Wow! I'm glad they cleared that up!

From the same people who brought you the Finger Length Study and the Apostrophe Crusade we now have Tell me the Obvious!

Study: Tanning beds definitely cause cancer

England, you are definitely climbing my V-8 list! Now if you didn't read the article (because we all know how often people REALLY click on the embedded link) let me give you the run down. Tanning bed use is on the rise. Incidents of skin cancer are on the rise in the same age demographic. Therefore what we have always known to be a pretty obvious truth has been confirmed. Now we have just thrown enough money at "research" to claim it as a fact.

But here's one of my favorite parts of the article.

The new classification means tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation are definite causes of cancer, alongside tobacco, the hepatitis B virus and chimney sweeping, among others.

Well there goes my life long goal of being a chimney sweep! I find it very hard to believe that climbing inside what is pretty much the same thing as preburnt cigarette guts could cause cancer. How could that be?!

Oh, but there's more!

Cogliano said the classification means experts are confident that tanning beds cause cancer, but he noted they may not be as potent as other carcinogens like tobacco or arsenic.

Huh. Imagine that. Tanning beds are safer than arsenic. Good to know.

Now I know that some humans are just downright oblivious and pretty darn stupid. But isn't anyone else a little offended that science still thinks that we are too stupid to put together that UV rays from the sun can cause cancer so therefore UV rays from a machine will probably do the same thing?

Someday common sense is going to make a comeback. I hope it's not too soon! What would I blog about then?

Seriously! Who studies this stuff?!

But more importantly....WHY?!?! (I'm excerpting this article because of space and obnoxious writing style. You can read the whole thing for yourself here.)

Finger length may predict financial success

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer Randolph E. Schmid, Ap Science Writer – Mon Jan 12, 9:30 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The length of a man's ring finger may predict his success as a financial trader. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in England report that men with longer ring fingers, compared to their index fingers, tended to be more successful in the frantic high-frequency trading in the London financial district.

Indeed, the impact of biology on success was about equal to years of experience at the job, the team led by physiologist John M. Coates reports in Monday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The same ring-to-index finger ratio has previously been associated with success in competitive sports such as soccer and basketball, the researchers noted.
The length ratio between those two fingers is determined during the development of the fetus and the relatively longer ring finger indicates greater exposure to the male hormone androgen, the researchers noted.

***
In a separate study last year, Coates and colleagues reported that the hormone that drives male aggression and sexual interest also seemed able to boost short term success at finance.

They studied male financial traders in London, taking saliva samples in the morning and evening. They found that those with higher levels of testosterone in the morning were more likely to make an unusually big profit that day. Testosterone, best known as the male sex hormone, affects aggression, confidence and risk-taking.

In the new study, the researchers measured the right hands of 44 male stock traders who were engaged in a type of trade that involved rapid decision-making and quick physical reactions.

Over 20 months those with longer ring fingers compared to their index fingers made 11 times more money than those with the shortest ring fingers. Over the same time the most experienced traders made about 9 times more than the least experienced ones.

Looking only at experienced traders, the long-ring-finger folks earned 5 times more than those with short ring fingers.
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On the Net:
PNAS: http://www.pnas.org

Please tell me that you saw that^! You saw the web address right? Is anyone else mildly amused by this? What blows me away is that someone got PAID to measure fingers and collect spit for this study. Because when one is searching for a career the first thing on their resume is "My ring finger is exceptionally long!"

For the love of Pete Cambridge! Cure cancer! Find more effective treatments for AIDS and cholera! Use your money to get clean water to Africa. Who gives a rip about the finger lengths of Brit traders?

For all of our technological advances we sure are a stupid bunch aren't we?