“I’m all for popular culture that gets people talking about science” Industry, Science and Technology Minister Karen Andrews, Reps Question Time yesterday. She was referring to TV’s The Bachelor in which young women (one a chemical engineer) compete for the attention of a bloke, in this case Swinburne U astrophysicist Matt Agnew. “As the bachelor said last night science is sexy,” Ms Andrews told the chamber. A learned reader suggests an alternative message better suited to the gender imbalance in STEM is, “a woman scientist needs a male astrophysicist, likes a fish needs a bicycle.”