Listen
17:21
Pucker up – there’s more to kissing than romance
You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss… or is it? Whether you were under the bleachers, away at summer-camp or stuck in the ER waiting to have your braces removed from the braces of another - the first kiss is an unforgettable moment, searing itself into the memory and having a longer lasting impression than even one’s first sexual encounter. Kissing is often thought of but rarely in terms of science. So what makes a kiss good and why does it matter? Does a top-notch kiss involve as much brain as it does… heart? Are human beings earth’s only kissers? Is chemistry simply matter of chemicals?
You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss… or is it? Whether you were under the bleachers, away at summer-camp or stuck in the ER waiting to have your braces removed from the braces of another - the first kiss is an unforgettable moment, searing itself into the memory and having a longer lasting impression than even one’s first sexual encounter. Kissing is often thought of but rarely in terms of science. So what makes a kiss good and why does it matter? Does a top-notch kiss involve as much brain as it does… heart? Are human beings earth’s only kissers? Is chemistry simply matter of chemicals?
Guest:
Sheril Kirshenbaum, Science writer for the Discover Magazine Blog and author of The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us