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EMFacts Blog

    • 22 JUL 17

    Now its the “Internet of Battlefield Things”…

    While all the publicity with wireless technology advances centers around the so-called Internet of Things (IoT) where all our devices, even the humble toothbrush, can wirelessly communicate with each other, giving rise to the smart home, little has been publicised about the military applications of the IoT concept. Known as the “Internet of Battlefield Things” (IoBT) it is but the latest version of the old military-industrial complex, which Eisenhower warned us about in 1961, taking advantage of new technology to create and sell, at great profit, new killing technology thereby ensuring an endless state of war which is essential for their very profitable business.

    Read on…

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    • 18 JUL 17

    Radioactive contamination risk and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

    While elite athletes of many nations prepare to do their best at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics they are being kept ignorant of what is possibly a significant long-term health risk to them and their support teams – not to mention visitors to the games. For the Japanese government, if you cannot fix the problem, ignore it and hope for the best. Read on…

    Japan Plans to Expose Its People and 2020 Tokyo Olympians to Fukushima Radiation…SNIP

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    • 05 JUL 17

    Abstract of the forthcoming Key-Note Presentation at the ARPS 2017 conference

    The annual meeting of the Australian Radiation Protection Society (ARPS2017) is being held at Wollongong NSW on 8 -9 August 2017. The key-note presentation is by Dariusz Leszczynski who has just posted his presentation abstract on his blog, Between a Rock and a Hard Place.
    SNIP

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    • 19 JUN 17

    Monsanto Spin Doctors Target Cancer Scientist In Flawed Reuters Story

    From the Huffington Post by Carey Gillam

    Excerpt

    In a well-orchestrated and highly coordinated media coup, Monsanto Co. and friends this week dropped a bombshell on opponents who are seeking to prove that the company’s beloved Roundup herbicide causes cancer… It was a blockbuster of a story, and was repeated by news organizations around the globe, pushed by press releases from Monsanto-backed organizations and trumpeted by industry allies like the American Chemistry Council…It was also flawed and misleading in a number of critical respects. SNIP

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    • 16 JUN 17

    Data Indicates Cell Phones Expose Consumers To Radiation Levels Higher Than Manufacturers Claim

    (Washington, DC) Under court order, the National Frequency Agency (ANFR) of France has just disclosed that most cell phones exceed government radiation limits when tested the way they are used, next to the body. Manufacturers are not required to test phones in shirt or pants pockets. French government tests on hundreds of cell phones reveal that in 2015, 9 out of 10 phones exceed the manufacturer’s reported radiation test levels when re-tested in positions where the phone is in contact with the body. The government had refused to disclose these test results until the court order. SNIP

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    • 16 JUN 17

    Government paving the way for 5G and the IoT

    The Australian Government is seeking comments on possible amendments to telecommunications carrier powers and immunities. Titled, “Consultation on possible amendments to telecommunications carrier powers and immunities” this exercise looks suspiciously like preparing the ground for the next generation of wireless technology such as 5G, enabling the Internet of Things (IoT). A Brave New World…

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    • 12 JUN 17

    Tasmanian council rejects telco tower

    Media Release
    COUNCIL WITHDRAWS CONSENT FOR A PROPOSED TELECOMMUNICATIONS TOWER IN BLACKMANS BAY

    For immediate release 30 May, 2017
    Kingborough Council will not be giving consent to Optus Mobile Pty Ltd to lodge a development application for a proposed telecommunications tower at Sherburd Oval in Blackmans Bay, after seeking legal advice.

    SNIP

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    • 23 MAY 17

    New paper on wireless radiation and diabetes

    Published in Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine. Published online: 19 May 2017

    Radiation from wireless technology elevates blood glucose and body temperature in 40-year-old type 1 diabetic male
    Catherine E. Kleiber

    ABSTRACT

    A type 1 diabetic male reports multiple instances when his blood glucose was dramatically elevated by the presence of microwave radiation from wireless technology and plummeted when the radiation exposure ended. In one instance, his body temperature elevated in addition to his blood glucose. Both remained elevated for nearly 48 h after exposure with the effect gradually decreasing. SNIP…

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    • 23 MAY 17

    Off topic: Cancer treatment hype gives false hope to many patients

    After Michael Uvanni’s older brother, James, was diagnosed with a deadly form of skin cancer, it seemed as if everyone told the family what they wanted to hear: Have hope. You can beat this, and we are here to help.

    The brothers met with doctors at a half-dozen of the country’s best hospitals, all with impressive credentials that inspired confidence…. Patients and families are bombarded with the news that the country is winning the war against cancer. The news media hypes research results to attract readers. Drug companies promise “a chance to live longer” to boost sales. Hospitals woo paying customers with ads that appeal to patients’ fears and hopes.

    “I’m starting to hear more and more that we are better than I think we really are,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society. “We’re starting to believe our own bullshit.” SNIP…

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    • 21 MAY 17

    What’s New on the BioInitiative

    From Cindy Sage

    What’s New on the BioInitiative

    Announcing a Special Section of Child Development from © The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

    Contemporary Mobile Technology and Child and Adolescent Development, edited by Zheng Yan and Lennart Hardell, May 15, 2017

    Electromagnetic Fields, Pulsed Radiofrequency Radiation, and Epigenetics: How Wireless Technologies May Affect Childhood Development

    Cindy Sage and Ernesto Burgio

    Abstract… SNIP

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    • 18 MAY 17

    Changemakers Tasmania: Disconnect from your devices

    Here’s a very positive campaign from a start up group here in Tasmania. If you are concerned over the increasing dependence on devices, especially by children, check out their website.

    Changemakers: Disconnect to reconnect

    We believe in the power of being present to promote positive change. That’s why we have created Meet me Unplugged. Our grassroots campaign encourages people and organisations to disconnect from their devices and reconnect with themselves, each other, their communities and their environment.

    We use a vintage approach to disseminate our ideas, word of mouth is our channel of choice. So if you heard about us, the odds are someone you know and cares about you told you or send you an email.

    If you wish to join our campaign start by telling colleagues, friends and family when scheduling meetings: Meet me Unplugged. You wont regret it! SNIP…

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    • 16 MAY 17

    People don’t trust scientific research when companies are involved

    From The Conversation

    May 8, 2017

    Excerpt

    A soda company sponsoring nutrition research. An oil conglomerate helping fund a climate-related research meeting. Does the public care who’s paying for science?

    In a word, yes. When industry funds science, credibility suffers. And this does not bode well for the types of public-private research partnerships that appear to be becoming more prevalent as government funding for research and development lags.

    The recurring topic of conflict of interest has made headlines in recent weeks. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine has revised its conflict of interest guidelines following questions about whether members of a recent expert panel on GMOs had industry ties or other financial conflicts that were not disclosed in the panel’s final report.

    Our own recent research speaks to how hard it may be for the public to see research as useful when produced with an industry partner, even when that company is just one of several collaborators. SNIP

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    • 15 MAY 17

    Study Finds Link Between Brain Damage and Religious Fundamentalism

    Excerpt

    From Alternet via Bia Winter

    Excerpt

    A new study published in the journal Neuropsychologia has shown that religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness–a psychology term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness.

    Religious beliefs can be thought of as socially transmitted mental representations that consist of supernatural events and entities assumed to be real. Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge. On the other hand, religious beliefs are not usually updated in response to new evidence or scientific explanations, and are therefore strongly associated with conservatism. SNIP

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    • 11 MAY 17

    Aristotle, Mattel’s “digital nanny” for babies and young children.

    Excerpt from “The Story of Stuff” Project

    In July 2017, the loving guidance of a parent or caretaker has new competition from Aristotle, a “digital nanny” by toy-maker Mattel. The internet-connected device, which includes a microphone and camera, is designed to live in a child’s bedroom from birth and be a constant companion as she grows up. Mattel boasts Aristotle can “soothe” crying baby, help toddlers learn to speak, and facilitate learning in older children.

    What is the impact on a child’s development when you replace a caregiver with a robot? …SNIP

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    • 08 MAY 17

    A 5G WIRELESS FUTURE: WILL IT GIVE US A SMART NATION OR CONTRIBUTE TO AN UNHEALTHY ONE?

    A report written by Dr. Cindy Russell

    A 5G WIRELESS FUTURE: WILL IT GIVE US A SMART NATION OR CONTRIBUTE TO AN UNHEALTHY ONE?

    EXCERPT

    BRAVE NEW WORLD OF COMMUNICATION
    The use of mobile wireless technologies continues to increase worldwide. A new faster 5th generation (5G) telecommunication system has recently been approved by the Federal Communications
    Commission(FCC) with new antennas already being installed and tested in Palo Alto and Mountain
    View. While it may give us uber automation and instantaneous “immersive entertainment” a lot of
    questions remain with regards to public health and safety of wireless devices. Will the adoption of this new 5G technology harm directly or indirectly the consumers and businesses it hopes to attract? SNIP

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    • 08 MAY 17

    The Robot Economy: Ready or Not, Here It Comes

    From Truthout

    The Robot Economy: Ready or Not, Here It Comes
    Sunday, May 07, 2017 By JP Sottile, Truthout | News Analysis

    Excerpt

    September 17th changed everything.

    On that day in 2013, Oxford University published an innocuously titled academic paper by two mostly unknown economists. But “The Future of Employment” wasn’t just another number-crunching exercise in opacity by a couple of dreary scientists. No, their bombshell report portended a coming robot apocalypse that could change the nature of human civilization, and perhaps even human beings themselves. SNIP….

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    • 06 MAY 17

    Trump orders FDA TV’s to be locked on FOX News (A big win for Rupert Murdock)

    In what may be a backroom deal between Trump and Rupert Murdock, the head of FOX News, the TV’s at the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) research campus are to be locked on the FOX News station.

    CBS News has confirmed an email was sent to researchers at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research responding to apparent efforts to change the channel on internal television screens. The email from “[White Oak] Digital Display” sent on Wednesday, May 3, was sent to inform the researchers of the “reason for the change from CNN to Fox.” White Oak is the name of the FDA’s campus.

    The email goes on to inform employees that the decision came from the Trump administration.
    SNIP….

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    • 05 MAY 17

    DARPA Is Hacking The Human Brain To ‘Upload’ Skills Directly

    Excerpt

    DARPA is a Technocrat-run agency of the Department of Defense and is wholly-dedicated to the Transhuman idea of improving man through technology. This is dangerous on a number of levels, including the fact that resulting technology will be in the hands of the government and not its citizens. ⁃ TN Editor

    The DARPA Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) program is exploring ways to speed up skill acquisition by activating synaptic plasticity. If the program succeeds, downloadable learning that happens in a flash may be the result.

    In March 2016, DARPA – the U.S. military’s “mad science” branch – announced their Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) program. The TNT program aims to explore various safe neurostimulation methods for activating synaptic plasticity, which is the brain’s ability to alter the connecting points between neurons – a requirement for learning. DARPA hopes that building up that ability by subjecting the nervous system to a kind of workout regimen will enable the brain to learn more quickly. SNIP…

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    • 02 MAY 17

    The Orwellian world of IoT smart beds

    “You had to live–did live, from habit that became instinct–in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”–George Orwell, 1984

    Even Orwell didn’t envision when, even in the darkness of the night, every movement will be scrutinized if you purchase the growing line of smart beds. Take for example,

    “Innovation and the IoT Are Making Our Beds Really Smart”. SNIP….

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    • 02 MAY 17

    What is “brain hacking”? Tech insiders on why you should care

    From CBS News (US)

    On Sunday, April 9, 2017 Anderson Cooper reported on some of the ways Silicon Valley insiders are hooking users on technology via apps and other software. Former Google product manager Tristan Harris said designers aren’t just programming for consumers, they’re actually programming consumers.

    Many viewers were struck by what they felt was Silicon Valley’s willingness to manipulate the bottom of the brain stem in order to bolster the bottom line.

    Silicon Valley is engineering your phone, apps and social media to get you hooked, says a former Google product manager. Anderson Cooper reports. SNIP…….

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