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Pressure for investigation into Wi-Fi health risks
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 23rd April 2007
Pressure mounts on UK Government to investigate the health problems that may be linked to Wi-Fi.
Sir William Stewart, chairman of the HPA, is calling for pupils in schools to be monitored for any ill effects from Wi-fi networks which "emit radiation and are being installed in classrooms across the nation."
Some scientists fear that Wi-Fi can cause cancer and premature senility -- some provincial governments across Europe already ban or limit the use of it in the classroom. Stowe School has reportedly partially removed Wi-Fi after a teacher became ill.
The pressure also comes from PAT, the Professional Association of Teachers, who are writing to the government to demand an official inquiry into what the Department of Education and Skills calls a "magical" system.
Yes, the Department of Education believes that Wi-Fi is 'magic'. Sensationalists across the country expect Bill Gates will soon be burned at the stake for techno-heresy.
A rational observer might also wonder at the proposed methods of the inquiry into what The Independent on Sunday calls 'electronic smog'. Observing schools with Wi-Fi systems in place and seeing how many sickdays children take doesn't seem exactly idiot-proof.
That said, an objective and scientific investigation into Wi-Fi may be a good idea given the limited information currently available on the topic. While investigators are at it, why not look at other massively available technologies that also transmit wirelessly like mobile phones or the Nintendo DS?
Cautious about Wi-Fi? Won't use a wireless mouse in case your hand drops off? Come to the forums and let us know!
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If anyone asks me to stop I will point them in the direction of the tin-foil hat which has the added benefit of stopping mind control rays.
Personally I have avoided going wireless (with the exception of my lightly used cell phone) - all this extra radiation may or may not be harmful but it can't hurt to avoid any unneeded exposure. Besides that, wired connections are both more secure and easier to troubleshoot.
Ridiculous health scare instigated primarily by people who just don't understand.
CC
Mobile power out put has an range of 2KM whare as wifi at best 20-30m indoors 50m out doors
bluethooth has range of about 10m
thay all run on 2.4ghz band more or less
I could sit in a room with something at 600GHz frequency, but if it had a small amplitude it would do nothing (the beta particles from the physical transmitter matter would be more harmful).
Cell towers are dangerous to stand close to because they have a high amplitude in order to carry the signal farther.
all-in-all, you're getting more radiation from a CRT than from any wi-fi network.
Ultimatly if the health risks of Wi-Fi are so high that people should be kept away from it then they should also not be aloud to play out side and should only be exposed to light for a time no greater than 2 hours each day. Also no child should be aloud to get an x-ray because the amount of energy in x-ray waves is a multitude greater than years of Wi-Fi exposure. It should also be recommended that children ware led vests to protect them from cell phone towers, two way radios and the death rays also known as infrared tv(telly) remotes.
Is anyone else looking is the money and time going into this study and craziness and just... :(
a study i once saw showed that a tinfoil beanie would actually help the government read your mind if they did in fact have such a device because the frequencies that are exclusively registered to the government are amplified by tinfoil by very large factor.
also tinfoil amplifies cellphones...
:D
:D
Safe and it looks nifty
why not just upgrade to full-plate armor? It'll have the side-bonus of stopping all those pesky arrows! :D
all matter gives off particles as it degenerates, and this degeneration is what heats the earth. (mostly thorium is responsible for this, given its concentrations and energy output over decay)
Which do we stick on our heads daily?
Seriously.....I just want the nukes to fly. If they all die with me, I die happy.
This one?
http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/
I work at a secondary school in Cornwall as an IT Technician. We have a wireless network to allow our teachers to roam the premises with their laptops. Despite the sensationalistic wording in their article, I doubt anyone will even comment on this at work.
Even if we did switch off the wireless network, CRTs, lights etc.. and confiscate all the student's mobile phones, it wouldn't have any effect on radio signals within the school. Despite the fact that we're in line of sight for television, mobile and satellite communication systems... what about background radiation from space? Iir, tuning an old TV to a dead channel allows you to pick this up.
wired is soo much easyer to work with then wireless, but wireless it more usefull if you have a laptop
QFT
It's when the studies erroneously attribute health issues to wi-fi and start shutting it down that it starts to become less cash-wasting and more imposition on freedoms.
wifi can do a wee bit more than 100m :)
sounds like the research into the mmr - autisim link
http://www.badscience.net/?p=182
http://www.badscience.net/?cat=21 for reference
I'm thinking of standard home use equipment of b/g rating, which is what most schools would probably buy because they are cheaper and operate within the 2.4GHZ range (that's what my school used at least)
You'll get a healthy dose of radiation from your mobile phone, fluorescent lamps, CRT monitors and televisions. Wi-Fi isn't going add anything big to the deal. Furthermore, microwave radiation is non-ionising, meaning there shouldn't be any direct risk of cancer or anything related.
There was a woman on Radio 4 (I think) last night who said she had a mobile but doesn't use it because of health risks.
I felt like screaming at her "Why have a mobile phone then?"
If people are really worried about this stuff then they should go and live in the woods in the middle of Russia.
could someone tell them
ITS EASY GET SOME F*****G EXERCISE EAT A BALANCED DIET AND YOU WILL LIVE TO A RIPE OLD AGE FFS
Edit: oh and keep your mind active instead of watching the mindless drivle on tv that i bet most of these busybodies watch
Reading bit-tech every day = ripe old age :D
So if I just get another 3 phones I won't need that pesky vasectomy that they won't give me anyway as I don't have kids and might change my mind someday. Like hell I will. Sweet. Carphone warehouse here I come (no pun intended). Mind you, a couple of bricks would be cheaper ouch.
We haven't had any complaints from teachers, pupils or parents and I hope it stays that way :(
Presenting things poorly in a public light doesn't help either. It wouldn't suprise me that a few people who work with wireless start becoming ill more often, after becoming aware that wireless is being investigated. It can be very easy to actually create a problem with a situation like this.
Does this mean that all high frequency signals will have to be checked? TV? Radio? Sattelite? Somehow, I don't think so. How often do people get warned that they live near deposits of rocks containing Radon? I'm sure that would be much more concerning to most people! I'm not saying that high frequency broadcasts shouldn't be checked, but there's a line between reasonable safety, and paranoia or scare tactics. I think that mobile phones were an easy target, and Bluetooth and Wifi are probably second to that.
Your microwave emits FAR MORE harmful waves than your average wifi access point, or laptop...
But there's a magical lump of glass!
Wi-Fi has too large a wave length to case harm on a cellular level I can't belive I am seeing this, have people lost all common sense?
the only thing wi-fi can do is cause a minuscule amount of heating which is virtually unmeasurable... please can some one get some common sense :S
No it means that we haven't had a big enough hypochondriac get in the way of the technological infrastructure yet.
the power output of a wi-fi access point is orders of magnitude less than that of even a mobile phone, which almost everyone has and there are no definite/obvious/properly proven ill effects from those.
i think i may heave read something like this before, where a teacher in the UK complained of headaches when he was in his classroom for long periods of time and he just happened to blame it on the access point. It was a lot more probable it was because of stress, noisy students, or even some kind of gas leak, too small to harm in the short term, but he happened to be more sensitive to its effects?
These things dont really make too much sense when people go off on random technologies like this, without enough evidence to back up their claims. They should research first, then make a definitive answer instead of fearmongering.
err, may i be the first to point out that the wireless technology in the Nintendo DS IS WiFi?
i agree that all this concern is merely fearmongering...although, if it does turn out to be true i'm rather screwed...mobiles, wifi, bluetooth and cordless phones and console controllers everywhere in my house
actually...
1x70% = .7
7x70% = .49
.49x70%=.343
.343x70%=.24
.24x70%=.168
etc
etc
you'd need 12.911 cell phones to bring your sperm count to a respectable 1%. If you want to be on the safe side, you might try 19.367 cell phones for .1% of your original sperm count. But on the other hand, it only takes 1 of the little buggers to cause all sorts of trouble, so you should probably carry 58.101 cell phones to reduce your count to 1/1,000,000%. Should be safe then :P
You know what this isn't even worth a rant, it's just retarded on every level.
rofl :)
I have decided crt's are dangerous and so is light, I am going to remove my eyes for protection.