Gods or scriptures.

Reasons for non-belief

People are atheist for many reasons, among them:

• They find insufficient evidence to support any religion.
• They think that religion is nonsensical.
• They once had a religion and have lost faith in it.
• They live in a non-religious culture.
• Religion doesn't interest them.
• Religion doesn't seem relevant to their lives.
• Religions seem to have done a lot of harm in the world.
• The world is such a bad place that there can't be a God.

Many atheists are also secularist, and are hostile to any special treatment given to organised religion.

It is possible to be both atheist and religious. Virtually allBuddhists manage it, as do some adherents of other religions,such as Judaism and Christianity.

Atheists and morality

Atheists are as moral (or immoral) as religious people.

In practical terms atheists often follow the same moral code as religious people, but they arrive at the decision of what is good or bad without any help from the idea of God.

What does it mean to be human?

Atheists find their own answers to the question of what it means to be human. This discussion looks at the question from both theological and ethical viewpoints

ABOUT AMERICAN ATHEISTS

Since 1963, American Atheists has been the premier organization fighting for the civil liberties of atheists and the total, absolute separation of government and religion. American Atheists was born out of a court case begun in 1959 by the Murray family which challenged prayer recitation in the public schools.

That case, Murray v. Curlett, was a landmark in American jurisprudence on behalf of our First Amendment rights. It began:

"Your petitioners are atheists, and they define their lifestyle as follows. An atheist loves himself and his fellow man instead of a god. An atheist accepts that heaven is something for which we should work now – here on earth – for all men together to enjoy. An atheist accepts that he can get no help through prayer, but that he must find in himself the inner conviction and strength to meet life, to grapple with it, to subdue it and to enjoy it. An atheist accepts that only in a knowledge of himself and a knowledge of his fellow man can he find the understanding that will help lead to a life of fulfillment."

Now in its 51st year, American Atheists is dedicated to working for the civil rights of atheists, promoting separation of state and church, and providing information about atheism. Over the last fifty years, American Atheists has: 

• Fought fervently to defend the separation of religion from government
• Appeared in all forms of media to defend our positions and criticisms of religion and mythology
• Held atheist conventions and gatherings throughout the United States, including "Atheist Pride" marches in state capitals
• Demonstrated and picketed throughout the country on behalf of atheist rights and state/church separation
• Published hundreds of books about atheism, criticism of religion, and state/church separation
• Published newsletters, magazines, and member alerts 
• Built a robust and diverse community of local affiliates, partners, and activists
• Fostered a growing network of representatives throughout the nation who monitor important First Amendment issues and work on behalf of the organization in their areas
• Grown a network of volunteers who perform a variety of important tasks in their community, from placing American Atheist books in libraries to writing letters and publicizing the atheist perspective 
• Preserved atheist literature and history in the nation's largest archive of its kind. The library's holdings span over three hundred years of atheist thought. 
• Provided speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and the news media
• Granted college scholarships to young atheist activists