James Bonds drömbil såld för 14 miljoner kronor  Saturday, 21 January 2006

Girls and martini
James Bond really needs no introduction. After 40 years in the cinema with 20 official movies (and two more that enthusiasts don't count), 007's adventures are known around the world. It's estimated that over two billion people have watched Bond movies – that's two fifths of the earth's population.

Since Dr No was released in 1962, Bond has killed over 150 men and slept with 44 women – three quarters of whom have tried to kill him!

Pussy Galore
Of course, Bond isn't getting any younger. In fact, he's positively middle-aged - could 007 be getting too old for Pussy Galore, Plenty O'Toole, and treatment from Dr Goodhead?

Roger Moore was 56 in his final Bond role, and Pierce Brosnan is now 51. Men reach their sexual peak around their late teens or early twenties. At this point they can orgasm three to six times a day. Later in life they may need 12-24 hours before they've recharged their batteries.

Yet Bond's virility is never in doubt. The way he acts towards women, however, has definitely changed over time.

An intellectual match
Critics used to argue that the James Bond scripts treat female characters disrespectfully and portray them as sex objects created for the sole purpose of titillating the viewer. They don't need big brains, just big hair and bigger chests.

However, it's not only 007's scriptwriters who seem to have been unimpressed by the female intellect. Scientists have long linked head size to intelligence. And because men's bodies and, therefore, their heads and brains tend to be larger, they expected men to be more intelligent than women.

Only recently have researchers found that the ability to do well in intelligence tests is linked with the amount of grey matter in the brain, not the brain size. And since women have higher proportions of grey matter than men, the total amount of grey matter in both men's and women's brains is similar.

With these advances in science and increasing gender equality in general, 007 had to become more politically correct. Now the women Bond beds are very much his intellectual match. Even 'M', Bond’s superior, is now a woman – played by Dame Judi Dench.

A traditional martini is made with gin and dry vermouth, served with either an olive or a thin slice of lemon peel. It's stirred with ice in a mixing glass before being poured. Bond drinks vodka martinis – the same as an ordinary martini with gin substituted for vodka.

The reason 007 likes his shaken is to improve the taste and texture of his tipple. The shaking process causes tiny bubbles. This means that a well-shaken martini is cloudy and therefore less oily than the stirred version, which in turn has an effect on the taste of the drink.

Scientists at the University of Western Ontario in Canada also found that shaking a martini increases the antioxidant activity in the drink, thereby reducing the risk of cataracts, strokes and cardiovascular diseases. This, however, doesn't matter to the actors since all martinis on set are made from pure water.