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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM)
QCOM 165.31+1.2%10:59 AM EST
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To: Maurice Winn who wrote (6684)12/23/1997 9:12:00 PM
From: John Cuthbertson  Read Replies (1) of 152472
 
Hi Maurice,
On the subject of photons causing mutations: a 1900 MHz photon carries about 8 micro-electron-Volts of energy. That is way, way below the energy needed to affect a chemical bond by itself (on the order of 1 electron-Volt). It probably isn't even enough to cause a molecule to vibrate internally. So single photon effects are just completely unimportant at these frequencies. But, you might have lots of photons coming through, in which case you could heat things up, and this is where you might cause a problem. So it is really back to your worry about cooking things! ;-)

You're right that understanding causal relationships is much nicer than epidemiology. And that is why people are able to be so certain about the lack of risk from power lines. The physics of electromagnetic waves and fields is very well understood. Photons from 60 Hz em waves from power lines are just not going to penetrate your body, so there is no mechanism to cause you any harm.

It doesn't seem obvious at all to me that cell phones cause cancer. It seems possible, but not obvious. I agree completely with Caxton that the biggest risk is from driving accidents.

You're probably right about people not being willing to trust the experts, and that's a real problem. Especially when they are so willing at the same time to trust complete crackpots! If we are going to have a technological society, we really have to have some way to decide which risks are likely big enough to worry about.
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