I remember reading about this Faraday's cage in my engineering studies.
But ,like we are going to have wearable computers in the near future and also a lot is happening on having circuits on flexible materials , I thought may be one day we will have our clothes designed to act as EM shields .
May be the Nanotechnology will help us in this matter.
Prabhakar, actually there is a means to minimise the penetration of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). It's called a "Faraday Cage". Its principle is based on the fact that EMR cannot penetrate through metal objects.
Technically, making wearable Faraday Cage is possible, however, due to practical limitations, such wearables can be effective to some extent.
The problem with this solution is its practicality and whether people will adopt it. Making suitable headwear that people will always wear outdoors is also a challenge. Such protection will mean that before going out, we will all need to wrap up against EMR regardless of the weather, which also seems impractical.
It is a good point electrx_lyf, the debate is in place since a long ago and several contradictory studies have been produced, past June an important position from IARC, appears as the most shared, for now.
It is really difficult to understand the direct and indirect effects of the radiation. At the same it also not so easy to avoid the radiation from base stations in urban areas particulary. The mobile in pocket is again a big problem - i will take the advice of not having in pocket.
If we cannot avoid all this electromagnetic radiation bombarding on our bodies almost 24 hours a day, if some kind of a wearable shield is developed which unobtrusively sucks all that radiation - or provides a short circuit path to it away from our body then it could be a Nobel-prize winning invention.
Like those insect repllents and mosquito repellents , we may need a EM repellent.
Honestly, topic is very hot, there isn't any reason, in my opinion, for call you "paranoic". GSMA has launched for example, a specific program for making green mobile networks on both side, antenna and handsets. I suggest to take a look at, it is very interesting.
Dave, I think you have a very valid point. The cumulative effect of radiation from multiple devices are never regulated and that is where the problem is. Although a single mobile phone may be compliant to FCC and CE regulations, if you are sitting in the middle of 10 of such mobile phones (like in a meeting rooms or an office), you are exposed to 10 times the regulated emission from many directions.
Similarly, base station antennas in cities are located very close to one another. Someone casually walking down a busy street gets exposed to cumulative radiation from tens of base stations at each step.
Call me paranoid but I sometimes get the feeling that the true effect of mobile phone useage on health is not disclosed to public purely because of its possible adverse economical effects. For obvious reasons, the industry giants would never want conclusive scientific evidence to be known by the consumers, would they?
Ill effects to humans will be very difficult to prove as each device or piece of electronics may be deemed safe on its own, although we are all bombarded with electromagnetic waves from all around us every day.Like Barbara mentioned, if there are any side effects or mutations, they will show up generations from now.Perhaps by then, there will be cures for whatever damage that may have been caused.
Cagri--this is one of the best analyses of this dilemma I have seen. I don't think habits are going to change without compelling proof of real problems. It also occurs to me that it may be our children or grandchildren who experience the effects, if any. The pace of technology has accelerated faster than human procration. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
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