Kissing: we love to do it, but why? An investigation into the science of the smooch.
Pecking, smooching, Frenching, and playing tonsil-hockey—there are as many names for kissing as there are ways to do it. Whether we use it as an informal greeting or an intensely romantic gesture, kissing is one of those ingrained human behaviors that seems to defy explanation. Its many purposes—a blow and peck for good luck on dice, lips to ground after a rocky boat ride, kisses in the air to an acquaintance, and the long slow smooches of Hollywood—have different meanings yet are similar in nature. So why is it that we love to pucker up?
Male chimpanzees feed their ladies in hopes of getting sex. Sound familiar?
A recent study from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany discovered that male chimps who share their meat with the ladies are twice as likely to mate with them. Researchers studied a group of chimpanzees in the Tai Forest reserve in Ivory Coast and recorded hunting and mating patterns. They discovered sharing food not only helps the males get laid, but helps the women beef up and become more fertile. Meat, the scientists explain, is an important element in their diet because it's high in protien, and lady chimps don't hunt so can't get it on their own.
Which, is unlike us. We're fully capable of buying our own dinner, but like us, the ladies don't always put out immediately following the meat-sharing.
Scientists think your body might be smarter than you think when it comes to you who want to bed.
While it's been documented that scent most certainly plays a role in sexual attraction, Cornell University scientists studied the mating patterns of fruit flies and discovered the females are biologically primed to procreate with males of different strains, which is something they seem to instinctively pick up on once in the presence of a male. While we doubt lady fruit flies flit away like uninterested homosapien women, researchers noted a difference in behavior when around males of the same general family, and ones of more removed genes. This is the fruit fly's way, they say, of mixing and matching genes in an effort to produce healthier baby flies. While, of course, they don't want to say a fruit fly's mating patterns match a human's for godsakes, but this just another example in nature of how attraction is largely dictated by whom you'd produce the most unique children. Unique, in this instance, meaning as far off from inbred as possible.
A study of cichlid fish prove that males biologically adapt to promiscuous females.
A recent study surfaced analyzing the sperm of 29 different strains of cichlid fish. The ladies of the breed are notorious philanderers and carouse the sea often mating with several males at at time. As a response, the sperm have become quicker, and thus dubbed super-sperm. While this can't be noted in human beings scientists think this may be a way species biologically evolve in order to impregnate the most females. So, they think, infidelity may cause more babies in the long run.
Travel & Leisure survey ranks 25 US cities. Philly takes a beating.
Travel & Leisure recently released its "America's Favorite Cities" feature that ranks 25 cities on categories such as food/dining, shopping, people and culture. For the "people" rankings, the citizens are judged on six subcategories: attractive, friendly, intelligent, athletic/active, diverse and stylish.
Now, call me crazy, but when I go on vacation, the first thing I evaluate when choosing a destination is the athleticism of the people. Not at all. But, that's besides the point here. I suppose the accumulated attractiveness of a potential vacation spot population could be helpful to, say, ensure anyone you catch in the background of a photo isn't hideously unattractive. Also for the likes of good people-watching or vacay flings.
Relationship expert Esther Perel tells you how to keep your marriage sexy.
Part 2 of our video series with Esther Perel, couples therapist and author of "Mating in Captivity," which helps couples reconcile the domestic and the erotic.
Time put out a stellar issue on the science of romance, full of all sorts of good stuff. Here, the Cliffs Notes version of their "Why We Love" article:
Men prefer large breasts and a low waist-to-hip ration, which indicate fertility. Push that baby out!
Women look for men with muscular shoulders, broad chests, and a full beard, which are signs of strength and virility (and better providers for off-spring).
Kissing could be a literal taste test for potential mates: Saliva has a compound that influences tissue rejection. Translation: You body can detect whether your kissing partner’s genetic makeup is too similar to yours, thus turning you off.
