Don’t snuggle up to that phone

Randall Stross writes in the New York Times that cellphones now come with a message something like this: WARNING: Holding a cellphone against your ear may be hazardous to your health. So may stuffing it in a pocket against your body:

Apple, for example, doesn’t want iPhones to come closer than 5/8 of an inch; Research In Motion, BlackBerry’s manufacturer, is still more cautious: keep a distance of about an inch.

Stross figures few people see the fine print when they unpack a new phone, but the legal departments of manufacturers aren’t taking chances. The concern is about the low-energy radiation that penetrates the brain – and penetrates much further into the brain of a child. Details here.