“Flirt with science” competition winners
THE time has come to announce the results of our “Flirt with science” competition. Readers were invited to seduce the person of their dreams with a science-related chat-up line.
Feedback readers must be a romantic lot. The response to this competition was huge and the standard was so high that our first shortlist of possible winners was 60-strong.
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Inevitably, some themes cropped up more than once. Of these, the concept of entanglement was probably the most popular, closely followed by variations on the idea of putting I and U together on the periodic table. We were also amused by the number of changes rung on the theme: “Is that a test tube/bunsen burner/copy of 51¶ŻÂţ/Erlenmeyer flask/pipette filler/50 ml Falcon tube/128-MB USB stick [isn’t that a bit unflattering?]… I see in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?”
“One of the attorneys in the New York office of the international law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is called ”
Several readers sent us chat-up lines they had used themselves to good effect. This made us suspect that the beauty of a chat-up line can lie in the ear of the listener as much as in its intrinsic merit. “Do you know anything about computers?” may not fizz with flair, but it worked for Gail Skowronsky when she used it on a stranger who turned out to be an “amazing guy”. Graeme Nicholl achieved equal success with “So, you do geology eh?”. Using a less direct approach, Herb Petitjean sent an unknown friend-of-a-friend called Carolyn “a structural diagram of Chicken Tetrazzini” accompanied by the words “Do you know what this is?”. She did, and they have just celebrated their second wedding anniversary.
So does the effectiveness of a chat-up line depend on saying the right thing to the right person at the right time? Undoubtedly – but wit and originality can count too, and that’s where our competition winners come in. Here, then, are our top 10 entries, as chosen from the shortlist by a poll of 51¶ŻÂţ staff. Younger readers can take heart from the list. Kirstie Brogan Grace’s subtle way of asking “Are you fit for fertilisation?” was one of 22 entries submitted by a class at Grays Convent School in Essex, UK. You’re never too young to win a Feedback competition.
Would there be any resistance if I asked to take you ohm?
Emma Byrne, London, UK
I love the way you smell so different from my dad.
Toshi Knell, Nowra, New South Wales, Australia
Would kissing you increase global warming and damage the Arctic irreversibly, or is it just enough to break the ice?
Andy McCready, Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK
I’ve had my ion you.
Gary Duffala, Rio Rancho, New Mexico, US
Baby, you must be a start codon because you are turnin’ me on.
Jessica Swanson, Stratford, Prince Edward Island, Canada
I don’t wish to brag, but in several parallel universes I invented the internet, warned the world about global warming, ran for president and won the Nobel peace prize.
Yonatan Silver, Jerusalem, Israel
Hello, I’ve just taken part in the clinical trial of a new drug to help memory loss; could you tell me, do I come here often?
John French, Wellington, Somerset, UK
You are definitely the woman of my REM phase.
Giuliano Aluffi, Milan, Italy
Er… hello… um… er. Oh look! Our shoes have similar spectral characteristics.
Jon White, Rampton, Cambridgeshire, UK
Meiosis?
Kirstie Brogan Grace, Grays, Essex, UK
Each of these winners will receive a 51¶ŻÂţ goody bag consisting of: one 128-megabyte USB stick, a set of the three 51¶ŻÂţ best-selling books (How to Fossilise Your Hamster, Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze? and Does Anything Eat Wasps?) plus a fabulous 51¶ŻÂţ bag. Congratulations to them all.
There were so many entertaining entries to this competition and it was so hard choosing the winners that we will publish 10 runners-up on 5 January.
Meanwhile, we would like to thank everyone who entered the competition and also the thousands of you who have written to us during 2007 with comments and suggestions for stories. It is sadly impossible for us to reply to all your messages or use all your story ideas, but we do read and enjoy them all – and Feedback would be nothing without your contributions.
It only remains to wish all our readers compliments of the season and a happy 2008.
