I had to read this over several times to determine whether or not it was a hoax. It still sounds preposterous, but here goes...
A Chinese company named Revo-Round is creating a "roundtop" computer with a round screen and keyboard. Cute. The kids will dig it. But the real reason for the circular screen? According to Revo-Round: "to preserve the special features and characteristics of the Asian population for the future generations." Whaaat?
I'm talking about our characteristic Epicanthic folds -- single eyelids, y'all. Traditional square computer screens are apparently transforming the "Asian glance": Revo-Round: Bravely Saving China From the Square-Eye Menace.
I'm not a scientist, but I wouldn't doubt the idea that increased computer screen usage is having some kind of perhaps-not-yet-measurable effect on a generation of eyes. That said, I question the idea that this round screen is somehow going to reverse the double eyelid effect... If anything, it just looks like it's going give a lot of people a really big headache. (Thanks, Jason.)
If we let evolution take its course it threatens to destroy the characteristic appearances of one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Recent research at the Medical Faculty of the University of Shanghai shows that the population of the People's Republic of China will get more Western facial expression within three generations.
That is the conclusion of Professor Zhou Hongan. Measurements done in research at around 150 000 Chinese babies in the last twenty years has shown that the position of the eyes relative to the whole face has changed. It seems that the Asian glance will disappear as it takes on more and more Western features. Although the changes are minor and hard to detect, the rate of change of the face is to such an extent that an evolutionary development can be identified.
As the reason for the physical change the University of Shanghai notes the frequent use of computer screens. 87.4% of the people in the China has access to a computer while sales of "tangible" newspaper and magazine are painfully stagnant. In the major metropolitan areas in China there is also an exceptionally high percentage of e-zine readers. More and more city dwellers prefer the digital newspaper to the paper version.
