I watched Mermaids, because, well, I wasn't entirely sure that the show was just a load of crap at first. And this will sound shallow, because it is, but my first clue that it was likely to be *completely* fabricated (I didn't catch the "half-man, half-fish, all conjecture" verbiage on the trailer until after I watched it) was that the scientists, especially the girls, were pretty.
No, I don't believe smarts and looks are incompatible. I do believe that people with looks are less likely to focus on such careers when there are easier options with more obvious compensation to the level of effort exerted. I mean, Terry Bradshaw (maybe not much on the looks) for example took the professional athlete route, but he could also have had a career as a petroleum engineer, which is what he got a degree in at Louisiana Tech.
