Not long ago, Five Nerds made a semi-tasteless (alright, completely tasteless) joke about the longstanding hypothesis that cell-phones give you cancer.

We said that it wouldn’t be long before people were shouting about the risks of radiating our noggins, and it appears we were right.

Submitted for your reading pleasure, an article about a recent study which suggests that people who use their phones actively have “significantly higher” brain activity in the area closest to the telephone antenna.  The National Institutes of Health study measured glucose metabolism of the brain as an indicator, and it is still too early to predict whether the effects are long-lasting or dangerous. 

The article further suggests that wireless earpieces might be a lower wattage alternative to holding your antenna so close to your dome.

With that said, if you have the choice of radiating your brain, or not radiating your brain, it really doesn’t seem like a choice, does it?

So before we get into it, this isn’t going to be an Apple-bashing session.  When I use the phrase iPod, I mean any portable listening device.  I suppose iPod has become the household term, much the same as Kleenex means tissue to most people. 

Let’s expand further to any device which we use on a frequent basis that forces our mind to work, even when we think we are relaxing—i.e. television, phone, automobile.

The New York Times reported today that scientists at University of California, San Francisco have issued the findings of a new study on rats, and the way they process new information.  Rats that give their minds a rest have better recollection of their new-found information.  The scientists suspect that this may be the same amongst humans, and certainly nerds are a subgenus of humans, so this should concern you too.

University of Michigan studies have shown that people who walk in a serene natural environment learn significantly better afterward, than a control group which walked in an urban setting.  The correlation being suggested is that processing information fatigues the mind, even if it is something we enjoy, or perceive as relaxing.

As we struggle to stay connected in an ever-evolving technological landscape, should we worry that we aren’t getting enough real downtime, and giving our brains time to process new information?

Perhaps that is why I’m a big fan of naps. 

The next time you think you are relaxing in front of the television, think about how hard your brain is working to keep up.  Even more if you are multitasking (I have the television on in the background as I write this). 

You owe it to yourself to relax more, and take in what you are learning.  Are you giving yourself enough rest?