• £20,000 ‘Madonna bra’ sculptures burned children: unusual artwork moved out of the sun

  An unusual £20,000 art installation that locals compared to Madonna’s iconic cone bra has been moved into the shade after complaints that its metal structures became scorching hot in the sun and could burn children, the Daily Mail reports...

• ‘They’ll Do Anything for Likes’: Influencers Accused of Photoshoot Beside Ambulance as Patient Was Being Treated

  It seems the race for viral content has reached a new level of absurdity...

• At 90, This Man Became a Social Media Star Thanks to His Impeccable Style

  At 90, John Fyfe has unexpectedly become the latest social media sensation. His wardrobe, more than 60 years old, is filled with classic American pieces, and his effortlessly polished style has earned him tens of thousands of followers, the Telegraph reports...

• Viral ‘Husband Application’ Sends Social Media Into a Frenzy as 36-Year-Old American Gets 241 Suitor Submissions

  Most people turn to dating apps in search of love. Arin Patterson decided to take things a step further — and opened a job posting, the New York Post reports...

• Ghost Billionaires: They Own the Sexual Fantasies of Millions, Yet No One Knows What They Look Like

  In her new book, Guilty Pleasure: The Pornification of the Internet, the Economy, and Everything Else, the Financial Times journalist explores the people who control a multibillion-dollar market while choosing to keep even their identities secret...

• 81-Year-Old Billionaire With No Heirs Plans to Leave His Fortune to a Ghost Town

  Eighty-one-year-old billionaire John Poindexter has no plans to leave his vast fortune to relatives — he simply has no heirs. Instead, the businessman has decided to dispose of his wealth in a highly unusual way: he wants to leave it to the small, nearly abandoned town of Shafter, Texas...

• Girls and Boys Begin Responding to the World Differently Just Hours After Birth

  Researchers at the University of Cambridge suggest that factors acting before birth may play a role, particularly levels of sex hormones. Another possibility, they say, is that the differences may be linked to slightly faster cognitive maturation in girls during the first days of life...

• Crackers Worth More Than Gold: Six Fused Goldfish Crackers Listed for $25,000

  Forget lottery tickets — apparently, there may be a far more lucrative option these days: simply opening a bag of Goldfish crackers…

For decades, the classic "hourglass" figure was considered the ultimate standard of beauty, but a new scientific study claims that we have been paying attention to entirely the wrong proportions for centuries.

According to a research paper published in the journal Japanese Psychological Research, the key role in the perception of female attractiveness is played not by the waist-to-hip ratio, but by the waist-to-bust ratio.

Experiment with Computer Silhouettes

Researchers from Wayo Women’s University surveyed 398 Japanese men aged 20 to 59. Participants were asked to evaluate various computer models of female silhouettes, in which body proportions varied while all other characteristics remained unchanged.

The results were unexpected:

• Women with a lower waist-to-bust ratio (meaning a relatively large bust compared to the waist) consistently received the highest attractiveness scores.

• At the same time, changes in the waist-to-hip ratio had virtually no effect on the participants' preferences.

• Silhouettes with a waist-to-bust ratio of 0.6 to 0.7 were rated as the most attractive. Celebrities such as Sydney Sweeney, Sabrina Carpenter, and Katy Perry fit this body type.

According to the scientists, a larger bust is historically registered at a subconscious level as a sexual signal indicating reproductive health and fertility.

Errors of the Past and Media Influence

The new findings challenge decades of research claiming that men judge female beauty primarily by the hips. The study's authors believe that past work may have overestimated the significance of hips because women with ample busts often visually appear to have narrower waists.

However, the scientists make an important caveat: ideal proportions with a 0.6 ratio are extremely rare in real life.

"It is quite possible that standards of attractiveness are skewed due to the constant exposure to biased images in the media," notes lead study author Tomohiro Suzuki. "Ideal beauty is largely shaped by cultural context rather than being a universal rule for the entire world."

Additionally, the study was conducted exclusively with Japanese respondents and within a standard weight range, meaning that results might differ in other cultures or with different height-weight parameters.

Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram