Do your balls hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro? Hilarious follow-up to the Secrets of the Phallus, explaining all that’s hangin’…
From Scientific American, November 19, 2009:
Why do human testicles hang like that?
Easter Island’s End
One of my favorite essays by Jared Diamond on societal collapse on Easter Island. From Discover magazine, August 1, 1995:
Easter’s End
In just a few centuries, the people of Easter Island wiped out their forest, drove their plants and animals to extinction, and saw their complex society spiral into chaos and cannibalism. Are we about to follow their lead?
by Jared Diamond
Jared Diamond on the environment
An essay by Jared Diamond, from Time magazine, August 26, 2oo2:
Lessons from Lost Worlds
The Secrets of Storytelling: Why We Love a Good Yarn
I always thought that storytelling was partially a learning vehicle and partially a crucial tool for humans to form stereotypes that help to predict behaviour. Yes, I know, stereotypes are supposed to be bad, but I think we are genetically predisposed to use preformed stereotypes to help us make quick decisions when we do not have all the necessary data available to us — and we all use it, mostly subconsciously. Those who refuse to allow additional data to modify their sterotyped behaviour-prediction model for an individual would be the ones who we recognize as bigots.
Anyway, here is Scientific American’s take on storytelling.
Scientific American Mind - September 18, 2008
The Secrets of Storytelling: Why We Love a Good Yarn
Our love for telling tales reveals the workings of the mind
Your face tells about your sexual behaviour
It seems your sexual behaviour is present in your face, for all to see. I guess “she looks like a slut” means she is one…
Here for a ring? Or just a fling?
Hot for a one-night stand? Longing for a lifetime of monogamous love? Your romantic intentions may be written all over your face, new research has found
The science of religion
The science of religion
From The Economist print edition
Science and religion have often been at loggerheads. Now the former has decided to resolve the problem by trying to explain the existence of the latter
Read more »
Linking population growth and violence
Young, alive but not very heaven
Jan 31st 2008
From The Economist print edition
Quick tempers come with quick population growth
Why We Love
Time magazine article on love and evolution. The part on pheromones may be inaccurate as it mentions women synchronizing their menstrual cylces, and I am pretty sure I’ve read a recent study debunking that. But it seems to be up to date on the MHC detection issue, with the surprising conclusion that our high divorce rate may be affected by women selecting their mates while on birth control pills and realizing their choice is wrong after they get off it (nomally women prefer men with opposite MHC to their own; but while pregnant or on the pill, they prefer like MHC).
And most importantly, the wise advice: do not pick your mate with elevated levels of adrenalin — that seems to make them more appealing than they really are.
Here is the story:
About
Although it started out as a means of practising expressing myself, this blog is turning out to be more of a compendium of interesting information I come across. One of these days I’ll have to actually write something as opposed to cut and paste. 
