Cell phone radiation

[Muse]

I spotted an article in the newspaper a week or so ago that my town, Berkeley, famous for trying (and sometimes succeeding), in being forward looking, has passed an initiative to require people buying cell phones to be informed of the medical issues associated with having them close to your body while tuned to wifi (and, I presume, data) networks. The article said that people who have them in a pants pocket and tucked in a bra were more apt to get cancer, IIRC.

Well, my thought was that it would be nice if my smartphone automatically went into airplane mode (which I think shuts off data and wifi connectivity), when I press the lock/start button. I have a Microsoft/Nokia Lumia 520, don't know that it has this feature. I carry the phone in my front pants pocket, right against my thigh. Actually putting my phone into airplane mode is relatively cumbersome, but I've been doing it lately (I don't use the phone for day to day telephone or texting functionality). Comments?

 

[sdifox]

Airplane mode also means no carrier.

 

[Muse]

Airplane mode also means no carrier.

Which is pretty much OK by me most of the time, I don't use my Nokia 520 for telephone/texting except on rare occasions.

 

[Ichinisan]

How are you supposed to receive a call or message/notification in airplane mode?

Last I heard, the "CANCER!" claims were somewhat dubious.

 

[LevelSea]

lol

 

[ctbaars]

It's a good idea. It should be an "I accept" click when the wifi* is turned on and airplane mode should be a default rest state.

* Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness, especially if you have a medical condition.

 

[Ryun]

Maybe try NFC sticker? I don't know about windows phone (despite owning a Lumia 830) but my boss can set all sorts of settings by programming an NFC sticker to do on his galaxy. For example, every time he enters his car he swipes his phone over a sticker and the phone settings switch to "car mode".

Maybe you could put one in your wallet as a quick way to turn on airplane mode. The trick would be that you'd still have to turn airplane mode on manually since you'll have shut off all wireless connectivity. But there are shortcut apps for windows phone that you can pin to the start screen (or change in the notification area).

You could also just turn it off, I guess.

For what it's worth I don't think researchers have agreed on the cell phone radiation causing cancer hypothesis. I think the WHO (world health organization) takes a conservative approach to it because no one is 100% sure.

 

[Muse]

How are you supposed to receive a call or message/notification in airplane mode?

Last I heard, the "CANCER!" claims were somewhat dubious.

I'm not concerned about message/call notifications, so putting my phone into airplane mode by pressing the lock button would suit me fine.

 

[Ichinisan]

I'm not concerned about message/call notifications, so putting my phone into airplane mode by pressing the lock button would suit me fine.

Well, if you need to make a call right away, you need to:

1. Unlock the phone.
2. Wait for the phone to establish a connection with the mobile network.
3. Dismiss the flurry of backed-up notifications that all come in together.
4. Place your call.
5. Figure out what the hell you had to dismiss.

Seems like a huge pain.

 

[Muse]

Maybe try NFC sticker? I don't know about windows phone (despite owning a Lumia 830) but my boss can set all sorts of settings by programming an NFC sticker to do on his galaxy. For example, every time he enters his car he swipes his phone over a sticker and the phone settings switch to "car mode".

Maybe you could put one in your wallet as a quick way to turn on airplane mode. The trick would be that you'd still have to turn airplane mode on manually since you'll have shut off all wireless connectivity. But there are shortcut apps for windows phone that you can pin to the start screen (or change in the notification area).

You could also just turn it off, I guess.

For what it's worth I don't think researchers have agreed on the cell phone radiation causing cancer hypothesis. I think the WHO (world health organization) takes a conservative approach to it because no one is 100% sure.

Yeah, I have an app called Battery installed on my Lumia 520 with a shortcut on the Start screen. When I open that app (which takes 5 or so seconds to load) I can tap an icon that opens another screen where another tap activates Airplane Mode. That's what I've been doing. There's probably an easier way, hopefully an app that just toggles airplane mode that I can pin to the start screen, I'll look into that.

 

[Muse]

Well, if you need to make a call right away, you need to:

1. Unlock the phone.
2. Wait for the phone to establish a connection with the mobile network.
3. Dismiss the flurry of backed-up notifications that all come in together.
4. Place your call.
5. Figure out what the hell you had to dismiss.

Seems like a huge pain.

Notifications? What notifications? I don't need no stinking notifications!

 

[boomerang]

http://www.yalescientific.org/2014/07/mythbusters-do-cell-phones-really-cause-cancer/

Contrary to some dramatic media reports, there is no strong evidence that cell phones lead to cancer.

My condolences for living in Berkeley.

 

[mmntech]

You need ionizing radiation to cause cancer. It damages DNA molecules by stripping electrons off atoms, altering their chemical properties.

Radio is a form of non-ionizing radiation. The waves do not contain enough energy to ionize, and are far too large to damage DNA without killing the cell.

I think when people hear the term "microwave" they think of the box in their kitchen that nukes their food. Then they imagine their cell phone or WiFi router doing the same thing to their brain. Nope, not enough power. Microwave ovens operate at hundreds of watts focused on a confined area. Cell phones are measured in miliwatts.

Here's some things that are more likely to give you cancer than a cell phone
-Existing (background radiation)
-Eating a banana
-Your TV (especially old CRT ones)
-Your house (especially in radon prone areas)
-Flying in an airplane
-Getting a dental x-ray
-Sitting in traffic

You get the picture.

 

[DrPizza]

Einstein won the Nobel Prize for essentially proving that cell phones do NOT cause cancer. If cell phones caused cancer, then walking out of your house into regular sunlight would be lethal. Heck, any light bulb in your house would be providing lethal amounts of radiation.

I sincerely hope the cell phone industry sues the city and forces them get rid of such fearmongering nonsense.

 

[Mixolydian]

The article said that people who have them in a pants pocket and tucked in a bra were more apt to get cancer, IIRC.

I keep my phone in my underpants.

 

[KeithP]

Maybe the next Berkeley "initiative" should be signs reminding people of the dangers of bigfoot or unicorn attacks in parks. If you want to protect your populace against imaginary dangers you might as well get them all.

That being said, I always though a useful feature on a cell phone would be able to set a on/off schedule on the device. I don't need my phone on all the time. It would be nice if I could set it up so every 20-30 minutes it would turn itself on, connect to the network (cell or wifi), sync and update, then shut itself off. Seems like that would save a lot of power.

-KeithP

 

[Rakehellion]

Well, my thought was that it would be nice if my smartphone automatically went into airplane mode (which I think shuts off data and wifi connectivity)

A phone that can't receive phone calls. What a novel idea.

 

[Rakehellion]

Last I heard, the "CANCER!" claims were somewhat dubious.

They've been doing the cancer studies for the past 30 years at least and have found no link.

If there's new evidence, show it.

 

[brianmanahan]

They've been doing the cancer studies for the past 30 years at least and have found no link.

If there's new evidence, show it.

it's like with chemtrails. if you ask for evidence, you're "one of them" or "part of the conspiracy".

 

[Rakehellion]

If you're worried, you can always buy a cell phone anti-radiation shield for $59.00.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CELL-PHONE-...840?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cdb1ae1f0

 

[brianmanahan]

If you're worried, you can always buy a cell phone anti-radiation shield for $59.00.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CELL-PHONE-...840?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cdb1ae1f0

man, i need to get into snake oil sales

 

[lxskllr]

Regardless of radiation, stopping the phone prevents tracking. If I didn't need the phone for work, it would be off until I needed it. As it is, wifi and gps are off until needed, but cell and data are on.