<p>Maybe it’s just foolery, but who knows?</p>
<p>[Using</a> a cellphone to pop corn](<a href=“http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/4969270/]Using”>World-News: Popcorn with the cell phone - Popcorn mit dem Handy)</p>
<p>^^^^^ amazing you tube - so what are these waves doing to our brains ?</p>
<p>[Health</a> risk of long-term mobile phone use to be studied by scientists - Health News, Health & Wellbeing - The Independent](<a href=“Health risk of long-term mobile phone use to be studied by scientists | The Independent | The Independent”>Health risk of long-term mobile phone use to be studied by scientists | The Independent | The Independent)</p>
<p>The video is completely fake, of course. If anyone is interested, I can provide a link to another forum where the physics of this are discussed in detail, and, not too surprisingly, doing this with cellphones is impossible.</p>
<p>tetrahedr0n: I’m interested. I couldn’t find any info on the physics of this while Google searching, just the videos.</p>
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<p>[This</a> is a little scary (cell phones) - Topic Powered by eve community](<a href=“http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/34709834/m/182009962931]This”>http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/34709834/m/182009962931)</p>
<p>You people are too gullible… the videos are fake. </p>
<p>Do cell phones produce radio waves?<br>
Yes</p>
<p>Does just about everything else in your house produce radio waves?<br>
Yes</p>
<p>Does your own body produce radio waves?<br>
Yes</p>
<p>Is any of this harmful to use?<br>
Despite many studies, the scientific community has not found any conclusive evidence to say that it is.</p>
<p>**So you’re saying that scientists can’t guarantee that nothing will happen? **
It’s simply impossible to prove that something “won’t” happen… but despite tons of experiments and evidence nothing suggests that it is particularly dangerous. Unfortunetly the general public, and the press, don’t understand the concept that you can never prove that something won’t happen or is 100% safe and falsely take that as evidence that it might be really dangerous. </p>
<p>We think that the moon’s orbit is properly modeled by an elementary differential equation and thus the best we can predict it will keep happily orbiting the earth… however it could be following a complex differential equation meaning that tomorrow evening it will suddenly just crash into the earth. Is that likely? No. Is it possible? Yes. Can we prove that it won’t happen? No. Should you worry about it? No.</p>
<p>If this were real, we’d all have fried brains after just a few phone calls.</p>
<p>Talking with some people makes me <em>feel</em> like my brain is fried, but I’m pretty sure it’s all in my head.</p>
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<p>There is no ‘physics of this’ since it’s not real. There are a variety of basic physics principles that would allow someone with a cursory knowledge of science to quickly discredit the video:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Cell phone transmitters are non-directional. Thus the energy of the radiowaves is being radiated out in all directions not just focused on the corn.</p></li>
<li><p>Cell phone transmitters are nowhere near as powerful as the transmitter in a microwave. Think about it… a microwave focuses a beam of waves on your food, is powered by the mains current in your house and still takes several minutes to pop the corn. In the video it shows a battery powered cell phone with a non-directional antenna popping corn in a matter of seconds… not gonna happen! </p></li>
</ul>
<p>However, the general concept (if it was real) is the same thing that happens inside your microwave. The radio waves excite water molecules causing them to heat up. This is the most dangerous thing that can happen due to exposure from radio waves at these frequencies. However get out your thermometer, put it in a glass of water and zap it all day long with your cell phone… heck put 50 cell phones next to it… the thermometer won’t budge even a tiny bit… cell phones just aren’t powerful enough… period. Also, the radio photons are not anywhere near energetic enough to interfere with chemical bonds or molecular structure (why traditional ‘radiation’ from nuclear material is dangerous).</p>
<p>Thanks. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. A hot plate under the table makes much more sense.</p>
<p>rocketman: Oh, there certainly was physics involved. Popcorn doesn’t usually pop on tabletops on command! :)</p>
<p>Have you heard of this one: [snopes.com:</a> Cooking an Egg Between Two Cell Phones](<a href=“http://www.snopes.com/science/cookegg.asp]snopes.com:”>Cooking Eggs or Popcorn with Cell Phones | Snopes.com). Turns out the popcorn myth is a revival of the egg myth.</p>
<p>Here’s another video to show how easily YouTube videos can fool people. </p>
<p>[Quirkology</a> - The Colour-changing Card Trick](<a href=“http://www.quirkology.com/USA/Video_ColourChangingTrick.shtml]Quirkology”>http://www.quirkology.com/USA/Video_ColourChangingTrick.shtml)</p>
<p>The popcorn thing is a total BS. However, this is troubling:</p>
<p>[PIERS</a> Online](<a href=“http://piers.mit.edu/piersonline/piers.php?volume=3&number=7&page=1148]PIERS”>http://piers.mit.edu/piersonline/piers.php?volume=3&number=7&page=1148)</p>
<p>Sleeping with your cell phone on your nightstand can be detrimental to the quality of your sleep.</p>
<p>***** thanks for clarification</p>
<p>And they say education failed during MY generation…</p>
<p>and, your generation may be the guinea pigs regarding the effects of cell phones.</p>
<p>ScienceDaily (Feb. 15, 2008) — An Israeli scientist, Dr. Siegal Sadetzki, has found a link between cell phone usage and the development of tumors.</p>
<p>Dr. Sadetzki, a physician, epidemiologist and lecturer at Tel Aviv University, published the results of a study recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology, in which she and her colleagues found that heavy cell phone users were subject to a higher risk of benign and malignant tumors of the salivary gland.</p>
<p>Those who used a cell phone heavily on the side of the head where the tumor developed were found to have an increased risk of about 50% for developing a tumor of the main salivary gland (parotid), compared to those who did not use cell phones.</p>
<p>The fact that the study was done on an Israeli population is significant. Says Sadetzki, "Unlike people in other countries, Israelis were quick to adopt cell phone technology and have continued to be exceptionally heavy users. Therefore, the amount of exposure to radiofrequency radiation found in this study has been higher than in previous cell phone studies.</p>
<p>Has anyone ever died of a salivary gland tumor?</p>
<p>From NY TIMES
June 2, 2008, 9:00 pm
Brain Surgeons and Cellphones
Last week, I spent several hours on my cellphone doing interviews. That’s not unusual, except this week, the subject of my Well column is whether regular cellphone use is risky to the brain.</p>
<p>Noah Benezra, 18, uses a cellphone across the street from the NYC Lab School. (John Marshall Mantel for The New York Times)
I’m rethinking how I use my cellphone after hearing three brain surgeons make the point that they use ear pieces, speaker phones or headsets when talking on the phone, and they don’t put cellphones next to their ears. </p>
<p>The data on cellphone use and health is mixed. The Food and Drug Administration says there is no evidence of health problems associated with cellphone use, but the F.D.A. adds that there also is no proof “that wireless phones are absolutely safe.'’ More recent studies suggest an increased risk for head tumors after 10 or more years of heavy cellphone use. To read more about the data on cellphones and health, read the full Well column.</p>
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<p>I thought you were referencing the phones ;-). In terms of the movie magic physics I assume (since it didn’t look like CGI, although maybe it was) that some sort of off camera heat source was being used such as a hot plate under the table.</p>
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<p>Yes, because if you are my daughter you send and/or get 14 text messages between midnight and 4AM.</p>