Links - Jan 5, 2011

More Than Meets the Mirror: Illusion Test Links Difficulty Sensing Internal Cues with Distorted Body-Image. People with a reduced ability to detect and interpret internal body cues like their own heart rate are more likely to misinterpret a rubber hand as their own when the rubber hand is visible on a table and their real hand his hidden. Interesting in its own right, but I fail to see the actual link to disorders such as anorexia nervosa that are teased in the article. There may be a correlation with locus of control, though; I'd be interested to see a study that measured that in relation to these phenomena.

Kissing & the science of humanity. I've seen a lot of blogfriends talking about this book, but this is the most in-depth review I've seen of it so far. I am going to have to get my hands on it at some point because this book seems right up my alley. As I said in the comments over there, I've always been under the assumption that kissing evolved as a socially acceptable way to access chemosensory information about potential partners, but I never really looked up any evidence to support or deny my assumption.

Breast feeding improves leg strength in adolescents. Most people have heard that breastfed babies grow up with an intellectual advantage over their formula-suckling counterparts, but new evidence suggests that they may also be stronger. I was breastfed (supposedly, I mean, I don't remember it or anything but I've been told), but I must have missed out on this advantage.

Hibernating North American Bats Face Possible Endangerment. Dr. Doolittle weighs in on the recent issue of mysteriously vanishing flocks of birds and schools of fish, and connects it to the not-so-recent mass-infection of North American bats.

It has been a long time since I posted about poop. I should rectify (heh) that soon.