December 15,16 Safe Tech International News and Notes
James Lin WHO; Drones; Safe and Sound Pro II RF Update, Klaus Bucher.
More good work on the WHO EMF SAFETY ‘project/propaganda’
Drones: Face Value vs Behind the Scenes There are reports about drones in the sky in the U.S. For those who do not object to listening to what is characterized as conspiracy theory, I posted a link below to an investigative journalist’s analysis (under drones). it covers more about ‘events being normalized’, and speculation about how and why the time leading up to the election may bring more ‘activity.’ Please pick and choose what you are interested in and look for the gems - for you, without judgement.
I put some of the longer posts in a smaller font but its automatically bolded…Hope it helps for ease in skimming vs. reading
FEATURED: WHO EMF PROJECT CAPTURED
Why the World Health Organization’s EMF Project is a Captured Agency RF Safe, December 13, 2024 WHO-EMF Project Systematic Reviews and Challenges The report critiques the World Health Organization’s (WHO) EMF Project, focusing on systematic reviews regarding the health effects of radiofrequency (RF) radiation. These reviews, published in Environment International, evaluate RF exposure risks associated with devices like mobile phones. However, the reviews have faced criticism for flawed methodologies, selective evidence inclusion, and conflicts of interest.
Key Points:
Reproductive Health Review:
The review concluded that in utero RF exposure does not harm fertility but may affect neurobehavioral functions in offspring. Critics identified methodological flaws and bias in favor of minimizing risks.
Migraine, Sleep, and General Health Review:
WHO’s review claimed RF radiation is safe under current guidelines. However, critical appraisals flagged the use of low-quality studies and insufficient evidence to support conclusions.
Oxidative Stress Review:
Of 11,599 studies, only 56 were included, with 89% of excluded studies showing significant effects of RF radiation. This exclusion raised concerns about bias in downplaying non-thermal effects.
Cancer Risk Review:
The WHO review found no link between RF exposure and cancers like gliomas and meningiomas. Critics noted the exclusion of older populations, significant data omissions, and contradictions with findings from the National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the Ramazzini Institute, both of which identified carcinogenic effects in animal studies.
Conflicts of Interest:
Up to half of the EMF Project’s funding reportedly comes from industry sources. The close relationship between the WHO and ICNIRP, an industry-aligned organization, further raises concerns about impartiality.
Broader Implications:
Critics argue the WHO-EMF reviews are compromised by conflicts of interest and selective evidence review, undermining public trust and failing to address non-thermal health risks.
Introduction
The World Health Organization (WHO) has long been regarded as a trusted authority on global health. However, its EMF Project, tasked with evaluating the safety of radiofrequency (RF) radiation, has faced criticism for its alleged alignment with industry interests. The term “captured agency” refers to organizations that prioritize the goals of influential stakeholders over their mission to serve the public. Evidence suggests that the WHO’s EMF Project exhibits the hallmarks of such capture, raising serious concerns about its objectivity and commitment to public health.
1. Industry Funding and Conflicts of Interest
The WHO-EMF Project asserts that its funding comes from WHO member states, yet critical details about funding sources remain undisclosed. Investigations reveal that up to half of the project’s funding comes from industry sources, including telecommunications companies and related entities. This financial reliance creates an inherent conflict of interest, as industries benefiting from the proliferation of RF technologies have a vested interest in minimizing perceived risks.
Furthermore, key personnel in the WHO-EMF Project have close ties to the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), a private organization funded predominantly by the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection. ICNIRP has been criticized for consistently downplaying the health risks of RF radiation. This interconnectedness raises serious questions about the independence of WHO’s assessments.
2. Systematic Exclusion of Contradictory Evidence
The WHO-EMF Project has been accused of selectively excluding studies that highlight the potential dangers of RF exposure. For example:
A systematic review on oxidative stress considered only 56 studies out of over 11,000 identified, ignoring the vast majority, including 89% that showed significant oxidative effects of RF radiation.
Reviews on cancer risk excluded studies involving older populations, despite the fact that brain cancer risks are higher in these groups.
Such exclusions suggest a deliberate effort to skew conclusions toward minimizing public concern, aligning with industry narratives that RF radiation is safe at current exposure levels.
3. Downplaying Non-Thermal Effects
The WHO-EMF reviews primarily focus on thermal effects—tissue heating caused by RF exposure—while dismissing evidence of non-thermal effects such as oxidative stress, DNA damage, and neurological impacts. This narrow scope benefits industries reliant on wireless technologies by maintaining outdated safety standards. Critics argue that the WHO’s continued reliance on thermal-only guidelines reflects its alignment with industry priorities rather than emerging scientific evidence.
4. Influence of ICNIRP’s Leadership
ICNIRP has acted as the de facto scientific secretariat of the WHO-EMF Project, and many of its commissioners are directly involved in the systematic reviews. This lack of diversity in viewpoints undermines the credibility of the reviews and reinforces the perception of bias. The overlapping leadership and shared interests between ICNIRP and the WHO-EMF Project strengthen the argument that the WHO has been co-opted by industry-aligned entities.
5. A History of Ignored Warnings
The WHO’s own International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified RF radiation as a “possible carcinogen” in 2011 based on epidemiological evidence linking mobile phone use to gliomas and other tumors. Despite this, subsequent WHO-EMF reviews have consistently downplayed cancer risks, citing insufficient evidence. This dismissal contradicts findings from the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the Ramazzini Institute, both of which identified carcinogenic effects in animal studies.
6. Implications for Public Health
By aligning with industry interests, the WHO-EMF Project undermines trust in its recommendations and jeopardizes public health. Outdated safety guidelines based on biased reviews leave the public vulnerable to potential risks from widespread RF exposure. This situation exemplifies how captured agencies can fail their missions, prioritizing stakeholder interests over their duty to protect human health.
Conclusion The evidence suggests that the WHO’s EMF Project operates as a captured agency, shaped by industry funding, selective evidence review, and close ties to ICNIRP. This raises critical concerns about its objectivity and the validity of its findings. To restore credibility, the WHO must prioritize transparency, independence, and a commitment to unbiased science. Public health should never take a backseat to industry interests.
FEATURED: WHO STUDY: Dr. James Lin
In a newly-published paper, one of the world's most renowned scientists who has studied the effects of radio frequency (RF) radiation, Dr. James C. Lin, Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Chicago and a former ICNIRP Commissioner, attacks the World Health Organization's systematic reviews of the research on RF radiation that dismiss the substantial evidence for adverse biological and health effects. He concludes: "The criticisms and challenges encountered by the published WHO-EMF systematic reviews are brutal, including calls for retraction. Rigorous examinations of the reviews reveal major concerns. In addition to the scientific quality, they appear to have a strong conviction of nothing but heat to worry about with RF radiation. The unsubtle message that cellular mobile phones do not pose a cancer risk is clear. The reviews exhibit a lack of serious concerns for conflicts of interest and display unequivocal support for the recently promulgated ICNIRP RF exposure guidelines for human safety. From its inception, WHO-EMF had close ties with ICNIRP, a private organization, frequently referred to as the WHO-EMF project’s scientific secretariat [18]. What may not be as apparent for the WHO-EMF systematic reviews is the lack of diversity of views. A large number of ICNIRP commissioners and committee members are listed as authors for the WHO-EMF systematic reviews; some also served as lead authors. These concerns advance issues of reviewer independence and potential for conflicts of interest." Lin JC. World Health Organization’s EMF Project’s Systemic Reviews on the Association Between RF Exposure and Health Effects Encounter Challenges [Health Matters]. IEEE Microwave Magazine, 26(1): 13-15, Jan. 2025, doi: 10.1109/MMM.2024.3476748. Blog Link: Towards Better Health: World Health Organization’s EMF Project’s Systemic Reviews on the Association Between RF Exposure and Health Effects Encounter Challenges Link to paper and pdf:
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10795296
SEE ALSO EINAR IN NORWAY: Our research criticism of the WHO goes to the top internationally! It is particularly important that James C. Lin, who is a key member of the world's most powerful ICT engineering association, IEEE, highlights our study and has clearly read it thoroughly. He uses it to substantiate his criticism of the entire WHO office's major investment, and shows that every research study that has come out of this investment so far is plain and tendentious craftsmanship that primarily serves a political purpose: to defend today's obsolete limit values for non-ionizing radiation.
FEATURED: Keith Cutter Safe and Sound Pro II
KEITH CUTTER EMF REMEDY: Exciting Update: The Safe and Sound Pro II RF Meter Gets a Revision! (17 MINUTE VIDEO)
If you already have a S&S Pro II, you likely don’t need to run out and buy the newest model, but might wish to become familiar with the new features. The sensitivity & accuracy are the same. The user interface, external power interface are the primary changes. If you'd like to purchase one, here's an affiliate link: https://bit.ly/475j8SY
REMINDER: In addition, in Massachusetts and NY, several communities have engaged in advocacy to place a radio-transmission detection meter in the local library for loan. Library meters: Ashland (Acoustimeter), Pittsfield & Sunderland (S&S Pro II), Bedford & Wellesley (GQ EMF 390), Watertown (ionizing); Hillsdale, NY! EHT library meter fund
FEATURED:
Books on Environmental Health and Electromagnetic Radiation FROM EHT
FEATURED:
How ‘smart cities’ make us more watched than ever before | The Listening Post 10 min.
NEWS AND NOTES
AI; Gary Marcus from Marcus on AI Generative AI’s Continuing Copyright Problems, an Essay in Memory of Suchir Balaji, 1998 - 2024 OpenAI’s problems with text and copyright started to become especially clear a year ago, when the New York Times sued them, and showed how close some of the outputs could be to some of the stories on their website. The most striking thing Southen and I found was plagiaristic-like copies of commercial characters without our directly eliciting them, things like “Italian plumber” eliciting Nintendo’s Mario character, without naming Mario. (A real artist would presumably create a new, original plumber) Nearly a year later, the problem of apparent infringement has not gone away
AI, FIRES, INSURANCE: Norman Lambe from Norman’s Substack Wildfires and Computers in California According to the California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, a revised system for premium determination will become effective on January 2, 2025. Insurance Companies that sell Property Coverage will be basing the premium charged on the information provided by their computers (also known as AI) that will analyze weather and location facts. To understand the implications of this new decision the following information was provided by The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging: []I believe the problems that have led to the Malibu fire as well as others in California, are not going to be solved with a Department of Insurance computer program. Just three of the issues that need examination and immediate action I believe are the following: A. Allow Property Insurance Companies the right to invest premium dollars from their insureds in the businesses that will prove profitable, and not be prohibited from investments by a State Insurance Commissioner. B. Proper care of forests C. Continuing to abide by the principles of premium limits provided by Proposition 103 which was passed by the California voters in 1988; most importantly is the percentage increase controls.
APPLIANCES, SMART VS DUMB: Why Do Smart Appliances Continue to be So Dumb? Hawkins has over 200 “smart” devices throughout his Alpharetta, Ga., home. They include run-of-the-mill smart products; locks, lightbulbs, a garage door opener, and vacuums. But also some weird ones; a bidet, mousetrap, toothbrush and curtain rods programmed to close his curtains at a predetermined time. What does he not have in his house? Lots of smart home appliances. He and his wife, Jordan, purchased their 4,000-square-foot home in 2022 and bought a smart microwave with a sliding drawer during a kitchen renovation. But after a power outage, they never reconnected it to wi-fi. “Do I really need to get my phone, open an app, hit the ‘open’ button when I’m literally standing in front of the thing and could just push the open button?” said Hawkins, 40. He really does not. It’s like the people who designed his microwave’s smart features have never actually used a microwave. Smart devices like locks, thermostats and vacuums add real value by addressing a legitimate need, solving a problem or taking over an entire task. But most connected appliances have whizzed right past smart and circled back to dumb. WSJ ON MSN
AUTOMOBILES: GM ‘blindsides’ Cruise by giving up on robotaxis
BIG TECH, DISCONNECT, PARIS MARX NEWS UPDATE Roundup: The system is crashing Read to the end for a surprising tirade against Elon Musk
[] longtime tech journalist (and longtime pal) Brian Merchant and I launched System Crash — a new weekly show where we aim to go through some of the biggest tech news stories of the year and help listeners understand what they really mean for average people like themselves. So far, we’ve released three episodes digging into the consequences of the Trump-Musk alliance, the state of OpenAI, and the crypto industry’s influence on the election — with our first ever guest, renowned crypto critic Molly White! We have one more episode to come this year, setting us up to come out of the gate running in 2025. AND For the third year in a row, the podcast Tech Won't Save Us is arranging a competition to name the worst person in IT. Last year, Elon Musk won, after thousands of people voted – this year a Swede was also in the fight. Flamman asked three questions to the initiator Paris Marx. https://www.flamman.se/han-kan-bli-arets-varsta-it-kille-gor-varlden-samre translates at link
CANADA PARIS MARX TORONTO STAR: Opinion | From Facebook to Amazon, Canada’s digital life is run by American companies. It’s time to take back control
DRONES: Mystery Drone Swarms Spread to Maryland ‘The American people deserve answers and action now,’ former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said.
Caution and Disclaimer: very alternative - Dark Journalist (167K subscribers) speaks from a background in theosophy, Ageless Wisdom, Steiner, and other topics that I appreciate; He has questioned disclosures about space for years; explains Continuity of Government apparatus/emergency powers if there is a UFO threat narrative …He is supporter of Trump, DRONES; ALTERNATIVE MEDIA-DARK JOURNALIST 2 HOURS 42 MINUTES VIDEO Dark Journalist UFO Apotheum Nation COG Drone Operation Takeover I recommend the first 20 minutes of his very important common sense questions if interested.
EMF: with English subtitles: Klaus Buchner: New mechanisms for dommages and their consequences for politics and law 42 minutes (damages?)
ENERGY: This Ain’t Easy-Breezy: Wind Energy Giant Vestas Fires Workers As Challenges Mount
ENERGY: A weather phenomenon dubbed ‘Dunkelflaute’ is causing havoc in Germany and pushing energy prices to 2-decade highs
A weather phenomenon dubbed “Dunkelflaute” that causes chilly, low-wind conditions is sweeping across Europe and causing fresh havoc to Germany’s embattled economy, where energy prices have risen to a two-decade high. A Dunkelflaute, translated as “'dark doldrums” or “dark wind lull,” is the bain of renewables companies, with an extended period of low wind and cloudy weather hurting their ability to generate electricity from either wind or solar.
5G UPDATE CA This 5G buoy will likely be approved by the California Coastal Commission for Monterey Bay https://www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/agenda/#/2024/12 #7 on Friday's hearing, inside the Director's report. (p. 16) It will be operated by the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. This is an AI and sensor-equipped buoy. " The contract also includes the integration of multi-domain drones and communication systems." And "The results from this deployment will also further demonstrate the ability to deploy PowerBuoy’s as 5G communication nodes across the coastline of the United States.” Ocean Power Technologies finishes testing of next-gen buoy, prepares for deploymentSeptember 6, 2024, by Zerina Maksumic U.S.-based marine energy firm Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has completed more than four months of offshore testing of its next-generation PowerBuoy (PB) in the Atlantic Ocean, offshore New Jersey, and is preparing the system for deployment at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey to enhance maritime domain awareness and connectivity. According to OPT, the next-generation PB, equipped with solar and wind power along with OPT’s artificial intelligence (AI) capable domain awareness solution, Merrows, maintained 100% data uptime and kept battery charge above 90% throughout the deployment. The system completed multiple intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance demonstrations for potential customers. After operating offshore during Hurricane Ernesto and tropical storm Debby, the system has returned to the OPT facility for integration of subsea connectors and AT&T’s 5G system. “We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of offshore testing for our solar and wind power capable Next Generation PowerBuoy, which forms the backbone of our AI-capable Merrows ocean intelligence platform,” said Philipp Stratmann, CEO and President of OPT. Achieving 100% data uptime during testing is a testament to the robustness and reliability of our technology, designed to operate in the most challenging marine environments. We are excited to take the next step and deliver this groundbreaking system to NPS , marking a significant milestone in advancing sustainable ocean monitoring solutions.” These upgrades are part of the planned deployment for the NPS in Monterrey. OPT received a further contract from the NPS, which supports near-term revenue and adds to the deployment of OPT’s PB in Monterey Bay to enhance maritime domain awareness and connectivity. The contract also includes the integration of multi-domain drones and communication systems, said OPT. Building on the success of the previous NPS contract, this new order will integrate advanced subsea sensors into a PowerBuoy equipped with OPT’s Merrows suite, enabling AI-driven maritime domain awareness [MDA] and utilizing AT&T communication technologies. According to OPT, the PB will provide continuous autonomous monitoring and data collection in a strategically important maritime environment. This deployment will also contribute to NPS’s field experimentation exercises, designed to test and improve technologies for situational awareness and operational efficiency in naval operations. After permits are approved and factory acceptance testing is completed, the system will be moved to California for installation, expected in late fall. “Receiving this contract from NPS underscores the growing recognition of our PowerBuoy technology as a vital tool for enhancing maritime security and operational capability above and below the surface,” added Stratmann. “This collaboration with NPS not only builds on our previous successes but also pushes the boundaries of what autonomous maritime technology can achieve. We are proud to continue supporting the Joint Force’s efforts to advance MDA and secure communication networks. The results from this deployment will also further demonstrate the ability to deploy PowerBuoy’s as 5G communication nodes across the coastline of the United States.” OPT’s PBs are wave-powered energy devices that can act as uninterruptable power supply (UPS) devices that recharge themselves by harvesting energy from waves. PBs are ocean-deployed, moored, and floating over the point of use. In June, the Merrow-equipped PB was selected as a preferred supplier of the wave-powered buoy for delivery in the Middle East. courtesy N.B.
HEALTH EHS: (Olle Johansson, associate professor) AN OLD PAPER AND A NEW PAPER ON EHS: 2012 Pathophysiology. 2012 Apr;19(2):81-7. doi: 10.1016/j.pathophys.2012.01.005. Epub 2012 Feb 24. M Hagström 1, J Auranen, O Johansson, R Ekman DOI: 10.1016/j.pathophys.2012.01.005 Reducing electromagnetic irradiation and fields alleviates experienced health hazards of VDU work - PubMed NEW PAPER: Henshaw, D. L., & Philips, A. (2024). A mechanistic understanding of human magnetoreception validates the phenomenon of electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). International Journal of Radiation Biology, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/09553002.2024.2435329 or https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/09553002.2024.2435329?needAccess=true
HEALTH: Early-life stress changes more genes in the brain than a head injury
HEALTH: E-tattoos could make mobile EEGs a reality Novel polymer-based conductive inks print directly on the scalp surface—even through pesky short hairs.
HEALTH: ROBOTS INSIDE YOU How Nanobots Could Cure Cancer 5 1/2 MINUTES VIDEO
HEALTH: MERCOLA ON CERVICAL SPINE DEGENERATION: Cervical spine degeneration affects nearly 80% of adults. It’s primarily caused by poor posture, sedentary behavior and prolonged device usage, and often progresses without noticeable symptoms
HEALTH OT: ADHD can be diagnosed by looking at brainwaves – here’s the neuroscience behind it Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not have a behavioural disorder, nor are they lazy, or lacking in manners and boundaries. Their brains mature in a different way, with different patterns of neurological activity and a number of neurochemical differences. For this reason, ADHD is considered to be a neurodevelopmental disorder. [], tools are emerging that no longer rely on behavioural observation, but instead study patterns of brain activity. By using mathematical algorithms, they provide information on whether an individual’s brain activity is similar to that of other people with ADHD. [] Lower cortex volume has also been found in regions such as the frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital cortex. As mentioned above, various studies have also found a lower volume in frontal areas, especially in orbitofrontal areas. These areas are especially important for self-control and inhibition.
HEALTH OT: Herbicide Exposure Linked to Long-Term Brain Inflammation, Alzheimer’s
Summary: New research reveals that glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, can cause lasting brain inflammation and accelerate Alzheimer’s-like pathology in mice. Even short-term exposure resulted in persistent inflammatory markers and neurological damage, including anxiety-like behaviors and premature death. The study found that glyphosate’s metabolite, aminomethylphosphonic acid, accumulates in brain tissue, raising concerns about its long-term safety for humans. []The team’s findings build on earlier ASU research that demonstrates a link between glyphosate exposure and a heightened risk for neurodegenerative disorders. The previous study showed that glyphosate crosses the blood-brain barrier, a protective layer that typically prevents potentially harmful substances from entering the brain. Once glyphosate crosses this barrier, it can interact with brain tissue and appears to contribute to neuroinflammation and other harmful effects on neural function. The EPA considers certain levels of glyphosate safe for human exposure, asserting that the chemical is minimally absorbed into the body and is primarily excreted unchanged.
Comment: Did this become more of a problem when cellphone/wi-fi use opened the blood brain barrier?
INDUSTRY GOVERNMENT TELECOM TELE-HEALTH DISCLAIMER: Using maternal health to promote broadband while ignoring impacts of RF and the link between low melatonin and breast cancer, fertility challenges. etc, Great caution should be directed towards research based on proxy variables (like those in use to justify precision agriculture, without talking to any actual farmers,) HEALTH TELECOM INDUSTRY: Connectivity and Maternal Health In 2022, President Joe Biden (D-DE) signed the Data Mapping to Save Moms' Lives Act, which directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to “incorporate publicly available data on maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity into the agency’s Mapping Broadband Health in America platform, in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
The bipartisan bill was introduced in 2021 by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Todd Young (R-IN), and Brian Schatz (D-HI), with a goal of identifying where improved access to telehealth services can be most effective in reducing maternal mortality. At the October 2024 FCC Open Meeting the Connect2Health task force presented on the mapping effort, and announced updates to the platform that would launch the following month, including improved broadband mapping data and the addition of facts about infant health outcomes, breast cancer prevalence, and other social indicators of health. [] The addition of maternal health data to the Mapping Broadband Health in America tool allows users to see the intersections of maternal morbidity risk factors with social determinants of health, availability of obstetric services, and broadband access to visualize patterns and disparities that impact maternal morbidity outcomes. The FCC worked with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to identify “proxy” variables to address gaps in reportable maternal mortality and morbidity data. As a result, the platform was updated in October 2024 to include health risk factors such as gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and pre-pregnancy obesity. BENTON
HOUSING/HEALTH/EMF: Coping With EHS/EMR-S: Protective Materials What's Needed to Take a Walk in the Woods
Is It a Sanctuary or Is It a Prison? (personal narrative from building biologist, includes gemstones) When a person has environmental sensitivities, one key strategy is to create a safe sanctuary which offers as few of the triggering environmental stressors as can be managed. This is the place of retreat, where one can be in control and where healing can always make forward progress. This is not a ‘just-in-case’ space, like a storm-shelter, but is usually the place of common dwelling. More often than not, the well-appointed sanctuary is both the bedroom and the daytime space. All too often, one’s core sanctuary also effectively acts as one’s prison cell. Leaving the sanctuary can require so many protective steps and entail risk of debilitating over-exposure that one would rather just stay in the safe sanctuary. Still, with precautions, one is usually able to don enough protective garb to make the occasional outing bearable. Here, due to electrical over-reactivity (referred to a EHS¹ - Electromagnetic Sensitivity), my partner Sonia has lived in an EMF-sanitized sanctuary of less than 400 sq ft, with very limited access to the rest of the house and which required ingress/egress from that sanctuary by climbing through a low window for five years.
INDUSTRY Advancing the Speed of Wireless [] over 4,000 times faster than the current average speed being delivered by T-Mobile, the current fastest cellular provider in the U.S.[]
The first 6G summit met in 2022 in Levi, Lapland, Finland, sponsored by the University of Oulu, and included major wireless vendors like Nokia, Huawei, Ericsson, Samsung, and NTT, along with researchers from numerous universities as well as groups like Bell Labs. At the summit, researchers talked about creating a set of standards for terahertz frequencies by 2030. They identified the first hurdle as the development of chips that can handle faster speeds. There were also questions about whether governments would try to regulate the higher frequencies. For now, these fast tests represent scientists pushing the edge of radio technology. These tests are not going to produce any usable technology for many years. The University of College London used a wide swath of spectrum that would never by allowed by any government. But the early success of these various tests show that faster radios will somebody be possible.
INSPIRATION: ANALOG FAMILY Katherine Johnson Martinko Fix Your Analog Life First It's a prerequisite for curbing screen time. Cal Newport is one of my favourite writers on the topic of technology. His 2019 book, Digital Minimalism, had a profound influence on me, opening my eyes to the necessity of putting digital media in its rightful place and not letting it take over every aspect of our lives. I appreciate how practical his approach is; he is a computer science professor, so he recognizes technology’s utility in our lives, while advocating for a cautious consideration of its trade-offs. In a recent email newsletter, he offered advice that I think is critical to any discussion about how to establish a more balanced relationship with our devices:
“Fixing your relationship with digital tools requires that you fix your analog life first. It’s not enough to stop using problematic apps and devices, you must also aggressively pursue alternative activities to fill the voids this digital abstention will create: read books, join communities, develop hard hobbies, get in shape, hatch plans to transform your career for the better. Without deeper purpose, the shallow siren song of your phone will become impossible to ignore.”
We talk so much about the necessity of reducing screen time and getting off one’s phone, but we don’t talk enough about what is supposed to replace it. With adults spending an average of 2.5 hours per day on social media alone (not counting other forms of phone-based entertainment), that is a significant amount of time that suddenly needs to be reallocated toward something else.
Cal (quoted)is an MIT-trained computer science professor at Georgetown University who also writes about the intersections of technology, work, and the quest to find depth in an increasingly distracted world.
INSPIRATION LOCAL FUTURES We Built the Technosphere. Now We Must Resist It WITH READER COMMENTS To resist this Technosphere and bring forth a true Technological Society, the tekhne of accountancy needs to be reformed to regard the service of human labour to life as something of far more value than what human labour reducing machines provide.
INSPIRATION HISTORY OF THE GREEN MOVEMENT: Jacob Nordangård: Lured into a Technocratic Future 1 HOUR 16 MINUTE INTERVIEW
Jacob Nordangård used to be an enthusiastic member of the environmentalist movement. Always inquisitive, he began looking into its origins. To his surprise, not to say dismay, he found that much of the green agenda, including the climate change narrative, had been developed by global elites – organizations, associations and large corporations, even Big Oil. “The environmental movement I was a part of was set up by very powerful people. It made me angry.” Jacob started writing hardrock music to let the steam out. He also went into academia to do deeper research. His PhD thesis covered the history of the EU’s biofuel policy. What Jacob did, and what nobody previously had done in this context, was to expose the links between the policies and the coterie of elite figures pushing for them. The head of the Club of Rome tried to stop the thesis. Jacob Nordangård delved further into the matrix of behind-the-scenes decision makers. He wrote books about it. One is about the Rockefellers, a powerful family that, according to Jacob, has been instrumental for the agenda of the global elite. But there is a whole global network of large foundations, corporations, banks, think tanks and families that shape much of the policies that later appear on the national level. “It’s not like they took over the climate agenda, they created it“, says Jacob. He quotes Vladimir Lenin: “It’s better to run the opposition yourself. Then they will work for you.” As Jacob sees it, the goal of this elite is to create a world which is managed globally. There are several avenues to achieve this if you focus on features that are truly global, such as climate, infectious diseases, digitization and money. They also push the now very questionable narrative of ‘overpopulation’. “We won’t need people, they think.” These elite groups have had an enormous impact on the UN policies, Jacob says. His latest book “Temple of Solomon” (out in December of 2024) ties together his earlier work, but it adds a spiritual perspective and has a more personal touch. He makes references to many of the large spiritual traditions, which have been used as an inspiration for the elitist agenda of a ‘new human’. But are those traditions themselves nefarious? “No, they’re not. I follow much of the teachings myself. But the technocratic elite has hijacked them”, says Jacob. He doesn’t want to claim that these people are intentionally evil. A lot of them want a better world. They believe they are doing a good thing. But they try to cheat in a natural system. “They want to create a perfect world with technology. But that takes away what’s human.”
INSPIRATION LIGHTING: The Power Couple: What do mistletoe and palm trees have in common? Ancient origins of Christmas lights | From Egypt to LEDs 30 minute audio
LIGHTING NEWSER: Blinded by Headlights' Glare? You're Not Alone The Ringer looks at the war being fought by advocates for better regulations
OCEANS: Global fleet of undersea robots reveals the phytoplankton hidden beneath the ocean's surface
SECURITY: Crypto-Gram NEWSLETTER December 15, 2024 by Bruce Schneier
SPACE: ‘Tragedy of the commons’ in space: We need to act now to prevent an orbital debris crisis, scientists say “We have to get serious about this and recognize that, unless we do something, we are in imminent danger of making a whole part of our Earth environment unusable," Dan Baker, director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder (UC-Boulder), said in a panel Wednesday (Dec. 11) at the 2024 meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Washington, D.C. []Most of those LEO satellites — about 6,800 of them — belong to a single constellation: SpaceX's Starlink broadband network. These numbers are growing all the time, and the tally could soon get mind-bogglingly high. SpaceX, for example, wants the Starlink network to eventually harbor more than 40,000 spacecraft. Other players aim to build their own broadband constellations in LEO as well. China has begun building out its Qianfan ("Thousand Sails") megaconstellation, which will feature about 14,000 satellites if all goes according to plan. In addition, Amazon intends to assemble its own 3,200-satellite LEO broadband network, called Project Kuiper. And these are just the active satellites; the amount of junk in Earth orbit is much higher. For instance, ESA estimates that there are about 40,500 debris objects at least 4 inches (10 centimeters) wide whizzing around our planet. The space debris population includes another 1.1 million pieces between 0.4 inches and 4 inches (1 to 10 cm) wide, and 130 million in the 1-millimeter to 0.4-inch range. [] Even these tiny fragments can do considerable damage to a satellite or other spacecraft, considering how fast orbiting objects move. At the International Space Station's average altitude of 250 miles (400 km), for instance, orbital velocity is about 17,500 mph (28,160 kph). These shards are too small to track using ground-based radars. This is a shame, scientists say — and not just because the slivers are potentially dangerous. "If the Kessler syndrome starts to happen and we start to see a sort of cascade of collisions, we're going to see it in the smallest grains first," space plasma physicist David Malaspina, an assistant professor at UC-Boulder, said during Wednesday's AGU panel. "These are our canary in the coal mine."
SPACE WARFARE: A SpaceNews daily newsletter 12/13/2024 INCLUDING Companies are seeking more support from the Space Force on a proposed commercial space reserve. The military is increasingly relying on commercial capabilities to gain intelligence on space threats. L3Harris is scaling up satellite manufacturing to meet military demand.
SPACE WARFARE arstechnica.com: The US military is now talking openly about going on the attack in space "We have to build capabilities that provide our leadership offensive and defensive options."
SURVEILLANCE: TECH WON’T SAVE US, PARIS MARX; Don’t Give Surveillance for Christmas Chris Gilliard Paris Marx is joined by Chris Gilliard to discuss the ethics of tech media recommending surveillance devices, aspects of “smart” technologies you might not have considered, and why we should think twice about surrounding ourselves with cameras and microphones. 1 hour podcast
Smart Meter Science | Patricia Burke | Substack
Note: We now have a devoted blog for Smart Meter Science. In case you missed it, this was cross-posted yesterday All My (EMF) Trials: Human Rights vs. Mitigation, NGO Groups that Denied Smart Grid Harm, and Sleep: A Sanctuary Is EMF 'Mitigation' via 'More Tech' a Solution or Part of the Problem?
EVENTS:
12/17 MA4ASAFETECH Safer Tech Possibilities in Schools: Free Public Education Webinar! Register: Tuesday, December 17 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT Please post/send out the .pdf invitation and share the .png social media invitation.
12/18 MA4ASAFETECH ZOOM CALL Monthly Update Meeting We generally meet via Zoom on the third Wednesday of the month at noon Eastern to discuss ways in which citizens and public servants are are moving the needle toward safe technology in our communities. Join us to share your inroads and/or be inspired by others! You needn’t be from MA to attend, all are welcome. Meeting Registration - Zoom