KISSING

Best Movie Kisses of all Time

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:10:20 -0500

The Notebook

Brokeback Mountain

Lady and The Tramp

The Princess Bride

"I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing."

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:47:00 -0500

““I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing.””

- Jonathan Swift

"When it comes to kissing, one of the most important neurotransmitters is dopamine, a kind of natural..."

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 15:10:00 -0500

“When it comes to kissing, one of the most important neurotransmitters is dopamine, a kind of natural drug associated with the expectation of a reward that brings us feelings of pleasure. Spiking during a passionate kiss, dopamine is responsible for a rush of elation and craving, and can also result in the obsessive thoughts that many of us experience associated with a new romance—almost like an addiction. And no wonder: this neurotransmitter is involved in stimulating the same part of our brain as a line of cocaine.”

- The Science of Kissing

"According to scholars of the relevant historical records, kissing as we know it doesn’t seem to make..."

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 18:16:00 -0500

“According to scholars of the relevant historical records, kissing as we know it doesn’t seem to make any documented appearance in human societies until around 1500 B.C. The earliest and best literary evidence we have for very ancient kissing comes from India’s Vedic Sanskrit texts, the foundations of the Hindu religion.”

- The Science of Kissing

The Science of Kissing On Sale For A Limited Time!

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:06:24 -0500

I signed in this morning to share the exciting news that you can now purchase the digital version of The Science of Kissing for just $2.99 through February 18 - just in time for Valentines Day! (Thanks to my publisher Hachette!)

The book tells the story of the science and history behind humanity’s most intimate pastime, from neuroscience and endocrinology to evolutionary biology and genetics. You can read more about The Science of Kissing at my website and order your copy of the ebook at the sale price for a limited time here.

Photo

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:18:13 -0500

This amazing image (also in the book) is by Belgian artist Wim...

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:38:00 -0500

This amazing image (also in the book) is by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye.

"During the Middle Ages a businesslike kiss was employed as a legal way to seal contracts and..."

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 11:52:03 -0500

“During the Middle Ages a businesslike kiss was employed as a legal way to seal contracts and business agreements. Many men did not know how to read and write, so they would draw an “X” on the line and kiss it to make it legal. This carried over into the way we write “X” today to symbolize a kiss—as well as the expression “sealed with a kiss.””

- Sheril Kirshenbaum - The Science Of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us

Cosmic First Kiss The Hubble telescope’s view of NGC 6302,...

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 11:32:00 -0500

Cosmic First Kiss

The Hubble telescope’s view of NGC 6302, a butterfly-shaped nebula surrounding a dying star, just 3,800 light-years away in the Scorpius constellation.

Featured in the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest...

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 13:57:00 -0500

Featured in the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2012

Lava Kiss: My husband and I, along with a tour guide and a group of friends, hiked up to what was formerly the Royal Gardens subdivision above Kalapana, Hawaii, where the last standing house was just recently taken over by the active lava flow. While waiting for the rain to pass, we started taking back-lit portraits of each other in front of the lava flow after I set up my camera on the tripod. For the last photo, my husband spontaneously dipped me in a kiss. It was a truly once-in-a-lifetime moment! (© Dallas Nagata White/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention..."

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 12:13:00 -0500

““Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.””

- Albert Einstein

The Notebook

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 12:31:27 -0500

The Notebook

"A romantic kiss does nothing less than set off an avalanche of biological activity. During a..."

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:34:22 -0500

“A romantic kiss does nothing less than set off an avalanche of biological activity. During a passionate kiss, our blood vessels dilate; more oxygen is routed to the brain; our breathing quickens and becomes erratic; our cheeks flush; our pulse quickens; our pupils dilate; dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, oxytocin, and adrenaline levels spike, leaving our bodies awash in a chemical bath. In short, our biology seem to be hardwired to make kissing extremely pleasurable and, to some degree, addictive.”

- Sheril Kirshenbaum - The Science Of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us (via cinnamonscent)

Up.

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:40:05 -0500

Up.

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Kissing

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:24:24 -0500

[by me, originally in Discover Mag]

Our unique human lips, the conquests that carried kissing, and how kissing makes men and women more like each other

1 Only you: Human lips are different from those of all other animals because they are everted, meaning that they purse outward.

2 But we are not the only species to engage in kissing-like behaviors. Great apes press their lips together to express excitement, affection, or reconciliation.

3 Scientists are not sure why humans kiss, but some think the answer lies in early feeding experiences. Through nursing and (in some cultures) receiving pre-chewed food from a parent’s mouth, infants may learn to associate lip pressure with a loving act.

4 Another possibility: Smelling a loved one’s cheek has long served as a means of recognition in cultures around the world, from New Zealand to Alaska. Over time, a brush of the lips may have become a traditional accompaniment.

5 And yet kissing is not universal, leading some experts, like anthropologist Vaughn Bryant of Texas A&M, to think it might actually be a learned behavior.

6 The Roman military introduced kissing to many non-kissing cultures (after its conquests were over, presumably); later it was European explorers who carried the torch.

7 Being close enough to kiss helps our noses assess compatibility. In a landmark study, evolutionary biologist Claus Wedekind of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland reported that women prefer the scents of men whose immunity-coding genes are different from their own. Mixing genes that way may produce offspring with a stronger immune system.

8 Wedekind’s experiment, widely known as the sweaty T-shirt study, involved very little sweat. Male participants were asked to shower beforehand so their scent would be faint.

9 The earliest literary evidence for kissing comes from northern Indias Vedic Sanskrit texts, written 1,000 to 2,000 years ago. A portion of the Satapatha Brahmana mentions lovers setting mouth to mouth.

10 Love Is the Drug: Dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of desire and reward, spikes in response to novel experiences, which explains why a kiss with someone new can feel so special.

11 In some people, a jolt of dopamine can cause a loss of appetite and an inability to sleep, symptoms commonly associated with falling in love.

12 Can’t Get Enough of Your Love: Dopamine is produced in the ventral tegmental area of the brain, the same region affected by addictive drugs like cocaine.

13 In men, a passionate kiss can also promote the hormone oxytocin (video), which fosters bonding and attachment, according to behavioral neuroscientist Wendy Hill of Lafayette College in Pennsylhovania.

14 Holding hands and kissing reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol, thereby lowering blood pressure and optimizing immune response.

15 And a passionate kiss has the same effect as belladonna in making our pupils dilate.

16 Prelude to a Kiss: Two-thirds of all people turn their head to the right when kissing, according to psychologist Onur Gntrkn of Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany. This behavior may mirror the head-turning preference observed in babies and even in fetuses.

17 Evolutionary psychologists have discovered that men are far more likely to prefer sloppy tongue kisses than women.

18 The exchange of saliva could provide a reproductive advantage for males. During an open-mouthed kiss, a man passes a bit of testosterone to his partner. Over weeks and months, repeated kissing could enhance a female’s libido, making her more receptive to sex.

19 Always brush and floss, boys. Evolutionary psychologist Gordon Gallup of the State University of New York at Albany found that when deciding whether to kiss someone, women pay much closer attention than men do to the breath and teeth of their partner.

20 You Give Love a Bad Name: One milliliter of saliva contains about 100,000,000 bacteria.

SNL 3717: Kiss Me, I’m Irish

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:34:50 -0500

SNL 3717: Kiss Me, I’m Irish

Photo

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:57:49 -0500

Waterfall.

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:59:05 -0500

Waterfall.

"A passionate kiss acts like a drug, causing us to crave the other person thanks to a..."

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:25:45 -0500

“

A passionate kiss acts like a drug, causing us to crave the other person thanks to a neurotransmitter called dopamine. This is the same substance involved in taking illegal substances such as cocaine, which is why the novelty of a new romance can feel so addictive. Dopamine is involved in sensations of reward, making us feel intense desire that can lead to feelings of euphoria, insomnia, and loss of appetite, and it is only one actor in the great chemical ballet happening in our bodies.

And then there are physical changes. A kiss can cause our blood vessels to dilate, our pulse to quicken and cheeks to flush. Our pupils grow wide, which is likely one reason that so many of us are apt to close our eyes. In other words, the body’s response mirrors many of the same symptoms frequently associated with falling in love.

”

- Sheril Kirshenbaum on the science of kissing. Her book of the same title is absolutely fascinating. (via curiositycounts)

CNN interviewed me about kissing jtotheizzoe: Sheril...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:14:01 -0500

CNN interviewed me about kissing

jtotheizzoe:

Sheril Kirshenbaum, science writer and researcher, offers CNN a few tidbits about the science of kissing. There’s real biology behind this behavior, and the amount of information processed in a kiss would surprise you.

Check out Sheril’s blog, Culture of Science, and I highly recommend her book The Science of Kissing.

(via CNN.com)