• Question: why does cellphones mite give radiation to the brain?

    Asked by anon-267552 on 12 Nov 2020.
    • Photo: Bradley Young

      Bradley Young answered on 12 Nov 2020:

      There are lots of types of radiation, including visible light and x-rays and lots of other things. Radio waves are one type of radiation and these waves are what mobile phones use to communicate with the telephone masts. The power of these waves is very low though so it’s very unlikely to cause you any harm.

    • Photo: Patrick Dalton

      Patrick Dalton answered on 12 Nov 2020: last edited 12 Nov 2020 4:54 pm

      Mobile phones use electromagnetic radiation known as “microwave radiation”. There have been a number of studies looking at whether or not having your phone close to your head for long periods of time could have a negative impact on your health, but it is generally agreed upon that there is little to no risk as the amount a phone produces is minimal.
      Unfortunately there are some rumours going around that new phone networks could be hazardous to human health, causing people to attack phone towers, however these rumours are very much untrue.
      There is a bit of a confusion when people here the word “radiation”, as most immediately think of things like nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants. In this case they are usually thinking of “alpha”, “beta” and “gamma” radiation, which are given off by radioactive materials in high amounts, and these can be highly hazardous in large doses.
      You can find small amounts of electromagnetic radiation around you though at all times, this is known as the “Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation” and is what an old TV displays when you switch to a channel which is static.

    • Photo: Joshua McAteer

      Joshua McAteer answered on 13 Nov 2020:

      As others have said mobile phones give off ‘microwave radiation’. You can classify radiation into two kinds ionising and non-ionising. Ionising radiation can create ions. This means that the radiation is able to knock electrons off of atoms. This kind of radiation is very dangerous as the ions can change how atoms bond together in your body and can cause cancer. The other kind is non-ionising radiation. Non-ionising radiation is not able to ionise atoms.

      Electromagnetic waves can be either ionising or non-ionising depending on the frequency. Radiowaves, microwaves, infrared (IR), and visible light are all non-ionising. Ultra violates (UV), X-rays, and gamma rays are ionising.

      Both kinds of radiation can be dangerous, but they are dangerous in different ways. Non-ionising radiation can ‘cook’ you. If you put meat in a microwave oven it will heat up the meat, just like it would if it was part of you. Ionising radiation can also ‘cook’ you, but it can also damage your cells by ionising the atoms in them.

      Microwave ovens are safe because they are in metal boxes that capture the microwave radiation. Mobile phones are safe because they transmit very low levels of microwaves. Whilst they use similar frequencies the amount of energy that the can output is very different. Microwave ovens typically output about 800watts, whereas mobile phones can’t output more than 3watts of power.

      Our bodies naturally are able to regulate our temperatures (if you drink a hot cup of tea your body cools down by either sweating slightly more or by dilating blood vessels in the skin to release more heat), we can easily deal with small amounts of additional heat.

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