Here's another one of those seemingly surreptitious good things the federal government is doing. Although the Energy Department has been sponsoring competitions for students to engineer more fuel-efficient vehicles since 1987, it wasn't until 2005 it teamed up with General Motors to start Challenge X,a three year competition for students to make the GM Equinox something Americans want to buy (and whose name was obviously thought up by some 40-year-old in his cubicle).

Anyway, a surprising new study by Challenge X has found that green is the new chick magnet, and we don't mean dollars. Some of the previously unimaginable statistics include:

• 45 percent of 18-43 year-olds think driving anything other than a fuel-efficient car is a total don't.
• 86 percent said that the US dropped the ball on designing fuel-efficient cars compared to the rest of the world.
• 80 percent of car buyers (as opposed to bicycle buyers?) would rather chat up someone driving a hybrid than the latest sports car (too bad for GM's Camaro).
• 88 percent of all ladies would rather flirt with a dude who drives the latest fuel-efficient car over some gas guzzler (perhaps because with the money left over after filling up their gas tank they'll be able to afford paying for dinner).
• And what probably confused the survey participants as much as us, 73 percent said they would watch a "Project Runway"-type show about designing hot, low-emission cars. Perhaps the surveyors are imagining a green version of Pimp My Ride ?

We liked that 97 percent of those surveyed said that the "nation's commitment to innovate should include encouraging the spirit of innovation in young people because they bring a fresh perspective." Again, another question that was obviously not thought up by a young person.

Considering this survey was released in early May, it was conducted well before gas prices reached a national average of over $4. So, although money is a definite factor in the increasing popularity of fuel-efficient vehicles, it also shows that the hip young kids already knew that Hummers are so last century.