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86 articles from SUNDAY 22.1.2012

• SUNDAY 22. JANUARY, 2012
• 03:16 Beijing releases pollution data; US figures higher (AP)

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  AP - Caving to public pressure, Beijing environmental authorities started releasing more detailed air quality data Saturday that may better reflect how bad the Chinese capital's air pollution is. But one expert says measurements from the first day were low compared with data U.S. officials have been collecting for years.

  
   

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• 01:24 Obama Administration: U.S. Oil Production Highest Since 2003 (ContributorNetwork)

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  ContributorNetwork - According to a news release posted at the U.S. Department of Energy's website and that of the White House, domestic energy production is the highest it has been since 2003 and the Obama Administration has been active in other energy policies. Here are the details by the numbers.  

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• 01:09 Could lab-grown meat soon be the solution to the world's food crisis? | Hannah Tuomisto

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• 01:08 Urgent action needed to prevent England's rivers drying up

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• 01:07 Rewind TV: Room 101; The One Griff Rhys Jones; Richard Wilson on Hold; Stargazing Live; Celebrity Big Brother; Countdown – review

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• 01:06 The South Polar Times: Captain Scott's newspaper revisited

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• 01:06 New to Nature No 64: Nadzikambia baylissi

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• 01:05 Air: back on moon safari

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• 01:05 Love and other animals

  Read the story at Guardian Unlimited Science
  

  A lousy lesson on intimacy from a primate
  

  As it does among humans, hygiene plays an important role in the animal kingdom. Animal grooming may consist of brushing through hair, picking through feathers or sifting through scales. When Golden Lion Tamarin monkeys aren't swinging through the trees of South America, they are busy grooming one another. It improves the hygiene of the tribe, and strengthens relationships between potential mates. Humans respond very differently from Tamarins when these grooming activities are performed on them rather than by them.

  Once you are seriously involved, every minor imperfection is on exhibit. Perhaps he can't help fixing your hair, or always de-lints your clothes, suggests you cut your nails, or asks you to wear a different fragrance. You might wonder: how dare he tarnish the idealistic vision he once had of you? We all know at least one couple that plucks one another's eyebrows or (for shame) pops each other's pimples – we think these people have gone bananas. It's reminiscent of your mother's urge to spit on a tissue and rub dirt off your cheek. The thought of revealing such personal chimp-erfections might make you cringe.

  In medieval times, delousing was a necessary social activity. Even now, you can't deny the satisfaction of having someone brush your hair or bathing alongside a person you love. Anthropologists and primatologists alike suggest that mutual grooming led to the emergence of language. Do we deny ourselves this intimacy because it's a reminder that we were animals not long ago?

  For the Golden Lion Tamarin monkey, mutual grooming creates strong social bonds. They use it to resolve conflicts, reduce tensions and stress, and, not surprisingly, encourage sexual activity. It also gives them a beautiful, healthy golden coat. Humans who are comfortable with social grooming have more romantic, satisfying, long-lasting relationships. It is curious, then, how many perceive the activity as primitive.

  In our evolution towards self-sufficiency have we lost another way of connecting with mates? For Golden Lion Tamarin monkeys, and those few humans who allow themselves a mild state of co-dependency, there are rewards – yet most resist. For the rest of us, maybe if we stop trying to separate ourselves from other animals, we'll spend less time separated from each other.

  • Relationships
  • Wildlife
  • Animals
  • Biology

  Terry Tom Brown

  
  

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• 01:04 The future of food

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• 00:04 Heating Oil Costs Surge, and Many in Northeast Can’t Switch

  Read the story at NYT > Science
  Oil prices are expected to reach record levels this winter, but many users are unable to switch to natural gas or electricity, whose prices are going in the opposite direction.
  
   

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