The 'awww' factor

Flocke lies there, limp in her keeper's arms, a curled pink tongue sticking out of her mouth just under her small, black nose.

If the sight of Germany's newest celebrity polar bear made you melt, you are not alone. Like the now-grown-up Knut before her, Flocke is receiving international attention because she was rejected by her mother and, well, she's just so dang cute.

It's not the first time we've been captivated by a photo of a baby animal. If you don't believe the human race is obsessed with cuteness, consider these numbers:

• More than 50,000 people worldwide fell enough in love with month-old Flocke to participate in giving her her name, which means "snowflake" in German.

• CuteOverload.com, the Internet's clearinghouse for all things cute, gets more than 85,000 visits and 130,000 page views daily.

Here's the good news: Our attraction to cuteness is not only universal but also appears to be largely healthy, say experts who study psychology and animal welfare.

Healthful effects

Looking at pictures of cute animals online or through e-mail messages has immediate healthful effects, says James Serpell, professor of animal welfare at the University of Pennsylvania's veterinary school.

When people are absorbed in something, even if it is just a picture of an animal, their heart rates and blood pressure go down, he says. Once we look away, the effect goes away.

What lasts is a relationship with animals, mostly household pets. People with animal companions tend to have longer, healthier lives, while those with no human or animal interaction are much more vulnerable to disease and illness, Serpell says.

"Humans are, by their nature, highly social animals, and being in groups and having the support of other individuals, even if they are animals, seems to be very important to us," he adds.

That warm, mushy feeling we get when we see a baby, whether it be human or otherwise, has been studied since the 1940s when Austrian zoologist Konrad Lorenz first noted that humans are attracted to juvenile qualities such as big foreheads and big eyes, stubby arms and legs and a clumsy walking style.

It's a good thing, too, say modern scientists, because these are the traits of human babies who, unlike some other animals, cannot care for themselves until years after they're born.

"It does make good sense that there be a positive emotional response [to human infants] because they are completely dependent on adults at birth," says Thomas Alley, a doctor of general experimental psychology at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Yes, there are all sorts of scientific papers that look into cuteness, ones that explore, for example, the evolution of the teddy bear and of Mickey Mouse.

Costs of the cult of cute

Our response to animals could be the result, Serpell says, of what's called the biophilia response, the notion that humans are attracted to other living things. "There is some evidence that people find the sight of animals moving very absorbing," he says. "They very much attract our attention and hold our attention even if other things don't."

However, not all aspects of our society's penchant for cuteness are healthy for the animals involved, Serpell warns. Some animals, like pugs and Persian cats, are bred for their babylike traits -- big eyes and big foreheads. The effect of such breeding can be "devastating" to the animals, Serpell says, potentially creating health issues like sleep apnea, skin conditions, eye problems and dental troubles.

And the not-so-cute species in the animal kingdom often get overlooked in the conservation arena, Serpell says, to the detriment of the integrity of natural areas and biodiversity.