There’s a heatwave sweeping the United States which got J. Bryan Lowder wondering why summer weather and sweat dripping off bodies is so closely associated with sexiness. Highlights include:

• Estimates suggest that summer does not uniformly lead to more sex. People living in cooler climates seem to prefer it in the summer though.
• Sweat helps to spread our natural scent potentially attracting mates.
• People expose more skin and spend more time outdoors with other people during the summer – creating more opportunities for sexual encounters.
• We conflate our vocabulary and our perceptions. Warmth is associated with intimacy which may lead people to be more…intimate with one another.

To read more including how sex affects sperm production, the role that pheromones play, what Trojan’s “Degrees of Please” survey tells us, nudity in the winter, how visual attraction defers between men and women, and links to several studies where you can learn more, click here.

Source: Slate