HARPER’S

FINDINGS

The increasing conservatism that comes with age is largely a consequence of raising children; small children, but not macaques and capuchins, can perceive faces in inanimate objects; and psychopathic traits, particularly meanness and disinhibition, protect against PTSD. Cooperation among strangers in the United States increased slightly between 1956 and 2017. Americans and Chinese who are considered to possess superior morality by their acquaintances report greater than average happiness, and condomless intercourse among metropolitan Chinese men who have sex with men has more than doubled since the start of the pandemic. An evaluation of natal males and natal females using the Core Autogynephilia Scale found low autogynephilia among the non-autogynephilic. A survey of five cultures found that laughter shared by romantic partners sounds warmer, more feminine, and more submissive than laughter shared by friends. Researchers proposed that the concept of “lesbian bed death” be replaced with “lesbian bed intimacies,” and pointed out that in their most recent sexual encounter, lesbians were more likely than straight women to have said “I love you.” Further study was recommended on the adaptive function of cunnilingus in preindustrial societies.

Children in imperial Roman Thessaloniki were weaned in a manner consistent with the precepts of Soranus’s Gynaecology, the presence of Nile crocodile remains in the mortuary complexes of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II’s courtiers were analyzed with reference to the spells of the Coffin Texts, and archaeologists at Unguja Ukuu in Zanzibar found a crystal cabochon seal engraved with the words “for God.” A new study on self-control found that children in Kyoto wait three times as long for food as for gifts, while children in Boulder wait nearly four times as long for gifts as for food. Americans pervasively view vegetarianism as white. Doctors recommended banking one’s own stool for gut rejuvenation in old age, and the loss of Y chromosomes among aging men leads to premature death. Solitariness was observed among elderly female red deer on the Isle of Rum. Crowdfunding saved a Cambridge corvid intelligence lab, which now plans to gauge the birds’ responses to mirrors and magic. Researchers concluded that more research is needed to understand sighing.

The World Organisation for Animal Health unveiled a new acronym, WOAH. Lumpy skin disease was spreading among Gujarati cattle, Rift Valley fever was suspected among Burundian cattle, African swine fever was detected in a Moldovan pig, an unvaccinated Floridian donkey tested positive for strangles, a miniature filly in Tennessee tested positive for Potomac horse fever, a German wild boar tested positive for pseudorabies, and a second Zurich elephant died of herpes. The threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza induced France to launch a vaccination trial among its ducks. Cases of Japanese encephalitis were reported in India, of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Iraq, and of Q fever among Russians along the Ukrainian border. QX disease threatened the rock oysters of Port Stephens. Children in India tested positive for tomato flu. Tomato brown rugose fruit virus was spreading, and unidentified diseases were afflicting onions and cabbages in Uganda, which was on the verge of being overrun by banana bunchy top virus. Australian authorities urged the public to report banana freckle and advised growers of oats to report red leather leaf. Following the spread of monkeypox to dozens of non-endemic countries, positive orthopoxvirus tests were assumed not to indicate cowpox or camelpox. A Thai veterinarian was presumed to have contracted COVID-19 when a cat sneezed in her eyes.

34 ICON | OCTOBER 2022 | ICONDV.COM

INDEX

%change since 2019 in the portion of Americans who believe environmental laws are worth the cost: −23 % of voters who view climate change as the most important problem facing the country: 1 Of U.S. voters under thirty who do: 3 % by which American men are more likely than women to support nuclear power: 47 By which men are more likely than women to have donated blood: 32 % by which Trump voters are more likely than Biden voters to have donated sperm: 50 By which more Democratic than Republican congress members have announced testing positive for COVID-19: 48 % by which Democrats are more likely than Republicans to be afraid of crowded spaces: 40 By which women are more likely than men to be afraid of crowded spaces: 59 % of Americans who say they aren’t afraid of anything: 16 % by which Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say they would fight if the country were invaded: 52 % of Americans who could correctly identify Ukraine on a map in February: 34 Factor by which this percentage has increased since 2014: 2 Minimum number of cigarette packs Philip Morris has donated to the Ukrainian army: 500,000 Portion of American young adults who have considered enlisting in the military: 1/10 Portion of those who are ineligible to enlist: 3/4 Portion of U.S. millennials who have pretended that they don’t know how to cook to avoid having to help: 3/5 % of Americans who don’t drink the daily amount of water recommended by the USDA: 78 Portion who say they don’t drink enough water because they are too busy: 3/10 Because they forget to: 1/4 Portion of U.S. adults who are on a diet: 1/4 % decrease since 2004 in the sales of diet books: 59 % increase since 2019 in the number of independent bookstores in the United States: 34 Portion of independent bookstores that experienced higher sales last year than in 2019: 2/3 % of undergraduates who say they encounter at least moderate difficulty with online learning: 94 % of U.S. adults who think video gaming should be taught in schools: 54 % increase since 2009 in the average movie score on Rotten Tomatoes: 43 % of cannabis consumers who use it daily: 46 Minimum number of robots New York State will distribute to the elderly this year to combat loneliness: 834 Portion of American workers who would rather find a new job than return to the office full-time: 2/3 % increase in the past year in the number of U.S. complaints about unfair labor practices: 16 In the number of filings for union elections: 58 Portion of U.S. parents who can’t afford diapers: 1/3 % of Republicans that Democrats believe make more than $250,000 per year: 44 % that do: 2 % of Democrats that Republicans believe are atheist or agnostic: 36 % that are: 9 Portion of pastors who have seriously considered quitting the ministry in the past year: 2/5 % of them who attribute the thought to stress: 56 Who attribute it to loneliness: 43

SOURCES: 1 Pew Research Center (Washington); 2,3 Siena College Research Institute (Loudonville, N.Y.); 4 Gallup (Washington); 5,6 YouGov (NYC); 7 GovTrack (Washington); 8–10 YouGov; 11 Quinnipiac University Polling Institute (Hamden, Conn.); 12 Morning Consult (Washington); 13 Joshua D. Kertzer, Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.); 14 Philip Morris International (NYC); 15,16 Department of Defense (Arlington, Va.); 17 OnePoll (NYC); 18–20 Evian (Paris); 21,22 The NPD Group (Port Washington, N.Y.); 23,24 American Booksellers Association (White Plains, N.Y.); 25 Richard Harvey, San Francisco State University; 26 OnePoll; 27 Franchise Entertainment Research (Santa Monica, Calif.); 28 New Frontier Data (Washington); 29 New York State Office for the Aging (Albany); 30 ADP Research Institute (Roseland, N.J.); 31,32 National Labor Relations Board (Washington); 33 National Diaper Bank Network (New Haven, Conn.); 34–37 Douglas J. Ahler, Florida State University (Tallahassee); 38–40 Barna Group (Ventura, Calif.).