Scientists are railing on a BBC program which claims a Wi-Fi laptop puts out “three times” the radiation as a cell phone tower. Sound scary? Naa, it’s just based on a shoddy experiment:
Paddy Regan, a physicist at the University of Surrey, criticised the experiment at the heart of Panorama’s claims because the measurements of signal power had not been made at equal distances from the mobile phone mast and the Wi-Fi laptop. A spokesman for the programme told the Guardian that the “three times higher” comparison was based on measurements taken one metre away from the laptop and 100 metres away from the phone mast, although material sent to journalists promoting the programme did not make this clear. Dr Regan said: “It’s a basic fundamental of science measurement, that if you are trying to compare things you have to take into account the so-called inverse square law.” To make a fair comparison between two radiation sources the measurements should be taken at the same distance away. The levels measured by the Panorama investigation were 600 times lower than levels considered dangerous by the government. “It does sound like a scare story to me,” said Dr Regan.
The article also states, “…a person sitting within a Wi-Fi hotspot for a year receives the same dose of radio waves as a person using a mobile phone for 20 minutes.” With the amount of time people spend talking on their mobile phones, Wi-Fi hotspots should be the least of their worries.
that’s a pretty bad experiment. but seriously, all those waves everything wireless around us has does effect us. we can’t tell how bad until later on. this is like light speed communication tucked next to our hands or groin. watch out.
Unfortunately I frequently access the Web with a computer in my lap, keep a phone in my front pocket… If WiFi or cellular waves are as harmful as some people say, I’m in trouble.