More Bad Science!

The following dose of drivel appeared in the Telegraph.co.uk news report dated 13 July 2009.

“Bright blue eyes have long been viewed as a quality that can help to attract the opposite sex. Now research suggests having piercing blue eyes may also say something positive about your level of intelligence.

Scientists believe they may have the explanation for why the likes of Stephen Hawking, Alexander Fleming, Marie Curie, and now Lily Cole are such brilliant academics – and it’s all in the eyes.

American researchers have found that blue-eyed people are more studious and are able to concentrate harder and outperform brown-eyed individuals in exams.

They are also likely to be more strategic thinkers who are able to plan their own time enabling them to work more effectively.

In return, those with brown eyes are likelier to be faster at running enabling them to be more likely to succeed in sports such as football, hockey and rugby.

The study, carried out by scientists at the University of Louisville, in Kentucky, could explain why so many academic geniuses have blue eyes.

Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s most eminent physicists and author of A Brief History of Time, has bright blue eyes as did Alexander Fleming, the biologist who discovered penicillin, and Marie Curie, who was twice given a Nobel prize for her pioneering work in radioactivity.

Lily Cole, the catwalk model whose features are dominated by her piercing blue eyes, recently secured a place at Kings College, Cambridge to read social and political sciences having gained five As at A level.

Another prominent blue-eyed mastermind is Stephen Fry, the author, actor and TV presenter, who gained a scholarship to Cambridge University.

The research may also explain why many of our top sportsmen such as John Terry, the England football captain, and Jonny Wilkinson, the former England rugby captain, are brown-eyed.

The scientists say that there is no logical explanation for the link between eye colour and academic achievement, but it is an unexplored area of research.”

To say that this article is riddled with foolishness is too kind. No wonder the public has so much skepticism about what they read about ’scientific studies’ in the press. Their wariness is well justified in this case.