Saturday, April 07, 2012

Locals despair as ‘The Hum’ makes life a living hell


Locals despair as ‘The Hum’ makes life a living hell


Tuesday, April 03, 2012

IT’S there. All day, every day; all night, every night.
But nobody has even the remotest idea of what it is or what could possibly be causing it.

It has become known simply as The Hum, which is the only description despairing locals can find to adequately describe a constant, pulsating, low-frequency noise, the source of which cannot be traced, despite best efforts.

When frustrated residents in the tranquil Kerry parish of Beaufort went public to tell how their lives have been made a living hell by the mystery noise — which is ringing in their ears all day and disrupting their sleep by night — little did they know the impact it would have.

Fascinated audiologists with sophisticated detection equipment made a beeline for the remote townland of Glencuttane, 15km from tourist hotspot Killarney, at the foot of Carrauntoohil mountain.

Excitable, self-described ghosthunters weren’t far behind and much to the annoyance of residents, some media rather impishly devised conspiracy theories that ranged from mildly amusing to ridiculous.

But the saga finally got the official platform locals insist it deserved in recent days when South Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae raised the matter in the Dáil, via a series of parliamentary questions directed at Phil Hogan, the environment minister.

"I asked the minister to send out people to try and come to the bottom of it," said Mr Healy-Rae, who personally heard the noise when he met with disgruntled locals.

But Mr Hogan could offer no solution and little consolation other than to advise the residents to voice their concerns to Kerry County Council’s environment office and an investigation might be sanctioned.

The official response has been lambasted by Mr Healy-Rae as "away with the fairies gobbledygook".

Council engineers have already ruled out a local authority water pumping station as a possible factor and weary locals, now at the end of their collective tether, had already determined that there are no mobile phone masts, windmills or generators in the area that could be the source of the noise.

Furthermore, the ESB has assured them that the problem is not due to any high-tension overhead wires and while sound technicians have been able to confirm that the noise has a vibrating, low frequency, they are no closer to identifying any potential explanation.

Some householders in Beaufort have been hearing the bizarre humming sound since April of last year and, at this stage, they say it is making their lives a complete misery.

"We are nearly gone out of our minds because we can’t get a decent night of sleep and it’s there every day," said one, who described the noise as being similar to a diesel engine ticking over in a nearby field. "There are times when you absolutely can’t ignore it because it’s so present, mostly at night because it’s so quiet."

He said the irritating noise is even more noticeable inside dwellings and despite extensive insulation, houses appear to vibrate, particularly in the stillness after dark.

Rather unusually, not everybody can identify with the low buzzing noise and locals acknowledge that if they gathered 10 people in one room, they estimate that just two would be able to hear it. That said, at least a dozen families over a 5km radius have come forward to divulge that they have been disturbed by the baffling aural interference.

One resident even went to the extreme of seeking help from his family doctor and was relieved to learn that he didn’t have a problem with his hearing.

Others, who can’t sleep at night, have taken to wearing earplugs in an attempt to block out the mystery noise.

In the absence of any logical explanation, there is growing belief by some observers that the noise might possibly be linked to a weird worldwide phenomenon that has become known, simply, as The Hum.

Similar mystery noises, all involving persistent and invasive low-frequency humming sounds, have been reported in many parts of the world and complaints have been voiced by residents in several locations, including England, Russia, New Mexico, New Zealand and Indiana.

Inconclusive research into possible causes for The Hum has been conducted in universities in Florida, Oklahoma and Auckland, but, despite the best efforts of experienced boffins, no real progress has been made.

Beaufort residents are quick to stress, however, that they are not suggesting for one minute that the noise that is impacting so negatively on their daily lives is linked in any way to the humming sounds detected elsewhere.

"We don’t know what it is and it’s as simple as that.

"We’re hoping that we might get some help from somewhere to try and investigate this and see what it might be," said one concerned local.


Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/locals-despair-as-the-hum-makes-life-a-living-hell-189224.html#ixzz1rMRCxB9N

"You're Gonna Feel It:" U.S. Military Unveils New Crowd Control "Heat Ray"


"You're Gonna Feel It:" U.S. Military Unveils New Crowd Control "Heat Ray"

Marine Col: "I think our forces will figure out the many different applications that it would have.”

- Common Dreams staff
The U.S. military has unveiled its newest approach to crowd control, the Active Denial System, a heat ray that sends out a high-frequency electromagnetic ray. People hit with the ray feel an intense, unbearable heat.  The military touts the ray's "far-ranging" capabilities and is looking at "many different applications" for its possible use.
(photo: still from NMANewsDirect video)Marine Col. Tracy Taffola said at the public unveiling of the system at a U.S. Marines base near Washington, D.C.:
"You're not gonna see it, you're not gonna hear it, you're not gonna smell it: you're gonna feel it." 
* * *
In a video to demonstrate the new weapon, USFORCESTV explains that the heat ray "boasts a reach far beyond any other non-lethal system" -- a reach of "about 7 footballs fields."
The video shows various volunteers quickly running away from the heat ray, a situation unlikely to be available when the ray is aimed at a large crowd or if protesters are penned in in some way, as was witnessed by the pepper-spraying of Occupy protesters by police officers at very close range.
* * *
The Globe and Mail reports:
The Pentagon has been experimenting with killer beams for decades. A laser so powerful that it can destroy nuclear-tipped missiles shortly after launch has been mounted in a much-modified Boeing 747 and is being tested. [...]
Various development versions of the heat ray have been tested for years. One was sent to Afghanistan – but never used – in 2010. Police departments have shown interest.
* * *
David Pugliese adds this comment from Marine Col. Tracy Taffola foreshadowing far-ranging use of the weapon:
“It could be used across the military spectrum of operations, perimeter security, crowd control, entry control points. You name it. I think our forces will figure out the many different applications that it would have,” Tafolla said.

PUTIN TARGETING ‘ENEMIES’ WITH ‘PSYCHOTRONIC GUNS’ THAT TURN PEOPLE INTO ‘ZOMBIES

PUTIN TARGETING ‘ENEMIES’ WITH ‘PSYCHOTRONIC GUNS’ THAT TURN PEOPLE INTO ‘ZOMBIES’

Police StateWorld— 01 April 2012
Putin targeting ‘enemies’ with ‘Psychotronic guns’ that turn people into ‘zombies’
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has given green signal to ‘psychotronic’ guns that can effectively turn people into zombies, describing them as ‘entirely new instruments for achieving political and strategic goals’.

Russian scientists are developing the ‘ futuristic weapons ‘, which will attack the central nervous system of their victims.

According to sources, Putin said ‘such high-tech weapons systems will be comparable in effect to nuclear weapons, but will be more acceptable in terms of political and military ideology.’

Plans to introduce super weapons were announced last week by Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, The Daily Mail reports.

“The development of weaponry based on new physics principles, direct-energy weapons, geophysical weapons, wave-energy weapons, genetic weapons, psychotronic weapons, and so on, is part of the state arms procurement programme for 2011-2020,” the paper quoted Serdyukov, as saying.

According to the report, specific proposals on developing the weapons are due to be drawn up before December by a new Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Precise details of the Russian gun have yet not been revealed.

Previous research, however, show that low-frequency waves or beams can affect brain cells, alter psychological states and make it possible to transmit suggestions and commands directly into someone’s thought processes.

Cell Phones and Cancer: Critics Say Kids Risk Brain Tumors

Cell Phones and Cancer: Critics Say Kids Risk Brain Tumors

PHOTO: Teenage girl on cell phone




Scientists are calling into question a study published last year that failed to find a link between cell phone use and brain tumors in children and teens. They say the study actually shows that cell phone use more than doubles the risk of brain tumors in children and adolescents.
The concerns come from the Environmental Health Trust, a group whose stated mission is to promote awareness of environmental issues they believe are linked to cancer.


In July 2011, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the first study on cellphone use and risk of brain tumors in children and adolescents, which was conducted by researchers at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. The scientists interviewed children and teens in Norway, Denmark, Switzerland and Sweden about their cell phone use and also collected cell phone records for a portion of them. Of the children studied, 350 had been diagnosed with brain cancer and 650 of them were healthy.
The July paper concluded that the data showed no link between cell phone use and brain tumors and "argues against a causal association" between the two.
In a letter published today in the journal, the Environmental Health Trust said the interpretation of the study's results was flawed and contained several statistical errors.
Lloyd Morgan, a senior research fellow at the Environmental Health Trust and one of the authors of the letter, called the study "sloppy" and said the data reported in the original study actually shows that children who used cell phones had a 115 percent increased risk of brain tumors over those who did not.
"There's every indication that this study actually found that children have a doubled risk of brain cancer," Morgan said. "For them to just state that we don't think there's a problem is, for me, quite mystifying."
Responding to the criticisms, Martin Roosli, author of the original study, said Morgan and his colleagues provided no explanation for the fact that rates of brain cancer among children and adolescents in Nordic countries have remained relatively stable for the past 20 years, despite increasing use of cellphones.
"And to be honest, since the funding of the Environmental Health Trust depends on donates, I would not call this independent," Roosli said.
In the original study, Roosli and his colleagues did note some limitations of their work, including that a relatively small number of children were studied. They also wrote that they could not "rule out the possibility that mobile phones confer a small increase in risk."
International concern over the potential health risks posed by cell phones has gone on for years. In May, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer put the devices in the same category as lead and engine exhaust, citing the possibility that long-term exposure to cell phone radiation could have long-term health effects. Roughly 30 studies so far have failed to draw a conclusive link.
In October, the Environmental Health Trust also criticized the test used by the Federal Communications Commission to measure cellphone radiation, saying the measure did not accurately reflect the radiation transmitted to children and adults while using cell phones.
Concerns over risks to children are particularly heightened, considering the rising use of cell phones among kids and teens and the fear that children's developing brains might be more susceptible to the effects of cellphone radiation.
However, only two studies so far have investigated the link between brain tumors and cell phone use specifically among young people -- one is the disputed study, and the other is a research project currently underway in 13 countries.
Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California-Berkeley's School of Public Health, said current evidence showing a link between cell phone radiation and cancer risk is enough for him to say scientists should not dismiss concerns.
"You can't prove that it's cell phone radiation, but we certainly have a smoking gun," Moskowitz said.
Dr. Michael Thune, vice president emeritus of epidemiology and surveillance research for the American Cancer Society, said because cell phones are a fairly new phenomenon, no one really knows just what their health effects are yet, but he sees no evidence to support the concerns voiced by the Environmental Health Trust.
"The issue of whether cell phones do have adverse effects is an important one and needs further surveillance, but I don't find this particular letter to be very compelling," Thune said.
Experts agree that all cell phone users, regardless of age, can take steps to minimize any potential risks, such as keeping phones a moderate distance away from the head and body and using headsets or earpieces instead of placing the phone next to one's head.

Tips for Reducing Your Exposure to Cellphone Radiofrequency (RF) Radiation

 Use a headset. RF waves are transmitted through the phone's antenna, so avoid placing the antenna against your head.
 Use a landline phone when you can.
 Minimize the length of your calls, or send an email or text.
 Cell phones send out more RF waves when they are searching for a signal, so during those times, keep the device away from you or turn it off.
 A little distance goes a long way. Doubling your distance from the phone cuts your risk by 75 percent.
 Some manufacturers claim cell phone radiation shields can protect users from the effects of your cell phone's RF waves, but according to the FCC, the devices aren't proven to be effective. In fact, using these devices could increase your exposure to RF, because your phone has to work harder to overcome the physical barrier.

New questions raised over cell phones and kids


New questions raised over cell phones and kids

Friday, April 06, 2012
A photo of a cellphone
(AP Photo/Christopher Berkey)
The Environmental Health Trust is disputing a controversial study that said children who use cell phones are not at a risk for getting brain cancer.


In fact, the trust say kids with a cell phone plastered to their ear are twice as likely to get brain tumors than those who don't use them.

That directly contradicts a study from Europe last year that concluded cell phones do not cause cancer in kids and adolescents.

The group says their concern is over what the cell phones emit.
Over 30 studies on the subject of cell phones and cancer have come up inconclusive.

The Environmental Health Trust promotes awareness of environmental issues it believes are linked to cancer.



(Copyright ©2012 KGO-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)