Cellphones and the Brain: Faith, Hope and Calamity
By Devra Lee Davis
TechNewsWorld
It turns out that the same microwave radiation that powers cellphones weakens the brain's natural protective barrier -- in fact, some brain cancer specialists use this radiation to enhance the delivery of chemotherapy into the brain. A few hours a day of cellphone radiation reduces sperm count and produces misshapen and more sickly sperm in both animals and humans, found studies by some of the world's top experts in Australia, Turkey, Greece and the U.S.
It's now official: Everything that the Federal Communications Commission has ever told us about the safety of cellphones is almost certainly wrong.
When the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse recently reported that simply holding a turned-on cellphone next to the ear for 50 minutes caused significant changes to brain chemistry, many stalwarts in the scientific community were stunned.
After all, cellphones were not even tested for safety before being introduced, because it was thought that they had to be safe. Not anymore. Faith fills church pews, but it should not be the basis for setting science policy. A better approach: "In God we trust; all others must provide data."
This Is Your Brain on CellphonesThe general surprise that greeted the recent finding was belated; in fact, several previous studies have indicated that microwave radiation from cellphones affects the human brain. This time, however, the mainstream media bit.
"Fanboys" -- the moniker for those young men and women who thrive on the Internet 24/7 -- got what these findings meant right away. As a group that lives by their wits, they are not taking any chances. In hip urban communities created by instant messaging, and even in the world of rappers and DJs -- from Lady Gaga to Steve Aoki -- sales of headsets are soaring.
The modern history of research on microwave radiation -- much of which was carried out before cellphones even existed -- is replete with studies showing that pulsed digital signals, like those from today's cellphones, cause a host of biological impacts on brains, bodies and cells in experimental animals and in humans. Still, most of us believe that phones have to be safe. After all, if there were really a problem, we would know it.
It turns out that the same microwave radiation that powers cellphones weakens the brain's natural protective barrier -- in fact, some brain cancer specialists use this radiation to enhance the delivery of chemotherapy into the brain.
A few hours a day of cellphone radiation reduces sperm count and produces misshapen and more sickly sperm in both animals and humans, found studies by some of the world's top experts in Australia, Turkey, Greece and the U.S.
Every well-designed study that has followed heavy cellphone users for a decade found the same thing: a doubled risk of brain cancer. Those who begin using phones heavily as teenagers have an even greater risk of contracting brain cancer in a shorter period of time.
Concerned about the tripled rate of a very rare highly malignant tumor of the cheek in young persons, the Israeli government recently issued a warning that teenagers should not hold phones next to their brains and that everyone should use a headset.
Unacceptable RiskTwo things made the new study of brain changes from cellphones remarkable: its distinguished author and the fact that the report appeared in one of the world's pre-eminent medical journals, The Journal of the American Medical Association.
These results provide a wake-up call to those government leaders and their policy-wonk advisors who have eagerly accepted assurances that microwave radiation simply had to be safe.
Standards for cellphone radiation were set in 1989, based on the head of a large heavy-set man who stood six feet two inches tall and weighed more than 220 pounds. Methods for setting these standards were not routinized until just a decade ago.
Obviously, most of the world's cellphones, and most of their users, are smaller than those for which standards were originally set. If cellphones were a drug, they would be illegal today, because they never went through safety evaluation.
Last June, the City of San Francisco passed groundbreaking legislation stipulating that consumers have a right to know that cellphones are two-way microwave radios and that using a headset, speakerphone or texting can substantially reduce radiation. In response, the cellphone industry filed suit.
What are we supposed to do now? After all, the new study is just one study, right? In fact, it is part of a little-known, four-decade long program conducted in the U.S. Navy and elsewhere that has found a variety of health consequences from low levels of pulsed digital microwave radiation, including DNA damage to brain cells, greater production of damaging free-radicals in the bloodstream, and interference with drug metabolism.
The study reported in recent days strengthens the case for policies now in place in nations including Israel, France, Finland, India and Britain.
When it comes to holding a microwave-radiating device next to your brain, it's better to be safe than sorry. Use a headset or speakerphone, as does Nora Volkow, M.D., the head of the new study; some of the world's top neurosurgeons, including Keith Black of Los Angeles, Mitchell Berger of San Francisco, and Kevin O'Neill of Imperial College London; neuro-oncologists like Santosh Kaseri of San Diego, and me.
In the meantime, we should create a major independent program of research in this field by placing a US$1 fee on all cellphones for the next five years, and we should develop fundamentally new standards for cellphones that employ a concept from radiation physics: "As Low As Reasonably Achievable" (ALARA) radiation levels.
Impossible? Pollution controls for cars -- now a global reality -- were supposedly unattainable, until the government required them.
source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Cellphones-and-the-Brain-Faith-Hope-and-Calamity-72160.html
TechNewsWorld
It turns out that the same microwave radiation that powers cellphones weakens the brain's natural protective barrier -- in fact, some brain cancer specialists use this radiation to enhance the delivery of chemotherapy into the brain. A few hours a day of cellphone radiation reduces sperm count and produces misshapen and more sickly sperm in both animals and humans, found studies by some of the world's top experts in Australia, Turkey, Greece and the U.S.
It's now official: Everything that the Federal Communications Commission has ever told us about the safety of cellphones is almost certainly wrong.
When the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse recently reported that simply holding a turned-on cellphone next to the ear for 50 minutes caused significant changes to brain chemistry, many stalwarts in the scientific community were stunned.
After all, cellphones were not even tested for safety before being introduced, because it was thought that they had to be safe. Not anymore. Faith fills church pews, but it should not be the basis for setting science policy. A better approach: "In God we trust; all others must provide data."
This Is Your Brain on CellphonesThe general surprise that greeted the recent finding was belated; in fact, several previous studies have indicated that microwave radiation from cellphones affects the human brain. This time, however, the mainstream media bit.
"Fanboys" -- the moniker for those young men and women who thrive on the Internet 24/7 -- got what these findings meant right away. As a group that lives by their wits, they are not taking any chances. In hip urban communities created by instant messaging, and even in the world of rappers and DJs -- from Lady Gaga to Steve Aoki -- sales of headsets are soaring.
The modern history of research on microwave radiation -- much of which was carried out before cellphones even existed -- is replete with studies showing that pulsed digital signals, like those from today's cellphones, cause a host of biological impacts on brains, bodies and cells in experimental animals and in humans. Still, most of us believe that phones have to be safe. After all, if there were really a problem, we would know it.
It turns out that the same microwave radiation that powers cellphones weakens the brain's natural protective barrier -- in fact, some brain cancer specialists use this radiation to enhance the delivery of chemotherapy into the brain.
A few hours a day of cellphone radiation reduces sperm count and produces misshapen and more sickly sperm in both animals and humans, found studies by some of the world's top experts in Australia, Turkey, Greece and the U.S.
Every well-designed study that has followed heavy cellphone users for a decade found the same thing: a doubled risk of brain cancer. Those who begin using phones heavily as teenagers have an even greater risk of contracting brain cancer in a shorter period of time.
Concerned about the tripled rate of a very rare highly malignant tumor of the cheek in young persons, the Israeli government recently issued a warning that teenagers should not hold phones next to their brains and that everyone should use a headset.
Unacceptable RiskTwo things made the new study of brain changes from cellphones remarkable: its distinguished author and the fact that the report appeared in one of the world's pre-eminent medical journals, The Journal of the American Medical Association.
These results provide a wake-up call to those government leaders and their policy-wonk advisors who have eagerly accepted assurances that microwave radiation simply had to be safe.
Standards for cellphone radiation were set in 1989, based on the head of a large heavy-set man who stood six feet two inches tall and weighed more than 220 pounds. Methods for setting these standards were not routinized until just a decade ago.
Obviously, most of the world's cellphones, and most of their users, are smaller than those for which standards were originally set. If cellphones were a drug, they would be illegal today, because they never went through safety evaluation.
Last June, the City of San Francisco passed groundbreaking legislation stipulating that consumers have a right to know that cellphones are two-way microwave radios and that using a headset, speakerphone or texting can substantially reduce radiation. In response, the cellphone industry filed suit.
What are we supposed to do now? After all, the new study is just one study, right? In fact, it is part of a little-known, four-decade long program conducted in the U.S. Navy and elsewhere that has found a variety of health consequences from low levels of pulsed digital microwave radiation, including DNA damage to brain cells, greater production of damaging free-radicals in the bloodstream, and interference with drug metabolism.
The study reported in recent days strengthens the case for policies now in place in nations including Israel, France, Finland, India and Britain.
When it comes to holding a microwave-radiating device next to your brain, it's better to be safe than sorry. Use a headset or speakerphone, as does Nora Volkow, M.D., the head of the new study; some of the world's top neurosurgeons, including Keith Black of Los Angeles, Mitchell Berger of San Francisco, and Kevin O'Neill of Imperial College London; neuro-oncologists like Santosh Kaseri of San Diego, and me.
In the meantime, we should create a major independent program of research in this field by placing a US$1 fee on all cellphones for the next five years, and we should develop fundamentally new standards for cellphones that employ a concept from radiation physics: "As Low As Reasonably Achievable" (ALARA) radiation levels.
Impossible? Pollution controls for cars -- now a global reality -- were supposedly unattainable, until the government required them.
source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Cellphones-and-the-Brain-Faith-Hope-and-Calamity-72160.html
Apple iPad gets international release date on May 28th
Folks living outside of the USA will be pleased to know that the Apple iPad will finally make its way to their part of the world officially without having to rely on imports or gifts from friends Stateside. The hallowed date would be May 28th, and if you happen to live in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, then hip hip hooray for you and a bottle of rum! To make sure that you are able to get your hands on one of these puppies, make sure you place a pre-order on the iPad model that you want (Wi-Fi only or the 3G with Wi-Fi version) from Apple’s online store in all nine countries stated from next Monday onwards (May 10th). Do you think the continent of Europe will see superb iPad sales just like those in the US, where Apple actually moved over a million iPads since its official release? Here’s some trivia – customers of the iPad have already downloaded more than 12 million apps from the App Store, alongside over 1.5 million ebooks from the new iBookstore.
As for folks who are residing in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore, you will have to wait until July for this device to hit the respective markets, and there is still no official word on local pricing as well as pre-order plans, although Apple isn’t going to leave you hanging high and dry as they will be announcing availability as well as the relevant details for those nine countries at a later date. Guess this is where you learn to exercise patience as a virtue, eh?
Just in case you were living under a rock for the past year, the iPad is a device that boasts a much larger display than the iPhone and iPod touch, although it functions pretty much the same way using a similar operating system, letting you connect to your apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. With it, you can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface.
source: www.coolest-gadgets.com
As for folks who are residing in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore, you will have to wait until July for this device to hit the respective markets, and there is still no official word on local pricing as well as pre-order plans, although Apple isn’t going to leave you hanging high and dry as they will be announcing availability as well as the relevant details for those nine countries at a later date. Guess this is where you learn to exercise patience as a virtue, eh?
Just in case you were living under a rock for the past year, the iPad is a device that boasts a much larger display than the iPhone and iPod touch, although it functions pretty much the same way using a similar operating system, letting you connect to your apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. With it, you can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface.
source: www.coolest-gadgets.com
ViVu unveils VuRoom
ViVu is making a name for themselves as a force to be reckoned with when it involves innovative and easy-to-use solutions for live video participation, having recently unveiled VuRoom. VuRoom is a ViVu-powered plug-in for Skype, where it is built on the Skype platform in order to provide customers with instant multi-user video conferencing. This new breakthrough was previously unheard of on Skype, and with the incorporation of VuRoom’s presentation and desktop sharing functionalities, remote business users are better able to collaborate in real-time, saving them tons of money in the process without having to take long haul flights for face-to-face meetings while adding to the global carbon footprint in the process.
To get VuRoom’s multi-user video conferencing capability up and running, all the meeting host needs to do is download and install the plug-in with but a few simple clicks. Following that, you can just select the contacts you want to hold a conference with from your Skype contact list, right click to view available options while selecting “Call a Group.” This is culminated by clicking “Yes” to the call confirmation popup, and the entire group is good to go – just make sure that everyone else is running on a decent broadband connection, otherwise they might suffer from dropped calls or poor audio and video quality.
Even better is the fact that call participants (apart of the host, of course) are not required to have the ViVu plug-in installed in order to participate in the video conference. All participants need to do is click on the provided URL in their text chat window, and they can instantly engage in communications. Apart from that, the presenter is able to pass rights to share their presentations and desktop to other participants. Well, if you’re constantly holding video calls within members of your fraternity or company, why not consider VuRoom and its possibilities? After all, at just $9.95 monthly, VuRoom sure beats forking out thousands for unnecessary business class tickets.
source: www.coolest-gadgets.com
To get VuRoom’s multi-user video conferencing capability up and running, all the meeting host needs to do is download and install the plug-in with but a few simple clicks. Following that, you can just select the contacts you want to hold a conference with from your Skype contact list, right click to view available options while selecting “Call a Group.” This is culminated by clicking “Yes” to the call confirmation popup, and the entire group is good to go – just make sure that everyone else is running on a decent broadband connection, otherwise they might suffer from dropped calls or poor audio and video quality.
Even better is the fact that call participants (apart of the host, of course) are not required to have the ViVu plug-in installed in order to participate in the video conference. All participants need to do is click on the provided URL in their text chat window, and they can instantly engage in communications. Apart from that, the presenter is able to pass rights to share their presentations and desktop to other participants. Well, if you’re constantly holding video calls within members of your fraternity or company, why not consider VuRoom and its possibilities? After all, at just $9.95 monthly, VuRoom sure beats forking out thousands for unnecessary business class tickets.
source: www.coolest-gadgets.com
New gadgets
The 24-Port USB Hub
If you have USB devices coming out of your ears, then you might need a hub to help you out with that. This hub manages to keep a full 24 ports available for you to jam your USB related items into. For the average person you might have to get extremely creative in order to fill up all of those ports. However, I’m sure there are others out there that are fully capable of finding a use for a hub of this size.
The hub comes in only the color sequence seen here. It keeps things pretty basic, it doesn’t have any flashing lights or come in a silly shape. Instead it just makes sure that you’ll never have to buy another hub again. Just plug it into your computer and it’ll be ready to go. You can purchase it for $69.99 from USB Fever. That is a slightly steep price, but considering all of the ports built into it, it may be worth the price.
source: www.coolest-gadgets.com
The hub comes in only the color sequence seen here. It keeps things pretty basic, it doesn’t have any flashing lights or come in a silly shape. Instead it just makes sure that you’ll never have to buy another hub again. Just plug it into your computer and it’ll be ready to go. You can purchase it for $69.99 from USB Fever. That is a slightly steep price, but considering all of the ports built into it, it may be worth the price.
source: www.coolest-gadgets.com
Thanko HDD Media player
Thanko is back with yet another device, and good thing this one is not silly or impractical, but offers those bitten by the digital entertainment bug another option to view all their favorite movies and listen to their well-loved tunes. The Thanko HDD Media Player doubles up as a cradle for 2.5” and 3.5” SATA hard drives while featuring an SD memory card slot that is able to handle up to 16GB SDHCs. Connectivity options are aplenty here, where you can choose from HDMI, Component (Y, Pb/Cb, Pr/Cr), S/VGA and Composite, allowing you to enjoy it over a computer or a TV. Apart from that, you get a one-touch backup button for easy duplication of your essential data.
source: www.coolest-gadgets.com
source: www.coolest-gadgets.com
Mini Folding Fan For Notebook
Most notebook cooling fans look the same – they all come in a single, rectangular design that is more often than not boring to say the least. This one from UXSight, however, is slightly different, as it does bear some resemblance to shurikens from ninjas of yore, coming in the form of a Mini Folding Fan. Yes sir, this black notebook cooling pad features an integrated fan which will help dissipate hot air away from your notebook to keep things running nice and cool. As we all know, electronics are loathe towards heat and dust, so this kills two birds with one stone. Boasting a low running noise, it requires not a power adapter since juice is provided directly via a USB port. When not in use, you can fold up the fan’s “fins”, so to speak, for easy transportation. It costs a mere $9.69 – any takers?
source: www.coolest-gadgets.com
source: www.coolest-gadgets.com
Casio Digital camera:limited edition Hello Kitty EXILIM EX-Z90
To celebrate the 35th anniversary of Hello Kitty, Casio has launched a new camera model: It is the limited edition Hello Kitty EXILIM EX-Z90, which is initially targeted to Korean market. Actually, this is not the only Casio camera that is themed with this famous fictional character, because there are other ones such as the Hello Kitty EX-Z2 and the Hello Kitty EX-Z80. However, at this time, it is a little difficult to find cameras like these.
The camera was introduced simply as the Hello Kitty Casio and is available in pink and red; besides, it has been decorated with some crystals. In addition, to complement its nice appearance, the Hello Kitty Casio EX-Z90 also comes with a photo camera case (which is also themed with Hello Kitty prints).
Similar to the original model, this compact EX-Z90 camera has a 12.1 megapixel sensor, 3X optical zoom, ISO sensitivity of up to 1600, and a 2.7-inch LCD screen.
This Hello Kitty version costs 350,000 South Korean wons (in Korea, of course), which is equivalent to about US$ 300.
source: www.myddnetwork.com
The camera was introduced simply as the Hello Kitty Casio and is available in pink and red; besides, it has been decorated with some crystals. In addition, to complement its nice appearance, the Hello Kitty Casio EX-Z90 also comes with a photo camera case (which is also themed with Hello Kitty prints).
Similar to the original model, this compact EX-Z90 camera has a 12.1 megapixel sensor, 3X optical zoom, ISO sensitivity of up to 1600, and a 2.7-inch LCD screen.
This Hello Kitty version costs 350,000 South Korean wons (in Korea, of course), which is equivalent to about US$ 300.
source: www.myddnetwork.com