Star Trek鈥檚 Captain James T. Kirk was always (it seems) trying to explain to
alien women what this strange thing called 鈥渓ove鈥� is. But where would you start?
Is it a chronic psychological disturbance, a divine gift, or simply a
complicated way of passing on your genes? One thing is certain as Valentine鈥檚
Day approaches鈥攊t is well-nigh impossible to ignore.
Whether you are already in love鈥檚 clutches, or would like to be, there鈥檚
something for everyone on the Web. If there鈥檚 someone you like, but you鈥檙e not
sure how to approach them, http://www.secretadmirer.com can help. It鈥檒l send an
anonymous message to your beloved telling them someone out there is carrying a
torch for them. If they visit the website, guess your identity and the interest
is mutual, then you will receive a reply. www.ecrush.com runs a similar service
but is a little more intrusive, requiring you to fill out a few more forms.
Perhaps you are the recipient of an amorous e-mail or have had some other
indication of a love interest. How do you judge whether the sender is a suitable
match? There are a number of ways to do this. www.lovetest.com claims to test
your compatibility with a combination of astrology and numerology, according to
your heart-throb鈥檚 name and birthday. If you don鈥檛 know your potential partner鈥檚
birthday, you can still get a highly unscientific giggle from
www.lovecalculator.com.
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If you have already found your soulmate and want to bind them closer to
you, what could be better than poetry? LionHeart at http://lionheart.chadwyck.co.uk
is a searchable database of four centuries of love poems drawn
from the publisher Chadwyck-Healey鈥檚 large online reference collection.
If you haven鈥檛 got anyone to celebrate with, perhaps it鈥檚 just as well.
Visit our own website at www.newscientist.com/valentine/love.html and read
about how love and obsession may share a common chemistry.
