More duff research

It seems likely we can dismiss two fresh claims in the press that the vital difference between gay and straight people has been found.

Scientists have recently found that the brains of homosexuals have structural and functional differences from those of their straight counterparts. The Wellcome Trust Centre for neuro-imaging at University College London used magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI to look into the brains of 80 men and women, including 16 gays and 15 lesbians. – PinkNews.co.uk

Now first just look at that sample size. 16 gays and 15 lesbians. 49 people presumed by our researchers to be straight. The most basic opinion poll for gauging voting intentions in the UK will have a sample size of over 1,000 and recognise a margin of error of several per cent.

Meanwhile, from the same news source we are given the findings of Ivanka Savic of the Karolinska Institutet, who “presented 12 gay men, 12 heterosexual woman and 12 heterosexual men with male sweat”.

Are we supposed to think those statistics are credible because there are twelve people on a jury?