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.
[...] The bone spurs jut off of what's called the external occipital protuberance (EOP) of the skull. This is the point at the back of the head where important ligaments that run along the spine attach, as do neck muscles.
[...] For their second leap, Shahar and Sayers note that many young people today use smartphones and tablets, and recent studies have suggested that when people look at their devices, they bend their necks at angles that add more weight to the spine. Hypothetically, this can create stress that could spur bone growth and other problems.
(Score: 3, Funny) by SomeGuy on Saturday June 22 2019, @05:12AM (2 children)
What, no studies about the germ mutation petri dishes they call touch screens?
No studies about blue LEDs burning out retinas?
No studies about smart phones/twatter/facefook turning brains in to goop?
Ah, this one must have been so "absurd" that the cell phone overlords didn't feel the need to throw money at it to make it go away.
(Score: 4, Funny) by krishnoid on Saturday June 22 2019, @06:11AM (1 child)
I'm still waiting for the one about Antivirus software giving you digital autism.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday June 22 2019, @07:51AM
There will be an app to vaccinate you, and the anti-vaxxers will come out in droves to denounce it!
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Sally_G on Saturday June 22 2019, @07:00AM (2 children)
The growth of horns is spurred by attending Black Mass, and worshipping Satan. People were growing horns long before there was electricity!
(Score: 2) by loonycyborg on Saturday June 22 2019, @07:31AM (1 child)
Growth of horns is also spurred by belonging to Homestuck fandom.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @12:22PM
I thought this happened when they become teenagers?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @08:27AM
As in all things, Eco addressed this, in his Novel Baudolino [wikipedia.org] , where the only way to attract a Unicorn was with a virgin. And a unicorn was actually what is attracted to virgins. Kind of makes sense of the entire mythos, if you are not into snipe hunting, and gay nights in the forest.
(Score: 3, Touché) by MostCynical on Saturday June 22 2019, @09:40AM (3 children)
i have an occipital bump.
They are genetically inherited.
It has been there since before i was born, certainly long before cell phones and tablets.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @09:54AM (2 children)
Do you get good reception with that bump?
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday June 22 2019, @01:17PM
maybe I've just found out why my phone has bad reception...
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Saturday June 22 2019, @03:43PM
Only when held the “right way”
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @11:26AM
The real question is "Will these bone spurs keep me from serving in the military?"
(Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Saturday June 22 2019, @12:55PM
Phew
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday June 22 2019, @02:16PM
Idle hands (-free) are the devils playthings. It sure would have been funny if it had been true.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @04:15PM
I wanted horns, dammit.
Just not sure which brand phone. Samsung was offering me these sweet rams' horns, curling back. Apple was going to give me long, sharp oryx horns. And those open source phone guys were telling me I could do whatever I want - kudu horns maybe?
Would have been sweet.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @04:43PM
Never get in the way of the news trying to make something up that sounds good.
The story sounded plausible. The story had about 2 seconds of vetting before going up. Got to make those deadlines you know. It makes people feel better/worse about themselves. Emotional content is best. It keeps people coming back for more adverts.
Most news is of this quality. Basically it sounds good gives you an emotional response put it up.
Take for example our current news cycle of Trump this, Trump that, Trump Trump Trump. It pushes peoples buttons (as they and he trained you, sorry you have been manipulated). He is in reality no better/worse than most previous presidents. His next election will be 50/50 if he wins/loses (like almost everyone before that). But we will get non-ending stories about him. Because it checks the easy to dish out and emotional responses. All so they can subject you to more adverts.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Hyperturtle on Saturday June 22 2019, @04:43PM (4 children)
The real story was that some sort of conspiracy theory peddling website that makes its money through invasive and full screen advertising had taken a legit story about actual bone spurs growing in young people's necks as a result of frequently hunching in the same position to look at their phone.
It could be a hard cover bible instead, or a paperback version of 50 shades of gray -- or a bible hollowed out to contain a kindle that is filled with pulp fiction, it doesn't matter.
The takeaway is that someone took the actual news and changed it just enough to get picked up nearly instantaneously by people that easily succumb to propaganda and fake news. It was an easy transition for the story, and it was also rooted in a recently disclosed set of scientific facts that provided a sense of truthiness.
I ask why this story is even here, because... well ok it is funny to read about how ignorant some people are, and that critical thinking is not something that comes easily for some... and that the story spread like fire through predictable outlets that you'd hope wouldn't provide opinion pieces about the consumption of fake news causing kids to become satantic and the real cure is less time looking at instagram pictures and believing fake news and more time doing what the opinion writer's political ideology demands kids to do besides look at pictures (or worse, blame kids' behaviors on music and dancing and having fun instead of the parents lazy approach to parenting via staring at their own phones, reading and believing fake news on other news site opinion columns and facebook recommendations.)
Uh hey, incidentally, has anyone else come to the conclusion Ars Technica is going downhill compared to how they were just a few years ago? There are so many native advertisements written by the columnists there, that it is becoming a challenge to really find enough reasons to continue to appreciate them when they cover something good. They used to be mid-brow tech news entertainment, but seem to have lost a battle with Conde Nast and changed focus. Their focus on making videos... just seems like a similar behavior that caused a lot of people to leave the green menace website.
Uh that said, maybe we need a post that discusses news sites that we all like to visit and/or endorse. Ever since the green menace went into beta, I've wandered aimlessly on those days the stories here are slow. I haven't contributed in a while, but I also question sometimes what amounts to acceptable here anymore--I am not sure what the true interests have evolved into here.. besides IT stuff, I mean. (And also besides kids growing horns.)
Ars used to be ok filler to read or draw from for sharing a story or two here, but they've started to have more questionable content with too many ads,and it sometimes takes too much (mental) effort to filter out the native advertising written as an article.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @07:33PM
The Washington Post...
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @09:01PM (1 child)
They are short staffed... [boingboing.net]
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Sunday June 23 2019, @03:39AM
Holy crap. I really hope that's a case of "stupid criminals get caught" and not an indication that he'd responded to enough real "come give my kid hands-on sex ed" ads for it to seem completely legit to him.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Sunday June 23 2019, @03:32AM
Definitely... I used to visit Ars a couple of times each day and spent quite a bit of time participating in the article comment sections, but pretty much gave up on it a couple of years ago after it had deteriorated enough to seem more like TechCrunch, Gizmodo or another generic tech "newsvertisement" site. Having to comb through a site on my computer that had been redesigned for mobile devices just to find interesting articles buried under the growing pile of low-information-density videos, amateurish fanboy pieces, obviously-sponsored articles, etc. just wasn't worth my time anymore.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 22 2019, @05:35PM
My theory is the kids have been finding chemtrail powder in the woods while doing their satanic rituals and huffing it, a side effect of which is horn growth.