"Orientation, navigation, and homing are critical traits expressed by organisms ranging from bacteria through higher vertebrates. Sensory systems that aid such behavior have provided key selective advantages to these groups over the past 4 billion years, and are highly evolved; magnetoreception is no exception. Across many species and groups of organisms, compelling evidence exists that the physical basis of this response is tiny crystals of single-domain magnetite (Fe3O4). It is the opinion of the authors that all magnetic field sensitivity in living organisms, including elasmobranch fishes, is the result of a highly evolved, finely-tuned sensory system based on singledomain, ferromagnetic crystals . . .

"You have a government that is micromanaging the message, obsessively. It seems to vet everything that goes out to the media" Margaret Muro, Canadian Science Journalist 

". . . It's so hard to get hold of scientists that a lot of my colleagues have given up," she explained.

"Ms Munro cited another example of research published in another leading scientific journal, Nature, that was published last October.

"An international team including several scientists from the government agency, Environment Canada, set out details of a hole that appeared in the ozone layer above the Arctic.

"Ms Munro said she had called one of the scientists involved who she had dealt with several times in the past. He agreed to speak to her, but said that he had been told that her request had to be put to government media relations officials in Ottawa.

"So I phoned up Ottawa and they just said no you can't talk to the guy. A couple of weeks later, he was available but by then the story had been done. So they take them out of the news cycle," she said.  

"Ms Munro also claims that journalists were denied access to scientists working for the government agency Health Canada last year, when there was concern about radiation levels reaching the country's western coast from Japan following the explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Ultimately, journalists obtained the information they sought from European agencies.

"The Postmedia News journalist obtained documents relating to interview requests using Canada's equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act. She said the documents show interview requests move up what she describes as an "increasingly thick layer of media managers, media strategists, deputy ministers, then go up to the Privy Council Office, which decides 'yes' or 'no'" . . .

"The government has never explained what the process is. They just imposed these changes and they expected us to sit back and take it," she explained.

"Professor Andrew Weaver believes that the media protocol is being used by the Canadian government to "instruct scientists to deliver a certain message, thereby taking the heat out of controversial topics".

He added:  "You can't have an informed discussion if the science isn't allowed to be communicated. Public relations message number one is that you have to set the conversation. You don't want to have a conversation on someone else's terms. And this is now being applied to science on discussions about oil sands, climate and salmon."

If Wi-Fi harms trees, what about children?

"Aspen decline has been reported in North America over the past half century and rapid mortality of aspen clones has been observed in Colorado since 2004 and has become a major concern for environmentalists, scientists, and foresters.

"In one experiment, published February 2010 in The International Journal of Forestry Research, scientists constructed mock-shielded cages and faraday-shielded cages in the forest just outside of Lyons, Colorado. The mock cage shielded aspen seedlings only from direct light - while the faraday cage shielded seedlings from all forms of radio frequency radiation originating from the town of Lyons in the frequency range of 1 MHz to 3 GHz. This includes radio broadcast signals as well as cell phone and WiFi signals.

"The researchers discovered that the tree seedlings growing inside the radio frequency-shielded cages were much larger and healthier than those in both the mock-shielded cages and in the unshielded controls. The authors report that the background levels of radio frequency radiation may be adversely affecting leaf and shoot growth and inhibiting fall production of anthocyanins (these are the pigments associated with leaf senescence in trembling aspen seedlings). These results suggest that exposure to the RF radiation generated by our wireless technology may be an underlying factor in the recent rapid decline of aspen populations . . .

"Since atmosphere "microwave window" allows penetration of cosmicradiation with frequencies ranging within GHz domain, there is always amicrowave component within the environment radiation background. In the modern world, with the use of sophisticated microwave emitting devices for communications in the air, surveillance systems, industry, diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in medicine - the importance of electromagnetic pollution need not be over emphasized.

"There is a rich literature describing the biological influence of low frequency electromagnetic fields upon vegetal organisms. But the responses elicited invarious plant species appear to depend in a complex way on both the physical parameters of the irradiation source (frequency, power density, pulses or continuous waves, duration of exposure etc.) and the condition of the biological material magnetic (vegetation stage, pretreatment, environment etc.); nevertheless different biological parameters may lead to the revealing of different aspects of the interaction between the electromagnetic waves and the irradiated material. Some examples are illustrating the above statement . . .

"Trees are now dying mysteriously from a variety of diseases in urban areas all over Europe and are also showing abnormal photoperiodic responses. In addition, many have cancer-like growths under the bark (phloem nodules) and the bark may also split so that the underlying tissues become infected. All of these can be explained as being a result of weak radio-frequency radiation from mobile phones, their base stations, WiFi and similar sources of weak non-ionising radiation. But first let us look at how living organisms use electric currents that they generate themselves and which perform vital functions in their normal day-to-day metabolism and growth. We will then go on to see how weak electromagnetic fields can disrupt these and bring about many unwanted biological effects... 

"The hearing of microwave pulses is a unique exception to the airborne or bone-conducted sound energy normally encountered in human auditory perception. The hearing apparatus commonly responds to airborne or bone-conducted acoustic or sound pressure waves in the audible frequency range. But the hearing of microwave pulses involves electromagnetic waves whose frequency ranges from hundreds of MHz to tens of GHz. Since electromagnetic waves (e.g., light) are seen but not heard, the report of auditory perception of microwave pulses was at once astonishing and intriguing. Moreover, it stood in sharp contrast to the responses associated with continuous-wave microwave radiation.

Experimental and theoretical studies have shown that the microwave auditory phenomenon does not arise from an interaction of microwave pulses directly with the auditory nerves or neurons along the auditory neurophysiological pathways of the central nervous system. Instead, the microwave pulse, upon absorption by soft tissues in the head, launches a thermoelastic wave of acoustic pressure that travels by bone conduction to the inner ear. There, it activates the cochlear receptors via the same process involved for normal hearing.

Aside from tissue heating, microwave auditory effect is the most widely accepted biological effect of microwave radiation with a known mechanism of interaction: the thermoelastic theory. The phenomenon, mechanism, power requirement, pressure amplitude, and auditory thresholds of microwave hearing are discussed in this paper. A specific emphasis is placed on human exposures to wireless communication fields and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coils.

"New Delhi, Nov 28 (IBNS): The Indian Environment Ministry is examining a report by an expert committee that has studied the possible impacts of cell phone towers on wildlife including birds and bees. In a written reply to a question posed by lawmakers, Natarajan said that the Ministry had formed the expert committee on Aug 30 under the chairmanship of Dr Asad Rahmani, Director, Bombay Natural History Society.

"Media reports have said that the environment and forests' ministry study has blamed electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from communication towers for the declining numbers of sparrows and bees.

"The study titled 'A possible impact of communication tower on wildlife birds and bees' said the radiation decreases egg production in the bees.

"It also added that in the case of honey bees, the group observed that high radiation resulted in an unusual phenomenon known as 'colony collapse disorder' which is characterized by sudden disappearance of a hive's inhabitants, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature workers behind.

"The vanished bees were never found. Also, the navigational skills of the bees were affected by high-tension lines . . ."

"India is one of the fastest growing mobile telephony industries in the world. It is estimated that by 2013, 1 billion plus people will be having cell phone connection in India. To support this growth of cell phone subscriber in the country, there has also been a tremendous growth of infrastructure in the form of mobile phone towers. Today, in absence of any policy on infrastructure development and location of cell phone towers, large numbers of mobile phone towers are being installed in a haphazard manner across urban and rural areas including other sparsely populated areas in India . . ."

"When it comes to EMF issues, one of the most frequently heard phrases is "There is no evidence to support EMFs having health effects" or simply "There is no conclusive evidence." We believe that this is completely wrong; there is an enormous body of evidence out there, but public and even academic awareness seems to be very poor. Therefore, we will be presenting a list of papers and ORs which either show serious effects or are considered important papers on the subject which we have collected over the years."

Positive (P)
    This study has FOUND EFFECTS from the exposure or radiation category 
Null (N)
    This study has found NO EFFECTS from the exposure or radiation category 
Neutral (-)
    This study has offered IMPORTANT INSIGHTS or findings but IS NEITHER A POSITIVE OR NULL FINDING 

• Mobile and Cordless Phones 

(387 studies listed) Positive 228 Null 79 Neutral 80  

• Mobile Phone Masts  

(56 studies listed) Positive 22  Null 8  Neutral 26 

• Radio Transmitters  

(43 studies listed) Positive 36 Null 2 Neutral 5 

• Powerlines, Substations and other Powerfrequency EMF Exposure 

(283 studies listed)  Positive 171 Null 35 Neutral 77 

• Wi-Fi  

(13 studies listed) Positive 3 Null 0 Neutral 10 

• Electrical Sensitivity  

(61 studies listed) Positive 20 Null 20 Neutral 21 

• EEG and Brain Responses  

(52 studies listed) Positive 47 Null 2 Neutral 3 

• Radiofrequency EMF Mechanisms  

(164 studies listed) Positive 117 Null 27 Neutral 20 

• Powerfrequency EMF Mechanisms  

(167 studies lsted) Positive 121 Null 20 Neutral 26  

1226 studies on this list . . . This page will be regularly added to.

This work was supported by the Special Account for Research Grants of the University of Athens.

"Pulsed radio frequency, (RF), electromagnetic radiation from common GSM mobile phones, (Global System for Mobile Telecommunications) with a carrier frequency at 900 MHz, ''modulated'' by human voice, (speaking emission) decreases the reproductive capacity of the insect Drosophila melanogaster by 50%-60%, whereas the corresponding ''nonmodulated'' field (nonspeaking emission) decreases the reproductive capacity by 15%-20%. The insects were exposed to the near field of the mobile phone antenna for 6 min per day during the first 2-5 days of their adult lives. The GSM field is found to affect both females and males. Our results suggest that this field-radiation decreases the rate of cellular processes during gonad development in insects . . .

"The statistical analysis clearly shows that the exposed Drosophila groups differ in offspring production (up to 60% decrease), compared to the control groups, due to the effect of the GSM field . . ."