We all know how annoying it is to listen to someone's yappy one-way conversation on a cellphone, especially when you're stuck in a public place like a restaurant or a bus.

Well now science proves it. A study reported in The Atlantic shows that it's actually harder to tune out cellphone conversations than it is to block out regular conversations between people that you happen to overhear.

It's obvious that talking on a cellphone yourself can be dangerous in certain situations. A Canadian study reported in the Globe and Mail last month showed that drivers talking on cellphones have "brainpower outages," which increase their chances of being in a collision. The more surprising finding was that this was also the case using hands-free devices.

But how much harm can other people's cellphone calls do, really? The recent study, published in the online journal PLOS ONE, tested 150 psychology students who were given anagram tests. (They weren't told the real purpose of the study.)

The researchers wanted to test how different types of distracting conversations affected the students' ability to perform the anagram test, so some of the students were subjected to cellphone talkers, while others had to listen to real two-way conversations between people pretending to take the same test. Unexpectedly, both groups had similar test results. However, the students who had to listen to the one-way cellphone conversations reported being more aggravated during the test, so much so that they remembered more words from those calls compared with the students who were listening in on the two-ways conversations.

The main take-away is that not only are cellphone talkers exasperating to listen to, but the negative implications for open-office environments where workers are constantly listening to their colleagues' phone calls. We hope this doesn't pave the way for the comeback of cubicles!

So listen up, next time you're chatting loudly on your phone at work, or a commuter train or street car, try to be a teensy bit more considerate.

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• Your Brain

  Major cell phone releases guarantee a debate over technological superiority. And in the health community, the debate over cell phones' link to cancer is re-ignited. In a <a href="http://cleantechnica.com/2012/09/14/iphone-5-is-it-green/">Clean Technica blog </a>questioning the environmental friendliness of the iPhone 5, commenter vetxcl outright rejected the idea: "Smart phones emit more cancer causing radiation than other phones. This is a smart phone. Since it causes cancer, it is not green. It's that simple folks."

• Emotional Health

  Does the thought of losing your cell phone make you panic? If so, join the club. In June, the digital security company Lookout surveyed 2,097 people, and revealed that 94 percent feared going without their mobile devices. (73 percent felt “panicked” when it happened.)

• Eye Health

  The iPhone 5 is a multi-tasker’s dream. More like a pocket-sized computer, you can listen to music, review documents, and even analyze your facial attractiveness with a finger scroll. But unlike a computer, this device is smaller than the size of your hand. Those tiny fonts in bright screens can make you squint and strain your eyes, a problem that affects almost 70 per cent of American adults according to a new survey by the Vision Council, an organization that represents manufacturers of optical supplies. This can lead to computer vision syndrome, an eye condition that can lead to dry eyes, difficulty focusing, and even double vision.

• Chronic Pain

  Two-time U.S. texting champion Austin Wierschke, 17, can type up to six characters per second, but one expert says that those fast fingers may lead to chronic pain later on in life. "When you're typing on a device with speed and repetition, you may cause pain and inflammation," says Dr. Dean Fishman, chiropractic physician and owner/operator of the Text Neck Institute in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He originally coined the phrase "text neck" to describe the stress and pressure that can be triggered by mobile browsing and sending text messages.

• Germs

  Your cell phone follows you everywhere — and for 75 per cent of Americans that includes the toilet – but are you keeping it clean? One study found fecal matter on 1-in-6 cell phones in Britain. That ick factor might make you cringe, but it can get you sick, too. Fecal matter can spread E. coli bacteria, which can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections, and even kidney failure, which can be deadly. Bacteria can also spread to your skin and trigger breakouts.