Trend News

The Male Brain: Why Men Think The Way They Do Louann Brizendine explores the physical bases for sex differences in her new book By  Diana Kapp  | February 08, 2010 12:00 p.m.  You might want to try to keep your own personal pet caveman in the dark on this one, but in her inevitably best-selling new book,  The Male Brain (Broadway Books), neuropsychiatrist Louann Brizendine, MD, officially, scientifically lets guys off the hook for skirt-chasing, conking out after sex, avoiding emotionality—even spending Sundays glued to ESPN. Yes, it seems that Brizendine set  The Female Brain , her 2006 best-seller, to “marinate in testosterone”—her fave phrase for describing how gestating brains, which all begin as female in the womb, become masculinized about half the time—in order to produce the male bookend to that work, a “brain’s-eye view” into men’s psyches that gives them, well, a big, fat 262-page excuse. Despite accusations leveled in publications from Nature  t...

Apple's "Boobie Apps" Banning Resulted In the SuicideGirls' Removal BY   GIZMODO STAFF Today Apple claims they  removed those 5,000 boobie apps  because  women were complaining over the "degrading" and "objectionable" content . Correct me if I'm wrong, but the removal of the SuicideGirls' app--which actually empowers women--seems most questionable. Sure, the free app features nudity. If you count nudity as being of the bras 'n knickers kind. But when the site was set up by a woman, and populated entirely by women, it just means Apple really does have to define what criteria an app has to meet before it's pulled down. Tarring all titillating apps with the same brush, yet allowing some cases such as  Sports Illustrated 's app  to remain on the  App Store  will end up backfiring on Apple--and I'm sure this won't be the last time we hear about the SuicideGirls' app, with the community being very, very vocal. The app ac...

Once a high-flying Manhattan party promoter, Scott Harrison quit the club scene to help bring free healthcare to the poor along Liberia's coast. Here, his story in his own words In 2004, Manhattan party promoter Scott Harrison quit the club scene to become a photographer aboard a ship of volunteer doctors offering free healthcare to the poor along the coast of Liberia. He shot more than 50,000 photos of the sick and the dying, many from diseases caused by a lack of clean water. In 2005, Harrison staged a show of his work in New York that raised some $96,000 for health care and freshwater wells in West Africa. Last year, he founded charity:water.org, which has raised $1.2 million to start 200 well projects in seven African nations. CONTRIBUTE’S Jesse Ellison interviewed Harrison. This is an edited version of his story. When I was four, my mother became an invalid. I grew up taking care of her; I was an only child. When I turned 18, I left Philadelphia and moved to New York, to ...

At left, the Golden Gate Bridge at dawn in San Francisco, and at right, sunset over Coronado Bridge in San Diego. Both cities hold their own charms. (Golden Gate Bridge by Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times; Coronado Bridge by Micha Pawlitzki / Getty Images)

“Shutter Island” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Blood, swearing, cigarettes. SHUTTER ISLAND Opens on Friday nationwide. Directed by Martin Scorsese; written by Laeta Kalogridis, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane; director of photography, Robert Richardson; edited by Thelma Schoonmaker; production designer, Dante Ferretti; produced by Mr. Scorsese, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer and Bradley J. Fischer; released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: 2 hours 18 minutes. WITH: Leonardo DiCaprio (Teddy Daniels), Mark Ruffalo (Chuck Aule), Ben Kingsley (Dr. Cawley), Michelle Williams (Dolores), Emily Mortimer (Rachel Solando), Patricia Clarkson (Rachel Solando), Jackie Earle Haley (George Noyce) and Max von Sydow (Dr. Naehring). from New York Times

I got a feeling It's gonna be a good night! I wanna fly high!!!

Sugar-Based Plastic Can Be Tossed in the Compost Alongside Banana Peels BY   DAN NOSOWITZ Fri Feb 19, 2010 It's not yet the norm here in the States, but if this new sugar-based plastic actually takes off, composting might become as widespread as it is elsewhere--because this stuff, unlike current "biodegradable" plastics, breaks down in a matter of months, instead of centuries. This is a big deal. There are biodegradable plastics on the market now, and some retailers actively use it instead of normal plastic bags. But even though it's made of natural materials like corn, it still takes as long as a few hundred years to decompose--better than vinyl, sure, but not exactly ideal. This new type of plastic, developed by researchers at Imperial College London, is created from glucose polymers extracted from trees and grasses. Not only is it faster to decompose, but it would halt dependency on fossil fuels, which are used to make 99% of today's plastics, and it's s...