As cellphones become ever more essential (are they really "mobile" if they're permanently attached to us?), they become a kind of archeological artifact, something that speaks about us as much as to us.

Researchers at Penn State University conducted a study looking at how people of different cultures choose and customize their phones' protective cases. People from Eastern cultures, such as Japan and South Korea, tended to be more motivated to change the look and sound of their mobile phones.

"People who live in collectivist cultures are often more other-directed," says study author S. Shyam Sundar. "They want to know how others might look at them and also look at others as a way of influencing their own behaviors."

Thus, Eastern cultures were more likely to spruce up cases with charms, stickers and noticeably altering functions like ringtones and screen wallpapers — all to more clearly fit within a social set. Conversely, the researchers said Americans appeared to worry less about how others perceived them and, perhaps contrarily, customized less.

Still, overall cellphone users are increasingly blinging out their phones, which they view as not merely a communications tool but as a way to communicate to others who they are.

BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

By 60 years of age, 60 percent of men and 40 percent of women will snore. The average snore measures around 60 decibels — the noise level of normal speech — but snoring can top out at more than 80 decibels, equivalent to the sound of a pneumatic drill breaking up concrete.

GET ME THAT. STAT!

Americans walk the least among citizens of industrialized nations. The average Australian takes 9,695 steps per day, according to studies. The average Japanese takes 7,168 steps daily; the average Swiss, 9,650; and the average American, 5,117.

Ten thousand steps daily is often cited as the healthy ideal; anything under 5,000 steps is deemed indicative of a sedentary lifestyle.

NUMBER CRUNCHER

A single maple-frosted donut (70 grams) contains 270 calories, 135 from fat. It has 15 grams of total fat, or 23 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet, according to the CalorieCount.com database.

It also contains 0 milligrams of cholesterol; 340 milligrams of sodium (14 percent); 32 grams of total carbohydrates (11 percent); 1 gram of dietary fiber (4 percent); 14 grams of sugar; and 3 grams of protein.

COUNTS

53 million — Estimated number of children, worldwide, who harbor a latent and undiagnosed form of the tuberculosis bacterium

Source: World Health Organization

PHOBIA OF THE WEEK

Chaetophobia — fear of hair

NEVER SAY DIET

The professional speed-eating record for brownies is three pounds in four minutes, held by Mark "The Human Vacuum" Lyle. Warning: Most of these records are held by professional eaters. Most health experts would frownie on eating so many brownies.

OBSERVATION

"Older people shouldn't eat health food. They need all of the preservatives they can get." — American writer Robert Orben

LAST WORDS

"I've never felt better." — American actor Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (1883- 1939)

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.