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Electricity is all around us all the time.
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It makes our lives easier, safer, more fun,
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and most of us never think about it.
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But is there such a thing as too much electricity?
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Could the thing that is the foundation of the modern world
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slowly be killing us?
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Before we dive deeper,
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let's try to understand what electricity is,
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and how it affects us.
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Electricity is the movement of an electric charge.
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This movement generates Electric and Magnetic Fields
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that spread out through space and carry energy.
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We call this phenomenon:
Electromagnetic Radiation.
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Radiation is a word that makes people very nervous.
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But, to radiate just means, "giving off".
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Like when the radiator in your house gives off heat
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in the form of infrared radiation.
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Different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum
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correspond to different types of radiation.
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And, many of them are perfectly harmless.
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Some of them can be dangerous though.
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Radiation with very short wavelengths
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like UV Light, X-Rays, and Gamma Rays
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are strong enough to rip electrons out of their atoms,
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which can cause burns and genetic damage.
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This is what many people have in mind
when they hear the term "radiation".
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The rest of the spectrum covers
a large range of longer waves
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from Visible Light, Infrared,
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Microwaves, to Radio Waves.
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This is the kind of radiation that's
emitted by all sorts of human technology.
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Mobile phones, Wi-Fi routers,
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electric power lines, and household appliances.
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This radiation doesn't disrupt molecules in our body.
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However, some kinds of radiation
can stimulate muscles and nerves
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and can also make the hair on your body vibrate,
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which can sometimes cause a tingly feeling
above certain threshold values.
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Other kinds are useful for making dinner.
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Microwaves push the water molecules in your food around
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which warms it up.
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This happens to us all the time.
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For example, the pleasant warmth you feel at the beach
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is your skin heating up from exposure to
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electromagnetic infrared radiation from the sun.
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We are surrounded by natural, and generally harmless,
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sources of electromagnetic radiation all the time
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and always have been.
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But, since the Industrial Revolution,
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we have added a lot of it to our immediate environment.
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The question of whether this is actually dangerous
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first got public attention when a 1979 study
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linked leukemia to living near power lines.
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This particular study was quickly discredited though.
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The connection could not be explained
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and no direct causal link was confirmed.
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But once this had been proposed, the idea persisted.
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And the thousands of studies about possible dangers
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illustrate that it's still seen as a very real threat.
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A lot of people claim to be sensitive to the radiation
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coming from our appliances and cell phones.
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They report symptoms like headaches,
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nausea, skin reactions,
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burning eyes, or exhaustion.
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But those are just effects reported on a day-to-day basis.
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A few studies have found much more unsettling results.
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Like, possible connections between the side of the brain,
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which people use when they are on their phones,
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and the appearance of brain tumors.
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The question that science is trying to answer,
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is not so much about the acute effects of irradiation.
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We know, for example,
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that x-rays cause immediate damage to the DNA in your cells
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but that the same doesn't happen with radio waves.
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The question is rather:
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Is the sort of weak electromagnetic radiation
we are constantly surrounded by
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harmful in the long run as a result
of some as-yet-unknown mechanism?
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Answering this question was much harder than we first thought.
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There are thousands of primary sources,
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reports, and statements by an onslaught of different organizations.
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So, we read a lot for this video.
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You can take a look at our research in the video description.
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What we found is that this debate is a good example
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of how science should be communicated
and how it shouldn't.
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Many of the much-cited studies that spread panic
about electromagnetic radiation
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are highly controversial.
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For example,
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a series of population studies based on surveys and self-reporting.
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What this means is, for example,
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asking brain tumor patients how much they think
they used their phone in the last few years.
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The problem is that people are unreliable.
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We tend to misremember things or can be influenced easily.
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On top of this,
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studies or media reports may be cherry picking
the findings that best suit their opinion
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or make for the most exciting headline.
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For example,
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a study looking for cancer in rats and mice from cell phone radiation.
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The results seemed to show a connection.
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But, for some reason, only in male rats.
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And, none at all in mice.
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But it was reported as if this study did prove
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that mobile phone radiation causes cancer.
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Unfortunately, this is the case for studies
with both positive and negative findings on the issue.
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Another aspect, is that the WHO did
officially classify radio frequency fields
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as possibly carcinogenic.
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But what this actually means
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is that there are some hints that they might cause cancer,
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but we can't prove it, and that we will keep an eye out.
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So, if we zoom out a bit, what's the big picture?
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On the whole,
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there was no consistent evidence in human studies
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that electromagnetic radiation below
exposure value limits causes health problems.
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There are some statistical associations
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but they're mostly weak and inconsistent.
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If there were any definite cause-effect relations
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we would know by now because of all the data we have.
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So, based on the current state of science,
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should you worry about the radiation
from your laptop, or cell phone, or TV?
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The answer is no.
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You shouldn't.
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But what about the people who say it is harming them?
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Research show they could be experiencing
what's known as the Nocebo Effect.
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If you have a headache and happen to start
feeling better right when you switch off your laptop,
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you might see a connection between those two things.
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Once you get this suspicion, the idea alone
that weak radiation might harm you
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could be the very thing harming you.
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It's easy to belittle these people;
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most of them feel they're not being taken seriously,
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which makes the situation even worse for them.
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They should get support.
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But, it's important to be aware that, so far,
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we have no robust evidence that electricity below
safety limits has any negative effect on humans.
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In the attention economy we live in,
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talking about unproven dangers can make us
neglect things that we know for sure are bad for us.
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Just one example:
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Outdoor air pollution is linked to
4.2 million premature deaths each year,
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and is definitely something
we could have a real impact on today.
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Still, to make people feel safe, and just to make sure,
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there are several long-term studies ongoing already.
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For example, the Cosmos study that will look
at the possible health impacts of cell phone use
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by exactly measuring frequency and duration of phone calls.
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But while we wait for the conclusion of these long-term studies,
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there are a lot more pressing problems to focus on.
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Like, instead of worrying what
devices and networks do to your health,
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consider how they can harm you in other ways.
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When we shop online, share photos,
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or watch YouTube videos,
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we leave a trail of accounts and passwords all over the Internet.
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Radio waves may not hurt us,
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but people trying to take
advantage of our data certainly will.
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If a service becomes compromised,
hackers can get your password.
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And, if you use the same login details anywhere else,
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they can easily slip into your other accounts.
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That's why we use dashlane.
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It's just one app to stay safe online on any device,
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operating system, or browser.
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It creates super-strong, unique passwords
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but still lets you change them with just one click.
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dashlane will even send you breach
alerts when sites you use get hacked
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and includes VPN for every device so you can
securely browse from anywhere in the world
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like on your home Wi-Fi.
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Because we want you to have nice things,
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