What men really find attractive in a woman's face is — the size of her feet?

Credit: New Scientist

Which of the faces in the image above is prettier?

Heterosexual male test subjects overwhelmingly chose the one on the left by 3.5 to one. Almost 10 times as many chose the same face as, "more feminine".

In fact, neither is the face of a single woman. Both are composites. On the left, of women with unusually small feet, & on the right, women with unusually large feet. This seems to tell us that men prefer women with small feet & they can spot foot size from the appearance of the face!

Something similar for narrowness of hip, length of thigh & overall height.

Things aren't so clear for women, but there is a preference for men with long torsos & small wrists — as evidenced by facial appearance.

More at New Scientist (free registration may be required):

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19118-why-men-are-attracted-to-women-with-small-feet.html#.U7-YUNB_W2c / face more attractive tastes most heterosexual men composite face morph faces eight women unusually small feet faces women unusually large feet smaller feet prettier faces men study longer thigh bones and narrower hips taller overall close most strikingly different morphs Jeremy Atkinson evolutionary psychologist University at Albany New York colleague Michelle Rowe measured hand length foot length thigh length hip width 60 white female college students adjusted individual differences in overall height 16 body-part measurements eight women shortest lengths longest constructed morphs faces rated attractiveness 77 heterosexual male students short-footed more attractive more feminine pick narrow-hipped morph more attractive long-thighed morph researchers reported Human Behavior and Evolution Society Eugene Oregon markers marker healthy childhood biologists stress poor nutrition during foetal development puberty affect sex hormone levels cause earlier puberty relatively short and stout more benign childhood continue growing for longer attain slender slenderer stereotypically feminine face body most men find more attractive David Perrett psychologist University of St. Andrews UK studies facial attractiveness small-wristed morph better candidate for a long-term relationship /

Save dollars & the planet with EcoDrain (video)

Credit: EcoDrain

Heating water is a major part of your household energy bill, & a major part of the hot water use is in your shower.

In the shower, heated water exits the shower head, runs down your body & into the drain, taking that heat energy you paid for, with it.

EcoDrain extracts much of the heat energy from the water leaving via the drain, & adds it to the cold water entering the water heater or the cold water tap (depending on how you heat the water at your house).

You may recognise from the description & the diagram that EcoDrain is a heat exchanger. Nothing new about that. What is noteworthy is a relatively inexpensive device which is relatively easy to retrofit, or incorporate into a new installation.

EcoDrain claim a payback period of 2.3 years.



http://www.gizmag.com/ecodrain-drain-heat-exchanger/32858/

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home/ecodrain-recycles-wasted-heat-used-hot-water

Manufacturer's website:
https://ecodrain.com/en/

FAQs:
https://ecodrain.com/en/faq/ / gas electricity electric electrical solar heat heating power energy bill utility solar PV thermal cost plumbing plumbing do it yourself drain /

"Ribbed" for your pleasure: Jony Ive unveils naked iPhone (video)

One take on the all glass phone
Credit: Jokeroo

Some iPhone models have included a lot of glass in their construction. E.g. IPhone 4 had glass front & back. Now Apple has been granted a patent for a method of constructing an impact-resistant all-glass phone, in the name of Apple chief designer Jony Ive et al. Ribbing can be included for improved strength.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/09/all_glass_iphone_patent/

Until the all-glass iPhone arrives, this looks like a reasonable alternative:



http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/08/iphone_6_teardown_vid/ / Apple patented method building all glass all-glass device see-through iPhone granted patent fused glass device housings describes technique fusing glass pieces together whole structure strong withstand impact phones mobile devices technique monitors televisions thick glass robust resist damage heavy tougher reinforcing ribs raised sections around holes casing buttons fitted rendered opaque glass elements create five-sided box circuit boards LCD or OLED display fitted processor motherboard scratches Sapphire Glass screen abolishing the scratchable screen /

Space junk — what's up there?

Credit: The Telegraph (UK)

Human junk has been accumulating around the Earth, almost from the time of the first space launch. At the moment, the oldest known object is the, now derelict, Vanguard 1, launched in 1958. Approximately 19,000 objects larger than 5 cm are being tracked.

Large infrographic, courtesy of World Science Festival at: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/2014/06/space-junk-infographic/

Is this a problem? Yes. Humanity has a large & growing investment in satellites for purposes including astronomy, geology, weather forcasting, environmental studies & communication. Orbital objects move at tens of thousands of kilometeres per hour. I.e. many times the velocity of a bullet. A collision between two pieces of space junk at such velocities can be very expensive.

A further risk is multiple pieces of orbiting debris from such a collision. A chain reaction leading to a growing mass of space junk may occur.

Not all the news is bad: all artificial satellites finally either leave Earth's orbit (many falling into the Sun) or re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. Almost all re-entering satellites burn up without reaching the surface. For some, this will not occur for thousands of years.

Modern, responsible launchers plan for controlled re-entry, both to reduce space junk & for the safety of us below.

Various schemes have been proposed to remove junk from space. Many are impractical. All are expensive & so far, unproven. Some examples: http://www.space.com/24895-space-junk-wild-clean-up-concepts.html

More about space junk:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8135495/Space-junk-a-risky-game-of-space-invaders.html / humans space program programme garbage buildup rubbish junk trash Earth accumulation junk poses problem future generations orbital debris space junk threats satellite spacecraft International Space Station sidestep dangerous pieces trash satellite launches factor debris timetables spacefaring nations clean up mess ever growing clutter makes launches launch garbage orbit orbiting /

Fireside chat with Google's Sergey Brin & Larry Page (video)

Given the collective wealth of human civilisation, why does poverty persist? Part of the reason is unproductive investment. Part of the solution is technology. Examples, respectively, are individual car ownership & the self driving car.

Individually & as a society, we have an enormous investment in individual car ownership. Most of the time, this investment sits idle. Mainly in the garage, or the parking lot at work.

For enthusiasts, car ownership, & associated activities, is an end in itself.

To a greater or lesser extent, for others, the vehicle itself is of little importance. What is important is 24/7 access to door-to-door transportation.

Once cars are self-driving, why do you need a car in your garage, in the parking lot at work, or anywhere else in particular? All you need is one outside the door — whether it be at home, work, or wherever you happen to be. If you're not leaving right now, that car can be somewhere else, driving someone else.

Because such a system makes better use of the national fleet, the total investment in cars, parking, garaging & other services will be much smaller. Resources thus released can be turned to other purposes.

Discussion of self driving cars begins at the 22 minute mark:

/ wear and tear motor electric vehicle EV energy fuel resources invest investment park road petrol gas diesel Google search engine battery LiIon lithium ion battery charge recharge /

Plants muster defenses when they "hear" an attack

Credit: William Vann/EduPic Graphical Resource

For some time, it has been known that when a plant is being eaten by a herbivore, it starts producing chemicals which taste bad &/or are poisonous to the herbivore. Pheromones released simultaneously, signal nearby plants which also begin producing the same chemicals.

Now it has been discovered that, at least some plants are able to detect, & react to, the specific vibrations typical of the sounds produced by caterpillars feeding.



http://www.cnet.com/au/news/plants-muster-defenses-when-they-hear-an-attack/ / mechanisms University of Missouri MU research researchers scientist biologists botanist discovered defense mechanisms triggered plants sense vibrations caterpillars leaves Heidi Appel senior research scientist Rex Cocroft professor Division of Biological Sciences plant Arabidopsis cabbage mustard recorded sound insects munching laser microphone divided plants sound munching silence researchers heard sounds caterpillars munching leaves produced mustard oils compound toxic caterpillars attack hearing sounds chemical defense crawling away enhance plant defense defence agriculture plant behavior responses outside influences animals look different studies showed plants difference between vibrations wind acoustic features caterpillar feeding vibrations mustard oils specific sound of caterpillar munching was played plants respond to acoustic energ, including music ecologically relevant vibration how plants sense vibrations marauding insects mystery to the scientists /

Huey the colour copying chameleon lamp

Credit: ThinkGeek

As you can see in the animated GIF above, sit Huey on a blue background & he turns blue. On green, he turns — green. Other colours too.



Available from ThinkGeek & Vat19.com/ Huey electronic glowing chameleon lamp dynamically matches color of whatever he sits on down on top match matches color glowing skin paint painted your room squeeze hold the color brown nightstand color cycle mode change from color to color reassuring squeeze Huey the Color Copying Chameleon Lamp lights light surface underneath him two hidden white LEDs sophisticated optical sensor determine the correct color matches color by adjusting the shade numerous multi-color LED's imbedded in his body color sensing technology scientific measuring devices measurement power adapter dynamically matches match color color cycle mode squeeze soft vinyl construction great desk accessory nightlight
Powered by AC adapter 3 AAA batteries /