The iLab
Many of you have been told to stay far from the microwave when it is in use to prevent harm to your body; however, most of us never contemplated the harmful effects of cell phone radiation which uses the same kind of radiation as the microwave. There are few disclaimers warning against cell phone use because the dangers of cell phone radiation have been a new issue in the scientific and medical world. Therefore, there has not been any long term research to confirm the level of harm of the cell phone’s radiation.
To find out how to reduce the possible risks from using a cell phone, Mr. Evans’s Physics II class spent a week working on an online experimental lab conducted by MIT called iLab. The lab helped determine whether or not you can reduce the amount of radiation absorbed in your brain by increasing the distance from you and your cell phone. By measuring how many electrons were given off by radiation at different intervals, the students found out that the farther you’re away from the source of radiation, the less amount of radiation you’ll absorb, because of the indirect relationship bound between proximity and intensity. This means that the amount of microwave radiation emitted from your cell phone to your brain can be reduced by simply having your cell phone farther away from yourself. Don’t worry, there are ways that you can protect yourself without ditching your cell phone! You can increase the distance between yourself and your cell phone to reduce the amount of radiation you absorb; you can use the speaker feature on your cell phone while calling or get a “airtube headset” (as opposed to a wired headset which can attract even more radiation from the surroundings). If you are ever changing your cell phone, you may want to ask about the “SAR” (Specific Absorption Rate) for the phone in order to get the phone that can best reduce the amount of radiation going into your body. Don’t get us wrong, we love our cell phones, too; just keep in mind that limiting your cell phone usage may be beneficial to your health in the future!
Submitted by: Iris and Natalia ‘11
