[QUOTE=xilman;207099]You may be surprised to discover that some beautiful ladies are themselves geeky science nerds. If you don't already know, find out who is named as co-inventor on the patent for spread-spectrum radio communication. Another example: who first published examples of computer software?[/QUOTE]By the latter I assume you mean Ada and not Grace.
I would submit [URL="http://www.fiorella.com/"]Dr. Fiorella Terenzi[/URL], [URL="http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=kari+byron&gbv=2&aq=0&aqi=g9g-s1&aql=&oq=kari"]Kari Byron (Mythbusters)[/URL], [URL="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004950/bio"]Jennifer Garner (Chem major)[/URL], and [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danica_McKellar#Mathematics"]Danica McKellar[/URL].

[quote=Uncwilly;207142]By the latter I assume you mean Ada and not Grace[/quote]Correct.

Despite being a geek, at least she wasn't mad, bad and dangerous to know.

Paul

[QUOTE=retina;207078]We both stand atop some high place, no higher than say 300m above the Earth's surface (like for example the Leaning Tower of Pisa)[/QUOTE]The tower of Pisa is not only leaning but also growing ? Until recently it was less than 60 meters high !

Jacob

[quote=S485122;207147][quote=retina;207078]We both stand atop some high place, no higher than say 300m above the Earth's surface (like for example the Leaning Tower of Pisa)[/quote]The tower of Pisa is not only leaning but also growing ? Until recently it was less than 60 meters high ![/quote]I'm fairly sure that retina meant that the Pisa tower is "[I]no higher than[/I] ... 300m above the Earth's surface".

Potato-eating monkeys
 

[url]http://zinjanthropus.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/optimal-foraging-in-marginal-environments/[/url]

[quote](yes! They eat potatoes!)[/quote]

[QUOTE=S485122;207147]The tower of Pisa is not only leaning but also growing ? Until recently it was less than 60 meters high ![/QUOTE]As cheesehead rightly points out, the Pisa Tower is less than 300m high so it fits the description.

[color=#a0a0a0][size=1]Of course I mentioned that particular building because of the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo%27s_Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa_experiment][color=#a0a0a0]experiment[/color][/url] carried out there that was closely related to the discussion in progress at the time.[/size][/color]

Fowl play suspected
 

Not only white rabbits but also chickens appear to be vicious killers: [url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8548564.stm[/url]

[quote=retina;207116]Perhaps, but for the original article that sparked all this, I still think it [B]was[/B] plainly obvious. Just ask anybody (male or female) over about 13 years old and see if they can honestly claim that they have never noticed it.[/quote]I can honestly say that I have never noticed increased levels of testosterone in such situations. I don't have very good sensory receptors for measuring testosterone levels in others.

I agree that increased risk taking is common among young men in the presence of young women. It is not, to my mind, "plainly obvious" what the underlying mechanism might be. For instance, a plausible explanation may be that the increased risk is taken not to attract women directly but rather to increase ones status among the male peer group. Demoralizing the opposition is a widely used strategy in all sorts of competitions.

How would you design an experiment to distinguish between these two hypotheses? It seems to me that measuring testosterone levels goes some way towards answering that question.

It is also "plainly obvious" that boys under the age of puberty tend to take greater risks when in the presence of others. Is this status-raising activity? If so, might that reason also play a role after puberty?

My opinion remains that the original research was good science. Not very fundamental science, perhaps, but good science nonetheless. My digression into the physics of falling bodies was to show that "plainly obvious" phenomena are worthy of serious investigation using carefully designed experiments to distinguish between different hypotheses.


Paul

The bleedin' obvious
 

I have evidintly missed out on a humorous exchange.

[URL]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Y7VKYWdUo[/URL]

My excuse is that I am recovering from a night out with WBLipp.

(Recommended)

David

[url]http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/weird/man-stabbed-in-back-by-woman-while-having-sex/story-e6frep26-1225838480965[/url]

take a stroll through giant colon
 

[url]http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Toronto+mallgoers+take+stroll+through+giant+colon/2661087/story.html[/url]