A 5th place school science fair project done by 5 teenage girls from Hjallerup School in Denmark generated 20,000 hits on FaceBook, attracted international media attention, and sent shock waves through boardrooms of cell phone makers around the world.
9th graders Lea Nielsen, Mathilde Nielsen, Signe Nielsen, Sisse Coltau, and Rikke Holm were kicking around ideas for their entry when one of them mentioned that she had been having trouble concentrating in class. Another joked that she'd probably fried her brain cells because she spent all her free time on her cell phone. This exchange led them to the idea of trying to see if there was any truth in the matter.
They cooked up the idea of testing seed growth using Water Cress seeds planted in 12 trays which would receive equal amounts of sunlight and water, but with 6 of the trays isolated and exposed to the kind of low-level microwave radiation emitted by cell phones. They used a common household wi-fi router as a radiation source because they discovered that it emitted the same microwaves as cell phones. A week later they got their results, and, as you can see, the radiated seeds did not do so well.
Danish National TV reported on the story and corporate cell phone spokesmen have been quick to deny the experiment's validity saying that it was not really scientifically done and that router radiation is very different than that from cell phones. But the non-corporate world of science seems very excited by the girl's results.
Professor Olle Johanson at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, a well know cell phone sceptic says that he intends to carry out controlled follow-up experiments based on the 9th grader's results, as does Michael Stübert Berger, researcher at Danmarks Technical University, and former Vice Dean of sciences at Copenhagen University, Dr. John Mundy says he thinks it would be a good idea for his student to do the same and then to scan for any genetic changes that may occur. The World Health Organisation has declared that radiation from mobile phones could possibly be a cancer risk, but that more research is needed.
Whatever results do come out, it will be of great importance to us all. So many young people today spend much of their free-time talking, texting and going online with their mobile devices. It is a well established fact that cell growth in the human brain continues on in humans up to the age of 20-23 and microwave radiation could have influence on cellular DNA and growth patterns during this critical period.
In Denmark almost everyone has a cell phone . some have 2. Cell phone use is expanding world-wide at a breakneck pace. There are big issues to be discussed and there is big money being made. Let's hope the truth about cell phones and its possible microwave radiation health risk does not get buried by the avalanche of cell phone euphoria sweeping today's world.
Maybe there is wisdom in the thoughts of school kids who have trouble concentrating and who are beginning to question the side effects of today's technology.
©2013:timtim.com+Tim newlin