5G and beyond

5G base stations use up to three-and-a-half times more energy than 4G infrastructure

Excerpt

When people talk about 5G, they’re often talking about the enormous boost in speed you’ll get from using the new mobile network technology. What many people don’t realise, though, is that it’s also expending a lot more energy for Chinese telecom companies. At the beginning of August, a China Unicom branch announced that it would put some of its ZTE 5G base stations to sleep between 9pm and 9am to reduce electricity costs in the city of Luoyang. A recent white paper from telecom equipment maker Huawei illustrates the problem: 5G base stations use up to three-and-a-half times more energy than 4G infrastructure. Part of the problem is that this new generation of mobile connectivity requires more densely placed base stations. So as China has been rapidly rolling out new 5G base stations, reaching 410,000 nationwide in June, some cities are putting the ones they have to sleep to save energy because there aren’t enough users yet….SNIP

Leszczynski on Significant discrepancy of opinions on 5G and health between ICNIRP and the Health Council of the Netherlands

On September 2, 2020, the Health Council of the Netherlands has published opinion on 5G and health. The opinion is being translated to English and will be available in this language in October 2020. Right now, only the executive summary of the opinion is available in English. This opinion of the Netherlands’ Health Council is significant for its membership overlap with ICNIRP: It is first opinion on 5G and health published after the ICNIRP published its updated safety guidelines for EMF exposures. The chair of the ICNIRP during the preparation of the 2020 guidelines was Eric van Rongen who is also listed as one of the two secretaries of the Netherlands’ committee on EMF (highlighted red)Another member of ICNIRP, Anke Huss, is also member of the Netherlands’ committee on EMF (highlighted red) As an invited expert, the Netherlands’ committee on EMF invited Zenon Sienkiewicz who was member of ICNIRP during the preparation of the ICNIRP 2020 guidelines (highlighted red) Of interest is that during the preparation of the opinion the committee had continuously observer from the The Dutch ‘Agentschap Telecom’ that is part of the Ministry of Economical Affairs and Climate. (highlighted blue)This is the Composition of the Electromagnetic Fields Committee of the Netherlands’ Health Council for the advice 5G and health:…SNIP

Astronomers Slam SpaceX’s Growing Starlink Satellite Constellation (And beware the Kessler Syndrome)

Excerpt

From Futurism According to a new report by the Satellite Constellations 1 (Satcon1) workshop, attended by more than 250 astronomers in late July, SpaceX’s Starlink internet-beaming satellite constellation could have an “extreme” impact on astronomy and scientific progress. The workshop used computer simulations to examine how satellite constellations such as Starlink, once fully deployed, could affect the operations of Earth-based observatories. “In the last year, the sky has changed, with growing numbers of satellite trails contaminating astronomical images,” reads the report.Ruining the Night SkyStarlink officially has the permission of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch more than 30,000 small satellites, designed to bring broadband internet to the entire globe. But, as the last couple of months have shown, the highly reflective satellites are already ruining wide-field observations of the night sky. Some of them turned out to be so bright, they could be easily seen with the naked eye. And that could be bad news for astronomers. Scientific discoveries such as the identification of a near-Earth object or a super-Earth exoplanet candidate could be missed thanks to noise created by the satellites’ trails. “If the 100,000 or more [low-Earth satellites] proposed by many companies and many governments are deployed, no combination of mitigations can fully avoid the impacts of the satellite trails on the science programs of current and planned ground-based optical-NIR astronomy facilities,” concludes the report…SNIP (Also see the Kessler Syndrome link)

5G unease and concerns over human rights issues mar China’s charm offensive through Europe

Published: 6:00am, 27 Aug, 2020 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is lobbying his European counterparts for support amid a geopolitical spat with the United States  but he has been met with concerns over human rights and 5G technology security. Wang arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday after beginning his first European tour of the pandemic era in Italy on Tuesday, when he met Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio. His week-long trip will continue with stops in Norway, France and Germany. On his visit to Italy, Wang warned the country to stay away from the “new cold war” that he said the US was trying to promote, and to instead to focus on economic cooperation with China. Wang also applauded Italy for showing “understanding and support” towards Beijing’s “core interests and major issues”. While Di Maio said Italy and China needed to forge closer ties, he also gave Wang a stern warning that China ought to respect Hong Kong citizens’ freedom of speech – signalling the European Union’s continued disapproval of the national security law Beijing imposed on the city. Wang’s visit follows criticism of Beijing in Europe over its handling of the coronavirus as well as China’s hardline policy in Hong Kong. More European countries are also rejecting Chinese 5G technology. Beijing has rejected claims that it covered up the pandemic after the first outbreak was recorded in China and denied security concerns related to its technology development. It has also deemed international concerns about the erosion of autonomy in Hong Kong an intervention in its internal affairs….SNIP

Review of physiological effects of mm-waves on skin (Leszczynski)

Notice from Dariusz Leszczynski: Here is the abstract of the paper, published in Reviews on Environmental Health. It is, unfortunately, not an open access.
“Physiological effects if millimeter-waves on skin and skin cells: an overview of the to-date published studies” Abstract follows…SNIP

Four Corners report on 5G breaches ABC’s Code of Practice

The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) appears to have sunk to a new low in journalistic standards in its recent report on 5G.The 45-minute ABC Four Corners episode, titled ‘The Truth about 5G’, which was aired on 3 August 2020, claimed to be investigating ‘the rise of the anti-5G movement and the spread of wild conspiracy theories tying the COVID-19 pandemic to the 5G rollout’. Oddly, despite the purported object of its investigation, the Four Corners report didn’t reveal a single Australian anti-5G activist blaming the COVID-19 pandemic on 5G.  SSMA asks if the focus on ‘wild conspiracy theories’ is another media beat-up big on sensationalism – and short on facts? …SNIP

New paper: Adverse health effects of 5G mobile networking technology under real-life conditions

AbstractThis article identifies adverse effects of non-ionizing non-visible radiation (hereafter called wireless radiation) reported in the premier biomedical literature. It emphasizes that most of the laboratory experiments conducted to date are not designed to identify the more severe adverse effects reflective of the real-life operating environment in which wireless radiation systems operate. Many experiments do not include pulsing and modulation of the carrier signal. The vast majority do not account for synergistic adverse effects of other toxic stimuli (such as chemical and biological) acting in concert with the wireless radiation. This article also presents evidence that the nascent 5G mobile networking technology will affect not only the skin and eyes, as commonly believed, but will have adverse systemic effects as well…SNIP

New paper on 5G Wireless Deployment and Health Risks

INTRODUCTION TO THE ISSUEThere is an urgent need for clinicians and medical scientists in the Australia-New Zealand region to engage in an objective discussion around the potential health impacts of the fifth generation (5G) wireless technology currently being deployed. The statements of assurance by the industry and government parties that dominate the media in our region are at odds with the warnings of hundreds of scientists actively engaged in research on biological/health effects of anthropogenic electromagnetic radiation/fields (EMR/EMF).There have been worldwide public protests as well as appeals by professionals and the general public that have compelled many cities in Europe to declare moratoria on 5G deployment and to begin investigations. In contrast, there is no medically-oriented professional discussion on this public health topic in Australia and New Zealand, where 5G deployment is being expedited. 5G is untested for safety on humans and other species and the limited existing evidence raises major concerns that need to be addressed. The vast body of research literature on biological/health effects of ‘wireless radiation’ (radiofrequency EMR) indicates a range of health-related issues associated with different types of wireless technologies (1G-4G, WiFi, Bluetooth, Radar, radio/TV transmission, scanning and surveillance systems). These are used in a wide range of personal devices in common use (mobile/ cordless phones, computers, baby monitors, games consoles etc) without users being aware of the health risks. Furthermore, serious safety concerns arise from the extra complexity of 5G as follows:…SNIP

5G confusion – clarification one step at a time

by Mary Redmayne, PhDOpinion PieceWhat a polarising topic 5G has become. This is unsurprising since the information we hear varies greatly from government, telcos, and scientists (industry-funded and independent), through to conspiracy theorists.Today, I will address just one recent statement from our Ministry of Health: “exposures to 5G signals are similar to, or lower than, those from existing cellsites, and (are) small fractions of the public limit in the standard”.The statement is misleading, and the topic is complex. Let me explain. The last part of the MoH statement claims that measured 5G exposures “[are] small fractions of the public limit in the standard [2772.1-1999].” This assumes the standard provides safety. Actually, it only seeks “minimal levels of radio-frequency absorption” and to minimise the chance of burns and shocks over short periods.It clearly does not minimise absorption as a more stringent standard would reduce the permitted maximum. Preventing burns/shocks is insufficient to assure health is intact. Many biological effects occur from “small fractions of the public limit”. Some of these are known precursors to serious diseases.Now to 5G. Once fully functioning, 5G signals will be different from 2G, 3G and 4G transmissions in key ways. Currently these differences may not apply. Here are some key differences:…SNIP