Men judge women in milliseconds

Men take a fraction of a second to decide if they are attracted to a woman or not – but they should not be called shallow because they are genetically programmed to do so, scientists say.
Men weigh up potential partners almost instantaneously based on their appearance because their “ancient” genetic preference for attractive mates leads them to, experts claim.
According to research, a woman with an attractive face is taken by men to be fertile and able to continue the family line, appealing to the man’s survival instinct.
In contrast women take longer to decide their feelings for a man because they need to weigh up whether he will be a committed partner who will provide for them well – part of their survival programming.

Professor Mark van Vugt and Dr Johanna van Hooff, from the University of Amsterdam, and postgraduate student Helen Crawford, from the University of Kent, were behind the study which is to be published by the Oxford Journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
They tested men and women’s bias towards looks by conducting a series of tests on 20 women and 20 men, making them perform tasks while recording their brain activity.
While the subjects were doing the task they were shown a series of photographs of faces of the opposite sex, ranging from attractive to ugly.
Men were easily distracted when they saw a pretty face but women stuck to the task.
Prof van Vugt said: “Men definitely have the most wandering eye but it is because they have evolved to pay attention to cues of fertility and one of those cues is facial beauty – it’s not that men are shallow.
“But we found they do make snap judgments about women, much earlier than was previously thought. They make that decision on whether a woman would be a good mating partner in milliseconds.
“This is something very ancient and a way of helping men find the best mate to produce children.
“Women were not distracted by attractive male faces because women need more proof of whether a man is a good mate.
“Women make that decision on behaviour, whether a man is trustworthy and committed. They make their decision much later than men.”
Source:telegraph.co.uk

Does O'Donnell Want the Whole Country to Stop Having Sex?

Christine O'Donnell is shown debating the topic of sexual abstinence and appears to suggest that the whole country should give up sex (presumably the premarital kind).
The exchange came with Eric Nies of the Moment of Hope Foundation, a group that seeks to educate young people about safe-sex practices. Here's how the back-and-forth went:
NIES: I tell them to be careful. You have to wear a condom. You have to protect yourself when you're going to have sex, because they're having it anyway. ... There's nothing that you or me can do about it.

O'DONNELL: The sad reality is -- yes, there is something you can do about it. And the sad reality, to tell them slap on a condom is not -
NIES: You're going to stop the whole country from having sex?

O'DONNELL: Yeah. Yeah! And here's video of the exchange:



For years, O'Donnell was a talk show fixture as she promoted an agenda of social issues. As a result, a veritable trove of clips has surfaced since O'Donnell defeated mainstream GOP incumbent Mike Castle in the Republican Senate primary two weeks ago. Since then, news organizations have reaired footage of O'Donnell declaring that the Bible forbids masturbation, that she once had a date on a satanic altar and that she herself "dabbled in witchcraft."

O'Donnell has recently said that many of her religious views have softened since a good many of the interviews were filmed. She has still not cleared up allegations about fabricating her educational records, however.
Source:aolnews.com

Ballsy Fashion Hits Runway in Madrid

The world of high fashion has always been ballsy, but Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada just took it to a whole new level.

This week, during Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week in Spain, de la Prada debuted her latest line of wild and wacky designs on the runway.

Her creations -- known for being bold, funky and ultracolorful -- included a dress adorned entirely in multicolored plastic balls, like the kind you find in a children's playpen at a McDonald's.

The designer liked her playful creation so much, she even sported it herself on the runway.

Now, in the regular world, you'd be laughed off the street if you tried to strut your stuff wearing something like this. But on the high-fashion catwalk, normal style rules simply don't apply.

AOL News tried to reach out to de la Prada to find out what exactly this particular ensemble symbolizes, but we didn't hear back before publication time.

Given her track record, however, we're assuming it has something to do with being young, fresh and fun, since de la Prada's work always plays up bright colors and vitality.

In the past, the Madrid-based designer has said her designs "reflect love, humor and optimism," which she tries to achieve through her use of lively hues and wild shapes.

With her ballsy take on style, de la Prada has been able to establish herself over the past 30 years as a bona fide fashion pro who makes everything from outrageous runway collections to more functional clothes, textiles, furniture and children's products, as seen at her Soho boutique in New York.

Since de la Prada couldn't be reached for comment in the midst of Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week, AOL News reached out to another relevant style guru to get expert insight on the designer's latest duds.

Fashion expert Sharon Haver, founder of FocusOnStyle.com, thinks de la Prada's new line, especially the balls dress, is "fun, cute, optimistic and kooky," everything the designer stands for.

Haver told AOL News that it's "nice to see something bright, happy and ridiculous" in the uber-serious fashion world once in a while. Clearly, Haver says, de la Prada's work is meant to "make a bold artistic statement," not be worn while running errands around town.

"I could actually see someone like Katy Perry wearing this on the red carpet or on an album cover. It's meant to be theatrical and fun performance art, not daily attire," explains Haver.
Source:aolnews.com

UN to appoint Earth contact for aliens

THE United Nations was set today to appoint an obscure Malaysian astrophysicist to act as Earth’s first contact for any aliens that may come visiting.

Mazlan Othman, the head of the UN's little-known Office for Outer Space Affairs (Unoosa), is to describe her potential new role next week at a scientific conference at the Royal Society’s Kavli conference centre in Buckinghamshire.
She is scheduled to tell delegates that the recent discovery of hundreds of planets around other stars has made the detection of extraterrestrial life more likely than ever before - and that means the UN must be ready to coordinate humanity’s response to any “first contact”.
During a talk Othman gave recently to fellow scientists, she said: “The continued search for extraterrestrial communication, by several entities, sustains the hope that some day humankind will receive signals from extraterrestrials.


"When we do, we should have in place a coordinated response that takes into account all the sensitivities related to the subject. The UN is a ready-made mechanism for such coordination.”
Professor Richard Crowther, an expert in space law and governance at the UK Space Agency and who leads British delegations to the UN on such matters, said: “Othman is absolutely the nearest thing we have to a ‘take me to your leader’ person.”
However, he thinks humanity’s first encounter with any intelligent aliens is more likely to be via radio or light signals from a distant planet than by beings arriving on Earth. And, he suggests, even if we do encounter aliens in the flesh, they are more likely to be microbes than anything intelligent.

Source:news.com.au

Parrot Arrested for Serving as Lookout for Drug Cartel

Lorenzo, a parrot, was seized by Colombian police after he was trained to serve as a lookout for drug dealers. He was taught to call out if police approached:

According to environmental authorities, Lorenzo the parrot was trying to tip-off a local drug cartel when officers conducted an undercover raid early Wednesday.
“This parrot was sending out alerts,” said police officer Hollman Oliveira. “You could say he was some sort of watch bird.”
Authorities claim Lorenzo is one of nearly 1700 parrots seized by officials after being trained by drug traffickers to act as lookouts.
Lorenzo caused quite the stir on Wednesday as he was presented to journalists. The well trained creature even showed off his look out skills as he yelled out: “run, run you are going to get caught.”

Source:neatorama.com

How Many Quarters Can You Fit Inside Your Belly Button?

More Than 1000 Drown During Russia Heat Wave

A combination of booze and scorching weather has led to more than 1,000 Russians drowning in recent months.

Russians are heading to lakes and rivers in droves to escape temperatures as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit, CNN reported. Unfortunately, they usually do so with some beer or vodka in tow.

The results are darkly predictable.

Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP / Getty Images

More than 1,000 drownings in Russia have been attributed to people trying to cool off in searing temperatures by swimming after consuming alcohol. Here, Russian men take a dip in the Neva River in central St. Petersburg on July 6.

"The majority of those drowned were drunk," Vadim Seryogin of Russia's Emergencies Ministry said, according to CNN. "The children died because adults simply did not look after them."

At one summer camp, six schoolchildren drowned because the camp employees who were meant to be looking after them were drunk, the BBC said.

Alcohol is a way of life in Russia, with the average Russian consuming 18 liters (18 quarts) of booze a year. That's more than twice the level that the World Health Organization rates as safe. About 70 percent of the alcohol is consumed as hard liquor such as vodka.

The heat wave gripping Russia has led to the worst drought in more than 100 years. Huge areas of crops have been wiped out, and state doctors are advising the public to take an afternoon nap to avoid the hottest part of the day.

"It's a major calamity, the situation is extremely serious," Viktor Zubkov, the first deputy prime minister responsible for agriculture, said, according to the BBC.

In Moscow, officials are hosing down the streets to stop the asphalt from softening and causing traffic accidents.

Still, it seems as if authorities will have a tough time convincing Russians to leave the bottle at home.

"It's very, very common," Nadezdha Voronova, picnicking with her family by a Moscow pond, told ABC. "[First we] drink, then go swimming. After swimming, we go drinking. It's like a circle."

Source:

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/alcohol-heat-lead-to-over-1000-drownings-in-russia/19556190

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