by Patrick Altoft on April 15, 2007
The radiation emitted by mobile phones and other gadgets could be responsible for wiping out up to 70 percent of the United States bee population, according to some reports.
Whilst the theory might seem far fetched scientists are blaming mobile phones as they attempt to solve the mystery of the disappearing bees. Apparently the radiation interferes with the bees navigation systems and prevents them from finding their way back to their hives.
Last autumn bee keepers started reporting Colony Collapse Disorder on a large scale. Apparently the bees vanish from the hive and die, alone and away from home. Without the bees the hive will die. The problem has now affected half of American states with the East Coast reporting 70 percent of its commercial bee population missing.
The problems are spreading throughout Europe with alarming implications. Albert Einstein famously stated that if bees disappeared “man would have only four years of life left”.
Research in Germany has show that bees change their behaviour near power lines and a new study at Landau University indicates that bees refuse to return to their hives if a mobile phone is nearby.
Leading scientist Dr George Carlo, leader of a large scale US government study into the effects of mobile phones, said: “I am convinced the possibility is real.”
by Patrick Altoft on April 12, 2007
The future of the mobile phone battery just got a whole lot sweeter after researchers at Saint Louis University developed a biodegradable fuel cell battery capable of running on anything containing sugar. Apparently the cell can power itself from any sugar source from soft drinks to tree sap for up to 4 times longer than a conventional lithium ion battery.
For today’s battery hungry devices any increase in power is a revolution.
Sugar powered fuel cells are not a brand new concept but the previous versions have never been small enough or efficient enough to make anybody stand up and take notice. Nature has been harnessing sugar power efficiently for years but its not until Minteer managed to use a postage stamp sized cell to power a calculator that sugar power became a real possibility within the next 3 to 5 years.
Saint Louis University electrochemist, Shelley Minteer, Ph.D. commented:
This study shows that renewable fuels can be directly employed in batteries at room temperature to lead to more energy-efficient battery technology than metal-based approaches. It demonstrates that by bridging biology and chemistry, we can build a better battery that’s also cleaner for the environment.
Fuel cells would need to be recharged by adding a sugar source. The devices work well with glucose, flat sodas, sweetened drink mixes and tree sap but the best mix is simply sugar and water. The by product is pure water.
by Patrick Altoft on April 10, 2007
Mobile phones are about to become cooler thanks to a new type of bioplastic which conducts heat faster than steel.
The new plastic, being developed by NEC, is made from corn and will be mass produced early in 2008.
Apparently the plastic will allow mobile phones and laptops to become thinner and lighter as well as more environmentally friendly and cheaper. All good news it seems.
From ZD Net:
“Cost is still a bottleneck, but we hope to continue lowering bioplastic costs and add value so that other makers will also follow suit,” Shuichi Tahara, general manager of NEC’s Nano Electronics Research Labs, said during a news conference.
NEC’s new plastic is cheaper than other fiber-reinforced plastics, as it requires less carbon fiber to conduct heat, but it is still more expensive than stainless steel, Tahara said.
by Patrick Altoft on March 19, 2007
HTW Electronics was exhibiting a solar powered mobile phone concept at CeBIT this week and claims that a full production model will be released in China next month.
The HTW S116 has an array of solar cells which charge an internal Li-Ion battery which offers 20-25 minutes of talk time for a 40 minute charge in the sunshine.
Despite being an eco-friendly device the HTW S116 includes a 1.3 megapixel digital camera, memory card slot and 320 x 240 pixel QVGA display.
This device, if it really works, will be groundbreaking in its usefulness towards third world communities without a reliable electricity supply.
Via Unwired View
by Patrick Altoft on March 12, 2007
More evidence is surfacing this week confirming that cell phones do not affect medical equipment in hospitals.
We reported last year that an investigation in the UK showed no reason mobile phones should be banned in hospitals and that certain companies were making a lot of money providing telephone services to patients deprived of their phones.
The latest tests, performed at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, showed that mobile phones did not interfere with patient care equipment.
Worryingly however, CD players were shown to cause abnormal readings on ECG machines and security systems in retail stores caused problems with pacemakers.
According to Reuters:
Dr. David Hayes and colleagues said their tests suggest the ban is unmerited. They tested cell phones using two different technologies from different carriers, switching them on near 192 different medical devices.
During 300 tests run over five months, they reported no trouble with the equipment.
by Patrick Altoft on February 15, 2007
A new survey, commissioned by the BBC’s Focus magazine and carried out on the Radio Times website, has named the mobile phone as the second worst invention ever. The “winner” of this dubious honour was the weapon, which was voted by 35% of respondents.
The top 10 worst inventions ever:
- Weapons (35%)
- Mobile phones (17%)
- Nuclear power (9%)
- Sinclair C5 (9%)
- Television (9%)
- The car (6%)
- Cigarettes (6%)
- Fast food (3%)
- Speed cameras (3%)
- Religion (2%)
The strange thing about this survey is that the top results consist almost entirely of things people will pay a lot of money for. If the mobile phone is so bad why does everybody use them?
BBC Focus editor Paul Parsons commented:
When contemporary inventions such as the car and the mobile phone, which apparently enhance modern living, get voted as the worst inventions ever, it makes you realise that technologies and ‘objects of desire’ that seem to play an integral and important part in our lives may not in fact be pleasing the masses,
