I'm not quite sure why the following studies were funded and/or approved for research. It's as though what is obvious to common sense and accepted as tried and true really is only theory, and old wives' tale if you like, until somebody has spent time and money to study it and confirm its veracity.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the "Obvious Award Nominees." I'd like to know which you pick as the most egregious of the lot for obviousness. (This list was presented by the most recent edition of Scientific American). The "Obvious Award" is my own idea.

A. Driving when drunk is unsafe

Drinking and driving really is dangerous.

B. High heels are bad for your feet

Cramming your feet into tight-fitting shoes with inches-long heels on the bottom can hurt your feet. I wonder if the same is true for certain types of cowboy boots.

C. Screaming at your child is harmful to your child

Psychological child abuse, such as belittling, terrorizing, exploiting and neglecting emotionally, can damage a kid's health. How many of us remember something said in anger that has reverberated down the years?

D. Good partners make good parents

Perhaps not the most shocking news in the world: Marry a good, secure partner, and you can expect them to become a good, secure parent.

E. We all want to date a good-looking person.

Both men and women unconsciously desire a sexually attractive partner, a study released in January found.

F. Pre-gamers drink more

Do the math: If you drink before you go out and then drink while you go out, you end up drinking more than if you hadn't had anything to drink before you went out.

G. People with more experience make better decisions

People with more experience in a field are better at making intuitive judgments about that field than newbies.

H. Keeping guns out of the hands of high-risk individuals saves lives

In a report that would tragically prove very timely this year, the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health found that keeping guns away from high-risk individuals reduces gun violence. These individuals include criminals, those with a history of domestic violence, the mentally ill, people under age 21 and substance abusers.

I. Exercise is good for you

Exercise improves mental health as well as physical well-being.

J. Calling an ambulance improves heart attack survival

Think you're having a heart attack? Dial 911. Believe it or not, paramedics really do save lives. Taking a cab or driving one's own car was slower than an ambulance ride and delayed crucial treatment, the study found.

K. Guys are more into their girl friends than vice versa

Apparently some stereotypes about guys and sex are true. It turns out that college-age guys report more sexual interest in their platonic female friends than vice versa.

L. Smoking a lot of pot can make your mind fuzzy

Those who started using pot as teenagers and used it for years afterward lost some of their smarts; more specifically, they had an average decline in IQ of 8 points, between age 13 and age 38. Similar results with earlier studies of alcohol and tobacco useage--early start and long term use cause severe effects.

So, which of these do you think was the most obvious and the one least needing scientific study?

IMHO, the first one (driving when drunk is unsafe) was the most obvious. And "K" was the one least worthy of any kind of study at all.