Science News

Cognitive scientist Daniel Casasanto, of The New School for Social Research, has shown that quirks of our bodies affect our thinking in predictable ways, across many different areas of life, from language to mental imagery to emotion.

Evidence from all over the world suggests that men strongly prefer women who have a lot of body fat (roughly 30 percent of their body weight) and whose body fat is distributed in a particular way, with very little in the waist but much more in the hips, buttocks and thighs, producing a small waist-hip ratio. Why have men evolved to prefer such high levels of fat--more than bears settling down to hibernate or whales swimming in frigid waters? And even if it could be explained how more fat makes a better mom, why would it matter where she stored it; what is the message contained in a low waist-hip ratio? So this male preference actually consists of two nested psychological puzzles.

In most species, the body of an organism loses its innate ability to heal over time (salamanders are a notable exception). While a kid can skin her knee and not even remember it two days later, an adult might feel the effects for weeks. But what do we really know about aging? asks Douglas Melton in his Floating University lecture. Does the passage of time necessarily bring about an inevitable decline in physical stamina and recovery? Or might science be able to increase the quality, as well as the quantity, of our years?

You may have noticed that when you think positively, you tend to feel more relaxed and energetic. When you are upset, you are more likely to feel tired and lazy. These sensations are not coincidental. The way we think—our attitudes and outlook on life—strongly affects our physical state.