The year in obvious scientific studies 

 

Kids who have no friends are sad, meth is bad for unborn children and more things we already knew
Along with some truly groundbreaking discoveries, scientists this year told us a few things we already kind of knew.

Here are some of the ultimate "well, duh" findings of 2010:

Meth can harm an unborn child.
Turns out, it's not a great idea for a gal with a bun in the oven to  shoot up with methamphetamine The study, published in the March 17 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience, showed children whose moms abuse meth while pregnant had brain abnormalities that were possibly more severe than those of kids exposed to alcohol prenatally. Perhaps not everyone was aware: Of the more than 16 million Americans over the age of 12 who have used meth, about 19,000 are pregnant women, according to data from the National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.

But wait, there's some substance here: Identifying the vulnerable brain structures may help predict particular learning and behavioral problems in meth-exposed children, the researchers said.

Bullies pick on unpopular kids.
Who'd have guessed? Bullies target kids who are unpopular and less likely to be defended by their peers, a new study finds.
And in elementary school, which this study focused on, kids are only interested in what their same-sex peers think. So, boys will target classmates who are not well-liked by other boys, regardless of what the girls think. Same went for girl bullies. In that way the bullies could gain status by dominating other kids while also staying in the good graces of the in-group.

While the findings are a no-brainer, they do paint a picture of a young, yet strategic, bully who goes out of his or her way to ensure success when taunting, hitting, making fun of and other bully behaviors.