找到完美伴侶的機率僅有1/285000
A university maths tutor has discovered the science behind singledom, finding that our chances of finding the perfect partner are just 1 in 285,000.
Peter Backus, a tutor at the University of Warwick, published his "Why I Don't Have a Girlfriend" thesis after a three-year love drought.
His quirky study uses a famous maths formula called The Drake Equation, which was first used to estimate the existence of extra-terrestrial life.
The results don't look promising for British singles. 30-year-old Mr Backus found that out of the 30 million women in the UK, only 26 would be suitable girlfriends for him.
The mind-numbing equation takes into account the number of women aged 24 to 34, living in his home city of London, and who are single, meaning his chances of meeting his dream woman on a night out are slim.
The economics expert said: "There are 26 women in London with whom I might have a wonderful relationship.
"So, on a given night out in London there is a 0.0000034% chance of meeting one of these special people. That’s a 1 in 285,000 chance, so it's not great.
The baffling Drake equation reads: N = R* x Fp x Ne x Fi x Fc x L, and helped pioneering scientist Professor Drake to predict that there could be 10,000 civilisations in our galaxy.
Mr Backus simply replaced the original equation with his own criteria for a dream date, which included the percentage of women likely to find him attractive, and the number of girls aged 24-34 in London.
He said: "The research may sound depressing to people looking for love, but the good news for singles is, it's probably not your fault!"
His full thesis is available on the University of Warwick's website
日前，英國一名大學數學講師發現了單身的科學依據，他稱人們找到合適伴侶的機率只有1/285000。
英國華威大學的數學講師皮特•巴克斯在經歷了三年的感情空缺後發表了一篇題爲《我爲什麼沒有女朋友》的論文。
他在這項奇怪的研究中運用了一個著名的數學公式——“德雷克等式”。這一公式最初被用於估算外星生命存在的機率。
計算結果對於英國的單身人士來說並不樂觀。30歲的巴克斯發現，在英國的三千萬名女性中，僅有26人適合做他的女朋友。
這一複雜的公式將皮特所居住的倫敦市的年齡在24歲到34歲的單身女性數量納入計算範圍，這意味着他某晚外出邂逅自己夢中情人的機率很低。
這位經濟學專家說：“全倫敦只有26名女性可能適合我。
“因此，如果我某天晚上外出，邂逅姻緣的機率爲0.0000034%，也就是285000分之一，所以概率很小。
這一令人費解的“德雷克等式”爲N = R* x Fp x Ne x Fi x Fc x L，先驅科學家德雷克教授曾利用該公式作出預測：銀河系中可能存在1萬種文明。
巴克斯只是將自己有關完美情侶的標準代入了等式，其中包括可能覺得他有魅力的女性的比例，以及倫敦年齡在24到34歲的女性數量。
他說：“這一研究可能會讓那些正在尋找愛情的人感到沮喪，但對於單身漢來說卻是個好消息，那就是單身不一定是你的問題！”
他的全篇論文可登陸華威大學網站查看。
Vocabulary:
drought: a prolonged shortage 長期缺乏
quirky: strikingly unconventional 古怪的
mind-numbing: extremely boring and uninspiring 極其沉悶的，枯燥的
