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A strange thing happened when Jeffrey Epstein came back to New York City after being branded a sex offender: His reputation appeared to rise. In 2010, the year after he got out of a Florida prison, Katie Couric and George Stephanopoulos dined at his Manhattan mansion with a British royal. The next year, Mr. Epstein was photographed at a “billionaire’s dinner” attended by tech titans like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. A page popped up on Harvard University’s website lauding his accomplishments, and superlative-filled news releases described his lofty ambitions as he dedicated $10 million to charitable causes.

America must begin preparing astronauts for sex in space if it is serious about sending people to Mars, according to a Nasa adviser. Dr Jason Kring said astronauts might have to emulate polar explorers and take a colleague as a lover for the duration of their three-year mission, to minimise sexual frustration. Dr Kring, who is studying the best sex balance of crews for the next wave of space travel, is an assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida. The university counts several astronauts and fighter pilots among its former students. His findings are due to be published by...

LAS VEGAS - Having sex in the weightlessness of outer space is the stuff of urban legends and romantic fantasy — but experts say that there would be definite downsides as well. Spacesickness, for instance. And the difficulty of choreographing intimacy. And the potential for sweat and other bodily fluids to, um, get in the way. "The fantasy might be vastly superior to the reality," NASA physician Jim Logan said here Sunday at the Space Frontier Foundation's NewSpace 2006 conference. Nevertheless, Logan and others say the study of sex and other biological basics in outer space will be crucial to...