Gaming may get embroiled in new scare
by Justin Murray 
{ Dec 12th 2006 at 12:25PM }
The public loves its scares. Since the advent of gaming, our beloved hobby has been under attack. The scares normally revolve around violence and how gaming is the root cause. The newest scare that might get tagged to gaming: WiFi.
Currently, the scientific world is fighting over the health effects of WiFi. Some claim that WiFi destroys organ tissue -- didn't they try this with cell phones -- and another camp that says the first group is full of bunk. Since each major console, handheld and not-so-handheld, has some WiFi component, it is just a matter of time before gaming gets blamed.
Gamers, gear up for another possible scare: games cause cancer. It is not a matter of if, but when some "intelligent" person figures out that a large chunk of those evil WiFi waves are being pumped out by various DS, PSP, or Xbox 360 units. That's fine by us, we're already fully aware the public-at-large latches onto the worst possible (and frequently wrong) aspect of anything different, we're used to being under fire.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SSUK @ Dec 12th 2006 12:53PM
Considering that WiFi is pratically everywhere in Japan, there hasn't been any unusual outbreaks of cancer or anything over there.
People working in McDonnalds over here are exposed to a constant WiFi signal given off by WiFi hot-spots over the last 2 years, Starbucks even longer.
Scientists, stop theorising the doom of the world is put down to technology and go invent a cure for the common cold already. =/
Daniel D @ Dec 12th 2006 1:11PM
Idk man sometimes i sit between my bro and his DS while he is playing Mario Kart online and I can feel the 1's and 0' coming through me and stuff.
Chessasaur @ Dec 12th 2006 12:54PM
"those evil WiFi waves are being pumped out by various DS, PSP, or Xbox 360 units."
Did you mean to put in PS3 instead of Xbox 360? The 360 doesn't have wifi in it.
devi8i @ Dec 12th 2006 1:04PM
Justin,
If this is your version of an op-ed piece trying to link that one day people will blame gaming for health risks associated with wifi devices your article is way off base. Your leap from reporting on a well written article concerning possible health risks and concerns over wifi to that of gaming devices and the gaming industry going to be held responsible is incredibly far reaching and baseless. Are you going to lump the Zune device in this category as well? How about making more logical conclusions linking it to the myriad of wireless routers and networking equipment which far surpass the installation base of any gaming console? Or, maybe link it to wireless phones that utilize the same spectrum as wifi including cellular and landline based phones. Bluetooth also utilizes teh same RF spectrum.
Instead of trying to add more paranoia to teh mix just report on the story instead of trying to make a link to gaming to fill space for an otherwise slow gaming news day.
Unimental @ Dec 12th 2006 1:10PM
Au contraire, Chessasaur...
The 360 has proprietary wifi built in for the controller connections. It's just as EVIL as the PS3.
Spaceman @ Dec 12th 2006 1:09PM
I tend to believe the scientists: we don't know what long-term effects can be caused to us by WiFi. The scientists that state this is bulk could very well be payed by the industrials to deny and minimalize everything. They're doing the same with cell phones, the oil industry hires "scientists" to deny the climate change reports, tobacco companies have tried for years to deny that smoking causes serious health problems. The same thing happened with asbestos and now people are still suffering the consequences of that.
I'm not stating that first group of scientists is right, but it i'll take a lot more years before we know the truth.
That said, my house is full of WiFi, so I hope they're wrong. :)
SuicideNinja @ Dec 12th 2006 2:31PM
Or gamers could just not use WiFi in for their consoles. It's rude to other online gamers to use the slower and inconsistent WiFi for online gaming.
As for portables, Cell phones are everywhere, so it really isn't going to matter. Some Cell phones have WiFi as well.
Bennyishere @ Dec 12th 2006 1:22PM
"didn't they try this with cell phones"
The thing with cell phones is proved, and I won't be surprised if this will be too. The thing is that the effects are minimal and most likely only shown in full effect at least after several decades of exposure.
All cell phones have been tested in order to maintain a regulated SAR level (good old FCC). SAR = Specific absorption rate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_absorption_rate
Bob King Neverland III @ Dec 12th 2006 1:23PM
Sigh, this is something my dorky aunt would try to scare me with so I'd quit playing games and go back to high school.
Matt @ Dec 12th 2006 1:37PM
Because I used to work in public health for one of the world's most prestigious cancer epidemiologists, I ought to step in and make a few clarifications regarding this post.
ELF - Electromagnetic Low Frequency radiation *does cause* cancer in a *small* number of the human population. This is a fact. Once the first 20-year cluster population studies are published regarding head and neck tumors caused by cell phone usage, this will be an *undeniable* fact by you, me or even the most stupid people in congressional office (i.e. the next Bill Frists and Rick Santorums of the US political scene). The fact that Wi-Fi is merely a variation in frequency of other ELFs would seem to imply that in fact Wi-Fi may not be as safe as some people would simply assume.
That doesn't mean that anyone using a Blackberry, PSP, DS or any other Wi-Fi enabled device will become ill even from the highest amount of usage. An example: alcohol causes cancer. This is scientific fact. Certain people will acquire certain types of cancers from alcohol exposure (in this case ingesting it). That does not mean that you are going to die from cancer because of the one, three or eight beers you consumed last night. But some people *do* get cancer in their lives from drinking alcohol, just as some get cancer from smoking and some from eating salty and arguably delicious meat products. It is merely medical fact that certain people are more genetically predisposed to mutagenesis (cell mutation resulting in tumor formation) than others and by varying types of exposure (some people are susceptible to air pollutants, others pesticides). The chances of mass illness being caused by cell-tech or wi-fi devices is very, very small. But before you dismiss any public health issues from said radiation exposure to the population you really ought to know what you're talking about.
Savok @ Dec 12th 2006 1:34PM
I gotta be honest, I've never trusted WiFi and don't have it for that reason.
I mean come on, GBs of information passing across thin are, that much information, it's gotta have some sort of an effect.
KineticOnline @ Dec 12th 2006 1:41PM
Next they'll say oxygen causes cancer. (ok so it is a poison but what can they do about it)
Probot @ Dec 12th 2006 1:36PM
Spaceman,
WiFi (and cell phones) are not magical devices. We completely understand how they work. The radiation they give off is harmless. Scientests aren't guessing when they say that. They know, for a incontrovertable fact, that the waves cannnot possibly cause any mutation in DNA. There is no real debate about this.
People are confused by the phrase "radiation." People tend to think of nuclear reactors and that's not the case here. Most radiation is harmless, but it's a natural function of electromagnetic waves.
I'm not a physicist, so I can't explain in too much detail. (If any of it is wrong, please feel free to correct me.) Basically, all waves have a certain length, wavelength. The wavelengths of radio waves (like the ones used for WiFi and Cell Phones) are simply too big to interfer with cells.
If you look at this spectrum, it is only things above visible light are potentially dangerous, because they have smaller wavelengths.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum
If you have a nuclear-powered Wifi router, you can disregard this entire post.
crono141 @ Dec 12th 2006 2:33PM
Didn't you know? EVERYTHING causes cancer. Vitamin D deficiency? Fastrack to cancer. Staying out in the sun to combat your vitamin D deficiency? Fastrack to cancer. Drinking city water? Fastrack to cancer. Drinking spring water? Fastrack to cancer.
While scientists know what happens in a cancerous cell that makes them cancerous, they have NO FUCKING IDEA what causes cancer. If freaking breathing too much causes cancer, its safe to say that cancer doesn't have an external catalyst as its primary cause.
Probot @ Dec 12th 2006 2:40PM
Matt,
Just this month, a 21-year study was published in the "Journal of the National Cancer Institute" that concludes there is no causal link between cancer and cell phones.
The number of participants (420,000) and the length of the study make it pretty reliable. More studies should be done, of course, because experimentations and repeatable results are the backbone of science, but for the average cell-phone user, this case is pretty much closed.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2488946,00.html
Tango @ Dec 12th 2006 2:42PM
Bwaaahh ha ha ha ha... isn't the type of transmission between a wifi device and a base station pretty much the same as what's happening between a wireless (home) phone and its base?
Can't we focus on scaring people about something legitimate, like the chemicals in our diet and global warming?
Joe Dodson @ Dec 12th 2006 3:04PM
Anybody notice that in the very next story there's a guy who looks like a cancer patient? Everybody panic!!
fightinfilipino @ Dec 12th 2006 3:07PM
guys, we should be worried about the new health threat: dihydrogen monoxide.
it's used as a solvent and is toxic to many forms of life. it can wear away at rock and solid materials and cause corrosion in many sorts of metals. it has even been shown to support cancerous tissue growth.
CLEARLY dihydrogen monoxide is as much of a threat as the pernicious "WiFi". we must BAN all dihydrogen monoxide from the Earth before it's too late!
Walter @ Dec 12th 2006 3:10PM
There are 7 wifi hotspots that my computer can pick up in my apartment alone. I guess I'm in for a quick death.
Seriously though, why does this crap keep coming up? There is no proof at all that this is true.
Gonzo @ Dec 12th 2006 4:19PM
This is really bs but people do have a right to be scared by cell phones.
WiFi uses radio waves. Radio waves have always and will always be around. If you're going to get cancer, having a DS or PSP isn't going to make you get it any quicker.
Cell phones work on microwaves (the same ones you cook with) which is why people do get brain tumors from them. I wouldn't have believed it but I actually had a friend who died this way. Although he owned a cell phone from when they first came out.
I don't know why some people have such a hard time believing that the government would lie to us for the benefit of industry. How the hell do you think our soldiers got stuck in Iraq? We were lied to for the benefit of the oil industry.
Ed @ Dec 12th 2006 4:27PM
I don't play online games or the like, but I'm terrified of of getting second hand WiFi cancer from the individual playing his DS next to me LOL. They should have to WiFi twenty feet away from all public places.
Now serously does anyone here buy this load of you know what. They finally once and for all debunked the Cell Phone scare, so I guess these people had to find something new to go after.
Dr. Slump @ Dec 12th 2006 4:54PM
I'm personally much more worried about the slight possibility that WiFi might have adverse health effects than the possibility of a "scare." So it is worth investigating further, rather than just dismissing it as a "scare." This is an issue for the scientists to figure out - the rest of us should suspend judgment until there's better data one way or the other.
Adran @ Dec 12th 2006 9:11PM
I don't know all of the details regarding the ins and outs of WiFi signals, so it is possible I am missing some subtlety of the argument for how such signals can cause harm. I am, however, currently in a master's program at Central Michigan University for physics, and I can safely say that the scientific grounds for these claims are shaky at best.
In order for radiation to -do- anything internal to an atom or molecule, it must be at frequency which resonates with one of the atom or molecule's own natural (resonant) frequencies. These frequencies are typically in the microwave to ultraviolet regions (with nuclear excitations occuring in the x-ray region). WiFi frequencies are at best two or three orders of magnitude slower than the resonant frequencies of any molecules. Breaking any molecular bonds or making the molecule vibrate or rotate using radiation on these frequencies is much like trying to get somebody going on a swing by pushing them very softly once an hour. (And unlike a person on a swing, atomic systems will not accept any energy below a certain value; that is to say, it is impossible for the molecule to 'keep' a little of the energy you give it until it gets enough to enter an excited state. It's all or nothing.) You are at much greater risk from the radiation coming off of your screen, which is far closer to the resonant frequencies of the stuff you're made up of than any radio waves.