Daily Dose of Common Sense

Sure, most of us techno-geeks and science nerds get worked up when some movie or TV show blatantly mungs some bit of science or technology (the “sound” from explosions in space, for instance), but do you know what gets our beanie-hat propellers really spinning? When our non-technically minded friends buy some pseudo-science claptrap that they heard from “them”, or read on the Internet.

Nothing fits that mold better than confusion about radiation. Just like with any other word or phrase, it’s always a good start to understand its origins. The word radiation is derived from the word radius, which is the distance from the center of a circle to its edge. So, any phenomenon that spreads out in all directions from where it originates can be said to radiate, and thus can be called radiation.

Sadly, few call sound “acoustic radiation”, or perhaps people might get the commonality. Either that, or they’d think that loud noises will give them cancer. Scratch that idea.

That bad, cancer-causing kind of radiation is “nuclear radiation” (that’s not a real term, just used for emphasis) and is the kind being talked about when something is called radioactive. Its real name is ionizing radiation (because it can strip an atom of electrons, turning it into an ion), and it consists of actual subatomic particles getting thrown around. While it is associated with things like nuclear reactors and bombs, it also just happens naturally. Almost all of the lead in the earth, for instance, once started out as another element, and was transformed into lead by the process of radioactive decay.

Ionizing radiation is bad, and can injure or kill us, because when atoms get ionized, they become very chemically reactive, and all kinds of unintended reactions start to happen in our cells. Cells can die, or worse, accumulate genetic mutations and turn cancerous. When cancer had another cause, however, ionizing radiation can help, as its targeted use can kill just the cancer cells and spare healthy cells.

Then there’s electromagnetic radiation, otherwise known as radio waves or light waves. Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental forces of the universe, and I won’t attempt to explain it here. But, in the frequencies/energies in which we use it to run our modern world of technological marvels, it is not, I repeat, not, ionizing radiation. The electromagnetic radiation from your radio, Wi-Fi, cell phone or even microwave oven (which is by far the most powerful electromagnetic device most of us encounter) can not injure you the same way ionizing radiation can. Electromagnetic radiation is a wave, just like a ripple of water in a pond. What radiates out in such a ripple is not particles, like an explosion, but the motion of the water.

(Note: A damaged microwave oven CAN injure you, in the same way that it affects the leftovers you heat up: by heating the water molecules inside your body. NEVER use a microwave oven with a broken door, hinge, latch, etc.)

Now here’s the tricky bit. Although nearly all of the confusion between ionizing radiation and the benign electromagnetic kind comes from the common word being used in the sense of “radiate”, there is another connection.

One of the great mysteries of our universe is that in certain situations, matter and electromagnetic radiation behave like both a wave AND a particle. Light is the most famous example, and is how science first came across the phenomenon. Some ionizing radiation, like x-rays and gamma rays, which are high-energy particles like other ionizing radiation, are ALSO very high frequency electromagnetic waves. Ain’t the universe just the coolest?!

So, while that connection is true, it does not mean that your cell phone, which emits electromagnetic “radiation” of very much less energy/frequency, where the difference in quantity becomes a difference in kind, is radioactive in the sense of a nuclear bomb. Ditto with the cell phone towers, radio station antennas, etc.

In short, Stevie Wonder said it best: “When you believe in things you don’t understand, then you suffer; superstition ain’t the way.”

Photos: SC Fiasco, Comic Book

They have always been a good idea, but the tough economic times have made more people than ever look into using rechargeable batteries instead of single-use batteries. Once a mystery, we now all routinely use special-purpose rechargeable batteries in devices like cell phones and digital cameras. Like anything else, however, knowledge is power (pun intended), and even a few simple facts can help a lot.

First, let’s deal with the most important issue: safety. NEVER try to charge a single-use battery. Those warnings are not from some overly cautious lawyer; fire and explosions are real dangers. If you don’t believe me, search for battery fire on YouTube and you’ll see that these innocuous-looking little devices are not to be misused. Electricity and chemistry can each be dangerous on their own, and together they are even more so.

Similarly, never use any kind of rechargeable battery that has been damaged in any way. Likewise, don’t try and jury-rig anything; use things as they are intended and according to the instructions. We technology professionals have a humorous acronym for this: RTFM, which stands for (polite version) Read The Freaking Manual! While our arcane knowledge may seem a mystery to most people, and some of us do indeed have a knack for gadgets, it’s mostly due to the fact that we read the darn directions!

Read the rest of this entry »

A study just released claims that one in ten teenagers has posted a nude or seminude photo of themselves online. This incredibly high number should cause some head scratching. Like a hasty tattoo, these photos could be hard to later remove and therefore haunt these teens for years.

I have a friend who says that everyone should get nude pictures of themselves taken when they are eighteen years old. He says you’ll never, ever look better so document it while you can. Well, I didn’t and now that I’m sliding down towards forty, I have to say I agree with his logic. So, I certainly can’t begrudge teens for taking racy pictures of themselves. But, posting them online? We all know how iron-clad the online privacy is these days. Do these kids care nothing at all for who sees their photos?

I guess the teens uploading these types of photos aren’t planning careers in politics or anything with a morals clause. Nike might not be thrilled with seeing its star player’s bait and tackle all over the Internet, even if they were old pictures. Before she started scene-stealing on Ugly Betty, Vanessa Williams got in a little bit of trouble due to some nude photos, as have many other actresses. I guess if you’re going into porn, building a fan base with some nude photos might be a smart move. But, I doubt very many teens are thinking about future careers or potential employers. So, what about parents, teachers, classmates, neighbors, or other family members? Not everyone would want Mrs. Mitchell or Uncle Bob to see their racy photos on the Web.

Someone needs to remind kids about long-term ramifications and the Internet. Remember the Facebook privacy bruhaha from earlier in the year? The social network giant caught all kinds of flack after saying they own your content–even after you deactivate your account. Nothing ever goes away, folks. Not even when you delete it.

[Via PatsPapers.com]

Photo courtesy of Flickr: visualdensity

Last week, a 15-year old girl fell into a manhole in Staten Island because she wasn’t watching where she was going. Instead of paying attention, she was texting on a cell phone.

Now, the girl wasn’t seriously hurt and just came out scraped, smelly, and minus one shoe. (Since she fell when workers were still putting out orange caution cones, her family plans to sue the city anyway.) But, this brings to light again the danger of texting while doing, well, pretty much anything else.

We’ve all read in the past few years that texting while driving can be a dangerous combination. (In fact, the folks at Car and Driver have just determined that it’s worse than drinking and driving.) But walking and texting, which is clearly a safety issue for pedestrians, doesn’t get quite as much attention.

It should. If you’re texting, you’re looking down at your phone and not watching the roads, sidewalks, or other people around you. You’re not using your peripheral vision to warn against cars, muggers, dog poop, bicycles, or anything else that may be nearby. In London, one street added cushions to its lampposts because texting pedestrians were repeatedly being injured. (We can only hope one of these pre-cushion lamppost crashes is on YouTube.) Can you imagine your tax dollars spent on baby proofing the sidewalks because someone can’t wait to send that extra “LOL”?

Yes, we’re all addicted to our iPhones, BlackBerrys, and cell phones. But, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a pedestrian dies in the U.S. every 110 minutes. Refrain from texting while you’re walking and that will increase your odds of staying safe.

[Thanks Gizmodo!]

In case you missed any Daily Doses of Common Sense this week, here’s a recap.

From Monday, is Facebook making the summer class reunion a thing of the past?

On Tuesday, are you as tired of those long cell phone voice instructions as we are?

Wednesday looked at the nickel-and-diming of airline passengers. $7 for a pillow?!!

Thursday’s post proposed skipping soda in restaurants for a year to fund a family vacation.

On Friday, we discussed the outrageousness of the cineplex concession stand and shared the shame that we spent $4.50 on a small soda.

From Saturday, we had some advice for the sidewalk hogs of the world.

You call a friend’s cell phone to leave a quick message. You hear a cheerful and brief message from your buddy. Then, you’re bogged down by inane instructions on what to do next.

“Press 5 to page this person now.” Pause. “At the tone, please leave your message.” Pause. “After you have finished recording your message, you may hang up or press 1 for more options.” Pause. Beeeeeep.

Aren’t we at the point where we know what to do when we hear the beep? Cell phones aren’t exactly new. And, even if you’re confused on what to do, most people say something in their outgoing message that gives a hint. “It’s Rich. I can’t take your call but leave a message at the beep and I’ll get back to you.”

And, has anyone ever really pressed 5?

Not all cell carriers have this standard instruction paragraph. The ones that do should get rid of it. From what we’ve read, it’s not exactly easy to remove yourself but you can go through your set-up options to try. If you succeed, your friends will thank you later.