Kiss me, I'm stressed

A lot of times relationships are the first things that suffer when we get stressed.  We don’t make time to hang out with friends, call our mom, or tell our significant other that we love him/her.  It seems weird to me that we shut out the things that make us happy. 

What can we do to heal our stressed mind and heart?  There have been studies that suggest that kissing does a lot more than just show affection.  The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips are Telling Us is a book that was written to help explain what exactly kisses to for the mind, heart, and body.  This article gives an overview of some of the studies that Kirshenbaum, the writer of the book, uses. 

Kissing boosts levels of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin.  The amount of oxytocin, the “love hormone” increases.  The release of this drug triggers attachment; whether it be between a couple or a mother and a child.

According to a psychologist Gordon Gallup of the University of Albany, associates that a subconscious sense of smell gives clues about the other person’s DNA or reproductive status.  Women are more attracted to men who have a very different genetic code immune system than their own.  This may be because potential children would have a higher level of genetic diversity, making them healthier and more likely to survive.  So while men use kissing as a means of gaining sexual favors, women kiss more as a mate-assessment device.

Men were found to initiate tongue contact.  One theory behind this is that men have trace amounts of testosterone in their saliva.  Over a period of months or years, the testosterone could raise the woman’s levels and potentially increase her libido. 

So kissing for humans is a little like a peacock showing its colors to the female.  Men show off their DNA and kissing skills and women determine whether he is a suitable mate.  Who knew that kissing had so much biological importance behind it?

Religion AND Science; Not Religion vs. Science

I ran across another article in Dean’s Corner that discussed science communication along the lines of the Flock of Dodos.  Since we have not discussed that movie much yet, or Randy Olson’s book in general, I don’t have a feel for what the classes’ thoughts are yet.  As for me, I think the evolution vs. creationism vs. intelligent design controversy comes largely from the lack of knowledge.  I know that we have discussed this before; the people that were in the Flock of Dodos movie were mostly extremely well educated so that doesn’t solve all problems.  In the movie when he was interviewing one of the ladies on the school board (in a harassing way in my opinion) he got people’s emotions going because he pointed out the fact that she didn’t know all the details or facts behind the debate.

In the article given by Dr. Toney, he shows his frustration that teachers won’t accept science when it conflicts with religion (with respect to evolution).  The comments are the interesting part.  I have gone to Catholic school for all 12 years of my pre-college education and many of the things that are said in the comments are nothing that I have ever heard before. 

The first comment was: “Christians view Genesis as a literal history of the earth and all its inhabitants. Then when schoolboards demand that students dump that belief to worship an idol (darwin), parents become upset.”

In response, another said, “The bible also says that the world is flat. Is this something you want your children to learn as well? How about the part about slavery being okay? Or the part about stoning your children to death for disobedience?” 

A huge part of the religious community have no idea what they are talking about.  The world of religion obviously needs to be better at communicating science and their agreement with it.  Everywhere I looked online, (legit Catholic websites with reference to church doctrines and teachings) showed no hint of resistance to science.

BP Oil Spill: One-year anniversary

When we were assigned to choose our favorite blog in the first weeks of class, I chose Dean's Corner.  I occasionally looked at it if I ran out of ideas for my blogs but I just recently read the author’s profile again.  The author, Dr. Jeffrey H. Toney is the dean at the College of Natural, Applied and Heath Sciences at Kean University.  The next sentence says, “He is dedicated to strengthening public appreciation of the beauty and impact of science in our daily lives.”  Wow!! Little did I know this was what we were going to be focusing on this whole semester.  He has published articles in several newspapers (including the New York Times) and blog news sites.  I’m not sure if he does any public speaking but he is definitely good at writing his articles to make people interested.  In addition to trying to communicate science, he has 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications and holds six US patents.  He finds little tid-bits of science stories that are interesting and relatable.  No wonder his blog caught my eye even when I was untrained in looking for blogs.

Sputnik I

BP Oil Spill: 2010

He re-posted an article he wrote about the BP oil spill last summer (published in OpEdNews on June 29 2010).  He stated that we should use this oil spill like we used Sputnik I: to promote an explosion in science and mathematics education in the US.  It could also foster support for research and development of alternative fuels. 

Has this happened?  Personally, I don’t know.  I don’t have the time (or TV) to follow politics so I’m not sure what kind of policies are going circling in DC.  If anyone cares to read the article and tell me your thoughts about this I would be interested to hear what you think.  Were his observations and predictions correct or just wishful thinking?