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Learning From The Dead: What Facial Muscles Can Tell Us About Emotion ScienceDaily (Jun. 17, 2008) — Laugh and the world laughs with you, but wrinkle your nose and you could find yourself on your own. A new study by a scientist at the University of Portsmouth who examined the facial muscles in cadavers, has revealed that the muscles which control our facial expressions are not common to everyone. The Risorius muscle, which experts believe controls our ability to create an expression of extreme fear, is found in only two thirds of the population. Dr Bridget Waller has published a...

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Forget avocado, evening primrose oil or other exotic ingredients, the latest facial to hit New York is a mask made with bird excrement. The Geisha Facial, available at Shizuka New York for $180, about $100 more than the shop's other facials, contains nightingale excrement. The Japanese powder, also known as uguisu no fun, is rich in the amino acid guanine, said to brighten and cleanse skin. In the 18th century geishas and kabuki actors used the powder to clean heavy white makeup off their faces. "I'm always trying to bring Japanese culture and tradition to...

You were born with your future facial expressions 22:00 16 October 2006 NewScientist.com news service Roxanne Khamsi Facial expressions appear to be at least partially inherited, according to a study of blind people and their relatives. Experts say the findings indicate that people do not always learn their expressions for certain emotions by copying the facial quirks they see as youngsters. To understand the “nature vs. nurture” component of facial expressions, Israeli researchers recruited 21 people who were born blind along with 30 of their relatives. The 51 volunteers were videotaped as they recounted happy, sad and aggravating life experiences,...

Contact: Susan Killenberg McGinn susan_killenberg@aismail.wustl.edu 314-935-5254 Washington University in St. Louis Neandertal facial length issue settled About face: Washington University anthropologist sets the record straight regarding Neandertal facial length New scientific evidence challenges a common perception that Neandertals -- a close evolutionary relative to modern humans that lived 230,000 to 30,000 years ago -- possessed exceptionally long faces. Instead, a report authored by Erik Trinkaus, Ph.D., the Mary Tileston Hemenway Professor of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, shows that modern humans are really the "odd man out" when it comes to facial lengths, which...

One in five British men would rather go for a facial and waxing session than have a stag party, according to a survey detailed on Ananova.com. The poll questioned more than 3 500 hen and stag partygoers from across Britain. Both male and female partygoers agreed that women were four times more likely to have more fun on their last night of freedom than men. According to the poll by Rolo, women are 50% more likely than men to give their bride-to-be a night to remember full of dares, cheeky tricks and memorable stories. At the same time, one in...

Dr. Paul Ekman, the professor of psychology who has become the world's most famous face reader, is much in demand these days. The Dalai Lama and Dr. Ekman, who have met twice, found such synergy in their understanding of human emotions that the Dalai Lama gave Dr. Ekman $50,000 in seed money to learn how to improve emotional balance in schoolteachers and other people in high pressure jobs. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency and state and local police forces have turned to Dr. Ekman for help learning to read subtle emotional cues from the faces, voices...

Source: Washington University In St. Louis Date: 2003-06-17 About Face: Washington University Anthropologist Sets The Record Straight Regarding Neandertal Facial Length New scientific evidence challenges a common perception that Neandertals -- a close evolutionary relative to modern humans that lived 230,000 to 30,000 years ago -- possessed exceptionally long faces. Instead, a report authored by Erik Trinkaus, Ph.D., the Mary Tileston Hemenway Professor of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, shows that modern humans are really the "odd man out" when it comes to facial lengths, which drop off dramatically compared with their ancestral predecessors....