The Biggest Question

Some questions are so big, so probing, so crucial to our humanity that debate on them rages for centuries. The mere mention of these questions at social gatherings provokes shouting, tears, and all too often even physical violence. But within this group of big questions, there is one of such great magnitude that it stands alone at the top. The answer to this question is the very fabric of existence. That question, of course is: do mobile devices cause cancer?The two images above are infrared. The first, on the left, is of a man who has never used a mobile device in his life. The blue, green and yellow indicate healthy tissue. The second image, on the right, is of the same man after a single five minute cell phone conversation. See all that red? Those are persistent cancer cells in his brain. He won't live past two weeks. And that's the rule, not the exception. So, basically, every single time you use your device, no matter how briefly, it's like playing a high-tech version of Russian Roulette with yourself. Mobile devices will bring about the Armageddon.

Okay.

It's not nearly that bad. The red and orange in the image above are actually just signs of thermal heating, which may well have no negative health consequences whatsoever. But there are those out there who have feelings that aren't too far off from what I just described. Then again, there are those who are equally convinced beyond doubt that devices present no health risks. Both sides have 'studies' to reference, but thus far there has not been a single, all-encompassing study to tip the scales one way or the other. The American Cancer Society has done a few studies over the last few years and determined that there is 'no consistent association between cell-phone use and overall risk of brain cancer.' But those studies only tested people who used cell phones over a three year period, so there is certainly still a possible risk of health hazards for long term users.

Perhaps the real question we ought to ask is how we came to a situation where 3 billion people use a device that may or may not kill them in a decade or so. While at this point I'm pretty skeptical of a link, the people raising the alarm bells are respected doctors, not crackpot conspiracy theorists. Shouldn't who's ever in charge of public health have looked into all of this at some point? As it stands now, we may not know we have a problem until it's too late. Sounds a lot like another worldwide crisis that's been receiving a lot of press lately...