It’s been a busy year indeed, especially with the LHC doing it’s thing again, Hubble was repaired and there was a lot of medical research being done, even with more money being invested in advertising than research. However, last year was also remarkable for the… not so remarkable studies, to say the least. In that line, here are the best ‘Duh!’ studies that took place in 2009.

Coed dorms fuel sex and drinking

That’s right folks, coed dorms are way more fun than regular ones
I mean, coed dorms are bad, encouraging unhealthy habits that might be avoided otherwise. Detailed in the Journal of American College Health, this stunning discovery sheds new light … aww c’mon, everybody knows it: they’re the party center of the universe ! And even if nothing else, there’s hormone filled students, boys and girls, living literally meters away from each other – things are bound to happen. Nice pick, captain.

Sweets taste better when you’re high

In a study that’s completely unrelated to the previous one (cross my heart), Yuzo Ninomiya of Kyushu University in Japan spent quite a lot of time to find out what 1 in 3 students could have told you on the spot: sweets taste absolutely great after you’ve smoked some pot. What the study basically found was that “endocannabinoids both act in the brain to increase appetite and also modulate taste receptors on the tongue to increase the response to sweets”; endocannabinoids also make it impossible to read that sentence.

Large quantities of red and processed meat are bad for you

Yeah, that double hamburger is a cruel mistress, isn’t it ? Studies published in the Archives of Internal Medicine announced that consuming large quantities of such products can cause a huge number of problems, such as, well… death.

“For overall mortality, 11 percent of deaths in men and 16 percent of deaths in women could be prevented if people decreased their red meat consumption” the researchers wrote.

High heels lead to foot pain

In what is the mother of all no-brainers, a study published in Arthritis Care & Research concluded that woman wearing high heels are more likely to report pain their feet. I really don’t want to add anything more here except for the fact that as far as I’m concerned, high heels are a useless fashion trifle, and have nothing at all to do with beauty.

Child with depressive parents are affected

Unfortunately, the effect parents have on their children is underestimated and often neglected (at least partially); few things can be worse than having a depressed parent, and kids have an innate sense that allows them to feel this kind of things, even though you may try to hide it. Among others, the child tends to feel more responsible, which puts more pressure on him, more alone, and have lower expectations.