Be it to conquer the world or to conquer women (or men), chemists/alchemists have been looking for the magic potion from the beginning of the time.  Now the modern scientists give us some new clues.

For women, the smell of musk can keep the blood flowing, making them feel aroused.  This is why most of the cologne/perfume contain musk.

What about for men?  What drives them crazy?  A recent study by Dr. Alan Hirsch, founder of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, and his colleague Dr. Jason Grussman gives us an very interesting list.  (The study is done by letting men smell different combination of scent and measuring the blood flow to their nether regions.)

1. Lavender and pumpkin pie
2. Doughnut and black licorice
3. Pumpkin pie and doughnut
4. Orange
5. Lavender and doughnut
6. Black licorice and cola
7. Black licorice
8. Doughnut and cola
9. Lily of the valley
10. Buttered popcorn

Next time when you two have a romantic getaway, try rubbing some pumpkin pie on you?

And, what scents drive you crazy?  Care to share with us?

Links:

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/183988/unsexy-scents-that-drive-men-wild

http://www.scienceofsmell.com/index.cfm?action=research.sexual

The earliest known experiment dates back to 1883, by Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin.  Recent research in 2005 by imaging researcher Pierre Tourigny using photos on HotOrNot.com also shows similar results [Image on the left].   For a detailed explanation of the images, click here or here.

The averaged photos tend to cancel out blemishes, and balance the symmetry of the facial characteristics.  This is inline with a recent study where people finds symmetric faces to be more attractive.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Averageness

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22081/76045-kiss–science-sex/

Summary:

• Kissing is a way for us to communicate through pheromones, the parallel of dogs sniffing each other’s butt.
• Most women will not have sex without kissing first while men would.
• Kissing reduces stress for both men and women.
• Kissing generates chemicals that promotes bounding and long term attachment for men, but not so much for women — who need lot more.
• Most of us tilt our head to the right when we kiss.

Happy kissing!

In a study, when single women are presented a photo of a man:

• 59% women are interested in a relationship when the man is labeled single.
• 90% women are interested in a relationship when the man is labeled in a relationship.

The same study also found that whether a woman is in a relationship does not affect men’s judgment on the attractiveness of the women.

Possible Explanation:

• Men are more subjective than women (or they are just so superficial that nothing else matters.)
• Women are more attracted to an attached man because he is pre-screened by other women, and that he may have less commitment issues (think Sienfeld episode).

Links:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17619-its-true-all-the-taken-men-are-best.html

For the statistically prone: http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/175/12/1573

People who are married on average are healthier and live longer than people who are not.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/36550380/ns/today-the_new_york_times/?Gt1=43001

A little detail:

This is based on a study dated back to 1858, but stood the test of time.  It is intuitive that a happy marriage brings better health.  Hmm…., thinking of the previous post about “broken heart”, the downside of a happy marriage is when one of the partner dies, the person left behind will feel heart broken, and may have a good chance of a heart attack.

Heart broken has been long thought as a psychological condition.  But scientists found that these pains that you experience are indeed physical pains.  This is dubbed as “Heart Broken Syndrome”.

When you are under great stress, your brain could release “large amounts of catecholamines … into the blood stream, along with their breakdown products and small proteins produced by an excited nervous system.  These chemicals can be temporarily toxic to the heart, effectively stunning the muscle and producing symptoms similar to a typical heart attack, including chest pain, fluid in the lungs, shortness of breath and heart failure.”  — Study from John Hopkins Medicine. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2005/02_10_05.html

Further more, scientists have come up with a measure for a broken heart. http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/7332.aspx

The good news is that you can recover from the Heart Broken Syndrome within two weeks.

“Better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all.” — Maybe not for those who have a weak heart.

Study shows that people who have a genuine smile in their high school yearbook have a much lower divorce rate.  This seems like stating the obvious — happy people have a happier marriage — but nonetheless is an interesting read.

“Overall, the results indicate that people who frown in the photo are five times more likely to get a divorce than people who smile.”

http://www.mindpub.com/art458.htm

http://www.livescience.com/culture/090414-smile-marriage.html

The study was done for an older generation who has a proven marriage record.  For current generation, when the divorce rate (in the US) hovers around 50%, I wonder whether the difference is bigger or smaller between the smilers and the non-smilers.

A side note:
From Blink, the connection between your facial expression and your state of mind is a two way road.  When you are happy, you smile.  And when you artificially create a genuine smile, your mind actually feel happy.  This is a physiological reaction that can be tested with modern day instruments.

Excerpts:
“Consider a crude and offensive but analytically useful model…. One thousand men and one thousand women are ranked in terms of their desirability as mates … in a monogamous society and each woman is engaged to marry the man who shares her ranking.  … before these engaged couples get married, let’s legalize polygyny and magically banish its stigma.  And let’s suppose … a woman with a ranking of, say, 400 — dumps her fiancé … and agrees to become the second wife of … male #40. …”

“… this first trickle of polygamous upward mobility makes most women better off and most men worse off.  All 600 women who ranked below the deserter move up one notch to fill the vacuum; they still get a husband all to themselves, and a better husband at that.  Meanwhile 599 men wind up with a wife slightly inferior to their former fiancées–and one man now gets no wife at all. … even many women who will choose not to share a husband, have their options expanded when some women are free to share a husband.”

“… The only underprivileged citizens who should favor monogamy are men.  It is what gives them ccess to a supply of women that would otherwise drift up the social scale.”

Short answer:

It is a biochemical reaction when a man reaches orgasm, which induces sleepiness for men.  For a woman, on the other hand, sensations during an orgasm are a stimulus.

Conclusion:

It is not his fault.  So next time when he rolls over and falls asleep, it is only nature taking its course.  But if he tries to stay awake, show your appreciation.  He is making an effort to cuddle with you.

Further readings:

http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/070315_sex_sleep.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/relationships/ask-the-expert/Why-do-you-fall-asleep-after-having-sex/articleshow/5259942.cms

In this video, the author of “The 4-hour work week”, Tim Ferriss, talks about how he outsourced dating  and landed dozens of quality dates.

1. Write down what type of person you want to date.
2. Post a job description on elance.com requesting services to find dates from online dating sites for you.
3. Wait for 7 days.

Voila!  With < $200, you got over a dozen dates.

http://venturehacks.com/articles/vision

Btw, “The 4-hour work week” is a great book.  The essense: Do what you do the best, outsource the rest.