Would a chick prefer a mate with a sun-kissed complexion? She would if she has wings and a penchant for tree-dwelling lovers.

According to a recent study published in the journal Current Biology, male barn swallows whose breast feathers were darkened appeared more attractive to female birds and showed higher testosterone levels than male swallows left with their natural, lighter coloring.

“It’s the ‘clothes make the man’” notion, said Rebecca Safran, a co-author of the study. “It’s like you’re walking down the street and you’re driving a Rolls Royce and people notice. And your physiology accommodates this.” (more…)

First we had “Call me when you’re skinny,” which we believe set a number-of-comments record here at BreakupGirl.net — and spawned “Skinny 2: The Thickening.”

Now, in your weekly installment of Ask Lynn , BG’s alter ego’s column at MSN.com (powered by Match.com), the buffet tables are turned.

Here, we meet “In Desperate Need of Answers,” who reports that as her boyfriend’s weight waxes, her attraction to him wanes. Related problem: seems that putting him on the bugging-him-to-diet diet isn’t working at all.

What should she do? Read IDNA’s letter here, along with Lynn’s generous helping of advice, and then come back to comment!

Having once seriously dated a fantastic, and fantastically ugly, guy, I have developed the following fugly-guy philosophy: You have to feel in your lusty places that your man is, like, the hottest guy in the world. In your head, however, you may acknowledge that he is perhaps the hottest guy in the world only according to you.

A recent study about the relative physical attractiveness of spouses seems, at first glance, to bolster my theory, stating that hot-wife/not-so-hot hubby couples often feature the most mutual encouragement and support.

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Here’s another study for you: the latest research suggests that people who are in love with their partners are less attracted to other people. Where was that data collected, University of the Obvious? Published in the academic journal Duh?

Well, from a broad psychological standpoint, this conclusion is apparently not that obvious. Because our default setting, as humans, is “instant gratification.” Nationally, constitutionally, and gubernatorially, we are not champions of self-restraint. So why should lust, even in the context of presumed monogamy, be any different? Or, as The Raw Story put it: “Why do people in stable relationships so often pass up the chance for a little sexual gratification on the side, even if they can get away with it?”

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