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stories filed under: "radiation"
Wireless

Wireless

by Mike Masnick


Filed Under:
radiation, uk, wifi, worries



WiFi Worries Still Going Strong In The UK

from the gotta-freak-out-about-something dept

Not so long ago, the BBC did a scare-mongering show about the supposed "threats" of WiFi radiation on children. Never mind the fact that it was later pointed out that the program used horrendously bad science, that actual scientific tests have shown the fears to be totally overblown (the amount of radiation is minimal, and double blind tests find that people cannot tell when WiFi is on, despite claims to the contrary) and that even the BBC later admitted that the show was poorly done and presented only one side of the story (the fear mongering one) while blatantly making the one reasonable person on the show look bad. It also left out some of the conflicts of interests concerning one of the scientific "experts" on the show (the guy who sold anti-radiation products and has a clear reason to build up fear mongering around WiFi radiation).

But, no matter, anti-WiFi hysteria has been in full bloom since that program aired. Despite all the studies showing little to no impact from WiFi radiation, the UK's Daily Mail is running yet another fear mongering piece about how WiFi in schools is harming children and wants a moratorium on WiFi in schools. Apparently the fact that a year's worth of WiFi radiation is the equivalent of 20 minutes on a mobile phone hasn't been explained to these people.

9 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
Studies

Studies

by Carlo Longino


Filed Under:
mobile, radiation, wifi, wireless



Cell Towers Making People Sick Is All In The Mind

from the psychosomatic dept

A lot of noise has been made in the UK lately about the supposed health dangers of WiFi and other types of wireless communications -- though the media stories about them are generally full of shoddy reporting and bad science. The reports, as a rule, feature a person who claims to have "electrosensitivity," and that radiation from WiFi or mobile phone networks makes them sick. Despite the claims, these people generally fail double-blind tests to see if they really can feel the presence of WiFi or other wireless networks, and another study has now once again confirmed this. Researchers said that people claiming to have electrosensitivity weren't faking it, and really were displaying the symptoms they claimed -- but that they were brought about by the people's belief that they were being harmed by radiation, and not the radiation itself. Just two of 44 people claiming to be "electrosensitive" correctly determined when the wireless signals were being emitted in six out of six tests; this compares pretty evenly to the 5 out of 114 control participants. Somehow, though, it's hard to imagine this study will end debate on the matter. After all, claiming that electronic smog is hurting children is far too juicy a story to pass up -- even if it isn't true.

25 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
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