monkey see monkey do

A little while ago I read about a study done in Thailand that suggested male macaque monkeys paid for sex by grooming females. It was found that after a male grooms a female, the likelihood that she will engage in sexual activity with the male was about three times more than if the grooming had not occurred. This was the result after a 20 month observation of 50 long-tailed macaque monkeys in a reserve in Indonesia.

You can read all the details here: spank the monkey

I know what you're thinking. It's exactly the same thing that crossed my mind as I read it - how does one apply this most delectable piece of research in real life? Isn't that what science is all about? practical application of knowledge? Remember Norm Larsen? he was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion by displacing water. After 39 failed attempts he was finally successful. It was at this point that evidence that all scientists have the imaginative qualities of slate, was finally revealed. Flush from his success he named his formula WD-40, or in very scientific terms, Water Displacement 40th attempt. But imagine then, if at that very moment he yelled "Eureka!" or "Boo-ya!" or whatever term of excitement seemed fit (I wasn't really there) his wife poked her head around the lab door and exclaimed, "but Norm, how would that help clean the ring around the bathtub dear?"
You see, practical application of scientific knowledge. Very important indeed.

Come along with me on a visual journey. Dark glasses are optional. A darkened street along the Mekong. The pavement slick from the same monsoon rains that have muddied and boiled the river as it surges past. She's standing alone a little removed from the others. Coy eyes downcast as she toes a puddle, drops of rain rippling outwards, glinting in the light. You approach, heart thudding in your chest so loud it nearly drowns out the sound of rain drumming along the awnings. Steam rises from your soaked shirt in the heavy saturated air.

"Lookin' for a good time?" Her accent is cute, lilting.
"Umm, yeah. How much?"
"30 lice for fucky. 15 sucky only"

Nope. Absolutely no practical application. Better get back to just spanking the monkey. I think I'll use WD-40 for lubrication.