Cell Phone Radiation

Right now there are almost as many cell phones in use on the planet as there are people. Even the poorest among us somehow can afford to have a cell phone. It's similar to everybody being able to get an unbelievable deal on a mortgage a few years back. We later found out that that was a designed scam to bankrupt millions. Vaccines are also offered free or nearly free. Hmmm... makes you wonder if there is something sinister about cell phones and the cell phone towers - 250,000 of them- that cover the country. Why do cell phones operate at the same frequency as your brain waves? Is that dangerous? Do cell phones cause brain cancers? Could cell phones be used for mind control purposes? It would be better if we had real solid answers to these questions.

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Which Smart Phones Emit the Most Radiation?

By Siel Ju, Mother Nature Network

The health effects of cell phone radiation is a growing concern which is why many cell phone users have been consulting a Cell Phone Radiation Guide to figure out which phones let them keep talking and texting while limiting radiation as much as possible. That report was put together by Environmental Working Group last September and this year, the environmental health nonprofit has come out with an update to cover the new, most-popular cell phones of 2010.

The bad news: Some of the most-hyped phones that have gotten raves from tech experts also give off quite a bit of radiation. Motorola’s Droid, Blackberry Bold 9700, LG Chocolate Touch and HTC Nexus One by Google are among the flashy phones to avoid because all four “are pushing the edge of radiofrequency radiation safety limits set by the Federal Communications Commission,” according to EWG.

The good news: A number of smart phones on the market keep you connected without leaching so much radiation. EWG notes that the Motorola Brute i680, Samsung Mythic, and Pantech Impact are phones with some of the lowest emissions — and advises cell phone users to stick to these lower-emissions phones until we learn more about the long-term health effects of cell phone radiation.

In the market for a new phone? If you’re willing to switch carriers, consult EWG’s list of phones with the lowest emissions (PDF) to pick from the best. Sticking with your current carrier? Then click on your carrier’s name on EWG’s “Get a Safer Phone” page to get a list of the phones available through your carrier. The phones will be sorted with those with lowest radiation at the top of the list. And for added safety, follow EWG’s 8 tips to reduce cell phone radiation exposure.

Mother Nature Network's mission is to help you improve your world. From covering the latest news on health, science, sustainable business practices and the latest trends in eco-friendly technology, MNN.com strives to give you the accurate, unbiased information you need to improve your world locally, globally, and personally – all in a distinctive thoughtful, straightforward, and fun style.

A Machine That Can Read Your Mind.

Here's a device that reads your thoughts. Of course it is introduced as a help to people with medical conditions. Actually it will work on you too. Don't think that the implanted electrodes are really needed. It can all be done remotely without any wires. What is being shown here is 'old' technology. Is this how Santa Claus finds out who is naughty or nice?
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Device turns thoughts into speech
System tested on a 26-year-old man left paralyzed by a brain stem stroke


By Irene Klotz
Dec . 31, 2009

Scientists have successfully tested a system that translates brain waves into speech, raising the prospect that people left mute by stroke, Lou Gehrig's disease and other afflictions will one day be able to communicate by synthetic voice.
The system was tested on a 26-year-old man left paralyzed by a brain stem stroke, but with his consciousness and cognitive abilities intact. The condition is known as "locked-in syndrome." In this condition, communication by eye movement or other limited motion is possible, but extremely cumbersome.
For example, British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who is nearly completely paralyzed as a result of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, takes several minutes to compose a short sentence that is rendered into speech by a computer.
Scientists implanted an electrode about 5 millimeters deep into the part of the subject's brain responsible for planning speech. After a few months nerve cells grew into the electrode, producing detectable signals.
It took several years, however, to develop a computer system that could discriminate elements of speech from the busy backdrop of neural activity, lead researcher Frank Guenther, with the Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems at Boston University, told Discovery News.
"All the neurons are firing all the time, but there's a subtle change in the firing rates. The trick was trying to decode that," Guenther said.
The first "words" detected from the subject's brain were three vowel sounds, but the speed with which the speech thought was transmitted into audible sound was about 50 milliseconds -- the same amount of time it typically takes for naturally occurring speech.
The embedded electrode amplifies neural signals and converts them into FM radio waves which are then transmitted wirelessly across the subject's scalp to two coils on his head that serve as receiving antennas.
The signals are then routed into a system that digitizes, sorts and decodes them. The results are fed into a program that synthesizes speech which runs on desktop or laptop computer.
"The most significant thing is that this shows it would be possible for someone who is paralyzed to speak in real-time rather than going through a painful typing process," Guenther said. "This communication is very important because these people are completely locked out from the rest of the world."

The researchers plan a follow-up study in early 2010 that will significantly increase how much information is collected from the brain, with the aim of adding consonants, and then words, to the speech prosthesis.
"The human brain function is very complicated," said Hui Mao, associate professor of radiology at Emory University School of Medicine. "So far we've only scratched the surface. We're recording simple brain processes at this point, but the proof of principle and the demonstration that this works opens the opportunity for different experts to come into the field."
The research was published this month in the online science journal PLoS ONE.
© 2010 Discovery Channel