Today's Science: Cell Phone Studies

[browngirl]

Fraud Charges Cast Doubt on Claims of DNA Damage From Cell Phone Fields, in the current issue of Science. My friend dakiwiboid, who brought this to my attention, has reposted a synopsis of the article (since there is a charge for reading the whole thing, although the link above is fairly extensive as well).

So, some actual research is needed. But it does come to my mind that having cell phones 'proven' dangerous seemed to be, for many people, a neat confluence of science and morality; annoying cell phone users risked being punished with DNA damage and the disorders that follow on from it. However science, while it must be practiced with ethics to be any use, doesn't have a moral vector in its laws like that.

Comments

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

As Einstein said over 100 years ago, E=hv

I've noticed that there there is a fear of "radiation" in the world, and strong desire on the part of many to attribute to radiation with a very low frequency (v, which should be a greek nu, and not just an italicized v, but I'm a bit html impaired), like radio waves or microwaves, the ability to rip apart biological molecules, even though they don't have the photon energy (E) to anything of the sort.

There are bigger things to worry about, like the high v radiation coming off that big fusion reactor in the sky.

[blythely.livejournal.com]

that big fusion reactor in the sky

this made me grin, but then i got a bit depressed again realising most people would start wondering which cold-war satellite you were talking about ...

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

Oddly, when I followed the link in the comment notification email, I got the Adult Content warning. The version that I got was one I hadn't seen, warning about adult concepts.

I suppose that the nuclear fusion in the core of the sun, and the Einstein-Planck relationship count as adult concepts.

[blythely.livejournal.com]

you got a content warning on my journal? hmmm. i thought i had deliberately not set it to anything. i shall investigate.

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

Oh, no, these comments are on browngirl's LJ.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

That's an artifact of LJ's stupid Adult Content settings. *rolls eyes at them*

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Very true. I know enough biochemistry to see what you mean but not enough to convince others to redirect their worry.

[blythely.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, the reason that this story is so interesting is because these researchers/lab were the *only* ones to have shown any properly scientific link between cellphone-band frequencies and cellular damage. It's not like these a pile'o'research out there demonstrating nasty effects and this is the only bad egg. It is (was) the only egg.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

From your mouth to the populace's ears! The number of responses I've seen to this that have been "well, well, they still MIGHT be dangerous! You still might get a BRAIN TUMOR!" is really kind of dismaying.