Sitting down is common in the age of cubicles and computers, but there's been a growing discussion in recent years about its dangers. A new study that examined the habits of 222,497 Australian adults found that those who sat more than 11 hours a day had a 40 percent higher risk of dying over three years than those who sat less than four hours a day. Additionally, it found that while exercise helped improve the odds, the risk of death still rose as active people sat longer. The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, covered adults aged 45 and older and accounted for factors like age, weight, physical activity, and general health.

To combat the effects, the study suggests that doctors should focus on "reducing sitting time in addition to increasing physical activity levels" — a conclusion reached long ago by parents seeking to rid their living rooms of sedentary youth. For adults, the obvious answer would seem to be a standing desk, but given recent developments in wearable computing, maybe we'll soon ditch furniture altogether.