July 2003

---

Moldovan-Brides.com
Why are there websites offering mail-order Moldovan brides, but not mail-order Moldovan grooms? Why do middle-aged foreign men fly to Chisinau to marry young Moldovan girls, but no young foreign girls fly to Chisinau to marry middle-aged Moldovan men? Why does the sight of Western European men with Eastern European women sometimes make us cynical? Can genuine love blossom across cultures, and what do we mean by “genuine” love anyway?
Some answers to the first two questions, at least, can be found in the fast-expanding science of evolutionary psychology. The basic premise of evolutionary psychology is simple: our behaviour is partly influenced by our genes, so we should be inclined to behave in ways that would, in the past, have tended to spread the genes that cause the behaviour. Take sex. A woman must invest nine months of her time in producing a baby, whereas a man can do his bit in ten seconds. With such a greater investment at stake, you would expect women to be more discerning than men about their sexual partners; and, generally speaking, they are. When men feel inclined to have sex with anything in a skirt while women instinctively want to bide their time, the explanation is simple biology. Continued >>>

---

Bells Chiming over Moldova
For the first time in Moldova an international contest named the Bell-Ringer of the World took place in the village of Hirtopul Mare located 29 km from Chisinau. 35 bell-ringers from 9 countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Latvia, Poland, the USA, Cyprus and Romania participated in the contest. Many people all over the world like the sound of a bell chiming and so the event attracted a lot of those who were eager to listen to the best bell-ringers of the world. The country-seat museum Satul Moldovenesc, which received both participants and guests, for two days looked like a small Moldovan Haiti. The guests who arrived at the holiday (among them there were members of the Government of Moldova, Metropolitan Church dignitaries, representatives of Russian and Belarussian embassies) could completely plunge into the life of the event and enjoy the real beauty of the lake on whose left bank exotic reed-roofed terraces had been built. On the right bank of the lake the stands for listeners divided into sections were located. Up the hill one could see a number of houses covered with reed roofs and built in the Moldovan national style. Those who wished could stay at the houses for a certain price. By the way, in Denmark and Sweden only wealthy people can afford to build a house with a reed roof. It is believed that one can breathe easier in a reed-roofed house. Continued >>>

---

Silk from Milk
The gossamer, flexible, yet incredibly durable material that spiders spin out in order to catch oblivious flies and other hapless insects is one of the finest marvels of nature that has often served as both a representation of finesse and a symbol of dread in many writings. Spider-less silk is also one of the nature’s most sought-after materials. And, now researchers from Nexia Biotechnologies in Montreal seem to be on the verge of manufacturing it in large quantities, and by a most surprising method – in the milk of transgenic goats. Continued >>>

---