Men are officially more stupid than women

Almost 90 per cent of people who died in foolish ways this year were men

Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels ride again (Universal)

Nature has chosen, and it turns out women are definitely smarter than men (at least when it comes to staying alive).

The aptly-named Darwin Awards recognises people who have improved the human gene pool by removing themselves from it in the most idiotic ways possible.

The annual review found that almost 90 per cent of people who died in foolish ways were men. Included in the poll were the two geniuses who dared each other to test their courage by lying down on a train track, both of whom died instantly when a train passed through the station at 130kmph.

Then there were the two guys in Kenya who took a selfie with a wild elephant, the man who tried to take a steel hawser from a lift shaft by unbolting it while he was standing in the lift, and the terrorist who posted a letterbomb: only to have it returned because he didn’t use enough stamps.

Out of 332 nominations, 14 were ruled non-valid because they were shared by both genders. Of the 318 cases remaining, 89 per cent were awarded to men.

Men are considered more likely to be admitted to an emergency department after accidental injuries and sporting injuries. They are also more likely to be in a road traffic collision with a higher mortality rate.

It's known as the 'idiotic' risk, which the study describes as "a senseless risk where the apparent payoff is negligible or non-existent, and the outcome is often extremely negative and often final".

The report concluded: "These findings are entirely consistent with male idiot theory (MIT) and support the hypothesis that men are idiots and idiots do stupid things."

Sorry guys, it's just science.