2019-04-20_New_Scientist

20 April 2019 | NewScientist | 55

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

“FOR anyone who uses a mobile,

these are worrying times.” So

began our cover story on 10 April

1999. By then, 500 million people
      worldwide were using mobile
      phones and hysteria around their
      effects on health was reaching a
      climax. There were claims that
      radiation from handsets cooked
      your brain, scrambled your
      thoughts and gave you cancer. New Scientist tackled the
      question in its inimitable fashion.
      Our six-page special investigation was quick to point
      out that microwave radiation from phones is too weak to
      damage DNA, and so there is no obvious way in which it
      could cause cancer. But anyone who was still worried
      could acquire a “radiation shielding device”, and we put
      these to the test. New Scientist commissioned researchers
      from the National Physical Laboratory in the UK, who
      “placed a probe in a head consisting of a human skull
      covered with mock flesh made from various gels”.
      Under scrutiny were the “oyster radiation eliminator”,
      which was essentially an antenna cap; the “microshield”,
      a leather case inlaid with nickel to absorb radiation; and a
      hands-free kit. The researchers found that all of the devices
      reduced microwaves measured inside the mock head to
      some extent. The clear winner was, unsurprisingly,
      the hands-free kit.
      Phone cases that claim to be radiation protectors remain
      on the market. But whether or not these products work has
      become irrelevant. Although you can still read scare stories
      about mobile phones, no evidence has been found that
      suggests they are harmful to your brain, despite extensive
      research. One study published in 2017 exposed 1000 rats
      to phone radiation for 9 hours every day of their lives. It
      resulted in a minuscule level of increased risk of cancers
      in the rats’ brains and hearts.
      There are people who use their phone for several hours
      a day, but most of that time is spent gazing at the screen,
      rather than holding it to their ears. Joshua Howgego ■

Twenty years ago, worries about mobile phone radiation

were reaching a climax

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Y HOW A SIMPLE DATA MODULE UNDERLIES
ALL OUR THOUGHTS AND PERCEPTIONS

MICHAEL JESSOP AND TERRY HILL

THE

UNIVERSAL UNITS

OF THE MIND