183/2018 • 11 AUGUST, 2018 WEEKEND ISSUE
DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Is your mobile phone damaging your brain? But what do we actually know about the health risks of mobile phones?
Ever since the mobile phone entered our lives in the new millenium, anxieties about its ill effects have abounded.
Gaza feels bite of US cuts to Palestinian aid
Baby squirrel chases man so
A determined Suleiman Abu Oudeh makes his way through the busy UNRWA distribution center in the AlShati refugee camp in Gaza City. With his ID card and coupons in hand, he gets in line where food items are being handed out. "Of course, everyone here is worried and knows that UNRWA is in a difficult situation," says Abu Oudeh, accepting a box of sunflower oil once he reaches the counter. "People are worried that rations might be cut in the long run. It has happened before. The situation in Gaza is so bad. There is no work and many are completely dependent on help."
A man called the Germany police emergency number after being terrorized by a baby squirrel, police in the south western city of Karlsruhe said on Friday. The squirrel was so relentlessly chased the man that he needed police to help deal with the situation. Officers dutifully responded and sent a patrol car to help. The situation eventually resolved itself when the baby squirrel fell asleep. In the official police report officers wrote: "Squirrel will be new mascot, was baptized with the name: KarlFriedrich." Followed by the message, "The squirrel has fallen asleep because of the shock."
relentlessly he calls police
The science on smartphones is far from settled. Brain cancer, nerve damage, and various tumors have all been touted as potential negative consequences of regular mobile phone use. While no solid evidence has been found to prove itʼs dangerous, this doesnʼt mean there is no cause for concern. What about radiation?A lot of the concern around the health and safety risks of mobile phones centres on the radiation emitted. Mobile phones release radiofrequency energy, or radio waves, that can be absorbed by bodily tissues. In the past, studies have linked heavy mobile phone use to certain brain tumors. But according to Martin Röösli, head of the Environmental Exposures and Health Unit at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, the type of radiation emitted by a mobile phone is nothing to be alarmed about. It is a very low energy radio frequency radiation – the same found in TV and radio signals. "Itʼs a non-ionizing radiation, so itʼs not radioactive or x-ray," Röösli told DW. "No direct DNA damage can happen with this type of radiation. Itʼs impossible." As for the link between this kind of radiation and cancer, Röösli says he "does not see such indications." Often these studies are "retrospective” and rely on people remembering their phone use, which people with tumors tend to over-report, Röösli told DW. "We havenʼt seen an increase in cancer rates in the last two decades, which you would certainly expect if there was a
major risk in mobile phone use," he added. Likewise, Frank de Vocht, reader in Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Bristol, told DW itʼs unlikely the dangers of mobile phones have simply gone under the radar. "If the use of mobile phones would increase the risk of something significantly like, say, cancer, this would have been picked up much more clearly with the scientific methods we have now; for example how the risks of tobacco smoking on lung cancer are straightforward to pick up." Wait, thereʼs more But that doesnʼt mean mobile phone radiation has no effect on the brain at all. Previous research has found evidence that it can change our brainwaves. And now,a new study coauthored by Röösli has found a link between mobile phone use and adverse effects on young peopleʼs memory retention. Swiss researchers studied 700 adolescents aged between 12 and 17; tracking their phone habits and getting them to complete memory tests. Over the course of a year participants had to fill out a questionnaire about their mobile phone habits, as well as answer questions about their psychological and physical health. They then completed a series of computerized cognitive tests. Röösli said a unique feature of the study was the use of phone user data from mobile phone operators. That meant for every call made by the participants, the researchers "knew on which network it took place and how long it lasted."
Multiple deaths in New Brunswick shooting incident
Romanian expats return home for major antigovernment protest
At least four people, including two police officers, were killed in a shooting incident in the eastern Canadian city of Fredericton in New Brunswick. The Fredericton police said in a post on Twitter they had taken one suspect in custody. The suspect is currently being treated for serious injuries. Police have asked residents to avoid the area of shooting as investigation is still ongoing. The circumstances of the shooting are unclear at this point.
Hundreds of Romanian expatriates have driven across Europe for what is expected to be one of the biggest anti-government protests since the current administration came to power. The demonstrators, who have gathered outside the government offices in Bucharestʼs Victoriei Square, are calling for the countryʼs leaders to resign over corruption allegations and early elections.