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"  Welcome to PM/AM, PopMech&amp;#039;s morning briefing on the top science and tech stories for today. Read This You know all those extreme storms the U.S. has been having, the rising pollution in Asia could be a major factor. [via The Wire] A volcanic discovery on Mercury&amp;#039;s surface brings up new questions about the planet&amp;#039;s early history. [via Space.com] Google reveals details about its $50 Project Ara modular smartphone and aims for a January 2015 release. [via CNET] Watch This      This video divulges the secrets behind creating the ultimate Pinewood derby car. Pay attention: your kid&amp;#039;s boy scout cred depends on it. [via Gizmodo] Consider This Here&amp;#039;s a daily lesson in beardology, the science of beards. Fascinated by how female guppies choose mates with rare stripe patterns using negative frequency-dependent selection, researchers at the University of New South Wales wanted to see if the same could same for humans\u2014and facial hair. With guppies, common sense would dictate that once a particular stripe pattern attracts a female, all male guppies would soon have a similar pattern. However, in nature female guppies prefer males that are unusual compared to the rest. That&amp;#039;s negative frequency-dependent selection, and it turns out that there is, in fact, a human correlation.  About 1600 female participants were shown male faces with varying degrees of facial hair growth. Among the four general growth areas\u2014clean shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble, and full beard\u2014heavy stubble was the clear winner with full beard and clean shaven scoring the lowest marks. Groups who were shown photographs with lots of beards tend to prefer more clean-shaven faces. However, when a few bearded gentlemen were scattered among the beardless, facial hair received a 20 percent bump in attractiveness. According to ScienceNews, humans place importance on the uncommon, meaning that whatever facial hair style is more common, a rare beard suddenly becomes more attractive. Beards have long been identified as a symbol of masculinity, but researchers hypothesize that uncommon beards could showcase attractive qualities such as nonconformity or innovation. But before you go shaving your mustache into a long flowing Fu Manchu, pay attention to one researcher&amp;#039;s reminder: &amp;quot;Some things will never be attractive no matter how rare.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a10428/pmam-the-science-of-beards-16701911/>