Today I learned: Simulation shows what the male body does to unejaculated sperm

Ever wondered what actually happens to sperm if it’s not… erm, used? Turns out the male body has a pretty clever system going on behind the balls.

A recent graphic simulation doing the rounds online breaks it all down and it’s bloody fascinating.

It’s pretty common knowledge that the testicles pump out millions of sperm cells every single day from being an early teen, and that production keeps pumping for most of a man’s life.

According to Clear Blue, it all kicks off inside the testicles in tiny tubes called seminiferous tubules, where germ cells start transforming into sperm thanks to the influence of hormones like testosterone. 

Over time they divide, develop, and eventually take on the tadpole shape we all recognise from those painfully awkward health class diagrams.

If Harold the Giraffe could see that his lesson has translated into what I’m writing and you’re reading today, he’d be stoked!

The whole process - from germ cell to fully mature sperm - takes about two and a half months.

If sperm aren’t ejaculated, the body doesn’t just let them build up somewhere. Instead, they head to a long coiled tube connected to the testicles called the epididymis. There is where sperm matures and if not released, older sperm are broken down and absorbed back into the body.

Basically you lot have an inbody recycling system. 

Sperm that stays in the epididymis can live a life span of several weeks (roughly 74 days), before dying off.

The Dr Smurf simulation explains that the nutrients from old sperm - the enzymes, zinc and fructose -  is reused to help create other cells, including brand new sperm.

In some cases, if sperm isn’t reabsorbed, Medical News Today says the body can release them through nocturnal emissions, or as we call them "wet dreams" - the more you know, eh!