Lovers Not So Star-Crossed
By Helen Potter
Brace yourselves romance seekers - apparently love isn't written in the stars. In a move that should hopefully see the question 'what's your sign?' obliterated, scientists have rather unromantically proved that zodiac signs have no impact on people getting (and staying) married.Dr David Voas of the University of Manchester's Centre for Census and Survey Research looked at the birth dates of all 20 million spouses in England and Wales registered in the 2001 census. His conclusion - the data failed to show any preference for attraction between star signs.
Quite simply he states: "There's no such evidence, though: the numbers are just what we'd predict on the basis of chance. Astrologers are likely to argue that full birth charts are needed to predict personality accurately. But what ordinary people talk about is sun signs; if those are useless when it comes to sizing up a mate, then that knocks a big hole in everyday belief." Dr Voas is, however, enough of a cynic to predict that his findings will do nothing to diminish the popularity of astrology. "These results won't put them out of business. When it comes to love, people will try anything."
Go to Helen's page for a plethora of fun stuff, or stick to the starry side of science with these links:
- Cool - Huge hungry hole scoffs silly star
- Funny - Microcosm found in space
- Lady - Caroline Herschel: a star of the stars
- Weird - Do locusts like Star Wars?
Image: SXC
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