Could Cell Phones Be Killing Off Bees?

Researchers in India are concerned that cell phones might possibly be assisting in the decline of the honeybee population all across the world. Due to these concerns, researchers at the Punjab University in Chandigarh decided to investigate whether or not these claims had any basis.

Over the past years, many different countries have seen an undeniable decline in their bee populations. Now many could say that there are a variety of natural causes for this decrease such as climate change, pesticides, and viruses. Despite these possible natural causes, Indian researchers felt that cell phones might also be a plausible culprit. They decided to perform a controlled experiment to explore the possibilities of cell phone interference with the life process of the honeybees.

For the experiment, they had three separate bee hives. One hive had several cell phones placed around it, another had several fake cell phones surrounding it, and the final hive had nothing around it. The real cell phones placed around one of the three bee hives were GSM 900MHz. “The exposure given was 15 minutes twice a day during peak bee activity.”

At the end of three months, the researchers were able to observe some very interesting results. The hive that was surrounded by the real cell phones suffered a significant decline in population. The queen bee of the hive surrounded by cell phones laid less than half of the eggs that the queen bees of the hives that had the fake cell phones or nothing around them. There was also no pollen or honey to be found in the hive that had been surrounded by cell phones.

The researchers that conducted the experiment, Ved Parkash Sharma and Neelima Kumar, stated that they chose to conduct the experiment because there was a growing amount of evidence that electromagnetic fields are to blame for the decline in the bee population. They are afraid that all the radiation from cell phones might possibly be messing with bees’ ability to navigate their way back to the hive.

Certainly more experiments will need to be conducted, but I feel that this information is quite interesting. It definitely seems that cell phone radiation could possibly be killing off honeybees. Hopefully after some more research, a conclusion will be reached as to whether or not cell phones are at least partly the reason for the decrease in the bee population across the world.

---

Looking for help with travel and technology? Then call a Tech Travel Agent at 800-736-8772. Or see this link for a Laptop Rental on your next trip.

Anti-Radiation Blackberry Cases from Pong

There is still a fierce ongoing debate about how cell phone radiation really affects the human body. For Blackberry Curve owners who don’t want to take any chances, Pong Research has developed a brand new Blackberry Curve Case that should put their minds at ease.

At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Pong revealed their new protective cell phone case that looks very much like any other cell phone case but has been certified by FCC-certified labs to reduce cell phone radiation exposure by more than 60 percent. This case will fit on the 8300, 8310, 8320, and 8330 models of the Curve.

In September, everyone seemed very doubtful about the case, but in October after extensive radiation-testing, it was found to indeed work.

It is very difficult to explain how exactly the technology works, but in Pong’s press release on Wednesday they said, “These cell phone cases exemplify many years of research into precise antenna structure in order to couple with the energy from the phone’s antenna.”

Although difficult to explain, these are the basics to how the cell phone case works. Cell phones send and receive signals from wireless networks by emitting radiation. Now radiation is unable to go to one specific area. It scatters everywhere, and therefore some of it can reach our head. By using what they call “passive antenna coupling,” a second antenna is placed inside of the actual case. This antenna pulls the energy towards itself without having to communicate back to the cell tower.

Essentially, the radiation is redirected up and away from the brain. The case does not lessen radiation levels at all, so while your directing radiation away from your brain, you will not be compromising your cell phone signal. Researchers said, “What we found is the signal strength actually improves, as it is now being directed toward the cell phone tower instead of you head, where it is not improving communication.”

Pong has already released a case like this for the iPhone and it is said that most likely Verizon’s Droid and Google’s Nexus One will be the next phones to receive such cases. Smartphones are the top priority because they have higher radiation levels due to the fact that they have much more data communication to accommodate.

If these cases take off like I think they will, there is definitely a possibility that future cell phones will have this new antenna coupling technology automatically built into the phone.

If you’re at all concerned about cell phone radiation, this is a great way to not worry anymore. The anti-radiation Blackberry Curve case is available for $49.95.

---

Looking for help with travel and technology? Then call a Tech Travel Agent at 800-736-8772. Or see this link for a Laptop Rental on your next trip.

Cell Phone Radiation Concerns

There are many people that have expressed their concern for cell phone radiation, and there has actually been quite a bit of debate over it. Honestly, the thought of my cell phone emitting some sort of radiation has never once crossed my mind until I was reading about why some people feel that their could be some danger with constant cell phone usage.

It is known fact that cell phones do emit a tiny amount of radiation with their cellular radios turned on. Even with hundreds of cell phone calls, the amount of radiation is well within the human limits of tolerance. The thing with radiation though is that it has a cumulative effect over time. There is a theoretical possibility that a small number of people who constantly use a cell phone over a long period of time are more at risk to develop certain kinds of neck and brain cancer, but as of now nothing has been proven.

There have been a few studies done this past year that have raised some questions and caused some concerns. A new analysis of 23 unconnected epidemiological studies were unable to find any indication of a connection between cell phones and tumor development. Unfortunately when those studies were looked at more closely, eight of the cases discovered that there was a 10 to 30 percent increased risk of tumors next to those who do not use cell phones, and the increased risk was directly proportionate to the amount of use.

The Environmental Working Group, who released an online guide to cell phone radiation in September, stated that they believed that with the current standard of cell phones there is an increased risk of a long term user (which they define as someone who has used a cell phone for over 10 years) developing a brain tumor from the radiation of the cell phone.

Most everyone believes that more research is needed before any kind of final statement is made about the consequences of the radiation. There have been numerous independent studies that have failed to link cancer to cell phone usage, but since no study will be able to come out and say that cell phone use is 100 percent safe, there will always be worry in the back of some people’s minds.

So the easiest way to avoid any possible harm from the radiation or maybe just to put your mind at ease is to use your cell phone hands free. If the cell phone is not up to your ear, than you avoid all possible risks from the radiation emissions. This is easy enough to do with the use of speaker phone and Bluetooth. Hopefully you aren’t too paranoid about the small radiation possibilities, but if they have worried you, I hope that you now understand that there is no proof of cell phone radiation causing any forms of cancer. Soon there should be more research on this topic that will hopefully put all these accusations to rest.