The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, Feburary 14, 2007 The science behind why she won't be your Valentine Unknown Unknowns I Science Column Wednesday , 2007 - The Michigan Da QUOTES OF THE WEEK "She was raised to be a rich man's wife. Instead she I don't know. If you go becomes the president of the back to my speech, I most powerful university in think I may have. I'm the world." he was the starry-eyed beau- ty, he the prince in shining spacesuit. Gripped by a love exceeding the bounds of the Earth, she drove fast through the dark lands to reunite with her hero, her Commander. Sometimes these stories just write themselves. The country was transfixed last week by the news of NASA astronaut Capt. Lisa Nowak and her murderous, diapered drive from Houston to Orlando. Her goal: to remove a rival from the picture and win the heart of fellow astro- naut Cmdr. Bill Oefelein. But what is this freakish phenomenon that drives even the ones with The Right Stuff off the deep end? Stated scientifically, what states of the brain and body are associat- ed with this little thing called love? Can it even be understood scientifi- cally? That is, without dissecting it and leaving it lifeless in a jar formaldehyde? Sure it can. And researche have made great headway alread Capt. Nowak's desire for Cmd Oefelein may have been intensifie chemically, by the fact that he w involved with another woman. study published by the Royal Soc ety of Britain in December demo strated just this effect. Benedict Jones of the Unive sity of Aberdeen and his colleagu showed that women rate a man. more attractive if there is anoth woman smiling at him. Crudely, this works out to 1 a "hot commodity effect," ar could be a more efficient means selecting mates. A woman canta advantage of the effect by allo' ing her sisters to spend time ar resources picking the best availab men. Once a desirable man is ide of tified, women descend upon the hapless stud en masse. rs This occurs regularly on cam- ly. pus, though women may be loath Jr. to admit it. "There's nothing as d, attractive about a man as know- as ing that someone else wants him," A ci- n- Can love be r- reduced to a tes as biology Ler - experiment? nd of a double-X-chromosomed source ke admitted to me. w- But the story gets more compli- nd cated. The elusive qualities that le describe what women want may be n- a moving target. Professor Daniel Kruger at the Institute for Social Research divides men into the cat- egories "cads" and "dads," with women preferring different types at different times. Cads are the bad boys that have the most partners - the jerks that women hate them- selves for loving. Dads are the pro- verbial nice guys who stick around and support the family. "People might be in college won- dering why do women go for these jerks. Why in the world do girls fall for the guy? They're not really looking for someone to settle down with yet, just looking to explore," Kruger said. It turns out that mate prefer- ence shifts according to the type of relationship the female wants. If it's a short-term relationship, like a brief sexual affair, prefer- ences shift to highly masculine, socially dominant men. Eventu- ally, when women are thinking about settling down, the guys who aren't socially dominant get their chance. But if cads make bad fathers, wouldn't their children be at a dis- advantage and thus remove them- selves (and cad-ism) from the gene pool? The "sexy son" hypothesis explainswhycadsmaypersist. Cads are specialized to do one thing best: mate. Even though women are at a disadvantage raising a child with an absentee father, women are still attracted to cads because of the likelihood of producing reproduc- tively successful sons - future cads in the making. And so the cycle of sexiness lives on. And that sexiness doesn't come cheap. "Hypermasculine features are the'human analogue of a pea- cock's tail," Kruger said. "They're costly because the degree of mas- culinity is related to testosterone levels." Costly in the sense that excess testosterone is harmful to the body because it suppresses immune response. The masochistic logic of natural selection is that if a man can keep up the damaging regimen of coursing testosterone through his veins, he must be in good shape and genetically fit. Once mates are chosen, the hormone oxytocin plays a role in maintaining the relationship. This chemical, found in the brain and the peripheral body, has been con- sistently linked to social interac- tion and intimacy. Experiments with oxytocin nasal sprays increased trust in the sub- See SCIENCE OF LOVE, page 76 TALKING POINTS Three things you can talk about this week: 1. Harvard's new president 2. Presidential candidates who've announced, who haven't announced and who aren't sure if they've announced 3. The Frieze Building not sure. I think I did, I'm not sure. I don't know what formally means." - RUDY GIULIANI responding ques- tioning about whether he had for- mally announced his presidential candidacy. - ELIZABETH WARREN, a Harvard professor and friend of Drew Faust, who was appointed as Har- vard's first-ever female president. "If it weren't for rape, how would (ugly women) ever know the joy of intercourse with a man who isn't drunk?" - A controvesrial editorial published in the Central Con- necticut State University student paper. The piece, meant to be a satire on free speech, triggered vehement protest. And three things you can't: 1. Your GSI's accent 2. Valentine's Day 3. Anna Nicole Smith for more information call 734/615-6449 The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts presents a public lecture and reception -Doctor of Chiroprcictic Are You Ready to Accept the Challenge? The Logan Doctor of Chiropractic program includes extensive. study in science, physiotherapy, nutrition, radiology, clinical sciences, chiropractic techniques, business training and extensive clinical rotations. Logan students receive all this and morel Specialties Within Chiropractic: * Sports Rehab * General Practice_ * Pediatrics * Neurology * Geriatrics * Orthopedicsp * Radiology * Research * Acupuncture + 'Personal Injury Contact Logan University at www.logan.edu for an info packet to your future as a Doctor of; Chiropractic. Y.OUTUBE VIDEO OF THE WEEK "Best Scenes From 'The Wicker Man'" Don't tell me there aren't art- ists on YouTube. A user has turned the stunningly callous remake of "The Wicker Man" from an offen- sive horror film into one of the best comedies I've ever seen. Nicolas Cage has always been an overactor, but here his efforts are hilariously theatrical, and this montage helpfully pieces together his worst moments. Whether he's pointing a gun at a confused young woman ("Step awayfromthebike!") or getting attacked by a bag of bees, the video ingeniously constructs the film's most absurd sequences into a two-minute clip that's better entertainment than Nic Cage has managed in years. The best part? The film's pen- chant for violence against women is repulsive in the actual movie, but in this video there's nothing like seeing Cage pelt a cult leader while wearing a giant bear suit. It gets me every time. JEFFREYBLOOMER See this and other YouTube videos of the week at youtube.com/user/michigandaily BY THE NUMBERS Percent increase in motorcycle crashes from 2001 to 2005 among rid- ers over 45 years old. Crashes among riders under 45 declined by 6 per- cent in the same period Number of people killed in motorcycle crashes in 2005, an increase of 50 percent from the previous year. There were about 3,500 motor- cycle accidents in 2005. Percent increase in motorcycle fatalities from 2001 to 2005 among baby-boomer riders, a group that accounts for nearly two-thirds of all motorcyclists. Source: University of Michigan news service andthe Michigan Secretary of State Chinese New Year - Tomorrow is the first day of the new lunar year. If you're of age, celebrate by kicking back some imported Chinese beer. If not, green tea? Throwing this party? Let us know. TheStatement@umich.edu PERSON OF THE WEEK TED HAGGARD Elimbefl Anderson John Rawls Collegiate Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies Thursday, February 15, 2007 4:10pm LSA Alumni Association Founders Room With just three weeks of counseling, exiled evangelist Rev. Ted Haggard, who says he was once gay, has prayed himself straight, according to an inter- view last week. The former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and senior pastor at New Life Church in Colorado faced a rapid career change after admitting to hiringa male prostitute while away on solo book-writing retreats in a Denver hotel. Was this miracle evidence that the love of Jesus can banish homo- sexuality? Or was it just more proof that brainwashing techniques coupled with a lifetime of self-hatred are a potent combination?