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Martin wades into abortion debateAs the Dáil committee hearings continue on the abortion bill, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has waded into the debate saying it is important that Christian believers "be, and seen to be, on the side of life, especially when life is most vulnerable".
Payment cuts see families pay rent shortfallLimits on rent supplement payments set by the Government are forcing thousands of families to make undeclared top-up payments to landlords to secure places to live.
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Anger as North Korea launches another missileNorth Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast, a day after launching three more of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said.
How Star Trek predicted the futureWHEN Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first dreamed up the concept of a television show based in the unexplored universe of Outer Space in 1964, the world was a very different place.
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Warnings over future of eurozoneThe eurozone is heading towards a break up unless there are moves towards much closer political and fiscal union, according to chief economist with State Street Global Advisers, Chris Probyn.
Bruton defends corporate tax rateIreland will be able to maintain its current corporation tax code in the face of international pressure to prevent multinational corporations avoid paying their fare share of tax, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton said yesterday.
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Mayo’s statement of intentGalway 0-11 Mayo 4-16 Five minutes to go in Salthill yesterday and James Horan was still cajoling his men to sew it into Galway.
Wilkinson inspires Toulon to gloryASM Clermont Auvergne 15 Toulon 16 Not for the first time this season, a matchday performance and the result have made a mockery of the statistics.
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Why do women love to dress up?Trying on clothes, said Ewart, produced "sensations which bring deep peace and perfect contentment" to the female mind.
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Scent with love
IN the adverts, the aroma of perfume causes men to fall at women’s feet, and vice versa. It’s far-fetched, but a new book claims we are drawn to people by their smell.
By Arlene Harris
The Science of Love and Betrayal, by Professor Robin Dunbar, says research has shown that smell is determined by the same set of genes, the major histocompatibility complex genes (MHC), as the immune system.The MHC is our personal chemical signature and if potential partners are close on introduction, it determines whether or not they find each other attractive.
Dr Brian Hughes, senior lecturer of psychology at NUI Galway, isn’t convinced: “The theory is that, because MHC genes have both an immunity and a smell component, evolution has enabled us to find strong immune systems by using our noses, literally,” he says. “In other words, through subtle olfactory cues, we are supposed to find that people with strong immune systems smell nicer than people with weaker immune systems.
“This is all very theoretical and tentative. In reality, it relies on smell cues that are just so subtle it would be difficult to collect good data to even test the theory. And in today’s world, people use so many smelly deodorants and perfumes, it is nearly impossible to actually find out what they really smell like.
“At least it is very difficult to do so before we decide to form a romantic relationship with them.”
Dr Hughes says we shouldn’t be concerned about how our sense of smell will affect our judgement of potential partners. “It is probably safe not to worry about mate selection by smell,” he says. “First of all, these propositions are highly theoretical and might not be borne out by the evidence.
Secondly, the utility of these processes will have diminished with modernity — while they may have helped the species reproduce across evolutionary historical time, we now live in an environment where few people have to worry about the health threats and infections that threatened our prehistoric ancestors.
“On average, the health of the species might be enhanced by the capacity of people to select immune-strong mates. However, any such difference is likely to be tiny, and so to be unnoticeable at the individual level. Whether or not you truly enjoy the smell of your partner, you are both likely to live long and healthy lives in today’s medically well-served and technologically advanced society.”
Professor Walter Kolch, of the Conway Institute (a research centre at UCD), says women have a keener sense of smell and are more likely to make choices based upon it. “People can smell what MHC composition other people have and some studies find that people are attracted to those with different MHCs —and they find this out by smelling what MHC the other person has,” he says.
“Partner choice by smell is mainly done by women, whereas males rely primarily on visual cues. Thus, if you are a female with a low sense of smell you may make grave mistakes in partner choice, whereas men just go for the looks anyway.”