Science is finally studying what happens after sex–sleep or cuddling. It’s not that men sleep and women cuddle, it’s more subtle than that. A recent study shows that the tendency to fall asleep first after sex is associated with a greater in your partner for bonding and affection (so try to stay awake and cuddle for awhile).
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Since many of us may carry Neanderthal genes, it may be comforting to know what it was like to be one of these ice-age Europeans who flourished between 200,000 and 30,000 years ago, and then mysteriously disappeared.
The biggest difference between Cro-Magnons (that’s us) and Neanderthals is innovation. Although Neanderthals invented the craft of turning stone points onto spears, this was one of their very few innovations over several hundred thousand years.
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More and more US schools have their own police forces. Pupils are being arrested for throwing paper planes and failing to pick up crumbs from the cafeteria floor. The state has taken over discipline from the classroom teacher and is now criminalizing normal childhood behavior–or is it?
In Austin, Texas, 12-year-old Sarah Bustamantes was arrested for spraying perfume on her neck in class after the other kids were taunting her and saying she smelled bad. In the Guardian Weekly, Chris McGreal quotes Sarah as saying, "They were saying a lot of rude things to me. Just picking on me. So I sprayed myself with perfume. Then the teacher called the police."
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Weed control has become a matter of national security. Along US southern coastal rivers, most particularly Texas’ Rio Grande, an invasive species of plant known as giant reed is encroaching on the water, overrunning international border access roads, and creating a dense cover for illegal activities.
So far, there’s no evidence that it’s being deliberately planted, but that could be the next step. Aerial photography by the US Department of Homeland Security reveals that this giant reed, known as Carrizo cane in Texas, is a nonnative bamboo-like plant that can grow more than 32 feet tall.
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