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Cell Phone Radiation Could Interact With Human Tissues in a Never-Before-Considered Way

More Cell Signal Controversy Steve Kazella via Wikimedia

Los Alamos National Labs is often associated with bombs, and the one it dropped today is no less likely to stir up a firestorm. Figuratively speaking, of course. That simmering controversy surrounding cell phone signals’ effect on biological tissue surfaced again today via a Los Alamos researcher who says the microwaves emitted by cell phones can interact with human tissues in an entirely new way that has yet to be taken into account.
There are obviously two sides to the debate here, one that cites evidence showing that cell phone signals have been shown to influence human behavior and health, and the other which claims that epidemiological evidence shows no indication that cell phone signal exposure correlates to the aforementioned health effects.
But the particularly potent argument for cell phone safety is that microwave photons don’t have enough energy to break chemical bonds. And if they can’t break chemical bonds, then they can’t damage biological tissues. For many physicists, this is case closed.
Bill Bruno, theoretical biologist at Los Alamos, says otherwise. If you want to get into the nitty-gritty science of it, there’s a link to his paper at the bottom of this post. But the basic argument is this: the traditional idea that microwaves aren’t strong enough to affect human tissues only applies when the number of photons in a space equivalent to a cubic wavelength is less than one. When the density is higher, photons can interfere constructively--that is, the effects can compound and interact in stronger ways than they normally could.
Bruno cites optical tweezers as an example. We know that optical tweezers, which use photons to manipulate very small objects like cells, can do damage to structures. That’s well documented. And that’s because the photons are piled on--the more photons, the stronger the force (and the more potential damage).
Optical tweezers work in the infrared generally, but it raises questions about whether the same is true of photons in the microwave range because one thing is clear: the density of photons per cubic wavelength in cell signals is many orders of magnitude greater than one. So, Bruno says, there is a mechanism by which damage could occur, and the conditions for that mechanism to work are present around cell phones and cell towers.
Now, this doesn’t mean that microwave photons are necessarily scrambling your neurons, but it does add another wrinkle to the debate and is cause for concern and further evaluation. At the very least, Bruno says the argument that microwaves can’t achieve the strength to break chemical bonds is no longer enough to discount the idea that cell phones are harmful to biological tissue.
Consider this controversy far from resolved. The full paper is available here.

Bandages Made of Edible Starch Could Dissolve On Your Skin Once You're Healed

No need to peel them off Duct Tape Bandage There is a better way. Finely spun starch fibers woven into a bandage could dissolve on your skin and be absorbed by your body, eliminating the sting and hassle of ripping it off in one fast motion. Starch fibers could also be used to produce toilet paper, napkins and other biodegradable products, according to researchers at Penn State. Food science researchers dissolved starch into a fluid, then spun it into long strands that can be woven into mats, according to a university news release. Anyone who has ever dissolved starch in water knows it can have some awesome physical properties, but the resulting thick paste is not that useful beyond a fun experiment or maybe thickening some soup. To spin it into thin threads, the Penn State researchers added a solvent to help the starch break down more readily. The solvent allowed it to maintain its molecular structure, and the researchers used an electrospinning device to spin the material into long strands. The fibers could then be woven like any other fiber into a wide range of materials, from bandages to paper. If they're used as a bandage, the starch fibers could simply degrade into glucose after some time and be absorbed by the body, according to grad student Lingyan Kong, who led this research. No more ripping off a Band-Aid. The fibers could serve other functions where other polymers, like cellulose or petroleum-based plastics, are typically used. The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and now the Penn State team is applying for a patent.