Is 5G completely safe and secure?
Is 5G radiation more or less dangerous than currently used 2G/3G/4G?
Just read this article and advice also other people to read (including two earler articles referenced). It tries to cover both the sides that say 5G is safe and 5G could potentially dangerous. But does it succeed in covering that properly?
https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/5g-waves/4462072/Does-5G-pose-health-risks—part-3-
Part 1 examined the potential ionization and thermal health risks posed by 5G. These are the conventional risks widely recognized and well controlled.
Part 2 examined electromagnetic (EM) effects. Here, the outcome was not so clear.
144 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ofcom measured UK’s 5G radiation and found that, no, it won’t give you cancer
Dangerous levels of EMF: Evidence-based Measurement Findings
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/02/21/ofcom_measured_5g_radiation_and_found_that_no_it_wont_give_you_cancer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Unbelievable disinformation article that lays out the claim of coronavirus 5G connection. Do not believe.
THE CORONAVIRUS 5G CONNECTION AND COVERUP
February 18, 2020
https://www.wakingtimes.com/2020/02/18/the-coronavirus-5g-connection-and-coverup/
Tomi Engdahl says:
LaDuke: I think the 5G genie should stay in the bottle for a few years
https://www.inforum.com/opinion/columns/1355295-LaDuke-I-think-the-5G-genie-should-stay-in-the-bottle-for-a-few-years
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cell Phone Radio Frequency Radiation
https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/whatwestudy/topics/cellphones/index.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.stuk.fi/aiheet/matkapuhelimet-ja-tukiasemat/matkapuhelinverkko/5g-verkon-sateilyturvallisuus
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Electro-hypersensitive” talk
Wireless wake-up call | Jeromy Johnson | TEDxBerkeley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0NEaPTu9oI
Tomi Engdahl says:
5G judged safe by scientists but faces tougher radiation rules
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51839681
5G phones are to be subject to tougher radiation limits.
It says the new guidelines will provide improved protection for forthcoming 5G technologies that use high frequencies.
It is the first time since 1998 that the guidelines on protecting humans from radiation from phone networks, wi-fi and Bluetooth have been updated.
The rules do not impose new limits on 5G phone masts, but rather concern the phones themselves.
The changes focus on frequencies above 6 GHz. These are not used for 5G in the UK at the moment but could be in the future.
Mobile trade group GSMA said current 5G phones would not be affected as they already fall within the new standards’ limits.
It concluded that apart from some heating of human body tissue, there was no evidence of harm.
“We also considered all other types of effects for instance, whether radio waves could lead to the development of cancer in the human body,” said Mr van Rongen.
“We find that the scientific evidence for that is not enough to conclude that indeed there is such an effect.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
5G confirmed safe by radiation watchdog
No scientific evidence that technology poses threat to human health, say experts
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/mar/12/5g-safe-radiation-watchdog-health?fbclid=IwAR2DnzpYWrhYRQXUxuXD4fYAsHBmOYyFYdVOHyCHvEZB9Ntc2CWdxxDAbBY
5G is safe, according to the international body in charge of setting limits on exposure to radiation, which has updated its advisory guidelines for the first time in more than 20 years.
The International Commission on Non‐Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), the Germany-based scientific body that assesses the health risks of radio broadcasts, called for new guidelines for millimetre-wave 5G, the most high-frequency version of the telecommunications standard.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How baseless fears over 5G rollout created a health scare
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/26/how-baseless-fears-over-5g-rollout-created-a-health-scare
This article is more than 7 months old
Misconceptions about the technology and lack of consultation with local communities may have boosted conspiracy theories
Tomi Engdahl says:
HOLY SMOKE Idiots ‘BURNING 5G masts’ after conspiracy that ‘radiation sparked coronavirus’ is spread by celebs
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11320198/coronavirus-5g-conspiracy-theory-masts/
CONSPIRACY nuts are reportedly setting phone masts alight and targeting engineers after a bizarre claim 5G “radiation” caused the deadly coronavirus spread.
The theory originated last month after a video filmed at a US health conference claimed Africa was not as affected by the disease because it is “not a 5G region”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5G coronavirus conspiracy theory dismissed by networks after Birmingham phone mast fire and abuse of engineers
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/coronavirus-5g-fire-phone-mast-radio-signal-conspiracy-theory-birmingham-a9446416.html
Videos claiming to show 5G towers on fire were posted to a page on Facebook, encouraging others to do the same
Mobile UK, the trade body representing network providers, described the theories as “baseless”, after videos showing workers being harassed and phone masts on fire were shared across social media.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Possible Effects of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure on Central Nerve System
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30481957/
It has been found that RF-EMF can induce changes in central nervous system nerve cells, including neuronal cell apoptosis, changes in the function of the nerve myelin and ion channels; furthermore, RF-EMF act as a stress source in living creatures. The possible biological effects of RF-EMF exposure have not yet been proven, and there are insufficient data on biological hazards to provide a clear answer to possible health risks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Conspiracy theories spread like wildfire in times like this – and they threaten human lives.
Broadband engineers threatened due to 5G coronavirus conspiracies
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/apr/03/broadband-engineers-threatened-due-to-5g-coronavirus-conspiracies
EE suspects telephone mast engulfed by fire in Birmingham was an arson attack as celebrities claim Covid-19 caused by new network
Tomi Engdahl says:
There has been many unsubstanciated claims of potential “Radiation poisoning” from 5G.
Many people got radiation poisoning at Chernobyl but people will not get the same from 5G. There are many different kind of radiation, some are very dangerous and some are much less so.
Based on current science “5G radiation” is much less harmful that radiation from sun and natural background radiation we receive all the time.
Natural radiation in form of radon is known cancer source. Sun causes lots of skin cancer.
Smart phone RF has been WHO has put in this category ” there is evidence that falls short of being conclusive that exposure may cause cancer in humans ”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48616174
“Cigarette smoking is by far the most common cause of lung cancer in the United States, but radon is the second leading cause. Scientists estimate that about 20,000 lung cancer deaths per year are related to radon.”
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/radiation-exposure/radon.html
“Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is the number-one cause of skin cancer, but UV light from tanning beds is just as harmful.”
https://www.webmd.com/beauty/sun-exposure-skin-cancer
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sunlight contains mmWave from 2000 to 690nm. In fact its possible to detect solar radiation even at 10 GHz and satellite receivers have circuitry to mitigate this.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This burning 5G tower story was widely published by many news outlets:
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/coronavirus-5g-fire-phone-mast-radio-signal-conspiracy-theory-birmingham-a9446416.html
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-5g-mast-set-on-fire-after-baseless-conspiracy-theory-link-to-pandemic-11968217
https://www.5gradar.com/news/birmingham-5g-mast-goes-up-in-flames
https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2020/04/03/theories-linking-coronavirus-to-5g-are-baseless-networks-say-after-mast-fire/
Burning those towers down will release beryllium dust, causing Beryllicosis… Much worse than Corona virus. https://beryllium.com/uses-and-applications/communications
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cell phone tower shut down at elementary school after eight kids are diagnosed with cancer in ‘mysterious’ climate
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6886561/Cell-phone-tower-shut-elementary-school-eight-kids-diagnosed-cancer.html?fbclid=IwAR3acPtpu1YtpWCsG9-gcKJmqvtaonDNURrFhLrYw1uLHfRQPswoJH8FWmg
There is scant evidence that cell phone towers pose a real risk to humans
But even skeptics say the number of cases in this cluster is unusual
Sprint, which owns the tower, has shut it down despite insisting the radio frequency levels are 100 times below the federal limit
Eight children have been diagnosed with cancer at the same elementary school – prompting parents’ fears that a cell phone tower could be to blame.
But the kids’ mothers say their own private investigator found much higher levels, though still below the limit.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘We’re not naive to the fact that there could be other components out there – other environmental influences… but the bottom line that we feel in regards to this tower is it doesn’t belong there… if there’s any indications that its unsafe.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6886561/Cell-phone-tower-shut-elementary-school-eight-kids-diagnosed-cancer.html?fbclid=IwAR3acPtpu1YtpWCsG9-gcKJmqvtaonDNURrFhLrYw1uLHfRQPswoJH8FWmg0
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11320198/coronavirus-5g-conspiracy-theory-masts/
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘The worst kind of fake news’: UK government blasts 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories
https://www.rt.com/uk/484980-5g-fake-news-uk-government/
Conspiracy theories linking 5G mobile telecommunications masts with the spread of the Covid-19 illness have been blasted as “dangerous nonsense” and “the worst kind of fake news” by UK government officials.
The baseless theories have gained traction recently, prompting apparent arson attacks on masts and leading to engineers working on communications infrastructure being threatened by anti-5G campaigners.
NHS England’s national medical director, Professor Stephen Powis, went further, blasting them as “complete and utter rubbish” and “the worst kind of fake news.”
The reality is that the mobile phone networks are absolutely critical to all of us, particularly at a time when we are asking people to stay at home.
“Those are also the phone networks that are used by our emergency services and our health workers and I’m absolutely outraged, absolutely disgusted that people would be taking action against the very infrastructure that we need to respond to this health emergency,” Powis added.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘It’s man-made to test 5G’: Boxer Khan spreads coronavirus conspiracy claims, suggests pandemic could be ‘population control’ plot
https://www.rt.com/sport/484967-coronavirus-5g-amir-khan/
Former world champion boxer Amir Khan has suggested that coronavirus did not originate in China and that the Covid-19 pandemic could be part of a plot to test new 5G communication networks and “get rid of a lot of us.”
In a confusing series of clips, the British star repeated a baseless conspiracy theory linking coronavirus to the 5G broadband network, which has recently been rolled out in several countries across the world.
Despite expert scientific studies repeatedly concluding that the high-speed communications system does not pose a threat to humans, Khan said he had “been watching a lot of these videos and stuff” and believed the technology “obviously” poisons human cells and blood, adding that it would “make things bad.”
Now he fears that “very bad” radiation, supposedly emitted by new masts, is causing the crisis – echoing the kind of concerns that may have led to a 20-meter telephone mast being burned in Birmingham this week in what is thought to have been an arson attack by anti-5G protestors.
Technology companies and analysts have said that networks including 5G are vital for communicating during a crisis that has isolated people worldwide.
Tomi Engdahl says:
From Amanda Holden to petrol-filled water guns: It has been a weird week for 5G
Gov.UK to ask social networks to do their part…
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/06/5g/
Comment Amanda Holden is not an epidemiologist. She holds no degree in electrical engineering or physics. Her time is spent judging the (often self-contradictory) Britain’s Got Talent, or sitting next to Phil Schofield on the couch of This Morning
And yet this lack of field-specific expertise didn’t stop her tweeting a link to an anti-5G petition to her almost 2 million followers, provoking a furious response from those more reliably informed.
The petition – much like the original tweet – has since been struck from the internet, although it remains on the Internet Archive, where you can read its breathless rants about the dangers of fast mobile internet.
“5G technology is detrimental to our health. 60 megahertz radiation emitting towers use all the oxygen in the atmosphere causing respiratory problems for humans,” it warned, before going on to suggest that 5G exposure is the phenomenon driving COVID-19.
“Symptoms of 5G exposure include respiratory problems, flu like symptoms (temperature rises, fever, headaches) pneumonia. Very much like the effects of the Coronavirus.”
Of course, none of this is true. For starters – 5G doesn’t operate at 60MHz. Presumably the original author meant 60GHz mmWave 5G, which is something of a bogeyman for the Tinfoil Hat Brigade, despite its overall absence from any actual real-world deployments. There’s also a bevy of testing, from Ofcom and others, proving 5G doesn’t produce anywhere near enough radiation to harm the general public.
And yet it doesn’t seem to matter. 5G conspiracies are firmly within the mainstream, promoted by a cast of unusual bedfellows, including boxer Amir Khan, Cheers actor Woody Harrelson, and shellsuit-wearing lizard-botherer David Icke. And as we discovered this weekend, the public are prepared to take matters into their own hands.
For sale: Supersoaker. Just add petrol
In most major cities, anti-5G graffiti is nothing new. T
But last week, things took a turn for the extreme, with arson attacks on 5G masts in Merseyside, Belfast and Birmingham.
The first mast to be torched was in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham, prompting the call-out of two fire crews to extinguish the burning 70ft (21m) tower. Roughly one hour later, the first footage of the incident made its way online, posted by a user called “Paddymann123″ with the caption: “Say no to 5G.”
This quickly ignited a brief trend, with copycat attacks elsewhere in the country, egged on by conspiratorial Facebook groups that kept score.
Another video from Belfast, captured on the Antrim Road, shows the suspected arsonists yelling “fuck 5G” and “viva la revolution”. Social media platforms have been quick to take down footage from 5G arson attacks
There have also been cases of telecommunications workers being confronted – and in some cases physically assaulted – as they perform their duties.
As of Monday, at least 20 phones masts are believed to have been vandalised.
The carriers fight back
The four main UK carriers – EE, O2, Three, and Vodafone – have issued a joint letter imploring people to grass on those harassing engineers and destroying infrastructure. The letter emphasises the importance of telecommunications during the lockdown, and the absence of a link between 5G and the novel coronavirus.
Separately, Vodafone chief Nick Jeffrey has described attacks on 5G antennas as a “matter of national security”.
“It beggars belief that some people should want to harm the very networks that are providing essential connectivity to the emergency services, the NHS and rest of the country during this difficult lockdown period,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
The government is reportedly to enter talks with the major social networks to convince them to take firmer action against the 5G conspiracy theorists. It’s not yet obvious what that will look like in practice.
Whatever action is taken, it’ll almost certainly prove ineffective – if not utterly counterproductive. When confronted, people tend to double-down on their pre-existing worldviews. A Yale study, published in 2017, found that people are only 3.7 per cent more likely to disbelieve content that’s been flagged as “disputed”.
That’s because conspiratorial thinking often stems from a lack of confidence in institutions. An analysis of conspiracist content published by Frontiers in Psychology in 2015 found that they were vastly more likely to express mistrust (in society, groups, institutions, and specific people) than those posts deemed “conventionalist”.
When it comes to stopping the spread of conspiracist thinking, we’re probably too late. That horse left the stables long ago. But what about the institutional trust thing?
Misleading petition archive:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200403155317/https://www.change.org/p/the-government-no-to-5g-354b39ca-6cbc-4852-99ba-dccc4b6d066e
Tomi Engdahl says:
On 5G And The Fear Of Radiation
https://hackaday.com/2020/04/08/on-5g-and-the-fear-of-radiation/
The world around us is a scary place, with a lot of visible and invisible dangers. Some of those invisible dangers are pretty obvious, such as that of an electrical shock from exposed wiring. Some are less obvious, for example the dangers of UV radiation to one’s skin and eyes commonly known, but also heavily underestimated by many until it’s too late. In the US alone, skin cancer ends up affecting about one in every five people.
Perhaps ironically, while the danger from something like UV radiation is often underestimated, other types of electromagnetic radiation are heavily overestimated. All too often, the distinction between what is and isn’t considered to be harmful appears to be made purely on basis of whether it is ‘natural’ radiation or not. The Sun is ‘natural’, ergo UV radiation cannot be harmful, but the EM radiation from a microwave or 5G wireless transceiver is human-made, and therefore harmful. This is, of course, backwards.
Rather than dismissing such irrational fears of radiation, let’s have a look at both the science behind radiation and the way humans classify ‘danger’, such as in the case of 5G cell towers.
Non-ionizing radiation, instead, makes molecules move using the produced electromagnetic field. Consider the microwave oven, which produces non-ionizing EM radiation at roughly 2.45 GHz, a frequency that works well to affect the dipole moment of water molecules. By rapidly moving the water molecules between different orientations in an alternating EM field, the water molecules begin to dissipate their kinetic energy as heat in a process called dielectric heating. The important distinction is that non-ionizing radiation doesn’t chemically change the water, it just heats it up.
Ultra-violet light is an interesting exception because it straddles the boundary between non-ionizing and ionizing radiation, and even the non-ionizing forms can be dangerous for humans. Although UV light in the UV-A through UV-C range is not ionizing, it damages DNA and parts of the eye. This is why UV-C radiation is used for sterilizing surfaces in laboratories and hospitals: by disrupting DNA and RNA, it kills both bacteria and viruses. Extreme UV (EUV) overlaps slightly with UV-C and is so strongly ionizing that it can normally only be transmitted through a vacuum.
Non-ionizing Radiation is Rather Hot
The dielectric heating principle holds true for all non-ionizing radiation: the primary effect on the human body consists of affecting the dipole moment of molecules in our tissues, causing localized heating. This is why standing in the sunshine, or in front of an infrared (IR) heating lamp, or an operating radar dish makes one feel warm. What we perceive as ‘heat’ radiating off objects is mostly in the IR spectrum, which is why IR-sensitive sensors are commonly used to measure this, for example with IR cameras.
Although in an extreme situation this type of radiation can also affect cell membranes, this requires lots more energy.
the penetration depth of EM radiation (EMR) into biological tissue decreases sharply after about 10 MHz, meaning that high-frequency EMR mostly affects just the skin and the tissues directly underneath it.
The Psychology of Fear
Being able to quickly identify threats in one’s environment and figuring out how to react to these dangers is an essential survival trait. The emotion associated with the perception of such a threat is called fear. A fear response can be rational (a response is warranted) or irrational (a phobia). An individual may also dismiss an actual threat, either completely, or mitigate it using presumed factors. An example of the latter is the very real threat from smoking tobacco and the consumption of alcohol where it excused as a coping mechanism against stress and the like.
This selective approach to environmental threats often leads to a patchwork of mitigating factors, as well as perceived threats where none exist. These perceived threats can be the aforementioned phobia, but also originate from paranoia. In the case of paranoia a thought or notion is amplified by anxiety and fears, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Often these delusions are accompanied by conspiracy elements, with a person or group being accused of being behind this perceived threat. Meanwhile, cognitive bias hampers comprehension of information that should change their mind.
Over the decades, there’s been an increase in fearmongering regarding the safety of wireless equipment, as well as that of ‘unnatural’ radiation, including that from alternating current mains wiring inside houses. As early as 1903 these folk have been referred to as ‘radiophobes‘, with some in this group claiming to be hypersensitive to EM radiation.
Fear of radiation in general has effected politicians into making disastrous decisions, and motivated nations like Switzerland to put a moratorium on 5G over the ‘proven harmful effects of HF-EMF‘.
Studies presumably are showing that radiation levels far below that of the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) recommendations (PDF) cause an increase in various types of cancers. In addition the World Health Organization has classified the risk from RF (radiofrequency EM) as ‘Group 2B’, meaning ‘possible human carcinogen’. Mainstream newspaper articles meanwhile promote conspiracy level thinking, suggesting that the truth about the harms from RF EMR are being hidden from us, like with tobacco.
Most recently, a rumor has sprung up that 5G is somehow responsible for, or linked to, the SARS-CoV-2 (informally: ‘coronavirus’) pandemic, with people going so far as to literally torch down towers that contain 5G and other wireless transceivers. As [Joel Hruska] over at ExtremeTech succinctly points out, the millimeter-wave (20+ GHz) part of 5G that people get upset about has very low range, meaning that the overwhelming part of ‘5G radiation’ that we experience would be in roughly the same frequency range as 4G (LTE) and WiFi.
Science of Radiation Safety
The entire point of the scientific method is to methodically examine and discover how everything around us works, whether it’s on a macroscopic, microscopic or quantum level. When a group of people claim that they can somehow ‘sense’ electromagnetic fields, to the point where it affects their physical well-being, this raises a lot of questions. The primary one being that there is no known biological mechanism that a human would be able to be affected by EMR.
It should come as no surprise that evidence for EM (hyper)sensitivity was completely absent.
That then leaves the question of whether non-ionizing radiation like that from cell towers and WiFi access points is harmful, as some people claim. It certainly could be, if it heated up tissue significantly. The amount of radiation from 4G and 5G wireless towers, as well as that from a cellphone held next to one’s head during a conversation, however, causes barely any heating due to the low power levels involved. So that’s that?
Perhaps the clearest evidence that can disprove the potential harm of cellphone RF radiation comes from the biggest experiment ever conducted, on over five billion cellphone users. Despite an absolutely astounding ramp-up of RF radiation exposure over the past decades, as cell phones became commonplace, there has been no corresponding increase of tumors or other harmful effects. Not from analog cellphone networks, nor from 2G, 3G or 4G or WiFi.
Be Safe, Not Afraid
The essence of the matter thus appears to be that of fearful and paranoid people demanding that the industry proves beyond any shade of doubt that RF EMR like that used with cellphones is ‘absolutely safe’. Unfortunately, unlike in mathematics, science doesn’t deal with proof, only with evidence. And while evidence can easily refute a theory, it can’t prove that something is safe — all science can do is rule out potential causes of harm. And so far, that’s being done.
To the best of our knowledge today, we can say with confidence that there are no effects from non-ionizing radiation beyond the thermal effects, except for the edge case of UV radiation. May there be new discoveries in the future that show that e were too optimistic about the safety of RF EMR? The data and evidence regarding cellphone use since the 1980s does not support any of the propositions that their use is somehow harmful, nor do any controlled studies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5g is not slowly killing us off. Dont be fooled by such claims.
Correlation does not imply causation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Switzerland halts rollout of 5G over health concerns
The country’s environment agency has called time on the use of all new towers
https://www.ft.com/content/848c5b44-4d7a-11ea-95a0-43d18ec715f5
Switzerland, one of the world’s leaders in the rollout of 5G mobile technology, has placed an indefinite moratorium on the use of its new network because of health concerns.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5g is not slowly killing us off. Dont be fooled by such claims.
Even sometimes found weak correlation does not imply causation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tons of paperwork , research , testing , safety protocols and regulations from the FDA and the IEEE : It’s safe.
A random YouTuber : it’s not safe.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Can 5G radiation make you sick? What we found.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JjEwOAs2Kto
Can 5G radiation actually make you sick, harm your health, or even kill you? Is 5G dangerous? Is 5G safe? Some interesting reports have emerged – we’re here to deep dive 5G connections and wavelengths, and its potential effects (or lack of effects) on your body.
Tomi Engdahl says:
I cant believe WHO needs to point this out . People are crazier than I thought
FACT: 5G mobile networks DO NOT spread COVID-19
https://www.facebook.com/154163327962392/posts/3049850971726932/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Then someone gives you 5G conspiracy garbage material, you can always comment:
“Of course he is entitled to his opinion, even if it is total garbage.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fearing the Invisible
https://slate.com/technology/2020/04/coronavirus-covid19-5g-conspiracy-theory.html
The long history behind the 5G COVID-19 conspiracy theory.
“Before every pandemic of the last 150 years, there was a quantum leap in the electrification of the Earth.”
Almost every new wireless infrastructure gets linked to disease in one form or another.
Before going through the history of communication infrastructures and health fears, it’s first worthwhile to trace how we moved from a few random social media posts to where we are now, when the U.K. has threatened to fine broadcasters that blame 5G networks for COVID-19 and some individuals have threatened broadband engineers who work on 5G. As many sources, ranging from USA Today to Reuters, have pointed out, there are no actual links between COVID-19 and 5G networks. The conspiracy doesn’t hold even a kernel of truth. But its roots are illustrative of how conspiracies spread more generally: People took two phenomena occurring at roughly similar times and made up causal links between the two. Large-scale adoption of 5G networks began in late 2019; the first identified cases of COVID-19 happened in late 2019. From there, certain groups were off to the races, with one common rumor stating that Wuhan, China, was both the first place to have an identified coronavirus case and the first city to turn on wide-scale 5G networks. (The latter likely isn’t true.) The conspiracy then spread, with more and more claims using simple correlation to argue that 5G was causing COVID-19. For example, one conspiracy that went semiviral compared a map of COVID-19 hot spots in the U.S. to places that had tested 5G networks. The map showed a clear overlap, but it really just showed major metropolitan areas. Regardless, the existence of 5G in places COVID-19 had been diagnosed was enough to fan the flames.
Finally, it is worth asking why these links come up again and again. Is there something about wireless communication infrastructure that lends itself to concerns about everything from mind control to cancer to pandemics? Maybe there is. Maybe the fact that radio waves are all around us, invisible and intangible yet so consequential, elicits a fear in the unseen. We may never know for sure. But we do know that the 5G COVID-19 conspiracies are only the newest in a long line of concerns about wireless infrastructure, and this will not be the last time we see people trying to link a new wireless infrastructure to some kind of deadly disease.
Tomi Engdahl says:
People keep burning cell towers, fueled by conspiracy theories spread in social media.
Burning Cell Towers, Out of Baseless Fear They Spread the Virus
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/how-a-virus-conspiracy-theory-fueled-arson-and-harassment-in-britain/ar-BB12rCms
Across Britain, more than 30 acts of arson and vandalism have taken place against wireless towers and other telecom gear this month, according to police reports and a telecom trade group. In roughly 80 other incidents in the country, telecom technicians have been harassed on the job.
The attacks were fueled by the same cause, government officials said: an internet conspiracy theory that links the spread of the coronavirus to an ultrafast wireless technology known as 5G. Under the false idea, which has gained momentum in Facebook groups, WhatsApp messages and YouTube videos, radio waves sent by 5G technology are causing small changes to people’s bodies that make them succumb to the virus.
The incidents starkly demonstrate how coronavirus conspiracy theories have taken a dark turn by spilling out into the real world. In just a few weeks, the pandemic has given pre-existing fringe ideas online new urgency by playing on people’s fears.
Before the coronavirus, rarely did such theories cause as much tangible harm so quickly, disinformation researchers said.
“Most conspiracies stay online, but this is having real-world impact,”
The idea has deep internet roots. An analysis by The New York Times found 487 Facebook communities, 84 Instagram accounts, 52 Twitter accounts, and dozens of other posts and videos pushing the conspiracy. The Facebook communities added nearly half a million new followers over the past two weeks.
“This is nonsense of the absolute highest order,”
Wild claims about 5G are not new. The technology has an outsize political importance because it may provide countries with a competitive edge, with faster wireless speeds enabling more rapid development of driverless cars and other innovations.
Internet trolls have seized on 5G and its political implications to sow fear, leading to protests in the United States and elsewhere against the technology in recent years. Russians have pushed claims that 5G signals were linked to brain cancer, infertility, autism, heart tumors and Alzheimer’s disease, all of which lacked scientific support.
“We need to bring 5G down,” said one person in the Facebook group Stop 5G U.K., which has more than 58,600 members.
“They are seeing these conspiracy theories on social media and going out and destroying those masts.”
Videos of burning equipment were shared and celebrated on Facebook.
“You know when they turn this on it’s going to kill everyone,” a woman said of 5G in a recent video on Twitter
Mark Steele, a prominent anti-5G activist in Britain, said the fires were a result of people being frustrated that their safety concerns weren’t taken seriously. Asked if he believed 5G was causing coronavirus, he said, “It’s looking a bit suspicious, don’t you think?”
The companies said that in many cases, vandals had damaged existing infrastructure and not new 5G gear.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5G will use spectrum in the existing LTE frequency range (600 MHz to 6 GHz) and also in millimeter wave bands (24–86 GHz).
Those existing LTE frequency systems should not scare anyone. Those are well known so changing the signal modulation characteristics and keeping the signal strength the same does not change risks.
The 24-86Ghz is technology where there is somewhat less experience in the wide use. But based on earlier limited use you should not be too worried om them either.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Terahertz waves can penetrate some—but not all—materials that are opaque in visible light.
Near-infrared, from 120 to 400 THz (2,500–750 nm).
Red light has a frequency around 430 terahertz, while blue’s frequency is closer to 750 terahertz. Red photons of light carry about 1.8 electron volts (eV)
Tomi Engdahl says:
5G Virus Conspiracy Theory Fueled by Coordinated Effort
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-09/covid-19-link-to-5g-technology-fueled-by-coordinated-effort
Marc Owen Jones, a researcher at Hamad bin Khalifa University in
Qatar, who specializes in online disinformation networks, analyzed
22,000 recent interactions on Twitter mentioning 5G and corona, and
said he found a large number of accounts displaying what he termed
inauthentic activity. He said the effort bears some hallmarks of a
state-backed campaign.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Death by mobile phone
https://www.eetimes.com/death-by-mobile-phone/
Here’s the campaign promise I most want to hear in this — and every subsequent — election season: Every candidate pledges, hand on the Bible, to neither heed nor circulate conspiracy theories of any kind.
Not that I approve of selfies, but I can’t see them doing the sort of mortal harm that has become a side-effect of the global click-storm that has turned 5G telecom technology into an accused carrier of the Covid-19 coronavirus.
“You know, when they turn this on, it’s going to kill everyone.”
— Undentified British woman, quoted in NY Times
If you aren’t following the pseudo-news — fomented by Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, Reddit, 4chan, 8chan, the Daily Stormer, etc. — you might not be aware that there are people burning down cell towers and assaulting phone-company workers because they regard the arrival in China of 5G technology, at roughly the same time as the coronavirus, as “suspicious.”
This outbreak of technology panic is hardly novel. Its best-known historical precedent was the 19th-century Luddite movement in England, when skilled workers fearful of being replaced by machines rioted against the burgeoning Industrial Revolution and destroyed the newfangled mass-production technologies that threatened their jobs.
Early anti-mobile-phone conspiracies contended that pressing the infernal gadget to your ear would send invisible electromagnetic laser shafts directly into your frontal lobe, resulting in brain cancer, dementia, epilepsy and homicidal tendencies. I sort of liked this theory because of its rich narrative possibilities. I could picture a miniseries titled: “Nokia Made Me Kill My Mom.”
Neo-Luddites have continued to flog away at mobile phones despite reports from serious researchers debunking brain-damage and birth-defect theories. On the other hand, the mobile wave produced a few unintended, unhealthy and occasionally fatal consequences. Most alarming is a still-spreading and unchecked pandemic of device addiction.
all day and all of the night, everywhere and forever available for endless, mindless talk and text, streaming, flaming, singing, gaming and frontal nudity. Its seductive algorithms are contrived to escalate shock, outrage and passion with every fresh click.
Millions of humans, thanks to 3G, 4G and — coming soon to a cell tower near you — 5G, have withdrawn almost entirely from human contact, communicating instead, in the words of Herb Gardner, “largely by rumor.”
Drug addicts have been known to kill for a “fix.” Device addicts get killed in their cars while texting or — worse — kill other people in other cars. “Twalking” is a term that refers to people who tweet — head down, weaving and stumbling like drunks — while walking on the street or, now and then, in front of a bus.
There’s an irony, of course. The foremost medium for spreading conspiracy theories about mobile-phone technology is your mobile phone. You would not be aware that 5G might be a harbinger of viral death if you were not thumbing virally away on your 4G phone.
The New York Times found 487 Facebook communities, 84 Instagram and 52 Twitter accounts, and dozens of posts and videos pushing the link between 5G and Covid-19. This population of Facebook conspiracists grew by 500,000 in two weeks. These paranoids keep in contact almost exclusively on their phones (almost all of which are manufactured in China).
Further proof that your “smart” phone is the ideal tool for turning sentient humans into zombified suckers is the fact that it’s now the pipeline for the world’s misinformation leader. Russian troll factories have pushed claims — spurious but irresistible to Woody Boyd and the tinfoil-hat crowd — that 5G signals cause brain cancer, infertility, autism, heart tumors and Alzheimer’s disease.
Simon Clarke, an expert in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, England, told the Associated Press, “The idea that Covid-19 is caused by 5G mobile phone signals is complete rubbish.” A Swedish professor, Myrtill Simkó, scientific director of SciProof International and author of a report examining 5G wireless communication and health effects, said, “As we see it, there is absolutely no connection between Covid-19 and the 5G cellular service.”
Also, there’s Ookla, a company that provides fixed broadband and mobile network testing applications and maps U.S. 5G service. Despite its silly name (rhymes with Kukla), Ookla, in explaining the seeming link between 5G adoption and coronavirus outbreaks, has said, “Telecom providers tend to roll out new technologies (not just 5G) in urban areas where the most people can experience the new technology the quickest. That’s why some people see a seeming correlation between 5G availability and urban populations where Covid-19 epicenters have been identified.”
Of course, conspiracy addicts don’t merely ignore such assurances. They never see them. If a source isn’t a “favorite” on their screen, it doesn’t exist. In an information age with more widespread communication than ever before in history, we’ve spawned a cult of digital burrow-dwellers who only venture above ground long enough to tear down the towers that keep them in touch with one another.
I’d rather our leaders were not in touch with them.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Twitter Bans 5G Conspiracy Theorists From Sharing Harmful Misinformation
https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/04/23/twitter-bans-5g-conspiracy-theorists-from-sharing-harmful-misinformation/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie/#676f7264696
Twitter has updated its coronavirus guidelines, stating it will remove unverified claims that cause “widespread panic” or encourage people to act on conspiracy theories, after phone masts across the U.K. were set alight following bogus claims about 5G.
The social media platform said on Wednesday that content such as “5G causes coronavirus! Go destroy the cell towers in your neighbourhood!” would violate the policy and be removed.
“As we’ve said previously, we will not take enforcement action on every Tweet that contains incomplete or disputed information about COVID-19,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch.
“We have broadened our guidance on unverified claims that incite people to engage in harmful activity, could lead to the destruction or damage of critical 5G infrastructure, or could lead to widespread panic, social unrest, or large-scale disorder,” Twitter TWTR said on Wednesday.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Levittääkö 5G-säteily koronavirusta ja onko se uhka lasten terveydelle? – näin STUK vastaa 9 somesta löytyvään väitteeseen 5G:n vaaroista
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11316936
Epäluulo 5G-mobiiliverkkoa kohtaan on johtanut tukiasemien vandalisointiin eri puolilla maailmaa.
Pelko mobiiliyhteyksiä varten rakennettavaa 5G-verkkoa kohtaan on muuttunut toiminnaksi eri puolilla maailmaa. Esimerkiksi Isossa-Britanniassa, Hollannissa ja Ruotsissa on poltettu useita 5G-tukiasemia osittain siksi, että niiden uskotaan edesauttavan koronaviruksen leviämistä.
Onko somehuhuissa perää?
Suomessa ihmisten huoli 5G:n riskeistä näkyy verkkokeskusteluissa. 5G:n mahdollisista vaaroista käydään vilkasta keskustelua muun muassa Facebookissa. Esimerkiksi Stop5G Finland -ryhmässä(siirryt toiseen palveluun) on yli 2 000 jäsentä.
Vastuu mobiiliverkkojen turvallisuudesta on teleoperaattoreilla. Turvallisuusasioita valvova viranomainen on Suomessa Säteilyturvakeskus.
Keräsimme verkosta 5G-verkkoon ja teknologiaan liittyviä väitteitä ja pyysimme niihin vastaukset STUK:n Ionisoimattoman säteilyn valvontayksikön laboratorionjohtaja Pasi Orreveteläiseltä.
1. 5G-teknologian turvallisuutta ei ole tutkittu tarpeeksi.
Matkapuhelinteknologioissa hyödynnettävän radiotaajuisen säteilyn terveysvaikutuksista on tehty tuhansia tutkimuksia. Näitä tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää myös 5G-teknologian terveysriskejä arvioitaessa.
Rakenteilla oleva 5G-verkko toimii aluksi vain 3,5 gigahertsin (GHz) taajuusalueella. Altistumisen kannalta tämä taajuus ei poikkea merkittävästi aiempien sukupolvien (2G, 3G, 4G) käyttämistä taajuuksista. Seuraavaksi 5G-verkko alkaa hyödyntää noin 26 GHz taajuusaluetta eli niin kutsuttuja millimetriaaltoja. Myöhemmin otetaan käyttöön alle 1 GHz taajuusalue, jolla palvellaan haja-asutusalueiden asukkaita ja esineiden internetin (IoT, Internet of Things) käyttäjiä.
2. 5G-tukiasemat ovat säteilyltään paljon voimakkaampia kuin 3G- tai 4G-tukiasemat.
Ensimmäisessä vaiheessa käyttöön otettavien 5G-tukiasemien lähetystehot ovat samaa luokkaa kuin aiemmissa matkaviestintekniikoissa. Oikein asennetun tukiaseman aiheuttama altistus on hyvin vähäistä.
Millimetriaaltoalueella tukiasemien peittoalue on pieni, noin 100 metrin luokkaa. Tiivis tukiasemaverkko mahdollistaa, että myös 5G-päätelaitteet voivat toimia pienellä lähetysteholla.
3. 5G:n käyttöönotto lisää radiotaajuisen säteilyn määrää ympäristössämme.
5G-teknologia tulee aiempien tekniikoiden rinnalle, joten radiotaajuisen säteilyn määrä tulee hieman lisääntymään. 5G-verkon tukiasemat eivät kuitenkaan tule kasvattamaan altistusta merkittävälle tasolle.
4. 5G-tukiasemat aiheuttavat säteilyä, joka on uhka ihmisen terveydelle.
Radiotaajuisen säteilyn ainoa tieteellisesti todennettu vaikutus on kudosten lämpeneminen.
5. 5G-teknologia on haitallista etenkin lapsille, vanhuksille ja raskaana oleville.
Kun 5G-teknologiaa käytetään siten, että altistuksen raja-arvot eivät ylity, se ei nykytiedon valossa aiheuta terveysriskejä lapsille, vanhuksille tai odottaville äideille.
Matkapuhelinten terveysvaikutuksiin sisältyy toistaiseksi joitakin epävarmuuksia. Tämän vuoksi STUK suosittelee välttämään turhaa altistumista matkapuhelimen säteilylle.
6. 5G-tukiasemien säteily heikentää vastustuskykyä ja altistaa sen vuoksi muun muassa koronavirukselle.
5G-tukiasemien säteily ei altista viruksille, sillä matkaviestinverkoissa käytetyn radiotaajuisen säteilyn ei ole todettu vaikuttavan vastustuskykyyn.
7. 5G-säteily lisää syöpäriskiä.
Kansainvälinen syöväntutkimuskeskus IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) arvioi vuonna 2011, että matkapuhelinten radiotaajuinen säteily saattaa aiheuttaa syöpää. Aiheesta on tehty satoja tutkimuksia, mutta toistaiseksi yhteyttä ei ole voitu vahvistaa.
Syöpätilastoista ei ole havaittavissa, että pitkäaikainen matkapuhelimen käyttö lisäisi aivokasvainriskiä. Muiden altistumistyyppien (muun muassa tukiasemien aiheuttamat taustakentät) osalta IARC katsoo, että näyttöä syöpävaarasta ei ole.
8. 5G on uhka luonnolle, esimerkiksi linnuille ja hyönteisille.
Haitoista ei ole uskottavaa tieteellistä näyttöä.
9. STUK:lla ei ole riittävästi resursseja valvomaan 5G-tukiasemien aiheuttamaa terveysuhkaa.
Vastuu 5G-tukiasemien turvallisuudesta on ensisijaisesti verkkoyhtiöillä. Matkaviestinoperaattoreiden velvollisuus on huolehtia siitä, että tukiasemat asennetaan siten, että väestö ei pääse altistumaan liian voimakkaalle säteilylle.
STUK puuttuu tarvittaessa virheellisesti tehtyihin asennuksiin. Virheelliseksi epäillyistä asennuksista STUK saa tietonsa erityisesti kansalaisyhteydenottojen kautta. Tarvittaessa STUK käy tarkastamassa kyseisen tukiaseman paikan päällä.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scammer made over $ 500k selling 5G repellent lotion online
https://jesusaffairs.com/scammer-made-over-500k-selling-5g-repellent-lotion-online/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scammer made over $ 500k selling 5G repellent lotion online
https://jesusaffairs.com/scammer-made-over-500k-selling-5g-repellent-lotion-online/
“We got one cans of this precious 5G repellent lotion and took it to the lab, turns out it is just a very old Vaseline lotion mixed with very old sun screen. It is really said that people could just believe in something silly like this and spend their money on something they have no clue about. If anything will give them cancer it is the anti-5G lotion not 5G towers”. Said Levi Brooks.
More and more people around the world are joining the Anti-5G groups and destroying the 5G towers. Social network giant Facebook had removed some of these groups when it’s members start participating in the destruction and burning of 5G infrastructure across the world.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5g-tukiasemia tuhotaan mistä salaliittoteoria kumpuaa?
https://www.tivi.fi/uutiset/tv/55913578-c188-4e6e-9dff-f254a328ddd4
Mikään määrä tieteellistä informaatiota ei pysäytä
salaliittoteorioita, koska niille on kova kysyntä.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Czech, US to Cooperate on Security of 5G Networks
https://www.securityweek.com/czech-us-cooperate-security-5g-networks
The Czech Republic and the United States have signed a joint declaration Wednesday for cooperating on security of 5G technology.
The Czech government office said the document was signed remotely by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The signing comes amid a global battle between the U.S. and China’s Huawei, the world’s biggest maker of network infrastructure equipment. Huawei has become the target of U.S. security concerns because of its ties to the Chinese government.
The declaration says that “protecting communications networks from disruption or manipulation, and ensuring the privacy and individual liberties of the citizens of the United States and the Czech Republic, are vital to ensuring that our people are able to take advantage of the tremendous economic opportunities 5G will enable.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Many things about claims how bad 5g is, is perpetuated by smart people who try to sell dumb people a means of “protecting” them selves from something they think is dangerous because someone else told them, no facts. 5g is safe. Don’t be a dummy.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Glastonbury 5G report ‘hijacked by conspiracy theorists’
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52674949
Last month, the town council of Glastonbury in Somerset published a report calling for a government inquiry into the safety of 5G.
It promised to oppose the rollout of the next-generation mobile networks in the town.
Now, three members of the group that produced the report have told the BBC they resigned because it was taken over by anti-5G activists and “spiritual healers”.
They fear it could lend credibility to conspiracy theories, such as 5G being linked to the spread of coronavirus.
“The whole thing was completely biased from the beginning,” says Mark Swann, one of those who resigned.
“Genuine scientific expertise has been scorned in favour of conspiracy and hearsay,” wrote David Swain in his letter of resignation.
“I joined the working group in good faith, expecting to take part in a sensible discussion about 5G,” says Mr Swann. “Sadly the whole thing turned out to be a clueless pantomime driven by conspiracy theorists and sceptics.”
Sceptics
Most of the evidence the committee heard was from witnesses who had stated their support for a moratorium on the rollout of 5G.
They included retired American professor Martin Pall, who in 2019 claimed that wireless networks would make all human beings sterile if they were not switched off within two years.
Another witness was Dr Andrew Tresidder, a former GP whose website offers flower remedies and emotional healing. His presentation focused on people claiming to suffer from “electromagnetic stress”, which he said was often not taken seriously by mainstream doctors.
Committee member Roy Procter, a spiritual healer who claims dowsing can heal “sick houses”, also gave a presentation. In the report, he speculates about a link between the coronavirus and 5G, and recommends that the council eliminate all wi-fi connections.
He recounts an incident where one committee member arrived late to a meeting. She said that although she was hyper-sensitive to electromagnetic emissions, she deemed the meeting room to be safe.
“It was then noted that a wi-fi router was operating and was in the room,” he says.
Those who resigned from the committee say they are concerned about the reputation of Glastonbury.
Last month, Piers Corbyn – the brother of the former Labour leader – led an anti-lockdown protest in the town, where slogans against 5G were shouted.
Mr Swann says the atmosphere in the town has been tense lately and he is worried about the impact of the 5G report.
“This fallacious report severely damages Glastonbury’s credibility,” he says. “It undermines years of good work by well-meaning councillors and leaves a dark shadow over the town’s reputation.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don’t Worry, This Box Will Protect You From 5G!
https://hackaday.com/2020/05/21/dont-worry-this-box-will-protect-you-from-5g/
As part of an investigation into opposition to 5G mobile phone networks in the English town of Glastonbury the BBC reporter [Rory Cellan-Jones] shared details of a so-called 5G protection device that was advertised as casting a bubble of 5G-free space around its owner. This set [The Quackometer] writing, because as part of his probing into the world of snake-oil, he’s bought just such a unit and subjected it to a teardown.
What he has is a plastic project box with a graphic on top, a switch and green LED on the side, and a battery compartment on its rear. Opening the battery compartment reveals a standard 9 V alkaline cell, but the real interest comes when the cover is removed. There is a copper cylinder with a coil of wire round it, though the wires from the coil to the battery have been cut. The active part of the device is simply a battery powering an LED through a switch, as he puts it the device is a £50 ($61) poor quality torch (flashlight).
Unboxing a 5G Protection Device
http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2020/05/unboxing-a-5g-protection-device.html
Rory Cellan-Jones has been exposing the rather bizarre takeover of Glastonbury Town by 5G conspiracy theorists. The council published a report that called for an ending of 5G rollout. Several members of the working group that looked into the safety of 5G complained that the group had been taken over “by anti-5G activists and “spiritual healers”.
Science has no sanctuary in Glastonbury. Homeopaths, healers, hedge-witches and hippies all descend on the town to be at one with the Goddess.
Cellan-Jones tweeted today how someone in Glastonbury has been endorsing an ‘Anti 5G USB Stick device”.
The makers of 5G bioshields claim to use a “PROPRIETARY HOLOGRAPHIC NANO-LAYER TECHNOLOGY” to,
provide protection for your home and family, thanks to the wearable holographic nano-layer catalyser, which can be worn or placed near to a smartphone or any other electrical, radiation or EMF emitting device.
This is of course bullshit.
But it is bullshit that sells at £283.00 and is endorsed by the good denizens of Glastonbury.
Gary sells a number of solutions to the problems of mobile radiation. He has updated his range somewhat since I bought my device a few years back but a full house solution will set you back about £200.
Now, most of the people of Glastonbury are well intentioned, if not deluded, when they sell their herb bundles and crystal harmonisers. But how can you sell an electronic device to ‘neutralise radiation’ and be ‘well intentioned’?
I opened the box to find out what is inside – the slideshow will take you through my discoveries.
But the 5G conspiracies, especially as they are now so tightly coupled to COVID-19 conspracies, and blended together with a strong dollop of anti-vaccine denialism, mean that people will die.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adverse health effects of 5G mobile networking technology under real-life conditions
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037842742030028X
Highlights
•
Identifies wide-spectrum of adverse health effects of non-ionizing non-visible radiation.
•
Most laboratory experiments were not designed to identify the more severe adverse effects reflective of real-life conditions.
•
Many experiments do not include the real-life pulsing and modulation of the carrier signal.
•
Vast majority of experiments do not account for synergistic adverse effects of other toxic stimuli with wireless radiation.
•
5G mobile networking technology will affect not only the skin and eyes, but will have adverse systemic effects as well.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Radio’s Sordid History Of Being Blamed For Everything
https://hackaday.com/2020/05/22/radios-sordid-history-of-being-blamed-for-everything/
In the surreal world of a pandemic lockdown, we are surrounded by news stories that defy satire. The idea that 5G cellular networks are to blame for the COVID-19 outbreak and a myriad other ills has the more paranoid corners of social media abuzz with concerned citizens leaping upon random pieces of street furniture as potential 5G infrastructure.
The unanimous advice of the world’s scientists, doctors, and engineers that it is inconceivable for a phone technology to cause a viral outbreak. Amusingly, 5G has not yet been rolled out to some of the places where this is happening. But with conspiracy theory, fact denial only serves to reinforce the idea, however misguided
Fear And Mistrust In The Age Of Marconi
There have been quasi-humorous compilations of seemingly-absurd small-town headlines on the subject, but it’s interesting to note that this was not restricted to superstitious peasants, instead reaching to the top of some societies. In a distant precursor to some of today’s pronouncements from on high, in 1926 the French statesman Paul Painlevé, then Minister for War, blamed a spell of unusually wet and stormy weather on radio transmissions. This was quickly debunked by meteorologists, who instead fingered sunspot activity as a more likely culprit.
As if to prove that we are a set of actors performing the same character roles separated by a century, it was not difficult to find a 1920s technical journalist willing to go into battle just as we have on 5G. Hugo Gernsback was editor of Science and Invention, and in October 1924 he felt it necessary to pen a lengthy editorial debunking the idea
Some of his claims of the health-giving properties of radio lack substance from a 21st century viewpoint, but we can certainly see a parallel. Perhaps in a hundred years time another exasperated scribe will write a piece for whatever medium serves the thirst for tech news debunking fears about quantum entanglement communication heralding the end of the world.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Radioactive “health” pen from eBay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-XPsHiNJec
“There’s a certain irony when something is being sold as a way to protect yourself from harmful mobile phone radiation, when the device itself emits much more harmful radiation.
After seeing The Thought Emporium’s excellent exposé of the myriad of horrific pendants and bangles that contained radioactive material, I immediately rushed to eBay to buy one of the pens before they were banned.”
“In a way the metal body of the pen and usage makes it a lot safer than the horrible pendants and bangles made of thorium powder loaded plastic. Those items are being worn directly against the skin and could pose a long term health risk.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
This is a very expensive memory stick that does not actually protect you from 5G radiation or anything else.
Pulling apart a £339 anti-5G USB stick
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52810220
A device costing more than £300 promises to protect your family from 5G, using ground-breaking quantum technology – but does it work?
The rollout of the new 5G mobile networks began in the UK only last summer and has not yet reached outside urban areas.
The 5GBioShield was recommended by a member of Glastonbury Town Council’s 5G Advisory Committee, which has called for an inquiry into 5G.
“Through a process of quantum oscillation, the 5GBioShield USB key balances and re-harmonises the disturbing frequencies arising from the electric fog induced by devices, such as laptops, cordless phones, wi-fi, tablets, et cetera,” it adds.
Each of these USB keys costs £339.60 including VAT, though there is a special offer of three for £958.80.
But, at first sight, it seems to be just that – a USB key, with just 128MB of storage.
“So what’s different between it and a virtually identical ‘crystal’ USB key available from various suppliers in Shenzhen, China, for around £5 per key?” asks Ken Munro, whose company, Pen Test Partners, specialises in taking apart consumer electronic products to spot security vulnerabilities.
And the answer appears to be a circular sticker.
“Now, we’re not 5G quantum experts but said sticker looks remarkably like one available in sheets from stationery suppliers for less than a penny each,” he says.
Mr Munro proceeded to dismantle the USB key to find out if there were any whizz-bang electronics inside.
But all he found was an LED light on the circuit board, similar to those on any other USB key.
Ms Grochowalska told BBC News her company was the sole global distributor of the 5GBioShield – but it did not manufacture or own the product.
“We are in possession of a great deal of technical information, with plenty of back-up historical research,” she said.
“As you can understand, we are not authorised to fully disclose all this sensitive information to third parties, for obvious reasons.”
And she rejected the suggestion selling a £5 product for more than £300 was unreasonable.
Mr Hall said his remarks in Glastonbury Town Council’s 5G Advisory Committee report should not be seen as a recommendation to buy the product.
But he had no regrets about buying it and since plugging it in had felt beneficial effects, including being able to sleep through the night and having more dreams.
“I also felt a ‘calmer’ feel to the home,” he told BBC News.
And he had thought the company might be able to develop a system that could offer protection to the whole town of Glastonbury against the effects of radiation from electromagnetic fields.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Reverse Engineering a 5g ‘Bioshield’
https://www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/reverse-engineering-a-5g-bioshield/
A review of the stick’s properties revealed nothing more that what you’d expect from a regular 128MB USB key. We weren’t even sure that 128s are still in production!
Usually with USB devices, one can look at the properties and it will list the manufacturer and extra information about the device. However, we found that all the default values remained. This is often an indication of cheap, unbranded devices.
First, we managed to pull the device off the crystal, which showed nothing other than an LED at the end of the stick, the same as the other ‘crystal’ USB keys we found made in Shenzen. There were no additional components or any connections.
Digging further into the device, there appeared to be no electrical or other connections between the device and the “sticker” and also no additional components other than the USB stick.
Conclusion
In our opinion the 5G Bioshield is nothing more than a £5 USB key with a sticker on it. Whether or not the sticker provides £300 pounds worth of quantum holographic catalyzer technology we’ll leave you to decide.
We do not believe this product should be promoted by publicly-funded bodies until a full, independent, peer-reviewed scientific study has been undertaken on its effectiveness.