The Briefing Room

General Category => Health/Education => Topic started by: mystery-ak on June 15, 2019, 03:07:04 pm

Title: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Much
Post by: mystery-ak on June 15, 2019, 03:07:04 pm: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Much
By Kashmira Gander On 6/13/19 at 6:52 AM EDT

Health

Press your fingers into the back of your skull, just above your neck. If you feel a small spike you may be among people whose body has responded to smartphone use by growing new layers of bone.

The phenomenon involves what is known as an external occipital protuberance: a growth which appears on the back of the head. David Shahar, a health scientist at the University of The Sunshine Coast, Australia, told BBC.com that in the last decade of his 20 year career he has noticed more patients have the protrusion which was once considered rare.

Shahar explained to BBC.com that when the external occipital protuberance was first studied by French scientist Paul Broca in 1885 "he didn't like it because he had studied so many specimens, and he hadn't really seen any which had it."

In a study published in the Journal of Anatomy in 2016, Shahar and his co-author described how he had been spotting external occipital protuberances more often in x-rays of relatively young patients at his clinic. To find out more, he looked at 218 radiographs of the lateral cervical spine, where the external occipital protuberance appears, of people aged between 18 to 30-years-old. A growth had to be at least 5mm-long to be counted as an external occipital protuberance, with anything bigger than 10mm classified as enlarged.

more
https://www.newsweek.com/humans-have-started-growing-spikes-back-their-skulls-because-we-use-smartphones-so-much-1443757 (https://www.newsweek.com/humans-have-started-growing-spikes-back-their-skulls-because-we-use-smartphones-so-much-1443757)
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: Sanguine on June 15, 2019, 03:47:05 pm: Quote
Shahar explained to BBC.com that when the external occipital protuberance was first studied by French scientist Paul Broca in 1885 "he didn't like it because he had studied so many specimens, and he hadn't really seen any which had it."

How did he know to study it if he hadn't seen it?
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: Bill Cipher on June 15, 2019, 04:12:52 pm: So why is smartphone use allegedly causing spikes to grow?
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: Wingnut on June 15, 2019, 04:16:41 pm: I thought this was from Natural News. I was wrong it is worse, news weak.
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: skeeter on June 15, 2019, 04:27:27 pm: Cellphones are turning us into Klingons.

And we thought we were the good guys.
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: Bill Cipher on June 15, 2019, 04:29:35 pm: Quote from: skeeter on June 15, 2019, 04:27:27 pm
Cellphones are turning us into Klingons.

And we thought we were the good guys.

Didnâ€™t they end up becoming good guys eventually?
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: Cyber Liberty on June 15, 2019, 07:04:57 pm: Quote from: Bill Cipher on June 15, 2019, 04:29:35 pm
Didnâ€™t they end up becoming good guys eventually?

Only if you stay on their good side and accept Gagh served in traditional fashion when offered.
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: Bill Cipher on June 15, 2019, 07:15:23 pm: Quote from: Cyber Liberty on June 15, 2019, 07:04:57 pm
Only if you stay on their good side and accept Gagh served in traditional fashion when offered.

Was that from their smartphone use as well?
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: skeeter on June 15, 2019, 07:41:31 pm: Quote from: Bill Cipher on June 15, 2019, 04:29:35 pm
Didnâ€™t they end up becoming good guys eventually?

Maybe. My Star Trek watching days ended with Cap't Kirk.
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: Gefn on June 15, 2019, 07:44:17 pm: Quote from: skeeter on June 15, 2019, 04:27:27 pm
Cellphones are turning us into Klingons.

And we thought we were the good guys.

I wanna be a Vulcan. Or a Betazoid
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: libertybele on June 16, 2019, 12:32:14 am: Yikes! My phone must be smarter than most ... I don't have a small spike. I have a rather large spike! :silly:
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: aligncare on June 16, 2019, 10:19:03 am: Iâ€™ve analyzed thousands of x-rays of cervical spines and palpated just as many during a typical exam and treatment. The external occipital protuberance is a named landmark because everyone has one, and how prominent it is is most likely genetic and arbitrary.

Is this guy making s*it up just to make a false connection for political or philosophical reasons?
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: mountaineer on June 19, 2019, 03:47:10 pm: I knew there was a good reason ( :laugh:) not to own a smartphone!
Title: Re: Humans Have Started Growing Spikes in the Back of Their Skulls Because We Use Smartphones so Muc
Post by: Taxcontrol on June 19, 2019, 08:07:33 pm: Quote from: Bill Cipher on June 15, 2019, 04:12:52 pm
So why is smartphone use allegedly causing spikes to grow?

Has more to do with constant looking down (keyboard, phone, etc) than anything else. Neck muscles pull on the back of the skull more when the neck is bent and looking down.

I have a external occipital protuberance - somewhat pronounced at 55 years old. But I have been doing IT / computer work most of my life.