A fascinating article in the Economist caught my eye.  One of the results of the disaster at Chernobyl has been to provide a proof-point for the theory of the Handicap Principle of sexual selection which suggests that bright or opulent displays like the peacock’s tail exist as a signal that the bearer is of such strong genes that they can afford to carry the "handicap" of an enormous, damned silly tail and still be successful.  Originally proposed by the Israeli biologist, Amotz Zahavi, this theory was one of the threads which Tor Norretranders pulled together in his fascinating book, The Generous Man.  I saw Norretranders present at the EuroOscon conference last year and he is an entertaining and irreverent speaker.