Great Britain's Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees on technology's
"yuck
factor" by Popular Science
Over the past three decades, astrophysicist Sir Martin Rees
has gained
international renown for tackling vexing questions about the
mysterious
birth and structure of the universe. In his sixth book, Our
Final Hour:
The Threat to Humanity's Survival (Basic Books; $25/March 2003),
Rees, a
Royal Society research professor at Cambridge University, warns
of rogue
nano-machines, genetically engineered viruses and other evil
spawns of
advancing technology that may ultimately lead to the species'
destruction.
Popular Science: In your book you predict that by the year
2020
bioterror or bioerror will lead to one million casualties
in a single
event. Why?
Martin Rees: Looking ahead, the great advances in biotechnology
are
bound to have a downside. It will be possible for thousands-indeed,
millions-of people to acquire the technology to produce something
that
could cause that kind of disaster. And it only takes one person
to cause
catastrophe! It's incumbent on scientists to be very cautious.
PS: Armageddon is a very popular topic just now. As an astronomer,
what's unique about your perspective?
MR: It's important to look beyond our planet and place Earth
in a cosmic
context. Earth may be the only place where conscious life
has evolved,
so what happens here is cosmically important: We could hold
responsibility for spreading life throughout the cosmos. And
this makes
our responsibility in this century rather daunting, since
this is a time
in which we could either snuff ourselves out or spread life
beyond
Earth.
PS: Do you think life exists elsewhere in the universe?
MR: I haven't a clue. There are so many steps involved-the
right
environment for life to begin, getting simple life started
and so on. I
genuinely don't know if the odds are one in 50 or one in a
billion-billion.
PS: In your book you also suggest the possibility of a reemerging
nuclear threat. Why?
MR: We've been lulled into a certain complacency about nuclear
weapons
because, obviously, the risk of a really massive exchange
devastating
Europe and America is much less than it was during the cold
war. But the
risk of the use of some nuclear weapons has actually gone
up, especially
in India, Pakistan and Korea. Indeed, I think American policies
are
going to continue to increase the risk. By developing advanced
weapons,
such as small nuclear bunkers, the United States is gaining
the
capability to enforce its will on any country that does not
acquire its
own nuclear deterrent.
PS: Is there a realistic way to protect scientific progress
from being
used for evil purposes?
MR: My concern is that with a much larger academic community
and much
greater commercial pressures, it's going to be more difficult
to get a
consensus on going slow in ethically problematic areas, like
biotechnology and robotics. Scientists can't always predict
the
implications of their work, but they ought to encourage benevolent
applications and warn against dangers. We have that responsibility.
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/books/article/0,12543,451647,00.html
--------
REFLEX-Study
Risk evaluation of potential environmental hazards from low-energy
electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure using sensitive in vitro
methods
CORDIS RTD-PROJECTS/
http://www.cordis.lu/en/src/g_021_en.htm European
Communities.
Record Control Number: 51989
Quality Validation Date: 2003-04-01
Update Date: 2003-05-05
Project Acronym: REFLEX
http://tinyurl.com/kuza
Title: Risk evaluation of potential environmental hazards
from
low-energy electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure using sensitive
in vitro
methods
Subject Index : Environmental Protection; Life Sciences;
Medicine,
Health; Safety
Objective: Electromagnetic field (EMF) has become a topic
of Europe-wide
discussion. The latter has created uncertainty regarding possible
adverse health effects for both the population and industry.
Current
research is characterized by conflicting data from epidemiological
and
animal studies, especially with respect to possible risk of
cancer at
different sites and neurological disorders. Clearly, mere
continuation
or replication of research, without introducing innovative
concepts,
will prolong the uncertainty as to whether EMFS do, or do
not, represent
a health risk. The results of this joint project, which will
investigate
molecular and functional responses of living cells to EMFS
in vitro by
applying state-of-the-art methods of molecular biology and
toxicology,
are needed urgently for molecular epidemiological studies,
which are
probably the only path to a reliable risk estimate for possible
effects
of EMFS on human health. Start Date: 2003-09-01 End Date:
2006-08-31
Duration: 36 months Project Status: Accepted Project Cost:
3.15 million
euro Project Funding: 2.06 million euro Programme Type: 5th
FWP (Fifth
Framework Programme) Programme Acronym: LIFE QUALITY
http://tinyurl.com/kv00
Subprogramme Area: Quality of Life and Management of Living
Resources -
Key action Environment and Health
Project Reference: QLK4-CT-1999-01574
Contract Type: CSC (Cost-sharing contracts)
Prime Contractor
Organisation: VERUM - FOUNDATION FOR BEHAVIOUR AND ENVIRONMENT
Organisation Type: Other
Address: Pettenkoferstr. 33
Postcode: 80336
City: MUENCHEN
Region: BAYERN
OBERBAYERN
München, Kreisfreie Stadt
Country: GERMANY
Contact Person: Name: ADLKOFER, Franz (Professor)
Other Contractors
Organisation Name: FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN
Organisation Type: Education
Contact Person: TAUBER, Rudolf (Professor)
Address: Kaiserswerther Strasse 16-18
City: BERLIN
Region: BERLIN
Org. Country: GERMANY
Postcode: 14195
Organisation Name: THE UNIVERSITY OF MILANO
Organisation Type: Education
Contact Person: GROPPETTI, Antonio (Professor)
Address: Via Festa del Perdono 7
City: MILANO
Region: LOMBARDIA
Org. Country: ITALY
Postcode: 20122
Organisation Name: INSTITUTE OF PLANT GENETICS AND CROP PLANT
RESEARCH
Organisation Type: Research
Contact Person: WOBUS, Ulrich (Professor)
Address: Correnstrasse 3
City: GATERSLEBEN
Region: SACHSEN-ANHALT
MAGDEBURG
Aschersleben-Staßfurt
Org. Country: GERMANY
Postcode: 06466
Organisation Name: SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
ZUERICH
Organisation Type: Education
Contact Person: WALDVOGEL, Albert (Professor)
Address: 101 Raemistrasse 101, ETH Zentrum
City: ZURICH
Region: SCHWEIZ/SUISSE/SVIZZERA
Org. Country: SWITZERLAND
Postcode: 8092
Organisation Name: UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA
Organisation Type: Education
Contact Person: FORINO, Attilio (Professor)
Address: Via Zamboni 33
City: BOLOGNA
Region: EMILIA-ROMAGNA
Bologna
Org. Country: ITALY
Postcode: 40126
Organisation Name: INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE LA SALUD
Organisation Type: Other
Contact Person: MARTINEZ HERNANDEZ, Joaquin (Dr)
Department: HOSPITAL RAMON Y CAJAL
Address: KM9100 Crta.de Colmenar KM 9
City: MADRID
Region: COMUNIDAD DE MADRID
Org. Country: SPAIN
Postcode: 28034
Organisation Name: UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA
Organisation Type: Education
Contact Person: JAHN, Oswald (Professor)
Address: Dr Karl Lueger - Ring 1
City: WIEN
Region: OSTÖSTERREICH
WIEN
Org. Country: AUSTRIA
Postcode: 1010
Organisation Name: ECOLE NATIONALE SUPERIEURE DE CHIMIE ET
DE PHYSIQUE
DE BORDEAUX
Organisation Type: Research
Contact Person: CLIN, Bernard (Dr)
Department: LABORATOIRE DE PHYSIQUE DES INTERACTIONS ONDES-MATIERE
Address: Avenue Pey Berland
BP 108
City: TALENCE
Region: SUD-OUEST
AQUITAINE
Gironde
Org. Country: FRANCE
Postcode: 33402
Organisation Name: RADIATION AND NUCLEAR SAFETY AUTHORITY
Organisation Type: Research
Contact Person: SALOMAA, Sisko (Professor)
Department: LABORATORY OF RADIOBIOLOGY
RESEARCH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEILLANCE
Address: Laippatie 4
P.O. Box 14
City: HELSINKI
Region: MANNER-SUOMI
UUSIMAA
Org. Country: FINLAND
Postcode: 00880
Organisation Name: UNIVERSITAET HANNOVER
Organisation Type: Education
Contact Person: KOLB, Hans-Albert (Professor)
Department: INSTITUT FUR BIOPHYSIK
Address: Herrenhauser Stra?e 2
City: Hannover
Region: NIEDERSACHSEN
HANNOVER
Hannover, Kreisfreie Stadt
Org. Country: GERMANY
Postcode: 30419
http://tinyurl.com/kv2d
Informant: Volker Hartenstein, Member of the Bavarian
Parliament
--------
Can
you please help me with any scientific information?
Dear friends,
My name is Andreia and I live in São Paulo, Brazil.
A multinational company installed a cellular transmission
station only 5
meters from my house. The metal structure is 15 meters high
and the
antenna is on top of it. Is it possible that the radiation
causes any
kind of harm for those who stay more than 16 hours a day so
close to it?
The antenna is totally illegal (the city hall did not issue
an
permission for the installation in a residential area, but
in Brazil
everything is possible when you can buy the judges and deputies).
I would like to sue that company and try to make them install
the
antenna in a safer place, but I would need more evidences
that the
radiation is bad for the health to help me in the lawsuit.
I'm trying to get pregnant and I'm really scared that the
radiation
could harm my family and my new baby.
Is that possible? Is radiation harmful or is it totally safe
and I
should just forget about it?
Can you please help me with any scientific information?
Thanks a lot,
Andreia Barion
Good morning to the Scientific Community and Audience. The
situation
described in this e-mail is not an isolated case in the world.
This
problem is found in all the world and particularly in Latin
America, and
in some cases in Europe.
I am trying to do the same thing in Mexico where the citizens'
rights
have been ignored to favour the corrupted private sectors
and the
politicians allowing this situation.
I would like to join efforts from an audience perspective
since I am not
a scientist in this area. In the face of injustice and corruption
I
would like to make a call to all the international scientific
and
audience community to join efforts and compromise with our
ethics
defending an asset more valuable than money and gold-"Our
Families'
Health".
We need to demonstrate that our knowledge and rights can
not be
overpowered or purchased by the interest of those that only
look a
commercial benefit at all means and the governments all over
the world
allow it turning their faces as if they did not know it or
had anything
to do with this political and technological unethical and
corrupted
practices.
I think the entire international community would be very
thankful to the
international scientific community about the possibility of
launching a
sound scientific-based report of the risks and facts, along
with a very
rigorous criteria to protect people's rights to have a Good
Health and
Clean Environment.
In my opinion if we explained this to all kids in the world
they would
feel disappointed about all adults and their governments that
supposedly
should be their protectors.
In this field I believe we stand short in putting our family
as a
priority, and since kids and the majority of the people do
not know and
do not have the power, their rights are not respected.
I certainly would appreciate very much your solidarity with
People's
Health and a clean Environment.
Sincerely,
Javier Holguin C.
Andreia,
I first tried to send my response to you at your private
Email address,
but it was returned. Since this message is rather long, it
may be
truncated before appearing on the Bioelectromagnetics List.
I think your concern is justified. My primary advice is for
you to look
at the web site of the EMR Network www.emrnetwork.org. I am
one of the
cofounders of the EMR Network, and we have tried hard to put
useful and
accurate information on our site. Dr. Henry Lai (of the University
of
Washington in Seattle, Washington) has compiled a group of
published
abstracts that deal with low level radiation effects on biological
systems. These abstracts are available by downloading PDF
files from our
site at no cost.
Undoubtedly, the company that has erected the cell tower
will say that
the amount of radiation is below the international standards.
Those
standards protect only against heating of biological tissue.
There is
now abundant evidence in the published literature that absorbed
radiation levels far below the international standards can
cause
biological damage without heating the tissues, in my opinion.
One example is the article by L.G. Salford (of Lund University
in
Sweden) and several co-authors about RF radiation induced
damage to rat
brain cells in experiments involving radiation from GSM cell
phones. You
can get the abstract of this article from the web site of
Environmental
Health Perspectives. This is a journal that is published by
the U.S.
National Institutes of Health. Use a search engine such as
Google to
find the site for Environmental Health Perspectives.
The article was published online in January, 2003. The print
edition of
that journal article should be out soon, but I don't think
it has
appeared yet. The article shows that damaged brain cells occurred
when
rats were irradiated with RF radiation from GSM phones. The
level of
absorbed radiation in the rats was about 800 times less than
what the
U.S. government says is "safe."
I got the full article by an email request to the marketing
director of
Environmental Health Perspectives. The damaged brain cells
are quite
apparent in microphotographs shown in the article - even to
a person
such as I, whose background is in electromagnetics and doesn't
include
training or experience in biology.
The article I quoted concerns radiation from cell phones
themselves, not
from the base stations, such as the antennae near you. The
connection
to your problem has to be the fact that the damage was observed
even
when the absorbed radiation level was almost a thousand times
lower than
the "safe" level imposed by international standards.
(U.S. standards
and international standards ICNRP are very similar.)
Living as close to the base station antennae as you do, it
is vital to
find out the type of antennae that are used and the resulting
radiation
pattern. The GSM phone system is used worldwide, so I suspect
that is
the technology to which you are being subjected, but you need
to know
the antennae characteristics and output power in order to
be able to
estimate how much radiation density will occur where you live.
If you can find out the manufacturer and model number of
the antennae
used in this installation, and the power put by the transmitter
into the
antennae or the power output from the antennae (expressed
as either ERP
or EIRP), I can get the gain characteristics of the antennae
from the
internet and calculate an estimate of the radiation level
where you
live. Base station antennae act to focus the radiation in
some
directions, at the expense of radiation in other directions.
This is why we need to know the characteristics of the antennae
near
you. Try to get a copy of whatever application was submitted
to get the
approval for the antennae. You may have to ask an attorney
to get this
information If you can get this information, I will calculate
the
maximum radiation density for you at no cost.
The calculated radiation density can then be compared with
tables of
published biological effects versus radiation density and
specific
absorbed radiation (SAR) level.
Cindy Sage of Sage Associates in Santa Barbara, California
has compiled
such tables and I have a copy of the tables she released in
2001. She
is working on an upgrade to these tables, but she has not
yet released
it, as far as I know.
Good luck in your efforts to protect your family!
Bill P. Curry, Ph.D. Physics is fun
(630) 858-9377 Fax (630) 858-9159
EMSciTeck Consulting Company
From the email list of bioelectromagnetics.org
Informant: Reinhard Rueckemann
--------
Day
Seven of the Fast for Freedom in Mental Health
Hi Klaus: I am forwarding you an update on the fast protest
in
Pasadenea, CA, as of the seventh day. As seen below, it seems
to be
having considerable success in meeting its objectives. Thumbs
up for
those very hungry determined demonstrators. Not too many of
us would
relish a liquid only fast to meet our goals!
Best, Imelda, Cork. (excerpt)
http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/hungerstrike20.shtml
--------
ELECTROMAGNETIC
BOMB - A WEAPON OF ELECTRONIC MASS DESTRUCTION
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/ebomb.html
--------
O.T.
themes:
Kelly
foretold "death in the woods"
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/kelly/story/0,13747,1027033,00.html
Security
may not be safe issue for Bush in '04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A28971-2003Aug21?language=printer
Something
about 09/11
http://www.sierratimes.com/03/08/21/gaddy.htm
Gluttons
for punishment
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j082203.html
What
did Halliburton know and when did it know it?
http://tinyurl.com/ktga
Canberra
lied about Saddam weapons threat, inquiry told
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2003/08/23/2003064921
Quagmire
or expensive mud
http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20030822/index.php
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
--------
Behind
the Blackout
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/082103_blackout_summary.html
--------
'Victory
Act' Designed To Expand Powers Of Patriot Act
http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=030822~to.asp
--------
CNN
Survey: 94% Say Bush's Iraq War a "Quagmire"
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/newsArticle.asp?id=1011
Pentagon
Conceals Experimental Vaccine-Related Deaths
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/newsArticle.asp?id=1012
Gulf
War Veteran Goal: "Getting Bush Out of Office" in
2004
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/newsArticle.asp?id=1014
America
Two Years After 9/11: 25 Things We Know
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/newsArticle.asp?id=1015
--------
Investigate
US Motive for Invading Iraq!
http://www.care2.com/go/z/6783
Informant: EarthForceUnited
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