Beer drinking predicts scientific output
After years of argument over the roles of factors like genius, sex and dumb luck, a new study shows that something entirely unexpected and considerably sudsier may be at play in determining the success or failure of scientists -- beer.
According to the study, published in February in Oikos, a highly respected scientific journal, the more beer a scientist drinks, the less likely the scientist is to publish a paper or to have a paper cited by another researcher, a measure of a paper's quality and importance.
All right, good scientists and bad scientists alike, you know what we have to do: DESTROY THIS CORRELATION!
John Hawks Department of Anthropology
University of Wisconsin—Madison
Copyright © 2007 John Hawks