Anthropologist Martin Muller and his colleagues at Boston University have released a fascinating study showing that the bias toward younger women is a strictly human condition. In the chimpanzee world, not only are older females not discarded, they’re the most desireable mating partners.

From Reuters:

They were checking to see if chimpanzees behave like humans, their closest living relatives, who form long-term mating bonds and who value younger females.

This is most definitely not the case with chimps. The very oldest adult females were the most sought-after.

“The males fight over them more,” Muller said.

“They don’t have to do anything to get the males interested. The males find them. They follow them around. If you look at the very youngest females, the males will mate with them but it does take more work on the female’s part.”

I like this image. Sounds like chimps recognize a good thing, the same as a discerning human man does. Since chimps don’t pair bond, shared years and offspring don’t build a relationship that must be honored even into unattractive age. They’re going after the mature females because they want them.

“Chimpanzee males may not find the wrinkled skin, ragged ears, irregular bald patches, and elongated nipples of their aged females as alluring as human men find the full lips and smooth complexions of young women, but they are clearly not reacting negatively to such cues,” the researchers concluded.

Umm … “Not reacting negatively” to physical signs of aging would make sense, were the playing field to be level between young and older female chimps, but the rest of the study contradicts that notion. The conclusion is that older females are strongly prefered, not just tolerated. If not from appearance, how else would chimps know which females are the oldest? Sounds like a definite attraction to me. Maybe a human age bias going on here?

It’s nice to know that somewhere in our evolutionary past that years = value. Maybe we’ll return to that notion someday. For a neat comparision, I refer you to Lisa’s post on Girls vs. Women.

Which File Extension are You?

I don’t usually do quizzes, but this one appealed to my sense of whimsy. And here I was hoping for .zip….

One of the things I remember most from the years of CSI on tv is a discussion between the characters about high school. One asks the others if they were a jocks or nerds. Most said nerds. But Grissom had an answer I’ll always remember. “I was a ghost,” he said.

In a lot of ways, I was a ghost, too. I had a close circle of equally disconnected friends, but to most of the school I was invisible. Admittedly, a lot of that was my fault, for not showing up much of the time, and for my attitude when I was there. And to be even more honest, I liked it that way. I liked being able to hide in the shadows apart from everything, and everyone, else. If I was invisible to them, then they were to me, too. High school was a place I spent as little time in as possible, both mentally and physically.

I’m thinking about that a lot tonight. Awhile back I mentioned that I got a call from an old friend, acquaintance actually, who was putting together an email list of everyone in my graduating class, hoping to organize a reunion. I have no intention of attending, but I let him add me to the list. Today, I got email from 3 people from the past.

I was surprised that they recognized my name, let alone remembered me. Moreover, I was shocked that they’d take the time to write and ask what I’ve done with the last 30 years. Only one was someone with whom I’d had any sort of relationship, and that was because we lived a few blocks apart and went to grade school together. Later, occasionally, we cut class together. The other two were visible people, the kind who joined pep club and had their pictures in the yearbook, the kind who went to prom and ran for student council or got nominated for homecoming queen. As different from me as possible.

I don’t know what to make of it. Those years are long behind me and I have no wish to go back there, so hearing from them is unsettling, to say the least. It’s got me thinking about the past and I’m not sure I like that. Maybe I wasn’t as invisible as I thought I was. Or maybe 30 years has just mellowed people. I don’t know.

So tonight I’m remembering and trying to see myself as someone else might have seen me. It’s odd. It’s not going to change my mind about going to a reunion, but it’s a new experience.

I did write back. We’ll see what happens.

From Campbell’s Chunky Soup website:

This year, one NFL team will earn a donation of Campbell’s® soup to the food bank of its choice. How much soup? We’ll get the official stats for all the players on the winning team’s official roster and donate one can for every pound the total team weighs! So far, the Green Bay Packers remain the undefeated Click for Cans champs – will they stay on top, or will they get a run for their money this year? It’s up to you!

Don’t be discouraged if your team doesn’t get the most clicks. The team that improves the most in the number of clicks from last year will also receive a donation! We’ll donate 2006 cans on behalf of the team that shows the most improvement in the number of clicks from last year.

Using the Seattle Seahawks as an example, that would be 5,961 cans of soup. That’s nearly 3,000 meals for a family of four.

Even if you don’t like football, click through to help out. You can vote once a day until 15 December 2006.

Hat tip to Brewed Fresh Daily

Baghdad Treasure:

Although I am happy that Saddam is going to be executed, I think it’s not going to change the real mess in Iraq. It is something like Zarqawi’s death, which changed nothing. I think most Iraqis, especially those who lost relatives by Saddam’s tyranny, are happy that he is sentenced to death. But at the same time, the same people are still sad and depressed due what is going on there. It is what I call bittersweet.

Read an extensive round-up of posts at Healing Iraq.

The nose knows.

The latest version of AVG Free 7.5 is now out. Time to update.

Remember those Bugs Bunny cartoons where he dug a hole straight through the earth and came up in China? Now you can find out where you’d end up if you dug your own hole.

I’d end up in the ocean southeast of Africa.

I’m a little shell-shocked right now. I went for my regular med check yesterday and found out my shrink is taking a job in another state. At the end of next month.

I feel lost, and irrationally, abandoned. I fought hard against going to a psychiatrist in the first place, and only did so because my gp couldn’t get me on meds that worked. At my first appointment, the very first thing he said to me was that if I ever had to choose between paying him and buying my meds, buy my meds. If that got to be too much, he’d see me for free and keep me supplied with samples indefinitely. I’d never heard a doctor talk like that before. At each appointment he reminded me to call him if I had any problems, and the one time I did he called me back in ten minutes. It took a long time, but I got to where I trusted him.

Now I have to start all over. I’m reminding myself that my doctor doesn’t keep me stable. I do that myself. He gave me a choice of referrals, including three he trained himself, so I’m not totally out in the cold. All that will really change is the name on my prescription bottles. But I wonder–if the panic attacks come back, will the new doctor take my calls and get me relief right away or just tell me to schedule an appointment? Will she want to design my drug therapy herself and take me off things that are working? Will she think talking will make me better and try to analyze me? Will she understand why I need to have Ativan in the medicine cabinet “just in case?” Will she treat me like I’m crazy? All these unknowns are frightening to me.

I know it’s selfish of me to be concerned about these things when he’s got a great opportunity in this teaching position and that by taking it, the next generation of psychiatrists and patients will benefit from his knowledge and compassion. I’ll adjust eventually. But it’s hard right now.

I just have to keep telling myself it’s going to be ok.

It’s cold and gray out, so it’s time for something hot just like Mom used to make. Mmm, comfort food.

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

2 lbs chicken breasts, cooked and diced
2 boxes Uncle Ben’s long grain and wild rice
3 cups chicken broth
olive oil
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced thin
2 cans cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream

Cook rice in chicken broth - if rice is not fully cooked when the broth is absorbed, add 1 cup water and continue simmering. Saute onion, celery and carrots in olive oil until softened, about 10 minutes. Combine chicken, rice, vegetables, soup and sour cream and put in a greased 9X13 pan. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

If frozen, cook 1 hour at 350 or until heated through.