False pregnancy False pregnancy False pregnancy, also known as phantom, hysterical pregnancy, pregnancy scares or pseudocyesis, is the appearance of clinical or subclinical signs and symptoms associated with pregnancy when the person is not actually pregnant. False pregnancy may sometimes be purely psychological. It is generally believed that false pregnancy is caused by changes in the endocrine system of the body, leading to the secretion of hormones that cause physical changes similar to those during pregnancy. Some men experience the same illnesses as a woman would experience while pregnant when their partner is pregnant (see Couvade syndrome), possibly caused by pheromones that
Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds Aleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds is a science fiction novel by Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma, a Polish-English curate, author, and historian. Published in 1883, "Aleriel" is a Victorian novel, which was previously thought to be the first published work to apply the word "Martian" as a noun (it is now known that the word was first used in 1877): After the protagonist, Aleriel, lands on Mars, he buries his spacecraft in snow, "so that it might not be disturbed by any Martian who might come across it". A new edition was published