From owner-biophys@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Tue Aug 21 16:09:11 2001 Return-Path: Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id B355017BB8 for ; Tue, 21 Aug 2001 16:09:09 +0100 (BST) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id A735C17BBE for ; Tue, 21 Aug 2001 16:09:04 +0100 (BST) Received: from niobium.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (niobium [193.62.192.41]) by mercury.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5040517BB8 for ; Tue, 21 Aug 2001 16:08:56 +0100 (BST) Received: (from news@localhost) by niobium.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk (8.9.3+Sun/8.8.8) id PAA07339 for biophys-list@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk; Tue, 21 Aug 2001 15:58:44 +0100 (BST) X-Authentication-Warning: niobium.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk: news set sender to using -f Reply-To: "JPCretan aka ColdWarrior" From: "JPCretan aka ColdWarrior" X-Newsgroups: alt.physics.undergraduate,alt.sci.physics,bionet.biophysics,bit.listserv.physics,cu.physics.ugrads,git.physics,harvard.physics,ubc.physics,uiuc.org.biophysics,ut.physics.general,uwo.physics Subject: "The Ring Test" Lines: 21 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Message-ID: Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 14:58:37 GMT X-Complaints-To: abuse@mediaone.net Organization: Road Runner To: biophys@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Sender: owner-biophys@hgmp.mrc.ac.uk Precedence: bulk My wife and I are in the fourth month of her pregnancy and having fun hearing all of the "wives tales" in relation to guessing the sex of the baby. One particular test, called "the ring test", is reputed to be infallible by women who have administered it and then subsequently had a child. It works like this: You take a wedding ring and hold it about an inch high over the woman's stomach while tied to a string (a necklace works as well). If the ring begins to swing back and forth like a pendulum, it's a boy; if the ring swings in a circular pattern, it's a girl. This holds true for individuals as well. If you hold the ring (or necklace) over a female, it begins to swing in a circle. If you repeat the same exercise with a boy, you get a pendulum. Do any of you have any thoughts as to what makes this happen? --Jim P. Pappas .