Larry Young, who studied the chemistry of love, dies at 56
Prairie voles are stocky, Olympic tunneling rodents that emerge into grassy areas to feast on grass, roots and seeds with their chisel-like teeth, causing migraines in farmers and gardeners.But for Larry Young they were the secret to understanding romance and love.Professor Young, a neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta, used prairie voles in a series of experiments that revealed the chemical process for pirouetting the throbbing emotions that poets have tried to put into words for centuries.He died on March 21 in Tsukuba, Japan, where he was helping to organize a scientific conference. He was 56 years old. The cause was a heart attack, said his wife, Anne Murphy.With their beady eyes, thick tails and sharp claws, prairie voles aren't exactly cuddly. But among rodents they a...