Wi-Fi scare sees BBC slapped (and barcode me)
Another Monday, another IT Blogwatch: in which we return to last Monday’s story about Aunty Beeb’s Wi-Fi "radiation" fears. Not to mention how to barcode yourself…
Glenn "WiFi News" Fleishman reminds us what this is all about:
The BBC recently ran a terrible half-hour program on the risks from Wi-Fi to ‘the children.’ While there’s no reason to not study the matter further, the report relied on measurements taken by a lobbyist who also sells tinfoil hats and measurement devices to those afraid of wireless signals. The report also seemed to systematically avoid using the scientific method, instead relying on vagueness and analogy. There’s no reliable [evidence] (peer reviewed, etc.) that shows any risk from Wi-Fi, and the cell phones studies performed on real populations (instead of lab conditions with high signal strength and rats and such) show no increased risk for specific cancers.
The Grauniad’s Ben Goldacre spits blood:
This show was on the suppressed dangers of radiation from Wi-Fi networks, and how they are harming children. There was no science in it, just some “experiments” they did for themselves, and some conflicting experts. Panorama disagreed with the WHO expert, so he was smeared for not being “independent” enough, and working for a phone company in the past. I don’t do personal smear. But Panorama started it. How independent were they, and the “experiments” they did?
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