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No man can father children without limit

No man can father children without limit

"No man can father children without limit"

Ethology. The biologist Elisabeth Oberzaucher sees it as the responsibility of university researchers to convey knowledge to the public. Her research deals with body odor and our difficult life in the city.

The press:You are the first woman to appear with the Science Busters. What can a behavioral biologist offer for this science education?

Elisabeth Oberzaucher:Many stories that are my core competency have already appeared in the Science Busters: man-woman topics or how our brain works. I think that the behavioral biological view can be very complementary to the view of the physicist. In April the next season starts on ORF, I will be there for the recordings in the Vienna City Hall.

Your work got a lot of attention in 2015 when you won the Ig Nobel Prize: It honors research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think. You were the second Austrian to be awarded this prize.

That came as a surprise. In addition, we received the award in the math and not biology category.

Your study shows how many children a man can father.

In the "Guinness Book", the Moroccan ruler Moulay Ismael, born in 1634, is mentioned as the man with the most children: In a harem with 500 women, he allegedly fathered 888 children. From a biological point of view, we used a mathematical model to test whether it is possible. The answer is yes, if he has sex once or twice a day for over 32 years.

Did you answer this question from Jux?

No, it is very important for behavioral research: How much offspring can a person have? The asymmetry between women who can give birth to only a few children and men who are supposed to reproduce indefinitely is the basis for many theories in evolutionary psychology. But a scientific mind knows that nothing is unlimited. Even if a man does nothing but copulate, the number of conception is not unlimited. That is why we have calculated for the first time how much is really possible.

Did you calculate it for women too?

Not with this accuracy. There is a historical case of a woman in Russia – her name is unknown, only her husband’s name: she reportedly gave birth to 69 children. This is only possible with many multiple births and if aftercare and breastfeeding can be given to nurses.

Which of your research are still suitable for the stage with the Science Busters?

One of my main topics is smell and how it is used for communication. There is smell in the positive and negative sense, i.e. fragrance and stench.

You yourself examined the smell of the residents of your Carinthian home village, which showed that families smell similar. And that armpit smell can be assigned to a person almost as clearly as a fingerprint.

I find odor research simply exciting: When researching communication, you come across many “dishonest signals” that can be faked to deceive people. But smell cannot be lied to or manipulated.

Except with a strong perfume?

Not even then. Studies show that people don’t choose their perfume by chance, but according to their immune system. People with similar immune systems choose the same fragrance. You don’t try to cover up your smell, but rather to reinforce what you smell of.

How can you convey such results to the public, except on stage?

I am a passionate listener of podcasts: Because I walk a lot, I use the time when I cannot read or look at a cell phone to learn more about such audio files. I would like to develop that in Austria to convey science in a digestible way.

What role models do you have??

In the English-speaking area, podcasts are booming as good scientific formats, for example from the "Nature" journal. There is still a gap in the market for us: this could be interviews with researchers or articles that deal with various topics in depth but in an exciting way.

A scientist does not learn something like this at the university . . .

That is the problem: University scientists get their salary from tax money. You have a responsibility to explain to the public what research results you can achieve. The ability to communicate is much more encouraged in training. Instead of just staying in the special technical language in the ivory tower, scientists should go much more.

Is your book "Homo Urbanus", which will be published soon, understandable for the general public?

Of course: Urban research is a child of my heart. Because as a biological being, humans are not built for city life.

What do you mean??

It starts with social complexity: our brains are made for a group size of around 150 people, but cities are much larger. The shape of buildings and public spaces is also far from our evolutionary history, which is why our orientation quality is poor. Far from nature is another problem, there are far too few plants and water in cities. There are also problems with noise, dirt and anonymity. All of this leads to stress and excessive demands.

Research can help here?

You can adapt urban environments to humans as biological beings. This ranges from urban planning considerations, square design to the design of the interiors of trams. Then people can feel more comfortable and health is less stressed.

TO PERSON

Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Born in 1974 in Förolach, Carinthia, studied behavioral biology at the University of Vienna. In her lecture “Men and women from the perspective of evolution”, she lets the students estimate how many children a person can produce. The correct answer – just under 1200 – is rarely guessed as many start from the myth of a man’s unlimited fertility. Her mathematical model, which calculates the possible number of children, was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize at Harvard University in 2015.

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