The Google Balloon and Facebook Drone Showdown

Soon to be crowding the upper stratosphere of our little ball of green and blue are the technological accoutrements of a society addicted to Internet access. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg’s drones, solar powered aircraft meant to provide Internet access to remote suburbia and Google CEO, Larry Page’s high altitude balloons intended to improve Internet access in other remote areas will now hover in the same space 18 to 27 kilometers above Earth. Have we become Internet-whores to the extent of polluting not just our own relative space with WiFi signals, but now, the upper reaches of the sky with technology meant to make communication easier?

No real studies have been conducted on the long-term effects of WiFi on human beings, but some Danish ninth graders are telling us we might need to slow down on our Internet addiction. WiFi operates at higher frequencies than cell phone signals – at about 2.4 to 2.5 GHz and 5.250 to 5.350 GHz and 5.470 to 5.725 GHGHz, and we already know that cell phone towers can be detrimental to our health. Is WiFi going to cause similar problems, resulting from airwaves crowded with these signals?

According to students who set up some trays of cress seeds next to routers emitting radiation similar to that of a cell phone signal for twelve days, all plants near the 2.4 to 2.5 GHz frequency became sick and mutated or died. Students also noticed that sleeping next to cell phones caused them to have trouble concentrating the next day.

In a rush to secure Internet supremacy, Google and Facebook are putting their technology into our skies, not only without clear plans about how the drones and balloons will avoid one another but also how they will avoid harming our overall health. Both companies have chosen the 18 to 27 kilometer height to move outside commercial air traffic.

Differing technologies will offer us our fix. Google’s trial balloons have used radio-like antennas the size of volleyballs attached to them to relay Internet to homes and businesses while Facebook intends to equip drones with infrared lasers which will have similar capabilities for transferring data as fiber optic cables.

MIT’s David Talbot, points out that both companies will have political and economic issues to overcome before solving connectivity issues, but what of health issues?

If your wireless router can send Internet signals through walls, that means they can also send them through your body. According to some studies, this means that you are being exposed to a ‘soup of radiation’ on a regular basis. What if that electromagnetic radiation is raining down on your from every conceivable angle – from satellites, drones, balloons – you name it? Layering WiFi signals – meaning your WiFi is layered over your neighbors, layered over your local University’s, over, say the local coffee shop, is also extremely detrimental to your health. Electromagnetic smog can cause sleep disturbances, heart palpitations, migraines, and general poor health. Who is checking on Facebook and Google to address these issues, let alone the technical challenges they face trying to implement Internet technology?

Google and Facebook may be battling over airspace to provide us with perfect Internet access, but we may be struggling with bigger issues if electromagnetic affects are not somehow mitigated.

Source Article from http://www.nationofchange.org/google-balloon-and-facebook-drone-showdown-1396104695

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