The Scientific Invention with the Greatest Impact
Nearly 50,000 visitors to London's Science Museum Web site have cast their votes and declared the X-ray machine the most important invention in science, engineering, technology and medicine, BBC News reports.

One in five people named the X-ray machine, which was discovered in 1895 and revolutionized how doctors detect disease and injury, for having made the greatest impact on the past, present and future. It was followed in popularity by the discoveries of penicillin and the DNA double helix structure, the Apollo 10 capsule and the V2 rocket engine.

Katie Maggs, associate curator of medicine at the Science Museum, told CNN that she was "pleasantly surprised" with the results.

While it is indeed a good list, you'll understand if we're dubious about choosing the most important scientific invention from a top 10 list that doesn't include 2007's beer-launching fridge.

Halloween Characters Bosses are Most Like
Nearly one-in-five (18 percent) workers describe their workplace as scary, according to CareerBuilder.com last week.

Based on responses from more than 4,000 workers, CareerBuilder found that some workers think their workplace is scary because their bosses bear a strong resemblance to famous Halloween characters. The following are the top five characters respondents said best reflect their boss's behavior:

• Glenda the Good Witch — liked and respected by all;
• The Wolf Man — fine one minute, howling the next;
• The Invisible Man — never around;
• Casper the Friendly Ghost — eager to help, but often misunderstood; and
• Dracula — constantly sucking the life right out of you.

Other characters include the Mummy ("slow-moving and has an ancient thought process") and the Grim Reaper ("constantly delivers bad news and inspires fear among workers").

When asked what the scariest part of their job was, workers reported these fear-inducing activities: workload (18 percent), performance reviews (9 percent), tight deadlines (9 percent), hours worked (8 percent), their boss or supervisor (7 percent) and sitting through meetings (6 percent).

New Solution to U.S. Car Woes
The Onion "reports" on Ford Motor Co.'s recently announced "car for the modern age," the solution to America's car woes: the 1993 Taurus.

Ford Unveils New Car For Cash-Strapped Buyers: The 1993 Taurus

Ford, which in real life has avoided government aid and bankruptcy, this week reported swinging to a third-quarter profit of $997 million after a loss of $161 million a year ago. Pre-tax operating profit totaled $1.1 billion — an improvement of $3.9 billion from a year ago and the automaker's first pre-tax operating profit since the first quarter of 2008.

U.S. October sales for the Detroit automaker rose 2.6 percent to 132,483 vehicles from the same month last year. Its new Taurus sedan saw October sales surge to 6,076 cars from 2,517 last year.

Does Your Beer Preference Reflect Your Personality?
Mindset Media, a market research firm specializing in "psychographics," interviewed more than 2,600 people this summer and found specific personalities and mindsets that corresponded to more than half a dozen branded beer choices.

This week, an AdAge piece based on Mindset Media's marketing study shared some of the company's thought-provoking (or just provoking) findings.

Some examples:

Drinkers of Budweiser are "sensible, grounded and practical" and "don't like authority." These beer drinkers are 42 percent "more likely to drive a truck" than the average Joe and 42 percent "more likely to use breath-freshening strips every day."

Corona and Corona Light drinkers are "busy and energetic people who are also extremely extroverted." These beer drinkers "seek out the company of others" and "care deeply about other people." Corona drinkers are 91 percent "more likely than average to buy recycled products" and 38 percent "more likely to own three or more flat-screen TVs."

Heineken drinkers are apparently "posers" and full of themselves, Blue Moon drinkers are "liberal" and unconventional, and drinkers of craft beers (lumped into one category) are "more likely to spend time thinking about beer rather than work."

Perhaps more interesting than the article were the reader comments below the post. Boy, were the responses vitriolic (though less hostile than those posted to a Motley Fool article on Ayn Rand this week). The study (or coverage of the study) was referred to by readers as "hogwash," "meaningless generalizations," "lazy," "craptastic" and sounding "like a horoscope."

Apparently, beer drinkers are pretty sensitive about being labeled based on their preferred brand.

John Durant, Mindset Media's director of research, reminds readers that "the study we ran does not say all individuals in a group [...] are the same."

Of course, if you're an abstainer and are grouped with people who "don't like to loosen up very much," you may take it a bit personally, too.

What say you, IMT readers? Do any of these personality traits line up with your beer of choice?

Cheers.