对称=性感

Symmetry equals sex
　　Starting at conception, the human body develops by neatly splitting cells. If every division were to go perfectly, the result would be a baby whose left and right sides are mirror images. But nature doesn't work that way. Genetic mutations and environmental pressures skew symmetry, and the results have lifelong implications.
　Good symmetry shows that an individual has the genetic goods to survive development, is healthy, and is a good and fertile choice for mating.
　　对称=性感
从受精那一刻开始，人的身体就是通过规则的细胞发展起来的。如果每次的都非常完美，那结果将是一个人身体的左边和右边就是彼此的镜像。不过自然并不是这么运作的。基因突变和环境压力破坏了这种对称性，而结果将有终生的影响。
很好的对称性说明这个人有良好的基因来支持他的生存发展，说明健康，同时也说明是一个能生养的好配偶。

臀腰比例

Those hips
Body shape is of course important, too. And scientists have some numbers to prove it. Psychologist Devendra Singh of the University of Texas studied people's waist-to-hip ratio (WHR).
　　Women with a WHR of 0.7—indicating a waist significantly narrower than the hips—are most desirable to men.

　　臀腰比例
体型当然也很重要。科学家们已经用一些数字证实了这点。德克萨斯大学的心理学家Devendra Singh研究的就是腰-臀比例(WHR)。
　WHR为0.7的女性，也就是腰明显比臀细的女性最受男性欢迎。

看得到

Face it
　The structure of a person's face also gives insight to fertility.
　Estrogen caps bone growth in a woman's lower face and chin, making them relatively small and short, as well as the brow, allowing for her eyes to appear prominent, Thornhill explained. Men's faces are shaped by testosterone, which helps develop a larger lower face and jaw and a prominent brow.
　　Men and women possessing these traits are seen as attractive, Thornhill said, because they advertise reproductive health.
　　看得到
　　脸的结构也可以提供生育能力的一些信号。
　　雌性激素会抑制女性脸部下方和脸颊的骨骼生长，使得这两个部位相对较小、较短，额头部位也是如此，让她的眼睛更深邃。而男性的面孔则受到雄性激素的作用，帮助脸部下方和下巴的骨骼发育，并长出更突出的额头。
　　有这样特征的男女看起来更吸引人，Thornhill说，因为他们宣告着生殖健康。

闻得到

Sniff this
　Research reported last month found women both smell and look more attractive to men at certain times of the month.
　　And symmetrical men smell better.
　　Borrowing sweaty undershirts from a variety of men, Thornhill offered the shirts to the noses of women, asking for their impressions of the scents. Hands down, the women found the scent of a symmetrical man to be more attractive and desirable, especially if the woman was menstruating.
　　闻得到
　　最近的研究指出，女性在一个月中的特定时间闻起来、看起来更吸引人。
　　对称的男人围起来更好。
　　Thornhill收集了很多男人汗淋淋的衬衫，并让女人用嗅觉感觉判断对哪个男人印象更深。和前面的一样，那些对称男性的期为闻起来更有吸引力、更诱人。尤其如果女人正处于月经期。

　动物间的吸引

Animal attraction
　Pheromones clearly act as sexual attractants in the animal world. Older male elephants, for example, exude sexual prowess with a mix of chemicals the younger bulls can't muster.
　　Milos Novotny of the Institute of Pheromone Research at Indiana University has shown that special molecules produced by male mice can simultaneously attract females and repel, and even anger, rival males. Other studies have found similar responses throughout the animal kingdom.
　　动物间的吸引
　　信息素在动物世界里是种致命吸引物。比如，年长的公象就会分泌一种混合了多种化学物质的汗液，这是年轻的公象可望不可即的。
　　印第安那大学信息素研究所的Milos Novotny发现，雄性老鼠分泌的一种特殊的物质可以马上吸引雌性，同事击退、甚至激怒其他的雄性。其他的研究也发现，在整个动物界中都存在这类似的现象。

视觉吸引　

Sex goes visual
　　Pheromones, like other scents, hitch a ride through the air on other particles, such as water droplets. They generally hover just 10 inches off the ground, however. So odds are slim they'll waft up to a human nose and fuel sudden passion at a nightclub.
　　Watch any construction worker whistling at a passing woman from half a block away, and you can see how visual cues can be more powerful.　
　　视觉吸引
　　信息素就和其他味道一样，需要通过通过空气中的其他微粒进行传播，比如水蒸气。不过它们只在距地面10英寸左右的地方存在。所以但夜总会里，这些气味能够进入鼻子里、并马上点着激情的机会并不大。
　相反的，如果你见过建筑工人们在女人从老远走过来就大吹口哨的话，你就明白视觉的信息是多么强大。

长久的关系

Lasting relationships
　　The rules of attraction might drive our initial decisions, for better or worse. But lasting relationships are about much more than what we see and smell.
　　Behavior plays a key role, with biology an intriguing contributing factor.
　　One of the oldest theories about attraction is that like begets like. It explains that eerie perception that married couples sometimes look awfully similar.　
　　长久的关系
　　人与人之间的吸引规律可能最促使我们做出最初的决定，不论决定是好还是坏。但是维持一段关系就远不是光看或者闻闻就够了。
　行为起到了重要的作用，这其中生理原因发生了复杂的影响。
　　有一条很古老的吸引规律是，已婚的夫妻看起来出去的相似。在2005年，西安大略州大学的心理学家Philippe Rushtopn研究了人类基因之间的关系，根据一系列有遗传性的人格特征，他发现，拥有相似的基因在朋友关系或选择配偶中起到了34%的作用。

真爱？

True love
　　Somewhere amid attraction and sex, we all hope, are strong feelings of love. But which of all the motivations really drives us?
　Interestingly, brain scans in people who'd recently fallen in love reveal more activity related to love than sex. "Romantic love is one of the most powerful of all human experiences," says Helen Fisher, an anthropologist at Rutgers University. "It is definitely more powerful than the sex drive."
　The rules of attraction make up a pretty long list. No scientist knows the order of the list. But near the top is perhaps one of the toughest characteristics to gauge in advance in the search for the perfect partner.　
　　真爱？
　　不论是吸引还是性爱，我们都希望是源于浓浓爱意。不过到底是那个动机最终促使我们行动呢？　　有趣的是，对那些才坠入爱河的人进行的脑部扫描发现，和爱有关的活动比和性有关的更多。“浪漫的爱情是在人类所有的体验中最强烈的一种。”罗特格斯大学的人类学家Helen Fisher说，“它绝对比性冲动要强烈得多。”
　我们可以列出一长串的吸引法则。没有人知道哪个更为重要。不过名列前茅的应该是那些寻找完美伴侣时所提出的要求。