Using a laptop computer may be bad for your lap. A new study shows that men who use laptop computers may experience fertility problems as a result of a rise in scrotal temperatures due to the heat from the computer.

The study found that using a laptop for one hour increased the temperature of the users scrotum by as many as five degrees. Any rise of two degrees or more causes a decrease in both the number and quality of sperm in the male reproductive organs.

The study did not, however, take a sperm count of the 29 subjects in the study. Despite that, Dr. Yefim Sheynkin, the leading author of the study, suggested that laptops should be taken off your lap. 'Use it as a desktop,' Shynkin recommended.

In order for proper sperm production to take place, the male testicles must be a few degrees cooler than normal body temperature. That is why they are stored in the scrotum and seperated from the rest of the body.

Today's faster and more powerful computers use more energy and are therefore more likely to generate additional heat. Older and less expensive computers were found to be more likely to increase temperatures of the scrotum than newer and less powerful models.

The study found that the effect is reversable if the subjects stayed away from laptops for three months or more.

Regardless, it would be wise to keep that laptop off your lap.