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For example, imagine an enzyme that was designed to (a) receive microwave radiation- In that case, why privilege microwaves over all other non-ionizing frequen
by AngryParsley 16y ago
For example, imagine an enzyme that was designed to (a) receive microwave radiation-
In that case, why privilege microwaves over all other non-ionizing frequencies? If people are concerned about microwaves causing cancer, they should also be concerned about infrared, radio, and power lines. You bring up a good point: If cell phones cause cancer, it would tell us something new about biology, chemistry, and/or physics.
Even if the worst-case studies are true and cell phones double your risk of brain cancer, I still don't think people should change their habits. Brain cancer is incredibly rare and phones are incredibly useful. We make these usefulness-safety tradeoffs all the time. For example, automobiles cause around 2% of deaths worldwide (1-2 million people per year) but we use them anyway.
- carbocation 16y agoYes, good points. It's so unexpected by you, me, and most everyone who does science that it would probably be a Nobel-worthy observation. The point about effect size is also critical. If my probability of developing brain cancer is 0.00001% and talking on a phone multiplies my risk by 3 (quite a large effect size), I'm still far more likely to die from heart disease, or an accident, or some other cancer, or, well, anything else.
- hga 16y agoOr you're more likely to die from not having a cell phone handy in an emergency, or not living in a society where they're ubiquitous, etc. Even purely in lives cost or saved there are two sides of the ledger. Multiply or more by N times for societies that never got serious landline coverage and jumped to major cell phone availability.
- po 16y ago…they should also be concerned about infrared, radio, and power lines. Unfortunately, many people are worried about these things.