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There's no evidence that nonionizing radiation like microwaves can cause cancer. I think that was probably more likely due to the fact that everyone back then s

There's no evidence that nonionizing radiation like microwaves can cause cancer. I think that was probably more likely due to the fact that everyone back then smoked about 4 packs a day.

jostmey 9y ago
At safe levels, sure. But at ultra-extreme levels it might. But you're right, smoking probably killed them
- mritun 9y ago
  Non-ionizing radiation does kill at ultra-high level, but not through cancer, just plain old burning. That's exactly what your microwave over does.
gh02t 9y ago
Plus that bug was a backscatter radio. It didn't actually emit radio waves on its own, it just resonated in response to a carrier wave. The Soviets had to illuminate it with a 330 MHz radio signal from outside, but that's not ionizing.
- flavio81 9y ago
  If you look at the design of said device (invented by Lev Sergeivich Termen aka Leo Theremin), you'll suspect that it will require a pretty powerful microwave beam to work.
  - gh02t 9y ago
    [Probably] not enough to cause any harm. RF isn't dangerous until it is powerful enough to cause local heating and obviously this wasn't that powerful. I can't really find much info on how much power Theremin's bug took, but modern backscatter radios usually operate at very low power, at the level of ambient RF from normal radio etc but can transmit 10 km or more. Based on other designs I've seen I suspect it wouldn't actually take much, though that is just an educated guess.
melling 9y ago
One guy had pancreatic cancer and another guy had leukemia, if I googled the right people. Doesn’t sound like cigarettes?
- mschuster91 9y ago
  According to German cancer society, leukemia is associated with smoking but majority of leukemia cases cannot be attributed to a specific cause (https://www.krebsgesellschaft.de/onko-internetportal/basis-informationen-krebs/krebsarten/leukaemie/ursachen-und-risikofaktoren.html https://www.krebsgesellschaft.de/onko-internetportal/basis-i...), and 25% of pancreatic cancers attributed to smoking, with alcohol abuse greatly increasing the risk (https://www.krebsgesellschaft.de/onko-internetportal/basis-informationen-krebs/krebsarten/bauspeicheldruesenkrebs/ursachen-und-risikofaktoren.html https://www.krebsgesellschaft.de/onko-internetportal/basis-i...). Smoking (and excessive drinking) kills in many ways... and if your family has a cancer history, risk is even higher. Wonder how long I'll live, a relative died after years of battling liver, lung and other cancers due to smoking+drinking.

There's no evidence that nonionizing radiation like microwaves can cause cancer. I think that was probably more likely due to the fact that everyone back then smoked about 4 packs a day.

jostmey 9y ago

At safe levels, sure. But at ultra-extreme levels it might. But you're right, smoking probably killed them

mritun 9y ago
Non-ionizing radiation does kill at ultra-high level, but not through cancer, just plain old burning. That's exactly what your microwave over does.

gh02t 9y ago

Plus that bug was a backscatter radio. It didn't actually emit radio waves on its own, it just resonated in response to a carrier wave. The Soviets had to illuminate it with a 330 MHz radio signal from outside, but that's not ionizing.

flavio81 9y ago
If you look at the design of said device (invented by Lev Sergeivich Termen aka Leo Theremin), you'll suspect that it will require a pretty powerful microwave beam to work.
- gh02t 9y ago
  [Probably] not enough to cause any harm. RF isn't dangerous until it is powerful enough to cause local heating and obviously this wasn't that powerful. I can't really find much info on how much power Theremin's bug took, but modern backscatter radios usually operate at very low power, at the level of ambient RF from normal radio etc but can transmit 10 km or more. Based on other designs I've seen I suspect it wouldn't actually take much, though that is just an educated guess.

melling 9y ago

One guy had pancreatic cancer and another guy had leukemia, if I googled the right people. Doesn’t sound like cigarettes?

mschuster91 9y ago
According to German cancer society, leukemia is associated with smoking but majority of leukemia cases cannot be attributed to a specific cause (https://www.krebsgesellschaft.de/onko-internetportal/basis-informationen-krebs/krebsarten/leukaemie/ursachen-und-risikofaktoren.html https://www.krebsgesellschaft.de/onko-internetportal/basis-i...), and 25% of pancreatic cancers attributed to smoking, with alcohol abuse greatly increasing the risk (https://www.krebsgesellschaft.de/onko-internetportal/basis-informationen-krebs/krebsarten/bauspeicheldruesenkrebs/ursachen-und-risikofaktoren.html https://www.krebsgesellschaft.de/onko-internetportal/basis-i...). Smoking (and excessive drinking) kills in many ways... and if your family has a cancer history, risk is even higher. Wonder how long I'll live, a relative died after years of battling liver, lung and other cancers due to smoking+drinking.