9 Weirdest Things Science Has Recently Discovered

6. Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans

Just as it seems as though you can't catch a break, it emerges that even chickens think you're ugly. Yep, chickens, as in actual chickens, not cowardly people, seem to prefer the faces of beautiful humans.

Scientists, for reasons best known to themselves, trained chickens to react to various human faces ranging in attractiveness. The faces were first ranked by university students to put them into order of attractiveness, then shown to the chickens for the same treatment. It turns out that chickens and students have similar tastes, as the chickens consistently pecked at the more attractive faces (well, how else do you let someone know you like them?)

As mad as the experiment sounds, as it is one of the many studies that lead us to question just how much free time scientists have on their hands, it does seem to suggest that our ideas of attractiveness are at least in part biological instincts as opposed to societal constructs. It seems as though good genes shine out across species boundaries, either that or chickens are just snobs.