New Scientist reveals why bad boys get more action – it’s because of the evolutionary pressure of the “dark triad” of personality traits, say mild-mannered scientists. Self-obsessed narcissism, thrill-seeking psychopathy and manipulative deceit make a mate appealing because they’re a good way to make lots of thrill-seeking, manipulative, self-obsessed babies:

James Bond epitomises this set of traits, Jonason says. “He’s [...]

Nature reports on a newly discovered link between road rage and bumper stickers. In other words, those pithy little messages say more than what’s printed:

Bumper stickers such as “Make Love, Not War” and “More Trees, Less Bush” speak volumes about a vehicle’s driver — but maybe not in the way they might hope. People who customize their cars with [...]

Radiohead plays one. Gorillaz plays one.

Why don’t I?

A keyboard invented by a cellist in 1928 who wanted to be able to do glissandos and vibratos. It’s not a theremin, and it’s not a pipe organ. It’s somewhere in between.

The Martenot waves. That’s what the name means.

Discovery Channel reports on new proof supporting an eccentric, motorcycle-riding baron’s unusual fossil find – a previously unknown “island” of tiny dinosaurs in Dracula’s homeland:

The small Romanian dinosaur was apparently not a loner.

“Zalmoxes had in Transylvania select dinosaur company,” Codrea said. “All were dwarves.”

He explained that after the initial discovery on Nopsca’s estate, the baron set off on [...]

Not only is that icy world at the fringe of the solar system no longer a planet, but, as LiveScience reports, it’s no longer even a dwarf planet. It’s something else altogether – a “plutoid”:

Here’s the official new definition:

“Plutoids are celestial bodies in orbit around the sun at a distance greater than that of Neptune that have sufficient [...]

A trepanned skull, from Nordisk Familjebok Encyclopedia, found in a very special category on Wikimedia Commons.

Trepanation is a bit of an archaeological mystery, apparently carried out as an elective procedure by prehistoric surgeons – in other words, cavemen knocking holes in each other’s heads for the heck of it. It’s been embraced by certain members of [...]

PhysOrg.com reports on research from Emek Yezreel College in Israel that proves that teenagers should sleep late for success:

…[D]uring the first week, the experimental class woke up 51 minutes later on average than the control class, while during the second week, the experimental and the control class woke up at the same time. Bedtime and sleep efficiency remained the [...]

LiveScience reveals the shocking truth that men do rash things when they see women in bikinis. Sexy stimuli don’t make men stupid, researchers at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium say, but they do trigger a specific kind of impulsive behavior:

[Men] exhibited improved cognition and creativity after exposure to sexy stimuli.

The researchers conclude that there is one common [...]

Gene Wolfe wrote a few very good books about a far future world in which the main character wore a ceremonial cloak made of fuligin. This wasn’t a substance, really – it was a color “darker than black” that absorbed all light. And now, according to the RD Mag blog, it’s made the leap from fiction to reality:

“Three [...]