Week 5- Tony Tran

I found the first article “Is Wi-Fi in Schools Safe?” to be poorly written. The main interviewee goes on and on about how there are negative implications due to EMF and somehow connecting that to the wi-fi in schools. She states through the proof of 20,000 studies that “radio frequency radiation is biologically active.” With that quote, she tries to scare the reader by inciting how it may affect humans and associating that with radiation. If she had any science education, she would know that radio radiation-the same type of radiation as wifi signals- is the non-ionizing form of radiation. Non-ionizing radiation does not have enough energy to excite molecules thus cannot mutate DNA. Additionally, if a human is exposed to multiple low-levels of photons of this form of radiation, it is not harmful because it is only of a concern when there is a massive single source’s burst of photons. Even then, any form of non-ionizing radiation can only excite molecules such that it produces heat. What should be of concern is ionizing radiation which is electromagnetic radiation from ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma rays. To dumb things down, a single banana (has traces of radiation due to potassium) more lethal radiation than a whole room of wifi signals and microwaves surrounding you (only concern would be a thermal burn). Hell, if you just think of the amount of trace minerals of potassium and other potential radioactive minerals in our own body that is necessary for body functions, we have more radiation in our own body than the typical environment.

But back to the article, the reason why I am pissed about it is that she associates EMF to cancer, medical conditions, and stress. There is a reason why she kept throwing emotionally charged lines without evidence that radiation harms anyone. In any case, what I would say to a person like Rees is that just reading and thinking about her opinion about wifi radiation creates more stress and bodily harm than the wifi radiation itself.

And one more thing for her to swallow is the fact that every single car has a radio that has radio wave radiation. If she was so concerned about a single wifi signal, why is she not worried about that source of radiation that has been used for decades can be concentrated during traffic jams?

The second article talks about how it affects animals such as birds and bees by distorting their internal compass. Humans don’t have such a magnetic compass so we don’t have to worry. We are not tomato plants, so we’re in the clear. And if there are people that have the issue of electrohypersensitivity, then they need to have their own education accommodations and not be the reason for the ban of electronic use in schools. The only good thing to reducing or banning electronics from youth schools is that it prevents them from extra stimulation that they may enjoy but will still create physiological stress. At that young of an age, I believe electronics does interfere with their education; however, I think it is due to affecting the quality of the education and not due to radiation that they say produces stress.

Question: How many people in our society honestly think that appliances such as our wifi router create harmful waves? I just cannot imagine how we live in a society where not only the poor and uneducated are ignorant, but the rich and educated are now also ignorant of science-related issues. This can go back to our discussion in lecture on how society can fix itself to sustain themselves as well as the earth. After some pondering, I think the one thing that needs to change is that the upper/political/business class needs to be re-educated in science in order to be more knowledgeable about issues that impact the earth to the lands and ultimately the society and its people. Because the government has never been ruled by a person with an appropriate science background, we will never be able to even begin sustaining the earth. If we cannot sustain earth, then we cannot sustain humans. It is as simple as that.

If you cannot see it, I have a link below. Bananas are 2 blue blocks worth of radiation.

https://xkcd.com/radiation/