“Women really do lead men on for the first few minutes after
they meet – but without knowing it, says an Austrian scientist… Even when
women find the man unappealing, they do not send clear
rejection signals to begin with, the researchers found.

Women chat happily, send
sexually explicit signals
and encourage the man’s
attention, even if they
have absolutely no
interest in him. This gives
a woman time to assess a
man, says Grammer,
essential in human
courtship, since pairing off
is much riskier for the
female. The only time
women were negative at
all was when a man talked too much.” New Scientist

Thrown Off the Scent: “If humans are using smell to find a good partner for reproduction,
and the pill is turning things upside down, then there could be
serious consequences.” Guardian

The Greatest Hacks of All Time Wired

It’s not all in the genes. From the estimable science writer Matt Ridley: “All over the world, therapists this week reported a wave of panic and depression as
word spread that the human species has only 30,000 genes. People wept openly in
the street, humiliated by the thought that we have only twice as many genes as
flies and worms, and barely more than cress.

Not since Copernicus demoted our planet to a satellite of the Sun, or Darwin
demoted our species to a branch of the ape family, has there been such a pitiless
reminder that there is nothing special about us. Hardly more complex than cress!

If the quantity of our genes is humiliating, the quality does not seem to offer much
reassurance. Scientists reported this week that about 60 per cent of our genes were
direct copies of ones used by flies, worms, yeast and bacteria: themes invented by
our common ancestors and used ever since.” The Age

Men Show Feelings In Lower Left Quadrant Of Face: “When it comes to men, women and emotion, pet theories abound on
whether one sex is more emotional or inhibited than the other.

But since such notions are rarely backed by data, University of Florida
researchers turned to computer technology to quantify gender differences in
one component of emotional expression — how it is revealed by the face.

They discovered that although men and women are equally expressive, men
display most of their joy, disgust or other sentiments in the lower left
quadrant of their face. Women, on the other hand, show their emotions
across their entire countenance.” UniSci

Ian Frazier:Tomorrow’s Bird: soon it’s going to be all crows,all the time. “Since May, I’ve been working for the crows, and so far it’s the best job I ever had.” Doubletake

Kansas Enters the 19th Century New York Times

What’s in a Name? FBI takes the teeth out of Carnivore’s name: ‘The FBI has dressed its online wolf in sheep’s clothing, changing the name of its
controversial e-mail surveillance system, known to this point as Carnivore.

Carnivore now goes by the less beastly moniker of DCS1000, drawn from the work it does as a
“digital collection system.” The investigative agency built the tool to monitor the Internet
communications of suspects under its surveillance, but the system, housed on computers at
Internet service providers, also can collect e-mail messages from people who are not part of an
FBI probe.’ CNet.com