Thursday, November 07, 2013

Un pueblo renuncia a la telefonía móvil para protegerse del cáncer


Un pueblo renuncia a la telefonía móvil para protegerse del cáncer

Publicado: 1 nov 2013 | 12:36 GMT Última actualización: 1 nov 2013 | 12:36 GMT

RIA Novosti / Vladimir Radionov
El Ayuntamiento de un pueblo ucraniano ha obligado a las operadoras de telefonía móvil a desmantelar las torres que instalaron en la localidad. El objetivo de la medida es proteger del cáncer a los lugareños.
Se trata de Yaremche, un importante centro turístico de los Cárpatos, en Ucrania occidental. Según el portal Ukranews, los operadores locales de telefonía móvil se vieron obligados a desmontar las torres después de que los habitantes del pueblo organizaran una protesta. 

Argumentaban que los transmisores situados en las inmediaciones de sus casas afectaban negativamente a su salud. Los equipos fueron instalados en 2004 cerca del hospital. Lo que detonó la preocupación fue el drástico aumento de los casos de cáncer.

Tras la protesta, las autoridades locales decidieron por unanimidad anular las licencias de los operadores de telefonía móvil y clausurar las antenas. 

Sin embargo, la decisión de dejar Yaremche sin comunicaciones móviles provocó una ola de indignación en las redes sociales entre algunos de los casi 8.000 habitantes de la localidad. Los propietarios de los hoteles locales resultaron ser los más contrarios a la decisión, puesto que dentro de pocas semanas empezará la temporada turística en la región. Creen que la medida no gustará a los visitantes que tenían planeado pasar las vacaciones de invierno en Yaremche, y temen que se produzca una ola de cancelaciones de reservas.

Ukraine: Town 'bans mobile phone operators'

Ukraine: Town 'bans mobile phone operators'


News from Elsewhere
...as found by BBC Monitoring

1 November 2013 Last updated at 11:26 ET

A town in Ukraine has disconnected itself from the mobile phone network, it seems.

Councillors in Yaremche apparently terminated the lease allowing communications firms to use the masts amid pressure from health campaigners fearing the effects of radiation. "There is virtually no mobile connection in Yaremche now," reports internet and social media magazine Watcher. "The [operator] Kyivstar signal is detectable but it is almost impossible to make or take a call, since the base station is overloaded."

Watcher, which caters for the online business community, reckons it's hard to imagine "a more idiotic decision by a local council" and suggests it's bad news for the Carpathian winter resort, which has a population of about 8,000, with high season approaching. It quotes a local development expert as saying, presumably with tongue-in-cheek: "All electronic devices... should be seized from the locals and they should be given mammoth pelts and fenced."

A town in Ukraine has disconnected itself from the mobile phone network, it seems.

Councillors in Yaremche apparently terminated the lease allowing communications firms to use the masts amid pressure from health campaigners fearing the effects of radiation. "There is virtually no mobile connection in Yaremche now," reports internet and social media magazine Watcher. "The [operator] Kyivstar signal is detectable but it is almost impossible to make or take a call, since the base station is overloaded."

Watcher, which caters for the online business community, reckons it's hard to imagine "a more idiotic decision by a local council" and suggests it's bad news for the Carpathian winter resort, which has a population of about 8,000, with high season approaching. It quotes a local development expert as saying, presumably with tongue-in-cheek: "All electronic devices... should be seized from the locals and they should be given mammoth pelts and fenced."

¿'Roen' los móviles el cerebro de los niños?

¿'Roen' los móviles el cerebro de los niños?

Publicado: 21 oct 2013 | 14:58 GMT Última actualización: 21 oct 2013 | 15:01 GMT

Cada vez más aseguradoras dejan de cubrir el uso del teléfono celular, calificándolo de "catástrofe con muchas víctimas" después del tabaco y el amianto porque, entre otras cosas, afecta el cerebro, incluyendo el de los niños que los utilizan.

El programa de RT 'The Truthseeker' ha entrevistado a una serie de especialistas para investigar los riesgos que conlleva el uso de dispositivos móviles. 

Ellie Marks, cuyo marido murió por un tumor cerebral, destaca que "muchas otras personas ya han fallecido y están muriendo a causa de esto", incluso más jóvenes que su esposo, con menos de treinta años. "A algunos jovenes fallecidos sus neurocirujanos en realidad les dijeron que, probablemente, la causa era el uso de teléfonos celulares". 

Además, el problema reviste un peligro especial, ya que podría afectar a los niños que empiezan a ser blanco de los fabricantes de teléfonos móviles. Por ejemplo, el glowPhone va destinado a niños de 5-8 años y el flyPhone es para los adolescentes. 

Científicos destacan que el uso de móviles se vuelve cada vez más peligroso y que se requieren medidas para educar a la población para evitar sus efectos nocivos. 

"La única manera de educar a la población en contra de las grandes empresas es a través de demandas judiciales como hicieron contra el tabaquismo cuando los fiscales de distrito de Estados Unidos se involucraron y demandaron a la industria del cigarrillo […] Tuvieron que pagar cientos de millones de dólares para la educación pública sobre los peligros del tabaco", sostiene Bret Bocook, víctima de tumor cerebral. 

 Es innegable y categórico que estas cosas causen cáncer. Y tampoco quieren que lo sepan 

"Eso es lo que va a pasar con los teléfonos celulares. Es innegable y categórico que estas cosas causen cáncer. Y tampoco quieren que lo sepan", agregó. 

Mientras tanto, el profesor de ética de Harvard Lawrence Lessig afirma que las investigaciones de la industria que concluyen que la radiación del teléfono es inofensiva están pagadas. 

Por su parte, científicos independientes insisten en que los teléfonos acarrean daños en el ADN y espermatozoides, además de causar tumores cerebrales, autismo y defectos de nacimiento. 

"Cada vez que había una investigación independiente, lo que la industria hacía era tres cosas: primero atacaban a los científicos que habían realizado los estudios, intentaban que los despidieran, que les cortaran la financiación o les acusaran de fraude", denuncia la doctora Devra Davis.

Texto completo en: http://actualidad.rt.com/sociedad/view/109141-roen-moviles-cerebro-ninos-tumor


Li-Fi revolution: internet connections using light bulbs are 250 times faster than broadband

Li-Fi revolution: internet connections using light bulbs are 250 times faster than broadband

The next generation of wireless internet could use converted LED lightbulbs to transmit data faster and more cheaply than traditional Wi-Fi signals




Li-Fi, an alternative to Wi-Fi that transmits data using the spectrum of visible light, has achieved a new breakthrough, with UK scientists reporting transmission speeds of 10Gbit/s – more than 250 times faster than ‘superfast’ broadband.

The fastest speed previously reported was 3Gbit/s, achieved earlier this year by the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute in Germany. Chinese researchers also claimed this month to have produced a 150Mbp/s connection, but some experts were doubtful without seeing further proof.

The term Li-Fi was coined by Edinburgh University's Prof Harald Haas during a TED talk in 2011 (see below for video) though the technology is also known as visible light communications (VLC).

Many experts claim that Li-Fi represents the future of mobile internet thanks to its reduced costs and greater efficiency compared to traditional Wi-Fi.

Both Wi-Fi and Li-Fi transmit data over the electromagnetic spectrum, but whereas Wi-Fi utilises radio waves, Li-Fi uses visible light. This is a distinct advantage in that the visible light is far more plentiful than the radio spectrum (10,000 times more in fact) and can achieve far greater data density.

Li-Fi signals work by switching bulbs on and off incredibly quickly – too quickly to be noticed by the human eye. This most recent breakthrough builds upon this by using tiny micro-LED bulbs to stream several lines of data in parallel.

The research was carried out by the Ultra Parallel Visible Light Communications project, a joint venture between the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Strathclyde, and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Existing LED light bulbs could be converted to transmit Li-Fi signals with a single microchip, and the technology would also be of use in situations where radio frequencies cannot be used for fear of interfering with electronic circuitry.

And although Li-Fi bulbs would have to be kept on to transmit data, the bulbs could be dimmed to the point that they were not visible to humans and yet still functional. One draw-back is that the data receiver would have to be in sight of the transmitter-bulb as visible light does not penetrate solid materials.

The makers of Li-Fi note that this quality might actually be an advantage in some scenarios, making Li-Fi more secure than Wi-Fi with hackers unable to access unsecured internet connections from out of sight of the transmitter.


Martin Blank - Safety Code 6 - Presentation to the Royal Society of Canada

Martin Blank - Safety Code 6 - Presentation to the Royal Society of Canada

Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Samsung looks to LTE-Advanced to continue smartphone growth

Samsung looks to LTE-Advanced to continue smartphone growth

Summary: Not only does the world largest phone maker see plenty of handset growth left in the developed world, it also wants to become the world's most beloved mobile company.
By  |
Samsung expects the rollout of LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) networks across the developed world to drive handset sales in markets that already have a high level of smartphone penetration.
"The expansion of new LTE services, including LTE Advanced, will be the key growth driver," said Jong-Kyun Shin, president and CEO of Samsung IT & Mobile Communication at an analyst event in Seoul on Wednesday. "Until 2017, we expect an annual average growth of near 30 percent in the LTE smartphone market, reaching 680 million units."
Shin said that come 2017, half of all phones sold will be LTE phones.
Currently, the LTE-A network offered by the South Korean telco is capable of 150Mbps downloads, due to the aggregation of two 10MHz component carriers. By 2015, the company intends to offer 300Mbps download speeds.
Samsung will release LTE-A devices next year in the US, Japan, and Europe.
On a global level, Samsung expects emerging markets to provide much of the growth in volume for smartphone sales.
"We estimate that more than 3 billion people are currently using feature phones. So there is still huge demand to upgrade from feature phones to smartphones, and this will be a major market growth driver for the upcoming years," Shin said.
"In the future, we expect emerging markets will drive smartphone volume growth. That is already happening, China and India are the first- and third-largest smartphone markets."
Shin outlined a process by which Samsung intends to get become one of the world's "leading aspirational brands".
"First, we will solidify our position as number one in smartphones; second, we will become number one in tablets; lastly, we will create new business," he said.
"We are committed to doing our best to become the most beloved company in mobile through our innovation and commitment."
October was a month unlikely to see Samsung reach its goal of becoming the "most beloved company in mobile", as a number of issues arose.
The company was caught out falsifying benchmark scores for its Note 3 device; it was fined NT$10 million ($340,000) in Taiwan for conducting a smear campaign against its rival HTC; and the companyapologised to customers in China for glitches in its devices, and refunded customers that it had earlier charged to repair their phones, following a TV program on state-owned media criticising Samsung's repair policies.
Topics: MobilitySamsung

About 

Chris started his journalistic adventure in 2006 as the Editor of Builder AU after originally joining CBS as a programmer. After a Canadian sojourn, he returned in 2011 as the Editor of TechRepublic Australia.
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