Science and The Media
Journalists reporting scientific stories, including those affecting mobile telecommunications issues, can have a difficult job. Often, they may be trying to meet a deadline and are presented with apparently conflicting claims about an issue; or their readers will demand certainty and simplicity, even though many scientific questions involve complexity, nuance, and the balance of probabilities. How can they, or their readers cope with this?
Sense About Science http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/ is an independent charitable trust promoting good science and evidence in public debate. It works with scientists to: respond to inaccuracies in public claims about science, medicine, and technology; promote the benefits of scientific research to the public; help those who need expert help contact scientists about issues of importance; and brief non-specialists on scientific developments and practices. Its publications are aimed not only at journalists, but also at policy-makers and the wider public.
For journalists, the Science Media Centre http://www.sciencemediacentre.org is an independent venture working to promote the voices, stories and views of the scientific community to the national news media when science is in the headlines. It works with journalists in the UK national news media who: need a news interview with a scientist; have a question about a major science story; or need a background briefing on a scientific topic
Members of the public with an interest in science might also want to visit INTECH Science Centre http://www.intech-uk.com/ a hands-on interactive science and technology centre, near Winchester, Hampshire. One of its exhibits explains the science behind the mobile phone.
4 Million Mobile Broadband Connections
Mobile phones cannot work without a network of base stations (masts). There are approximately 52,500 base stations in the UK. An Ipsos MORI survey for MOA (May 2010) showed that almost three quarters of people understood that masts are essential if they are to access the services they require. Mobile telecommunications are vital for the UK’s economic competitiveness and in promoting social inclusion. There are now over 81 million mobile connections in the UK. Over 4.8 million customers now access mobile broadband services via a laptop and dongle, and 28 per cent of UK adults use their mobile phones for internet access.
No Established Health Effects
Mobile phones operate by using radio waves, similar to those that have been widely used for decades, for example in radio, TV and radar signals. A large number of studies over the last two decades have found no clear evidence of adverse health effects from the use of mobile phones or from phone masts.