Could our modern obsession with technology be warping our skulls? Apparently, according to Aussie researchers, who believe a quarter of young people have developed bone outgrowths or ‘horns’ as a result.

The health scientists, from the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, have analysed more than 1000 X-rays of patients’ skulls, aged 18-86, from a single chiropractic clinic, with one in four 18-30-year-olds showing enlarged bone spurs (over 10mm).

This normal bony projection at the back of the skull, where the posterior wall meets the base of the skull — known as the external occipital protuberance — may be oversized in this group as a result of bad posture while looking at phones and tablets, the researchers postulate.

“We hypothesise that the use of modern technologies and hand-held devices may be primarily responsible for these postures and subsequent development of adaptive robust cranial features in our sample,” says Dr David Shahar (PhD), first author of the paper published in Nature: Scientific Reports.