Valentine's Day Romance Or Science?

I'm hopeless when it comes to romance. I don't know how to do it; worse, I don't know how to accept it (embarrassing in the process those who try their hands at romance with me).

A sunset is a pretty sight, but romantic? Give me a break. After two minutes of watching it I get bored out of my skull. I prefer actions to words, and comfort and logic to gestures that don't even make sense to me. I guess I'm a realist through and through.

For the coming Valentine's Day, I started collecting a few scientific items that relate to some romantic ideas. Enjoy (or not):

Love is in the air:

Literally.

Perhaps discussing BO isn't the most romantic thing, but it is what attracts women to men. Honest. Apparently some immune system odor-affecting gene attract women with a different immune system gene. Go check for yourselves if you don't believe me. The article is Opposites Attract, and while you're there check out the Love photo gallery.

The cutest gesture in the world:

As if pregnancy isn't hard enough, many males decide to steal the show with a "sympathetic pregnancy" of their own - oh, how cute...
Not at all, apparently. It seems that male 'pregnancy' isn't all in the mind. A study performed on primates found that "males gained on average an extra 10 per cent of their body weight during the pregnancy," and this is probably triggered by higher levels of a hormone called prolactin (which may also affect how good the prospective daddy will be).

She blushed, He shaved:

Colour vision, unique to primates, has so far been believed to evolve to aide in spotting ripe fruit. Now, a new study claims that colour vision evolved to spot our blushes, and that it is probably also related to our bare, fur-less face. "So that I can see you blush better, my love..."

Article Author: Melly

Melly blogs about writing in All Kinds of Writing and about politics in With Sticks and Stones.

Visit Melly's author page — Melly's Blog