Good news for geeks: The smart bird gets the girl

Nerds and geeks have been punching bags in books and movies since time immemorial. In the classic nerd narrative, girls spurn the genius' advances and jocks kick sand in his face. He, in turn, consoles himself with the knowledge that his magnificent brain will one day be better than brawn when it comes to luring a fetching companion into coitus.

According to a recent study, the geeks were always right. For the first time ever, scientists have established a positive correlation in a species of animals between intelligence and reproductive success. Of course, this is hardly surprising to anyone who has paid attention over the last few decades. As the Internet took off and the software revolution took flight, geeks suddenly became standard-bearers of the business elite. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs fought it out for cover space on business magazines, while Larry Page (a total geek) and Sergey Brinn, the founders of Google, became hot commodities on the Silicon Valley dating scene. Clearly, something had changed in the sexual chemistry equation.