"LONDON (Aug 10) - Roses are red, cornflowers are blue and after nearly a century of trying, scientists say they have worked out why.

As early as 1913, scientists found that the pigment in roses which makes them red also occurs in cornflowers and was thought to be responsible for making them blue.

The discovery was puzzling because the pigment is not found in other blue flowers.

Now, researchers at Gakugei University in Tokyo say they have worked out the molecular structure of the pigment in cornflowers and found it is slightly different to the structure of the pigment in roses.

The difference lies in the arrangement of metal ions -- atoms of iron, magnesium and calcium -- inside the molecule.

Writing in the science magazine Nature, the scientists said they believed they had found "a previously undiscovered type of supermolecular pigment" which explains the striking difference in colour."

Okay, do I particularly care why cornflowers are blue? No. Before this article, was I even aware that cornflowers were blue? No. Was I aware that there were even such a thing as cornflowers? Again, no.

I just wanted to let you know why we do not yet have cures for AIDS or cancer. Apparently, scientists are more worried about the colour of cornflowers!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now you know why cornflowers are blue. Hand out the Nobel Prizes and move on to something that people might actually care about.

Okay, I'm ending this conversation now because in this one entry, I have used up my lifetime quota of how many times I can say the word "cornflower".