Bad Science: Straight Looking

A lot of media have picked up the non-story that "Gaydar really exists: Scientists prove gay people are more able to pick out fellow homosexuals"
It was perhaps predictable that the British paper that gave it the biggest splash was The Daily Mail - the house journal of bad science and general quackery.
Almost every day the Mail will be assuring its readers of some scientific breakthrough that proves something-or-other gives you cancer - regardless of the fact that they were saying scientists were convinced of the exact opposite in yesterday's paper.
The "research" by Dr Lorenza Colzato, of Leiden University in the Netherlands was reported in the journal, Frontiers in Cognition.
42 - yes, just 42 - men and women were shown pictures of outlines of large squares and rectangles, each of which was filled with other smaller shapes, and they were asked what was inside.
Heterosexuals apparently were generally quick to see only the bigger picture/shape. "The homosexuals took longer but got more answers right, particularly when asked about the smaller shapes, suggesting they were able to see the small details as well as the bigger picture."
Dr Colzato is quoted as announcing with great pride; "This is the first time that scientific proof has been found for the existence of a gaydar mechanism amongst homosexuals. This perceptual skill allows homosexuals to recognise other gay people faster and we think it's because they are much more analytic than heterosexuals."
It's hardly scientific, and it doesn't really prove anything, certainly not what gay men call "gaydar", which is something quite different; the ability to read the signs and signifiers of homosexuality, which comes from simply knowing how to and wanting to.
It's hardly rocket science.
Back to the drawing board, boffins!