College Clips

By Meg Walsh

Published Feb. 27, 2007

Beauty is in the eye of the 'beer holder'

The expression "beer goggles" refers to the idea that unappealing people appear increasingly attractive after a few alcoholic drinks.

Professors at University of Manchester in England have concocted a formula to measure the change in perception of attractiveness while consuming alcohol.

"The beer-goggles effect isn't solely dependent on how much alcohol a person consumes, there are other influencing factors at play too," said Nathan Efron, professor of clinical optometry at the University of Manchester.

Impaired vision that is caused by alcohol intake is the prime factor in determining someone's attractiveness.

The number of units of alcohol consumed along with the room's smokiness, luminance of the person of interest, the visual acuity of the pursuant and the distance from the person of interest are all included in the mathematical formula. Once the formula is calculated the scores range from one to more than 100. The higher the score, the more unrealistic your judgment of beauty is.

— The Poly Post (Cal Poly-Pomona)

Sweat naturally attracts women

After a long workout at the gym, men might find themselves attracting women standing nearby. According to a study published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience by researchers from the University of California-Berkeley, men emit chemical compounds in their sweat that affect the physiology of women.

The study included 48 undergraduate women who took 20 sniffs from containers of androstadienone, a main component found in male sweat, auxiliary hair, blood and semen secretions. During the test, the female participants had a rise in blood pressure, heart rate and sexual arousal.

Louisiana State University chemistry professor John Hogan said researchers realized years ago that animals emitted similar chemical pheromones, which affected behavior.

"These compounds aren't actually smelled but picked up by receptor sites in the nose, which emit the chemical to different parts of the brain," Hogan said.

Only heterosexual women took part in the study in order to prevent homosexual women from reacting differently in the experiment.

— The Daily Reveille (Louisiana State University)

Stem-cell research grant helps Kansas State

The Joan Scarangello Foundation to Conquer Lung Cancer is committed to fighting the leading deadliest cancer by funding innovative research and increasing awareness.

Kansas State's Terry C. Johnson Center for Basic Cancer Research was the first source of funding for the research, which will be conducted by Masaaki Tamura and Deryl Troyer, two anatomy and physiology professors at KSU.

"We are very indebted to the Johnson center," Troyer said.

The pair's research utilizes a type of stem cell discovered at Kansas State called umbilical cord matrix stem cells. They are isolated from Wharton's jelly, the cushioning material of the umbilical cord.

— Kansas State Collegian (Kansas State University)