Men Are Dirtier Than Women

OK, show of hands for those who are surprised by this revelation!

A new study of the workplace shows that men tend to be dirtier than women.

In a new study, researchers took swabs of a variety of office equipment in New York, San Francisco, and Tucson. They found more than 500 types of bacteria, most of which normally live on our skin or in our nasal, oral, and intestinal cavities. Chairs and phones accumulated the most bacteria, followed by desktops, keyboards, and computer mice. In a few cases, hardy microbes commonly found in hot springs and volcanic islands also appeared in the mix, perhaps tracked into the office following a vacation to St. Lucia or Yellowstone. New York and San Francisco's bacterial diversity was virtually identical despite their nearly 4700-kilometer divide, while Tucson's microbes were more variable and tended to be heavy on desert soil bacteria in addition to the human-derived species. San Francisco offices were the least contaminated. And while the offices of men and women had the same types of species, women's offices had on average 10% to 20% fewer of them. 

Zz.

The Earliest Porn?

So what if you don't have the internet, you don't have DVDs, you don't have movies, you don't have magazines? What do you do for porn?

Why, you CARVE and make pornographic sculpture!

It appears that that's what our ancestors were doing way back then! Archaeologists digging in Germany have uncovered statues that may be pornographic in nature dated back at least 35,000 years ago, which makes it one of the oldest sculpture ever found.

The tiny statuette--just under 6 centimeters tall and 3.4 centimeters wide--was carved out of a single piece of mammoth ivory. It has dramatically exaggerated breasts and a detailed, enlarged vulva. The headless figurine is topped with a knob that Conard suggests might have been used to attach it to a thong or cord for use as a necklace or personal ornament.
.
.
There's no way to know what the statuette was used for or what meaning it carried, although scientists theorize that it might have been used in shamanistic rites or was simply pornography. Anthropologist Paul Mellars of Stony Brook University in New York state says the focus on exaggerated sexual features fits with other artifacts found from the period, including phalluses carved out of bison horn and vulva inscribed on rocks. "It's sexually exaggerated to the point of being pornographic," Mellars says. "There's all this sexual symbolism bubbling up in that period. They were sex-mad."

You go, Mr. Primate!

Zz.