The Cell Phone Effect
Smart phones a local and national phenomenon. It has added another social avenue for teens and adults that not only give them information but entertainment as well. Media, like pictures and music, are sent in seconds to those we want to share it with. Even short videos are sent via cell phones for our amusement. News and current events stream from our phones in minutes if not seconds. There is no end to the positive side of cell phones. However have you ever considered that your phone may be making you sick? Did you ever think a cell phone could cause cancer? This is a real possibility and no one is talking about it. The effects of cell phone usage are still being studied today. It may not be too far into the future that we discover the first cell phone disease or fatal illness. The question, “Does your cell phone produce radiation that is harmful to your body when in use?” needs to be answered before we can determine the effect it has. If indeed it is true, then what causes this result?
First let’s explore the phones themselves. When we use a cell phone, it utilizes a transmitter to encode our words into a wave. This wave is a continuous sine wave that is varying as it radiates from the antenna built into your phone. A sine wave works based on frequency and is measured by how many times the signals go up and down per second. This sound is then changed and encoded into the sine wave. Then it is sent out as a signal that is intercepted by a radio tower and then directed to the other phone that receives the transmission. The receiving phone decodes the signal back into words.
A typical cell phone only uses less than 1 watt of power to transmit a signal. However the encoded signal is made up of electromagnetic radiation that moves at the speed of light. This type of radiation is similar to what we find in X-ray machines and gamma rays. Basically this is broken down into two parts which are electric and...