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| Turning Off IPhone Critical to Pilots Citing Interference. iPhones on Planes Blamed for Navigation Disruption | |||
| USA | Created: 18 May 2013 | ||
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The regional airliner was climbing past 9,000 feet when its compasses went haywire, leading pilots several miles off course until a flight attendant persuaded a passenger in row 9 to switch off an Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone. “The timing of the cellphone being turned off coincided with the moment where our heading problem was solved,” the unidentified co-pilot told NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System about the 2011 incident. The plane landed safely. Public figures from U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill to actor Alec Baldwin have bristled at what they say are excessive rules restricting use of tablets, smartphones, laptops and other devices during flights. More than a decade of pilot reports and scientific studies tell a different story. Government and airline reporting systems have logged dozens of cases in which passenger electronics were suspected of interfering with navigation, radios and other aviation equipment. The FAA in January appointed an advisory committee from the airline and technology industries to recommend whether or how to broaden electronics use in planes. The agency will consider the committee’s recommendations, which are expected in July, it said in a statement. Laboratory tests have shown some devices broadcast radio waves powerful enough to interfere with airline equipment, according to NASA, aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. (BA) and the U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority. Airlines Split Even Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), which argued for relaxed rules, told the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration its pilots and mechanics reported 27 suspected incidents of passenger electronics causing aircraft malfunctions from 2010 to 2012. Atlanta-based Delta said it couldn’t verify there was interference in any of those cases. The airline industry has been divided. Delta said in its filing that it welcomes more electronics use because that’s what its passengers wanted. United Continental Holdings Inc. said it preferred no changes because they’d be difficult for flight attendants to enforce. CTIA-The Wireless Association, a Washington trade group representing mobile companies, andAmazon.com Inc. (AMZN), the Seattle online retailer that sells the Kindle e-reader, urged the U.S. FAA last year to allow wider use of devices. Personal electronics don’t cause interference, CTIA said in a blog post last year. 10,000 Feet Passengers’ use of technology and wireless services “is growing by leaps and bounds” and should be expanded as long as it is safe, the Consumer Electronics Association, an Arlington, Virginia-based trade group, said in its filing to the FAA last year. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski agreed in a Dec. 6 letter to the FAA. Broader use of on-board electronics would help providers of approved aircraft Wi-Fi services by letting passengers use them longer. Gogo Inc. (GOGO), based in Itasca, Illinois, says it has 82 percent of that market in North America, and Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM) on May 9 won permission from the FCC to proceed with a planned air-to-ground broadband service for Wi-Fi equipped planes. The FAA prohibits use of electronics while a plane is below 10,000 feet, with the exception of portable recording devices, hearing aids, heart pacemakers and electric shavers. Once a flight gets above that altitude, devices can be used in “airplane mode,” which blocks their ability to broadcast radio signals, according to the FAA. There’s an exception for devices that aircraft manufacturers or an airline demonstrates are safe, such as laptops that connect to approved Wi-Fi networks. Inflight Wi-Fi The potential risks from personal electronic devices are increasing as the U.S. aviation system transitions to satellite-based navigation, according to the FAA. In order to improve efficiency, planes will fly closer together using GPS technology. As a result, interference from electronics “cannot be tolerated,” the agency said last year. While sticking with its prohibitions on use during some phases of flight, the FAA starting in 2010 issued guidelines allowing broader use of personal electronics. Following techniques suggested by RTCA Inc., a Washington-based non-profit that advises the FAA on technology, airlines have been able to install Wi-Fi networks allowing passengers to browse the Web in flight. No Tolerance Four in 10 airline passengers surveyed in December by groups including the CEA said they want to be able to use electronic devices in all phases of flight. Thirty percent of passengers in that same study said they’d accidentally left on a device during a flight. McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, has called for lifting restrictions on non-phone devices such as the Kindle if passengers keep them in airplane mode, Drew Pusateri, her spokesman, said in an interview. The existing rules are “ridiculous,” she said in an interview. “I was aware from the research that’s been done that there has never been an incident of a plane having problems because of someone having a device on in the cabin,” she said. The dangers from radio waves interfering with electronic equipment has been known for decades. A fire aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal in 1967 killed 134 people, when a rocket on a fighter jet accidentally fired after a radar beam triggered an electronic malfunction, according to a 1995 NASA review. GPS Useless Restrictions on U.S. commercial aircraft began in 1966 after research found some portable radios interfered with navigation equipment, according to the FAA’s request last year for comments on whether it should change existing rules. In one 2004 test, a now-discontinued Samsung Electronics Co. (005930)wireless phone model’s signal was powerful enough to blot out global-positioning satellites, according to NASA. The device, which met all government standards, was tested because a corporate flight department had discovered the phone rendered a plane’s three GPS receivers useless, NASA’s researchers reported. While incidents haven’t led to any commercial accidents and and are difficult to recreate afterward, they continue to pile up. A log kept by the Montreal-based International Air Transport Association airline trade group recorded 75 cases of suspected interference from 2003 to 2009, Perry Flint, a spokesman for the group, said in an interview. Ghost Theories Peter Bernard Ladkin, a professor of computer networks at the University of Bielefeld inGermany, compiled similar accounts from pilots in Europe, he said in an interview. “These are serious, conscientious pilots,” Ladkin said. “They know what they’re doing. They don’t subscribe to theories about ghosts or something.” Damaged devices have transmitted on frequencies they weren’t designed for, according to David Carson, an associate technical fellow at Boeing who has participated in industry evaluations of electronics. If those radio waves reach an antenna used for navigation, communication or some other purpose, it may distort the signal it’s supposed to receive. Inflight Wi-Fi systems are safe in part because devices connect to them at low power levels, according to Carson, who was co-chairman of an RTCA panel that produced testing standards. Devices searching for a faraway connection, such as a mobile phone trying to connect to a ground network in flight, send out more powerful radio waves, he said. Pilots’ IPads Airlines such as Delta and Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) have used the FAA guidelines to allow their pilots to carry Apple iPads to replace paper charts and manuals. McCaskill and others have used that as an example of why passengers should be allowed to use tablet computers during landing and takeoff. One difference is that airlines don’t purchase tablet models that use connections through wireless phone networks. Similar devices used by passengers haven’t been tested for safety in the passenger compartment, Carson said. Plus, there’s no guarantee passengers will put the devices into airplane mode or the devices haven’t been damaged, he said. “Something a passenger brings in, you don’t know if it fell in a mud puddle or they put a bigger battery in,” he said. The RTCA group recommended against allowing passengers to use devices during taxi, landing and takeoff, Carson said. The Association of Flight Attendants, the U.S.’s largest union for those workers, told the FAA last year that electronic devices should be stowed during those critical phases of flight, just as bags and purses must be. Any decision should be based on science, not on politics or passengers’ desires to stay connected, John Cox, a former airline pilot who is chief executive officer of the Washington-based consulting firm, Safety Operating Systems, said in an interview. “The question is: Do we want to do aviation safety based on lack of testing and certification standards?” Cox said. To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Levin in Washington at alevin24@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bernard Kohn at bkohn2@bloomberg.net By Alan Levin - May 16, 2013 1:23 AM GMT+0900 |
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| Click here to view the source article. | |||
| Source: EMR Refugee/Agnes Ingvarsdottir | |||
| Stroud MP to attend meeting about radiation from mobile phone masts | |
| United Kingdom | Created: 17 May 2013 |
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MP Neil Carmichael will attend a meeting to discuss concerns about microwave radiation. In March, Cambridge University scientist Roger Coghill, co-founder of Powerwatch, spoke to a packed audience at the Old Town Hall in the Shambles, Stroud, claiming that some new technologies can harm health. Now a follow-up meeting has been arranged on Friday at 7.30pm at the same venue. It will be a chance to discuss health fears over microwave radiation from mobile phone masts, smart meters and cordless telephones. Organisers say there are nine masts in Stroud and a growing number of public wifi hotspots. The meeting will discuss: * Protecting homes and using technology safely ie home plugs instead of wifi. * Protecting health - nutrition, remedies, clothing etc. * Protecting children from wifi in schools and helping them to use mobile phones wisely. * The impact on the environment, bees and food. * Campaigning to lower mobile mast radiation to align with EU regulations Healthy House from Ruscombe will be represented to answer questions on personal and home protection. Call Janet Westgarth on 01453 752751 for further information. |
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| Click here to view the source article. | |
| Source: Stroud News and Journal, SNJ Reporter, 17 May 2013 | |
| Forsøg med karse i 9. klasse vækker international opsigt | ||||
| Denmark | Created: 16 May 2013 | |||
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Udenlandske forskere er ovenud begejstrede for et biologiprojekt fra fem 9 klasses-piger. Tag 400 Karsefrø og fordel dem i 12 bakker. Derefter placeres seks bakker i to rum med samme temperatur. Giv bakkerne samme mængde vand og sol over 12 dage, og husk så lige til slut at udsætte halvdelen af dem for mobilstråling. Det er opskriften på et biologiforsøg så genialt, at det har vakt international opsigt blandt anerkendte biologer og strålingseksperter. Bag forsøget står fem piger fra 9.b på Hjallerup Skole i Nordjylland, og det hele startede med at de havde svært ved at koncentrere sig i timen: - Vi synes alle sammen, vi havde oplevet at have koncentrationsproblemer i skolen, hvis vi havde sovet med mobilen ved siden af hovedet, og nogle gange også oplevet at have svært ved at sove, forklarer Lea Nielsen, der er en af de fem forskerspirer. Forsøget Skolen havde ikke udstyret til at teste virkningen af mobilstråling på dem selv, men det var nok i virkeligheden meget godt. Derfor måtte pigerne finde et alternativ. Og svaret blev karsefrø. Seks bakker frø blev sat ind i et rum uden stråling, og seks bakker blev sat ind i et andet rum ved siden af to routere. Sådan en udsender cirka samme type stråle som en helt almindelig mobil. Så var det ellers bare at vente 12 dage, observere, måle, veje og tage billeder undervejs. Og resultatet talte sit tydelig sprog: Karsefrøene ved siden af routeren var slet ikke vokset, og nogle af dem var endda muterede eller døde. - Det er virkelig skræmmende, at der er så stor påvirkning, så vi blev også selv meget mærket af resultatet, fortæller Lea Nielsen. Reaktionerne Forsøget sikrede pigerne en finaleplads i konkurrencen "Unge Forskere", men det var kun begyndelsen. Anerkendte forskere fra både England, Holland og Sverige har sidenhen udvist stor interesse for pigernes projekt indtil videre. Den anerkendte professor ved Karolinska Instituttet i Stockholm, Olle Johanson, er en af de imponerede forskere. Han vil nu gentage forsøget med en belgisk forskningskollega, professor Marie-Claire Cammaert ved Université libre de Bruxelles, for forsøget er ifølge ham helt genialt: - Pigerne har indenfor rammerne af deres viden og kunnen gennemført og udarbejdet et meget elegant stykke arbejde. Det væld af detaljer og nøjagtighed er eksemplarisk, valget af den rigtige karse er meget intelligent, og jeg kunne blive ved, siger han. Han er heller ikke sen til at sende dem en opfordring med på vejen: - Jeg håber inderligt, at de bruger deres fremtidige arbejdsliv til at forske, for jeg synes helt sikkert, de har et naturligt anlæg for det. Personligt ville jeg elske at se de mennesker i mit team! Ingen mobil ved sengen De fem piger fra Nordjylland har dog endnu ikke besluttet sig for deres fremtidige karrierer. De er stadig meget overrumplede over al den pludselige opmærksomhed. - Det har givet sådan en konstant summen for maven. Jeg kan stadig slet ikke forstå det, siger Lea Nielsen. Og Mathilde Nielsen byder ind: - Det er helt vildt overvældende og spændende. Det er jo ikke noget, man lige oplever hver dag. Men der har også været andre konsekvenser ved karseforsøget, der har helt lavpraktisk karakter. - Ingen af os sover med mobilen ved siden af sengen mere. Enten bliver den lagt langt væk, eller også bliver den lagt i et andet rum. Og computeren bliver altid slukket, siger Lea Nielsen. Related news: May 2013, Denmark: Elevforsøg om mobilstråling vækker udenlandsk interesse |
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| Click here to view the source article. | ||||
| Source: DR.dk, Mathias Bohn, 16 May 2013 | ||||
| Elevforsøg om mobilstråling vækker udenlandsk interesse | ||||
| Denmark | Created: 16 May 2013 | |||
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HJALLERUP: De går kun i 9 klasse, de fem piger, der for nylig blev nummer fem i en landsdækkende forskningskonkurrence for skoleelever. Alligevel er flere forskere og eksperter i udlandet interesserede i de resultater, som de fik ud af det biologiforsøg om mobilstråling, som de deltog med. Det skriver NORDJYSKE Stiftstidende. - Pigerne har anvendt en meget elegant model i deres forsøg med planter. Det er meget imponerende, siger professor ved Karolinska Instituttet i Stockholm Olle Johanson, der er blandt de tre forskere, der har bedt om lov til at se nærmere på det. I selve eksperimentet har pigerne undersøgt, om strålingsaktivitet fra trådløse apparater betyder noget for karsefrøs evne til vokse sig store. Og det gør det ifølge pigernes resultater. De er nu selv begyndt at tage deres forholdsregler. - I stedet for at lægge min telefon på natbordet, så lægger jeg den helt ned i den anden ende af værelset eller helt uden for rummet, siger Rikke Holmberg til NORDJYSKE. De fem piger i 9.b håber, at deres forsøg kan inspirere nogle af de interesserede forskere til for alvor at undersøge problemstillingen. |
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| Click here to view the source article. | ||||
| Source: Nordjyske, Klaus Birkedal Videbæk, 16 May 2013 | ||||
| So, this is US! The Old Ones! SO, How Do You Explain the Young Ones (16 to 35) who suffer the same?? | |
| United Kingdom | Created: 16 May 2013 |
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First of all please look at what the scientists have just said aboutDimentia in our "Our Young Ones" May 2013, USA: Brain Diseases Affecting More People and Starting Earlier Than Ever BeforeDementia deaths more than double in a decade ** After that look at what "Old Ones" we have to face: The proportion of people dying of dementia has more than doubled in a decade, official figures show, and by 2021 one in eight of all deaths could be due to the brain disease. Every tenth woman in England and Wales now dies of dementia (10.3 per cent), according to mortality figures for 2011 from the Office for National Statistics, up from 4.3 per cent in 2001. In men, the proportion of deaths from dementia has risen from 2.0 to 5.2 per cent over the course of the decade. Should these rises be sustained, it will mean that by 2021 about 12 per cent of all deaths will be attributed to dementia. Experts said the figures were a “scary” reminder of the scale of the dementia timebomb facing Britain. At the moment some 800,000 people in Britain are living with dementia, including about 500,000 from the most common type, Alzheimer’s. Less than half (43 per cent) have received a formal diagnosis. One million are expected to have dementia by 2021. Professor Clive Ballard, head of research at The Alzheimer’s Society, said the increase in deaths attributed to dementia was due both Britain's ageing population and to a greater understanding that the disease did actually kill people. He said: “Dementia is getting more common, because people are living longer. “There’s an exponential increase in dementia with age. One in 20 people at 65 have it, but that increases to one in five at 80, one in three at 90 and one in two at 95. “So once you get more and more people living beyond 80, you will get more people dying from dementia.” He also said doctors were now far more likely to record dementia as the underlying cause of death, due to a better understanding of it. He explained: “In very severe Alzheimer’s, people get bed-bound, can’t clear their chests properly and become very vulnerable to infections like pneumonia. “Whereas 10 years ago a doctors might have put ‘pneumonia’ as the cause of death on the death certificate of someone with dementia, now they are more likely to put ‘pneumonia and dementia’.” People with Alzheimer's were also "much more prone" to strokes because the amyloid proteins associated with the disease in the brain also tended to block blood vessels. Just as doctors had realised for years that people with end-stage cancer were really killed by the disease, rather than the final trigger such as an infection or a heart attack, so they were now accepting a similar thing happened in those with dementia. Given that one in three 65-year-olds will develop dementia during the rest of their lives, Prof Ballard thought predictions that one in eight could be dying of the disease by 2021 might prove on the low side. “If we assume that half of those with dementia will die of it, that suggests a sixth of all deaths could be due to the disease,” he said. “The proportion of the increase is quite scary, and that’s why we need to have a plan now, rather than burying our heads in the sand. “We are moving in the right direction but we have to have more support for research and for managing people with it.” He warned that 85 per cent of people in care homes were now thought to have dementia, up from 20 per cent in 1980, and given the upward trend almost everybody in a care home would soon have it. “What we are going to see soon is that care homes are going to be completely full of people with dementia,” he said. “That will probably happen in the next decade. When that happens the current system is going to break. “Then we will either have to start managing people with more severe dementia in their own homes or there will have to be more care home provision.” For years dementia has been a 'Cinderella' condition but that now seems to be changing. In March, David Cameron declared that tackling the "national crisis" posed by the disease was one of his personal priorities, and said it was a "scandal" that the country had not done more to address it. He announced that research funding would more than double by 2015, compared to 2010, but has been criticised for failing to address the immediate problems faced by those already with it. Earlier this week he said the Government was backing a UK-developed 15-minute test for dementia, to help drive up diagnosis rates. Jerem Hunt, the Health Secretary, said: "We want to make Britain a beacon for dementia care, concentrating on early diagnosis and preventative measures which will help those patients most at risk. The Young Ones: Brain Diseases Affecting More People and Starting Earlier Than Ever Before "The earlier the disease is diagnosed the earlier treatment, care and support can be given which can help a person with dementia live well for longer." May 2013, USA: Brain Diseases Affecting More People and Starting Earlier Than Ever Before And then the Old Ones! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22531066 Dementia diagnosis rates: 'Shockingly low' By Adam Brimelow The NHS in England has been told to push for a rapid rise in dementia diagnosis rates, so that by 2015, two out of three cases are identified. Currently fewer than half of people with dementia have a diagnosis. A senior adviser on public health says dementia cases could be halved if more were done on prevention. He wants wide-scale mental agility testing to identify people at risk, but critics say that would cause unnecessary fear and anxiety. The government says the overall dementia diagnosis rate in England - about 45% - is "shockingly low". The issue was raised as a priority a year ago in the prime minister's "challenge on dementia". This set out a programme to improve care, promote public support and understanding of dementia, and encourage research. Now, in a progress report, NHS England says diagnosis rates should rise by more than 20% over the next two years, so two out of three cases are detected. This would bring overall diagnosis rates in England into line with those in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Focus on prevention The announcement coincides with a call for a greater emphasis on dementia prevention from Dr Charles Alessi. He is chairman of the National Association of Primary Care and an adviser for Public Health England. It is estimated that 670,000 people in England have dementia. That figure is expected to double in the next 30 years. But Dr Alessi says the number of cases could be halved by focussing on the risks for vascular dementia - caused by reduced blood flow to the brain. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote This condition - which we thought was hopeless, and all we could offer was more dignity and respect and more treatment which is very important - can also be delayed. That is amazing” Dr Charles Alessi Advisor: Public Health England He says a simple mental agility assessment should become part of the range of tests routinely provided in the NHS Health Check after people reach 40. He argues the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCa) could even be used online to allow people to make their own assessment. As well as checking for memory this test looks at "executive function" - the ability to do everyday activities such as organising, planning and making decisions. Dr Alessi says it provides a good indicator of early cognitive impairment. He says people who know they are at risk of vascular dementia can act to help delay or even prevent symptoms if they eat well, take exercise and don't smoke. He emphasises the importance of controlling blood pressure and diabetes - also risk factors for heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease. "This condition - which we thought was hopeless, and all we could offer was more dignity and respect and more treatment which is very important - can also be delayed. That is amazing. We can influence this so I think we should." 'Snapshot' The National Clinical Director for Dementia in England, Prof Alistair Burns, says the MoCa test could be an important component in identifying risk of vascular dementia, but he says by itself it is just a "snapshot", and a lot of other factors should be brought to bear in arriving at a diagnosis. "It's not just one thing. It's looking at the history of the person, it's looking at how they are doing in general, it's looking at the medical history, at brain scans, and that test of cognition, of executive function." However he says the message about the possibility of prevention is important. Dr Chris Fox, an expert in old age psychiatry at the University of East Anglia, says he is very concerned at the idea of people being encouraged to carry out their own cognitive assessments. He says the idea is not supported by the evidence. 'Unnecessary anxiety' "My biggest concern is the impact on patients, creating unnecessary anxiety. I'm also very concerned about the pressure it puts on health and social care with resources being pulled around. We need to spend our health budget in an evidence-based way even more than we used to." He says investing in research about the early stages of dementia my be a "more fruitful" use of funding. Jeremy Hunt MP: "We are not advocating screening" The prime minister has announced the UK will use its presidency of the G8 group of leading industrialised countries to a encourage new international approach on dementia research. This will include a summit, to be held in London in September, which will bring together health and science ministers and leading dementia experts. In a statement Mr Cameron said he wanted to get the "brightest minds" working together on this: "I've said before that we need an all-out fight-back against dementia that cuts across society. Now we need to cut across borders and spearhead an international approach that could really make a difference." |
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| Click here to view the source article. | |
| Source: Agnes Ingvarsdottir. | |
| Why UK slid £150m to tax-exempt phone-mast master Arqiva | |
| United Kingdom | Created: 15 May 2013 |
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How does one fairly distribute £150m to extend Blighty's mobile coverage? Give the whole lot to a private company that has paid no corporation tax for four years and effectively holds a monopoly. That company is Arqiva, which owns the vast majority of the UK's TV, radio and mobile phone transmitters. It will get £150m of taxpayers' cash with which to extend its network of sites, which are rented out to broadcasters and phone operators. We're told the money will extend coverage to 60,000 premises and "sections of road", but it will certainly help Arqiva maintain its billion-pound annual revenue. Not that the revenue leads to profit, thanks to a system of loans and repayments that ensure shareholders make money and the company avoids paying UK corporation tax - as revealed by a Financial Times investigation last year. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing. John Cresswell, Arqiva’s CEO, told the FT: "Arqiva has invested heavily in the UK’s infrastructure, including £630m in the digital [TV] switch-over. In recognition of this considerable investment in the UK’s communications infrastructure, the government has agreed a tax exemption for Arqiva from 2009." Meanwhile, said government has thrown a pot of public cash at improving the nation's mobile internet connectivity, showering Arqiva with the gold. But how else was it going to distribute the money without upsetting the mobile industry? The network operators would have taken the cash and complained bitterly about the amount the other operators were given, and Arqiva's dominance means there isn't really anyone else who could use the nine-figure sum. When the funding was announced by Chancellor George Osborne, back in October 2011, even the network operators said they weren't interested in the cash, but instead wanted planning laws relaxed to allow the construction of bigger and beefier phone masts and the trenches of cabling needed to serve them. In rural areas, the trenches are generally the expensive bit: the technology keeps getting cheaper but the cost of digging across someone's land costs an arm and a leg. Microwave links can reach anywhere with line of sight, but there's still power cables and access for regular maintenance which can involve building roads and all sorts. The Mobile Operators' Association pulled up extreme examples - £350,000 to connect one Welsh base station, for instance - but pegged typical costs of delivering power to a site on a farm at £25,000, making it the most expensive part of the process. But the association was more concerned with planning laws, and how to mitigate them. Fortunately that appeal was also heard and existing masts can now be hoiked up to 20m and fattened up by a third without additional planning permission. That enables Arqiva to stick antennas for multiple operators onto the same set of steel, which is important with 4G networks rolling out as network operators combine their 3G systems and strip redundant radio gear from masts. Giving £150m of government cash to a private company to extend its near-monopoly may seem weird, but really the Ministry of Fun (Department for Culture, ed.) had little other option once Osborne had made his 2011 promise. |
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| Click here to view the source article. | |
| Source: The Register, Bill Ray, 15 May 2013 | |
| Prof. Olle Johansson on WiFi radiation - we could have "irreversible sterility within five generations" | |
| Sweden | Created: 15 May 2013 |
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Prof Olle Johansson, Neuroscientist at Sweden's Karolinska Institute (famed for awarding Nobel prizes in physiology and medicine) warns that wireless exposures to our offspring today could mean irreversible sterility within five generations because of this "full-scale experiment using our own kids". "That's 150 years ahead of us - and by then of course it's too late [...] You may view the latest post at http://stopsmartmeters.org.uk/prof-olle-johansson-on-wifi-radiation-we-could-have-irreversible-sterility-within-five-generations/ Can exposure to Wi-Fi cause irreparable damage to DNA? Prof. Olle Johansson on Wi-Fi Exposure (Mice Sterility by the 5th Generation) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH3gJctqKk4 |
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| Click here to view the source article. | |
| Source: Agnes Ingvarsdottir. | |
| Doctors report 50% hearing loss among cellphone users | |
| India | Created: 15 May 2013 |
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MUMBAI : Excessive use of cellphones can cause the deadliest of health hazards among users, from hearing loss to neuro-endocrine disruption, hormonal imbalance and cancer. Over the last decade, cellular phone usage has grown exponentially with the introduction of new communication systems and newer and smaller phone models. But it is a mark of how much people use cellphones these days, that doctors report as much as a 50% hearing loss among users. Dr Divya Prabhat, ENT surgeon with Bhatia and Wadia hospitals, said he had been getting many patients who complain of pain in the ears and even hearing loss. "The most common complaint is that after they hang up, the ears get hot. Many patients come with complaints of tinnitus, where there is a buzzing in the ears. This also results in irritability and lack of concentration," he said. But the most serious ENT problem is hearing loss. "I recently got a 45-year-old patient who had 30% hearing loss in her right ear, as she would be on phone all the time. When I told her to talk on the phone with the left ear, three months later she came with a 50% hearing loss in the left ear," Dr Prab-hat said. These are temporary threshold shifts, he said, meaning that these problems can be cured, when the habit is changed early. But if a person continues to use the phone excessively, it may turn into a permanent problem. Prolonged cellphone radiation is said to cause cancer. In a study published in the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India in 2008, endocrinologist Dr Shashank Joshi, along with other doctors, had shown how electromagnetic rays from a cellphone cause neuro-endocrine disruption. "Apart from cancer caused by radiation, the cell phone culture increases sedentary work habits. It also reduces sleep time. This causes blood pressure, diabetes, and cardio-vascular diseases," said Dr Joshi. Doctors say the gadget addiction also leads to hormonal imbalance. "Hormones like endocrine and melatonine are disrupted big time by excessive cell phone usage. There may be a discharge of negative hormones because of anticipation of a negative call. This tends to increase stress in a person," said Dr Joshi. It is good, therefore, to decrease talking over the mobile phone, and use a landline or texting, said Dr Joshi. |
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| Click here to view the source article. | |
| Source: Sylvie/Agnes Ingvarsdottir | |
| We are told it is all about getting business working agin: So WHY is it IMPORTANT for BUSINESS to DOWNLOAD a FILM in 1 sec? | |
| South Korea | Created: 15 May 2013 |
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Samsung claims 5G breakthrough New technology paves the way for movie downloads in less than a second, Samsung claims. Despite the fact that major countries including the UK and China have yet to complete their 4G mobile phone network roll-out, South Korean Samsung claims its new technology could offer “ubiquitous” access to ultra high-speed networks operating at 100 times current speeds and offering regular gigabit access. 5G networks could allow “a wide range of services such as 3D movies and games, real-time streaming of ultra high-definition content, and remote medical services,” Samsung claimed in a blog post. The ‘mmWave Mobile Technology’ is the first system that claims to be fully fledged, although research into 5G has been going on in laboratories around the world for some time. Last year, Britain’s University of Surrey announced £35m funding for a research centre back by Huawei, Samsung, Fujitsu, Telefonica and others. Up to now, however, scientists have believed that high-frequency wavebands were generally not suitable for long-range communications required by mobile networks. “The implementation of a high-speed 5G cellular network requires a broad band of frequencies, much like an increased water flow requires a wider pipe,” said Samsung. “While it was a recognized option, it has been long believed that the millimeter-wave bands had limitations in transmitting data over long distances due to its unfavorable propagation characteristics.” While current 4G networks in the UK use bands as low as 800MHz, Samsung’s new research has concentrated at much higher frequencies and the company claims it has worked over distances up to 2km. “Samsung’s new adaptive array transceiver technology has proved itself as a successful solution,” the company claims. “It transmits data in the millimeter-wave band at a frequency of 28 GHz at a speed of up to 1.056 Gbps to a distance of up to 2 kilometers. The adaptive array transceiver technology, using 64 antenna elements, can be a viable solution for overcoming the radio propagation loss at millimeter-wave bands, much higher than the conventional frequency bands ranging from several hundred MHz to several GHz.” A commercially available 5G network is not anticipated until after 2020, although Samsung claims it is aiming to have commercialised 5G by then. Its focus on mobile infrastructure technologies could mark a new plan to challenge the dominance of companies such as Huawei in this area. “Samsung’s latest innovation is expected to invigorate research into 5G cellular communications across the world,” Samsung claimed. “The company believes it will trigger the creation of international alliances and the timely commercialization of related mobile broadband services.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/samsung/10053221/Samsung-claims-5G-breakthrough.html 5G: who needs it? Samsung's breakthrough may be years away, but 5G can’t come soon enough in town and country says Matt Warman In a pub last week, the best way I could connect to the internet was to turn off wifi, get out of the BT Openzone blackspot, and switch to a 4G mobile phone signal. For a business round the corner, the owners had found that 4G was faster than their broadband, too. We’re living in a soup of different connectivity options, where 3G can sometimes be available, 4G is in some places, and wifi, often installed as a way of getting online where previously there was no option, often acts as a barrier thanks to the tortuous process of logging in to the different options. And there are still large chunks of the country, often those where a web connection would make the most impact, where broadband of any kind is a distant dream. Today Samsung claims that 5G will be with us by 2020. It claims that from within 2km of a mast, 1GB download speeds would be perfectly possible. Thus far, this has all happened in a lab, but with 5G, however, there’s the theoretical promise of two things: where it is at its best, it would offer connectivity at speeds that are almost unprecedented anywhere in today’s UK. But it’s the promised ‘ubiquity’ that is more tempting. That could yet be more transformative, especially in rural areas. 5G networks could allow “a wide range of services such as 3D movies and games, real-time streaming of ultra high-definition content, and remote medical services,” Samsung claimed in a blog post. What the promise of 5G demonstrates is that we may yet manage to stop thinking about connectivity – the end of the idea of an awkward conversation mostly consisting of saying “I’m on the train” thanks to intermittent reception, There will be those who ask why we need such fast reception, just as there are those who wonder why we need fibre to every house for broadband: the answer is two-fold. First, because countries such as China are already doing it and it is vital Britain continues to compete. But secondly, because without such freedom from the constraints imposed by infrastructure, we leave ourselves little freedom to innovate. The services of the future will only happen on the intrastructure of the future – we must sort out the problems we have today, with 3G and 4G and wifi too – but 5G can’t come soon enough. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/broadband/10054274/5G-who-needs-it.html |
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| Source: Agnes Ingvarsdottir. | |
| Obama’s Bad Pick: A Former Lobbyist at the F.C.C. | |
| USA | Created: 14 May 2013 |
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Memo to a President who said, in November, 2007, “I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists in Washington that their days of setting the agenda are over”: If you are going to name a former lobbyist for big cable and wireless companies as head of the federal agency that regulates the cable and wireless industries, you had better find a public-interest-group advocate to say something positive about him (or her) before you make the announcement. Job done. By Wednesday, when the White House confirmed that it was nominating Tom Wheeler, a veteran Washington insider who has headed not one powerful industry association but two, as the next chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the nomination had already secured the support of Public Knowledge, an advocacy group that promotes open and unlimited access to the Internet. “Certainly we will have disagreements with the new Chairman (assuming Wheeler is confirmed), but we expect that Wheeler will actively work to promote competition and protect consumers,” Harold Feld, a senior vice-president at Public Knowledge, wrote in a blog post. That’s a relief—or is it? The closer you look at Wheeler’s selection, the more questionable it appears. After being poorly led for more than a decade—particularly under the disastrous tenure of Michael Powell, son of Colin—a strong argument can be made that the last thing the F.C.C. needs is an industry insider with close ties to many of the companies it oversees. In recent years, the cable and telecom industries have consolidated into a handful of quasi-monopolistic corporations, such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable, A.T. & T., and Verizon, which, all too often, are busy trying to gouge their customers while asking Washington for covert favors. Perhaps what is really wanted is another Elizabeth Warren—a vigorous consumer advocate and proponent of competition who’s willing to stand up to these corporate giants. Even with the best will in the world, it’s hard to see Wheeler as this type of crusading figure. From what I’ve read about him, Wheeler appears to be a knowledgeable and intelligent fellow with some independent views that he expresses on his blog. To some extent, though, you are your résumé. Between 1979 and 1984, Wheeler was chief executive of the National Cable Television Association (a job now held by, once again, Michael Powell). From 1992 until 2004, he headed up the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, which represents cell-phone operators. Since 2005, he’s been a managing director at Core Capital Partners, a Washington-based venture-capital firm that invests in small technology companies. To be sure, it’s been some years now since Wheeler was paid to influence Administration officials and Congressmen on behalf of big corporations. But in view of his long tenure in the lobbying industry, it’s hardly surprising that doubts have been raised about his independence. “All of the senators in the Commerce Committee know Tom as a lobbyist who funnels funds to them, not as a stand-up guy from a regulatory agency who is able to take heat,” another veteran Washington telecommunications insider told Reuters. While Public Knowledge has come out in favor of Wheeler’s nomination, other public-interest activists have expressed serious reservations about it. One of them is Phillip Dampier, the founder of Stop the Cap!, a consumer group that campaigns for better broadband service and unlimited usage. In a long and detailed blog post, Dampier pointed out that, in 2011, Wheeler appeared to express support for A.T. & T.’s proposed merger with T-Mobile, one of its few viable competitors, which the Justice Department blocked on monopoly grounds. Dampier wrote: What is almost completely absent in most of Wheeler’s writings is the perspective of, or concern for ordinary consumers. What would Mr. and Mrs. Joe Average think about yet another consolidating merger between AT&T and one of its smaller competitors? What impact would another cable merger have on the bills paid by ordinary people in Colorado, Nebraska, or Pennsylvania?… It is a safe bet most of the industry will welcome and celebrate Wheeler’s appointment. Many know him personally. Many others will feel safe that he is a reachable industry insider already familiar with the issues that concern them. This is what makes the D.C. revolving door so insidious. When you move from the regulated to the regulator (and back again), the only real outsiders are average consumers. Wheeler’s defenders, such as Harold Feld, say he saw the proposed merger between A.T. & T. and T-Mobile as an opportunity for the government to impose some meaningful oversight on wireless operators, which the 1996 Telecommunications Act explicitly excluded from rate regulations and other public-interest rules that apply to landline providers. Wheeler’s original post, from April 1, 2011, backs this up, but it also appears to assume that the merger would be nodded through, which would have been a travesty. And Dampier was right about the cable and telecom giants welcoming Wheeler’s nomination. As detailed in a story at Ars Technica, they could hardly contain their delight. A.T. & T., the biggest wireless carrier, called it “an inspired pick to lead the F.C.C.” Comcast, the biggest cable provider, said, “We applaud President Obama’s nomination and we look forward to working with the Commission under Tom’s leadership.” When President Obama announced Wheeler’s nomination, he said, “If anybody is wondering about Tom’s qualifications, Tom is the only member of both the cable television and the wireless industry hall of fame. So he’s like the Jim Brown of telecom, or the Bo Jackson of telecom.” That’s a bit absurd. Last I checked, Brown holds the N.F.L. records for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and total touchdowns. Jackson won the Heisman Trophy and tied the record for consecutive home runs. Wheeler wasn’t out there on the playing field as a cable or telecom executive: he reached the hall of fame by exerting influence in Washington. A more fitting sports metaphor would be to compare him to one of the lawyers who helped finagle a lucrative anti-trust exemption for professional football and baseball. In addition to being a former lobbyist, Wheeler has been a big campaign contributor to President Obama, giving $38,500 of his own money between 2008 and 2011, and also bundling together contributions from friends and associates. In the 2008 campaign, he raised between two hundred thousand and five hundred thousand dollars in this way for Obama, according to OpenSecrets.org, and he then led the Obama transition team focussed on science, technology, and the arts. During last year’s campaign, he raised more than five hundred thousand dollars for Team Obama. Rewarding campaign contributors is par for the course in Washington, of course. Usually, though, the prizes are ambassadorships or appointments to obscure boards rather than the chairmanship of a big federal regulatory agency. That’s another thing that makes Wheeler’s appointment look like just the sort of Washington inside job that Obama used to decry as a candidate. And it’s not as if there weren’t other candidates available. If the President had wanted to appoint somebody with regulation and Capitol Hill experience, he could have pushed for Jessica Rosenworcel, one of the five commissioners of the F.C.C., who had garnered the support of thirty-seven Democratic senators, including her former boss Jay Rockefeller. If Obama had wanted somebody with economic expertise, which has often appeared lacking at the F.C.C., he could have picked Jason Furman, the deputy director of the National Economic Council, whose name was frequently mentioned as a candidate. And if he had wanted a Warren-style firebrand, he could gone with Susan Crawford, a tech-policy expert and professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, who recently published a book titled “Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly in the New Guilded Age.” Instead of selecting one of these names—and there were other plausible candidates, too—Obama went with Wheeler. Perhaps the best that can be said about his nomination is that, assuming he’s confirmed, he’ll have an incentive to demonstrate that he isn’t a patsy for the companies he used to lobby for. In the coming months and years, the F.C.C. will juggle a host of significant issues, including the establishment of new rules for media cross-ownership, a wireless spectrum auction, and the resolution of a legal challenge to its authority to enforce rules compelling Internet-service providers to treat all data on the network equally. In all of these areas, the issues are complex, and they tend to go over the heads of ordinary Americans. Big corporations, with their lawyers and their lobbying budgets, can exploit this complexity to further their own interests at the expense of competitors and the public. That’s why it’s critical to have somebody heading the F.C.C. who gets up every day determined to protect the public interest. Is Wheeler up to the job? A lot of people will be watching. Related news: May 2013, USA: Help stop nomination of Thomas Wheeler to Chair FCC |
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| Click here to view the source article. | |
| Source: The New Yorker, John Cassidy, 02 May 2013 | |
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