Anyone worried about cellphones?

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stessier
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Re: Anyone worried about cellphones?

Post by stessier »

Isgrimnur wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2019 3:03 pm WaPo
New research in biomechanics suggests that young people are developing hornlike spikes at the back of their skulls — bone spurs caused by the forward tilt of the head, which shifts weight from the spine to the muscles at the back of the head, causing bone growth in the connecting tendons and ligaments. The weight transfer that causes the buildup can be compared to the way the skin thickens into a callus as a response to pressure or abrasion.

The result is a hook or hornlike feature jutting out from the skull, just above the neck.

In academic papers, a pair of researchers at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, argues that the prevalence of the bone growth in younger adults points to shifting body posture brought about by the use of modern technology. They say smartphones and other handheld devices are contorting the human form, requiring users to bend their heads forward to make sense of what’s happening on the miniature screens.

The researchers said their discovery marks the first documentation of a physiological or skeletal adaptation to the penetration of advanced technology into everyday life.

Michael Nitabach, a professor of physiology, genetics and neuroscience at Yale University, was unconvinced by the findings.

“Without knowing about the cell phone use of any of the people whose head X-rays were analyzed, it is impossible to draw conclusions about correlation between cell phone use and skull morphology,” he said.

Health experts warn of “text neck,” and doctors have begun treating “texting thumb,” which is not a clearly defined condition but bears resemblance to carpal tunnel syndrome. But prior research has not linked phone use to bone-deep changes in the body.
...
Part of what was striking about the findings, he said, was the size of the bone spurs, which are thought to be large if they measure 3 or 5 millimeters in length. An outgrowth was only factored into their research if it measured 10 millimeters, or about two-fifths of an inch.

The danger is not the head horn itself, said Mark Sayers, an associate professor of biomechanics at Sunshine Coast who served as Shahar’s supervisor and co-author. Rather, the formation is a “portent of something nasty going on elsewhere, a sign that the head and neck are not in the proper configuration,” he told The Post.


Not your fault, but the WaPo did a bad summary of the situation. This article from the BBC does a better job of putting things in context.
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Re: Anyone worried about cellphones?

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Interesting. I read the BBC article, and did a little side reading. I have said protuberance, and have had as long as I can remember. I just figured it was normal skull shape. I don't use my phone that much, but I have spent a huge portion of my life reading, probably more than young people today spend on their phones (the article suggested four hours per day - I usually spent two or three times that reading when I was younger.)
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Re: Anyone worried about cellphones?

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It's been a problem for a while.
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Re: Anyone worried about cellphones?

Post by JCC »

I have also had such a protruberance just above my neck for my entire life. My mom jokingly called it my "intelligence bump" since I was a kid.
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Re: Anyone worried about cellphones?

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Blackhawk wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2019 3:29 pm Interesting. I read the BBC article, and did a little side reading. I have said protuberance, and have had as long as I can remember. I just figured it was normal skull shape. I don't use my phone that much, but I have spent a huge portion of my life reading, probably more than young people today spend on their phones (the article suggested four hours per day - I usually spent two or three times that reading when I was younger.)
It's not reading or the time spend reading. It's the content. No doubt you read evil stuff, much like what kids are reading on their phones today. Yesterday's sci-fi is today's social media.
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Re: Anyone worried about cellphones?

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I do. I very do.
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Re: Anyone worried about cellphones?

Post by Jeff V »

LawBeefaroni wrote: Sat Jun 22, 2019 2:11 pm
Blackhawk wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2019 3:29 pm Interesting. I read the BBC article, and did a little side reading. I have said protuberance, and have had as long as I can remember. I just figured it was normal skull shape. I don't use my phone that much, but I have spent a huge portion of my life reading, probably more than young people today spend on their phones (the article suggested four hours per day - I usually spent two or three times that reading when I was younger.)
It's not reading or the time spend reading. It's the content. No doubt you read evil stuff, much like what kids are reading on their phones today. Yesterday's sci-fi is today's social media.
But...I read your posts... :shock:
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Re: Anyone worried about cellphones?

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I knew millennials were evil!
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Re: Anyone worried about cellphones?

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https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/06 ... out-horns/

Debunked: The absurd story about smartphones causing kids to sprout horns

The Post’s story was primarily based on a study published back in February 2018 by two Australian researchers. It earned fresh attention last week after being mentioned in a BBC feature on how modern life is supposedly transforming the human skeleton. The study was published in Nature’s open source journal Scientific Reports, which is supposedly peer-reviewed. But the study has significant limitations and flaws, and the Post breezed over them for a sensationalized story.

Perhaps the most striking problems are that the study makes no mention of horns and does not include any data whatsoever on mobile device usage by its participants who, according to the Post, are growing alleged horns. Also troubling is that the study authors don't report much of the data, and some of the results blatantly conflict with each other.
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Re: Anyone worried about cellphones?

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I read that. It doesn't really contradict the BBC article at all (which, as I recall, didn't really make any claims of 'horns' or that it was a problem in any way.) That doesn't mean that the underlying study is good science, but the Ars article read like someone with a bone to pick.
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Re: Anyone worried about cellphones?

Post by stessier »

Blackhawk wrote: Sun Jun 23, 2019 11:16 am I read that. It doesn't really contradict the BBC article at all (which, as I recall, didn't really make any claims of 'horns' or that it was a problem in any way.) That doesn't mean that the underlying study is good science, but the Ars article read like someone with a bone to pick.
The Ars article was written in response to the WaPo article - which gave a very distorted view of the BBC article.
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