I don't think its true but in your case I'll make an exception.

Radiation used for communication is non-ionizing, meaning there is virtually no risk if caner, which is what most people worries about when they hear "radiation".

IEEE has done extensive work into the dangers of non-ionizing radiation. Their results clearly show there is no reason to suspect communication devices cause any I'll effects.

Fun fact. If you get two mobile phones, use one to call the other, and put an egg in between them... nothing happens.

I thought so too, but I just read something else on a site. Of course I didn't immediately believe it but I thought it was interesting enough to post :)

Anyway, I'm not talking about cancer. I know it's non-ionizing radiation, and I know that rules out many things.

The site was talking about the common knowledge that the radiation from mobile phones, tablets etc. causes headaches, depression, bad nightrest, losing your focus, that kind of stuff.

I know pretty certain that that's a large overstatement, but is there any argument for any of that? It is about the radiation/rays/whatever you call it, so I'm not talking about how you become stressed from not getting a like or +1 or something :)

So can any damage be done by non-ionizing radiation for example?

I have never seen any reliable evidence that non-ionizing radiation at strengths a normal person would encounter would cause any of the above.

Having a wireless device near your bed probably makes it easier to stay up too late playing diplomacy or arguing about politics on the web. Both, but especially the latter, can cause headaches, depression, bad nightrest, losing your focus, and that kind of stuff.

Unless you count the two problems I'll detail below there is no negative effect from communication devices.

Some communication devices emit some type of radiation or signal that confuses the common honeybee. This leads to honeybees not being able to follow other honeybee signals, leading to a decrease in the honeybee population, this leads to less flower pollination, this leads to less flowers, this leads to less CO2...and also a decrease in honey in small quantities. This is all strongly denied by wireless communication companies though, so who knows if they are actually responsible for this issue or if it's caused by something else entirely.

The second problem is that scientists have recently found that using mobile devices can cause lapses in concentration while traveling at speeds of over 25 mph. The reason for this is unknown but is proven by the fact that an increased number of accidents have involved the use of a mobile device of some sort. Further details are being investigated. Until they can reduce this confusion causing radiation it is strongly advised that you avoid the use of electronic based communication devices while traveling at speeds in excess of 25 mph. Traditional forms of communication, such as the use of carrier pigeons, smoke signals, and telegraphs are all still allowable when driving a car.

What if the carrier pigeon is travelling at over 25 mph? Is it in danger of losing concentration, or becoming depressed?

Only if it is using an electronic communication device.

There was an Israeli study last century where they tried to use radiation in the mobile phone range to zap cancer cells only to find that human skin blocked the radiation from penetrating.

If you do any study with poor design you can prove almost any relationship you want. I was doing research for a relative about a medical condition going through scientific peer reviewed journals and almost every study admitted that they failed to consider some major variable that made their results useless.

So how do you guys explain this scenario from when I was a baby, note that this doesn't particularly have to do with mobile communication, but it involves radiation and not ionizing radiation:

I cried a lot as a baby. It turned out to be because I continuously had a headache. It had to do with radiation of some kind. Some guy installed some small device in the ground in the front yard and I cried much less. Sadly, I don't really have much more details because my parents don't remember the details and I... well, I was a baby.

So taking the crying and device for granted, what do you think happened?

"So taking the crying and device for granted, what do you think happened?"

I would not even begin to be able to guess. You've given absolutely no useful info. It could be anything.

What I will tell you though is that there is no device you can bury in the ground that will prevent radiation from traveling through a second floor room.

My guess is that it would have to be a different kind of radiation solving the problem, kind of cancelling out what the first one did, if that makes sense.

I must say it always felt like an unlikely story to me, but anyway, playing Devil's Advocate...

I'm trying to make you think in possibilities here, think of something that could have happened...

Having just a few clues should actually leave more possibilities, right?

"My guess is that it would have to be a different kind of radiation solving the problem, kind of cancelling out what the first one did, if that makes sense. "

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I think the fact that Steephie's brain was bombarded with unspecified "rays" when he was a baby could actually explain quite a lot...

Eh.. I would say that there hasn't been enough time to come to any conclusion regarding cell phone radiation, they've only been around for about 15 years, not enough time I'd say to a definite conclusion about the effects of cell phone radiation. I think its fairly common knowledge that any electronic device does create a magnetic field, whether or not the field is strong enough, and therefor if it has any effect on our health, is unknown.

Now, i don't know where you get your sources from, but the WHO stated "The electromagnetic fields produced by mobile phones are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as possibly carcinogenic to humans." , to completely deny that is has ANY negative effect like the people above is just foolish.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs193/en/

That might be true, steephie. I've noticed that when I talk on my phone next to a microwave my burrito doesn't get warm and my nose starts bleeding.

http://i.imgur.com/Fio3hY1.gif

@jmo: hey, I said I didn't quite believe that one myself :)
@everyone:
So I did some research and the explanation had to do with earth radiation, which comes from, or is diffracted by, water veins. We have (or had, not sure) a water vein running from our frontyard to our backyard. Some metal thing was placed in the frontyard to block the radiation from the water vein and I didn't really cry anymore, unless something was clearly wrong, but not for seemingly no reason like I used to. I used to cry a lot for one and a half year before that.

Now that's interesting.

@steephie

What you describe is technically possible. If you measure an incoming wave you can transmit a wave of equal amplitude 90 degrees out of phase. This is called destructive interference and will nullify the incoming wave.

With that being said, to do this for all ambient radiation would be outrageously complicated and expensive. It would also require several antennas, meaning it could not be just one device in the ground.

It would also prove abgemacht wrong, unless he has another explanation...

Link to this water magic?

And yeah, I knew I wasn't talking that much bullshit as people claimed... Thanks for supporting me there abgemacht :P

But yeah, while I did think it's possible to nullify the incoming wave with a 'counter-wave', I also didn't think it was likely, since, well, a little device in the frontyard...

I love this thread.

Well, there's wikipedia, which talks about it as a myth...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_radiation

Other than that, I think it would explain various things I noticed with getting a headache.

One idea I found on the Dutch wikipedia page is that the water works on the rays (or something similar to rays) as a lens. I don't know though...

I definitely have no proof though. I'd like to point out I didn't come here to show my proof though, I wanted to know your idea's about it, and possible explanations...

And I love this thread too :P

"its fairly common knowledge that any electronic device does create a magnetic field, whether or not the field is strong enough, and therefor if it has any effect on our health, is unknown."

This is bullshit. Consumer electronics produce B orders of magnitude less than the earth's B.

Possible explaintions?

You cried as a baby because babies cry. Your parents didn't know what to do so they hired a snake oil salesman to bury a brick of lead in your yard. This brick spent the next 15 years contaminating the water you drink, which is why you are now insisting on having this ridiculous conversation.

That one sounds unlikely.

We don't drink from that water. It's underground and we don't get it up. It just goes under our house.

The link you have me was 100% bullshit. Please believe that. I don't know why you had headaches because I'm not a doctor.

I can tell you though, that EM radiation, and almost certainly any other type of radiation, does not work the way you described.

As for the snake oil salesman, I don't know... It was sort of a last resort of my parents and it worked. My dad tried the dowsing rod himself and found the same, although I imagine that doesn't make it sound better :P
Also, I was a little bit older than I initially thought I think.

Another funky thing: my dad got a headache by sitting next to the man, which is a completely different mystery. My mother felt the same when he sat next to her.