Two Muppets
named top scientists
EXETER, England (Reuters) -- Muppets Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his
assistant Beaker defeated Dr. Strangelove, Dana Scully of "X Files"
fame and Star Trek's Mr. Spock to be voted Britain's favorite
screen scientists.
They beat their closest rival by a margin of 2 to 1 and won 33
percent of the 43,000 votes cast in an Internet poll published in
Monday.
Spock came in a distance second with 15 percent followed by The
Doctor, from Dr Who, who garnered 13 percent. Scully, the only
woman in the poll, came in sixth.
"They are accessible, humorous and occasionally blow each other
up," said Roland Jackson, of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science (BA).
The balding, white-coated Honeydew and flame-haired, bulging-eyed
Beaker created an array of crazy gadgets on the popular television
show.
"They're the kind of scientists you would like to be but never
quite dared to," said Alan Slater, a scientist at the University of
Exeter in southwestern England.
The poll, sponsored by the BA and the BBC cult television website
gave the public five weeks to choose their favorite scientist from
a shortlist of 10 that included Dr. Evil from the film "Austin
Powers," Dr. Frankenstein, Frank N. Furter, of the "Rocky Horror
Show Picture Show," Dr. Emmett Brown, of the film "Back to the
Future" and Q of James Bond fame.
Results of the poll were announced at the start of the week-long BA
science conference here.
(source:
CNN)
