What we decide to eat not always is up to us. I read an article on bbc news about this. Here is a link to this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7057060.stm

We may think that the environment influences what we eat but as it turns out this is not necessary true. Experts at Kings College in London did some experiments on twins in order to see whether genetics play part in their diet choices. The results confirmed that it's in our genes what we like to eat (although not entirely). After I've read this article I started watching people around me to see whether the above statements apply. And interestingly I am keen to say that this might be true.

First of all - myself. For some reason my mum, my granny AND my grandmum... and me myself of course - we all loooove sweets. And not sweets in general but particularly chocolate. I know this sounds a bit cheesy as all women like chocolate, but let's accept this fact as it is. On the other hand my brother and my dad like sour food. Such as cabbage and gherkins, my grand-dad however didn't like sour foods. I don't know then how it works... but anyway I have just read it back and it isn't making any sense at all! Oh well, what I am trying to do is recommend the mentioned atricle because it is interesting! lol

xxx

Everyone knows that I am completely obsessed with the Neanderthals! I find them absolutely fascinating! The way they looked, their hair and big faces they way they lived, the mystery bit is extremely exciting as well - whether they contributed to the genotype of current Europeans etc. here is what I found about whether they spoke or not, do click on the link provided and you will be able to read the whole article.

''They may not be known for their intellectual might, but Neanderthals were actually among the first individuals on Earth to bury their dead and express themselves artistically, new research shows.
A new study of Neanderthal DNA published, in the latest issue of Current Biology, suggests Neanderthals also had the ability to create language.'' (Discovery)

COOL

link: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/10/18/neanderthal-language-dna.html

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/system/files/140906_neanderthall.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/654&h=405&w=300&sz=49&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=CnSIVG7W_uATFM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=92&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dneanderthals%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Women in Zimbabwe face lack of basic sanitary protection. Buy Bodyform and help in donating 1/4 million packs to the women in Zimbabwe!

"In Zimbabwe, a pack of sanitary towels costs more than 50% of the average monthly wage." !

Must visit: www.bodyform.co.uk

My boss tried to talk to me about anthropology today. He came up with the following:
biological anthropology is about chimps growing
social anthropology is about chimps talking

link: http://www.solarnavigator.net/animal_kingdom/animal_images/Chimpanzee_thinking_poster.jpg

When I came back from Uni I sat in front of my laptop and went through some photos from the Summer holidays. I visited Turin in Italy at the beginning of August. As I was admiring the pictures I remembered that Peter and I noticed something unusual:

haha you can pierce anything!

''Bonobos seem to ascribe to the 1960s hippie credo, "make love, not war." They make a lot of love, and do so in every conceivable fashion. Beyond that, they are very loving too, showing care and compassion for each other in many ways. Sex in bonobo society transcends reproduction, as it does in humans. It serves as a way of bonding, exchanging energy and sharing pleasure.'' The Bonobo Conservation Initiative
link: http://www.bonobo.org/whatisabonobo.html

It's been one of the nicest Sundays since quite a long time. We've had so much rain over the Summer holidays and September was cold so it is very pleasant to have a sunny, warm day. I felt a bit tired today actually (probably because I spent nearly whole morning in bed haha )

some French archaelogists discovered an extremely old wall painting somewhere in the North of Syria, they say it could be one of the oldest in the world however it has some modern characteristics [Yahoo news, Oct 2007]
scientists described ''the law of language evolution: the more a word is used, the less likely it is to change over time.(...) Like genes, words undergo ruthless survival-of-the-fittest pressure and those that are less central to daily life are subject to mutation, according to their study.'' [Discovery, Oct 2007]
link: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/10/11/words_hum.html
while reading about the Yanomamö people (needed for SE300) I discovered that they could be ''the last culture to have come in contact with the modern world''. [Kittelson & Stafford]
link: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/southamerica/yonomamo.html

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/mba/lowres/mban155l.jpg

I am now officially starting my first blog! Writing it is an assignment for Computing for Social Anthropologist, so I have decided to try to write about anything that's anthropological in any way... hopefully it will work

Well then...
Yesterday I found out that one of the lecturers at my Uni has been elected President of the Royal Anthropological Institute! yyaayy!!
A few days ago, Simon texted me to say that our Anthropology Dept's Head's letter has been published in the New Scientist this week! how nice!