Science reassures about the effects of new technologies on human organism.
by
Luca Longo
15 October 2020
5 min read
by
Luca Longo
15 October 2020
5 min read
It’s clear as day now: in times of crisis, fake news spreads quicker than any virus. That’s just what has happened with the myth that 5G networks are behind the Covid-19 pandemic, because they spread the SARS-CoV2 virus. Teams around the world are researching tirelessly to find out how the infection mechanism really works, find drugs with which to treat its victims and come up with a vaccine that will stop the virus claiming more.
But the scientific method is a slow process. Every hypothesis has to be analysed by interdisciplinary teams. Every theory must be tested against the facts. Every experiment must be repeated by independent teams around the world to make sure it’s valid. That kind of patience is often lacking on social media.
According to Newsguard, an association of fact-checking journalists, the idea of a link between 5G and coronavirus first emerged on a French conspiracy website, Les moutons enragés. Person-to-person infection was confirmed on 20 January (by which time China had at least 300 infected and six dead) and 5G antennae had been installed in Wuhan in the months leading up. Two days later it was all over the papers.
On 22 January, Het Laatste Nieuwsin Belgium published an interview with a physician Kris Van Kerckhoven, with the unequivocal headline: “5G is life-threatening and no one knows it.” Three months later, some nutters across Europe started torching 4G antennae. Conspiracy theories about the dangers posed by these networks go back to the appearance of the first mobile phones in the early 1990s. But the first health scare about phones in general goes back all the way to the beginning of the 20th century.
Lots of people took part in a global protest against 5G
As the Los Angeles Daily Timesreported at the time, the founding meeting of the Southern California Electro-Medical Society took place at the Hotel Hollenbeck on 3 June 1903. Under Dr. Shepard Barnum’s chairmanship, the new association’s 38 members tossed about their theories on how the human body interacted with X-rays, high- and low-frequency currents and radio waves. On 6 October 1924, in the sixth edition of Science and Invention, Hugo Gernsback –one of the fathers of modern science fiction and a scientist to boot– was forced to explain that the new radio technology was not responsible for flooding, drought or even earthquakes that year.
Italy played a decisive part in all this. In June 1936 Mussolini’s wife, Rachele Guidi, was driving along the Rome-Ostia route when approximately near Acilia, some cars, including her own, stopped suddenly for at least 20 minutes and then left again and proceeded normally. Responsibility for the event was given to the so-called death ray, experienced by Guglielmo Marconi -the inventor of the radio. Marconi had founded the Centro Radioelettrico Sperimentale at Torre Cannuccia, near Rome, in 1932 and been trying to point microwave beams at cars, planes and even grazing cows since then. The cars were probably stopped by his first attempts at making a radar system.
A few dozen years later, in the 1990s, the first mobile phones turned up and, with them, a host of more and more new technologies. Everything from TACS to GSM, to 2G, 3G and 4G, then Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, raised concerns about the potential harmful effects of their electromagnetic frequencies. It’s been proven that electromagnetic waves like ultraviolet rays, X-rays and alpha, beta and gamma radiation can interact, often harmfully, with the human body, but only at much higher frequencies, thousands if not millions of times what we’re exposed to.
There's no evidence that at frequencies below visible radiation -particularly in the area of radio waves- there can be (positive or negative) interactions with human health. The 2019 report from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità Italiana shows it, giving a summary of years of research on human exposure to radio frequencies used for mobile phones, TV and other everyday gadgets. Afterwards, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has combined that first report with a study of the kind of radio frequencies you find in 5G networks.
The organisation confirmed that radiation at those frequencies can get into the human body and prompt a slight rise in body temperature, nowhere near as high as the rise when, say, you do an ordinary bit of physical exercise. On this basis, the mobile phones all around us can be considered reasonably safe, given the absolutely non-existent risk posed by all human equipment and activity. In April 2020 the ICNIRP found itself forced to issue an official comment stressing that the idea that Covid-19 is in any way linked to 5G networks “is not supported by any experimental evidence (not even weak evidence), and the mass of scientific publications about electromagnetic radiation linked to 5G shows that these claims have no real foundation”.
This website uses cookies to show you adverts and offer you services customised according to the preferences you have shown while browsing online. For further information please refer to our cookie policy.
THIS WEBSITE (AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN) DOES NOT CONTAIN OR CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF SECURITIES FOR SALE, OR SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO PURCHASE SECURITIES OR IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES (INCLUDING ITS TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS, ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA) OR FOR THE ACCOUNT OR BENEFIT OF ANY U.S. PERSON AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE SECURITIES ACT (A "U.S. PERSON"), AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH AN OFFER OR SOLICITATION WOULD REQUIRE THE APPROVAL OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES OR OTHERWISE BE UNLAWFUL (THE "OTHER COUNTRIES"). THE SECURITIES REFERRED TO HEREIN HAVE NOT BEEN AND WILL NOT BE REGISTERED UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE "SECURITIES ACT"), OR PURSUANT TO THE CORRESPONDING REGULATIONS IN FORCE IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR THE “OTHER COUNTRIES” AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO A U.S. PERSON UNLESS THE SECURITIES ARE REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT, OR AN EXEMPTION FROM THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT IS AVAILABLE. NO PUBLIC OFFERING OF SUCH SECURITIES IS INTENDED TO BE MADE IN THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR IN THE “OTHER COUNTRIES.”
In any Member State of the European Economic Area ("EEA"), the information contained in this website is only directed at and may only be communicated to persons who are "qualified investors" ("Qualified Investors") within the meaning of Article 2(e) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the "Prospectus Regulation").
The information to which this website gives access is directed only at persons (i) who are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations etc.") of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or (ii) who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Order or (iii) to whom it may otherwise lawfully be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). Any investment or investment activity to which this communication relates is only available to relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons, or in the EEA, with Qualified Investors. Any person who is not a relevant person, a Qualified Investor or otherwise permitted under applicable law or regulation to access the information, should not act or rely on the information contained herein.
Confirmation of Understanding and Acceptance of Disclaimer
These materials are for informational purposes only and are not directed to, nor are they intended for, access by persons located or resident in the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa or any of the Other Countries. I certify that:
I am not resident of, or located in, the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan or South Africa or any of the Other Countries or I am not a U.S. Person; or
If I am a resident of, or located in, the EEA, I am a Qualified Investor within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation; or
If I am a resident of, or located in, the United Kingdom, I am a Qualified Investor and a relevant person.
I have read and understood the disclaimer set out above. I understand that it may affect my rights. I agree to be bound by its terms and I am permitted under applicable law and regulations to proceed to the following parts of this website.
WARNING: the above certification constitutes a "self-certification" pursuant to Decree of the President of the Italian Republic No. 445 of 28 December 2000. False certifications are punishable by law.