Science News for the Week

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1. Blue-eyed men prefer blue-eyed girls

"JEALOUS man seeks partner for meaningful relationship. Tall, handsome, blue eyes, looking for blue-eyed women only.

Why? Because men with blue eyes are drawn towards blue-eyed women, and prefer to choose them as their partner because this can provide reassurance that the woman's babies are theirs too.

When surveyed, blue-eyed men find pictures of women with the same eye colour significantly more attractive than those with brown eyes, whereas neither brown-eyed men nor brown-eyed women show any preference for eye colour, Bruno Laeng of the University of Tromsø, Norway, and his team have discovered.

The effect is seen in real relationships, too. Blue-eyed men are more likely to be romantically involved with a woman of the same eye colour than they are with brown-eyed women, or brown-eyed men are with a partner of any eye colour (Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, vol 61, p 371).

Blue eyes are a recessive trait, Laeng explains, so two blue-eyed parents should produce a blue-eyed child, while a child with any other eye colour must have been fathered by another man. Blue-eyed men seeking a partner unconsciously know this, Laeng claims, and select women of similar eye colour to ensure they can more easily spot if they have been cuckolded."

From issue 2587 of New Scientist magazine, 20 January 2007, page 16

Abstract, outlining methodology:

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/klu/265/2007/00000061/00000003/00000266


2. In Ads, It Pays to Aim for the Heart

"Apparently, the old saying, "It ain't what you say, it's how you say it," is true—at least according to research on the effectiveness of advertising, published this month by a B-school professor. "People don't want it to be true, but it is," says Robert Heath, a lecturer at the University of Bath School of Management, who published his finding in the December issue of the Journal of Advertising Research.

Heath tested 23 television ads in the U.S. and 20 in Britain for levels of emotional and rational content before having a sample of 200 people watch the ads and respond to questions about their feelings toward the company. Ads with high levels of emotional content..."

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/dec2006/bs20061220_740656.htm


3. Cell Phone Use Not Linked To Cancer Risk

A huge study using the Danish cancer registry followed 420,000+ cell phone users over a period of 7 to 20 years and found no increased incidence of cancer among cell phone users versus controls (people who do not use a cell phone). This is a very strong piece of epidemiological evidence.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061206085942.htm


4. Gendered Division Of Labor Gave Modern Humans Advantage Over Neanderthals

An interesting study showing that division of labor based on sex (and age) occured recently in Homo sapiens societies, and that this competitive advantage was likely a strong factor in the extinction of the Neanderthals.

http://www.physorg.com/news84461017.html