Let’s talk about sex, baby! Or rather, let’s talk about all the sex we’re not having, according to the results of a new British study. Plus, we’ve got the latest and greatest recently published health studies, a heartwarming video you won’t want to miss, and more popular links from around the web.
1. Thirty-nine percent of women prefer the boob-tube to boinking. In a new survey of 2,000 British women, 39 percent said they’d rather watch TV than have sex with their partner. This comes on the heels of a similar study that suggests 1 in 10 women prefer their pets to their significant others and another recent survey of women by Celestial Seasonings in which 76 percent said they’d pick “me time” over “sexy time.” A few of the other options women would pick over sex? Reading a book, watching a film, rustling up an indulgent dinner, pampering themselves with a beauty treatment, and catching up on paperwork, according the Daily Mail.
2. Researchers are looking into “mean girl” syndrome. A recent study published in the Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society suggests that “intrasexual competition” among women is an important factor explaining why women, especially young women, may feel so much pressure to look and behave a certain way. Researchers sent pairs of girls into a cafeteria at McMaster University and then sent another woman (picked by researchers because she was conventionally attractive) into the cafeteria, sometimes wearing a t-shirt and jeans; othertimes wearing a tight-fitting shirt and short skirt. Researchers then recorded the reactions the young woman received from the other girls. What they found is probably not shocking to anyone who’s ever gone to high school: When the woman wore jeans and a t-shirt, she attracted little to no negative attention; when she wore the short skirt and tight shirt, she attracted a lot of negative attention.
3. Cancer might have a scent. While modern medicine usually relies on wide-scan imagery and detection of lumps to diagnose cancer, chemist George Preti, a researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, is trying to determine whether a smell test could be developed to catch ovarian cancer earlier. When detected early, 92 percent of ovarian cancer patients live for five years or longer, but when it’s caught late (which is most often the case with this particular cancer), that percentage is slashed to only 27 percent. Because disease can alter your body’s fragrance, it’s possible that cancer cells might release substances with distinct scents that could potentially help doctors with diagnosis in the future.
4. Some of your memories might be false. It turns out that more people than previously believed are susceptible to memory distortion. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, studied a group of people confirmed to have Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (meaning they can remember very specific things, such as what they ate for breakfast on a particular Monday 10 years ago) to determine how susceptible they may be to false memories. Their research confirmed what other recent research has suggested: That about 20 percent of those with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory probably suffer at least a few false memories, meaning that the number is much higher for those who have a regular memory (read: most of the population).
5. This clip will put a smile on your face. If you need a pick-me-up, watch this video of burlesque dancer Amanda Trusty performing to Katy Perry‘s “Roar.” Trusty originally performed this dance for the Hawaiian Gay Pride Parade and wrote about it on her blog, saying, “While I literally peeled the words ‘cellulite’ and ‘suck it in’ off my body as a part of the piece I created in order to share my journey, I thought to myself, ‘This is Broadway to me.’ I think this video speaks a million words for my journey, and no more explanation is needed, other than explaining that burlesque is an art form where clothing is removed. So you will see skin. You will see all of my passion. And you will hear screams from over 200 people who have shared part of my journey with me, and have probably been on some version of it themselves.”
Source: SHAPE