Scientists played Cupid today at the launch of a new exhibition about love.
The month-long Love Lab event at Dublin’s Science Gallery sees boffins investigate the chemistry behind romance and rejection.
The city centre venue will also hold a blindfolded Valentine’s dinner, with all four aphrodisiac courses served in complete darkness.
Curator Dr Aoife McLysaght said research for the exhibition had thrown up some interesting findings.
“When you go on a night out and you see who is attractive maybe the last thing on your mind is having kids, but that’s really the basis of the decisions that you’re making,” she said.
“When people chose a mate they’re really doing it for biological reasons,” she said. “Women are looking for a good father and good genes for their children so they’ll grow up strong.”
Among Love Lab’s exhibits are a sniff test to examine the role smell plays in attraction and a neuroscientific speed-dating event to discover the effect of rejection on the brain.
In darkened corner of the gallery, tucked away behind red curtains lies the Mutsugoto bed, specially designed for long-distance lovers. Couples thousands of miles apart can use the bed’s custom-made computer projection system to draw on each others bodies with a light.
“It’s not the same as being together but it’s a way of connecting long-distance and having a tender moment together,” Dr McLysaght said.
Science Gallery director Michael John Gorman encouraged members of the public to get involved in the interactive exhibition.
“Love Lab invites visitors to participate in live research experiments as human subjects and meet scientists who are leading the field in the unusual science of desire,” he said. “It’s fascinating and slightly terrifying to think that the frisson of attraction and emotional connection between two people could all be reduced to scientific principles.”
The exhibition runs from February 11th to March 12th.