I do this all the time when I stay in all day working on my assignments for my masters degree. In fact I won't be spending any money today as I have an essay due tomorrow :(
Yeah, I don't get out much these days...

A beautiful example of chiaroscuro!

@ Brooks,
Oarfish actually do have red sprouts coming out the tops of their heads and are darker in colour (a dark silver) when seen on the surface. Perhaps you really did see one.

This research is as old as grandfather time himself.

My head hurts too.

They are very cute when you find them in the wild. Instead of trying to run away, they get scared and roll into a little ball, quivering with fear.

Aaaww. I like the way they waddle too.

@ felixthe cat: People eating them? I don't think so.

But pwscott, isn't is all the more terrifying that In Cold Blood is a true story?

Based on a true story isn't quite the same as a story can be only vaguely related to facts and still technically be based on a true story.

Clearly this study needs to be done in cultures without a history of racial oppression based on the colour or one's skin. The more isolated from the rest of the world the better. This would be able to eliminate the "racial oppression" explanation. It would be helpful to know what country this study was conducted in. The Scientific American publishes studies from all over the world.

And I agree with the light-dark theory. But that's not to say that the dirty-clean explanation doesn't play a part.

The Stroop test is not just a test of deeply embedded beliefs from our evolutionary past, but also the embedded beliefs we have developed within the course of our own lives. And so even though we only have begun bathing daily within the last 100 years, it's likely the participants (my guess would be 18 year old undergraduate students) have been bathing regularly all their lives.

Also, they found a stronger link between these positive associations with white in people who rated higher on cleanliness, so this theory is based on the data.

Aaaaw. I love Usain. If you ever watch an interview with him, he's actually hilarious.

What rolls down stairs, alone or in pairs?

Not surprising. That's sexual selection for you. But go Macquarie Uni!

He needs to embrace it. I'm Harry Potter bitches!!!

It's really more of a impressionist/post-pimpressionist cake. I spy Monet's waterlillies and haystacks.

Australia is pretty sweet indeed. So much natural beauty, particularly the Great Ocean Road drive. Only problem is the Sydney property prices. The cost of living in Sydney is pretty high indeed.