Researchers at Örebro University in Sweden found that cellphone usage increases the brain's production of transthyretin, a protein found in cerebrospinal fluid that cushions and protects the brain. The researchers don't know if the increased presence of the protein is good or bad for the brain, or what kind of effects it might have in the long run.

Regardless of the effects, this observation is pretty wild. We've talked a lot about how gadgets will change our bodies, but how will our bodies change to accommodate those gadgets?

Maybe increased transthyretin production is brain's last-ditch effort to fight off cancer. Or maybe it's the first of many adaptations we'll see as we let technology become a part of ourselves. [Wired]

This week, Gizmodo is exploring the enhanced human future in a segment we call This Cyborg Life. It's about what happens when we treat our body less as a sacred object and more as what it is: Nature's ultimate machine.

The issue only affected the scans of stroke patients so damage was limited to affecting about 200 individuals over the course of the 18 months during which the error in programming went unnoticed. While those patients are experiencing symptoms of radiation poisoning, such as hair loss, there's at least good news in that the FDA has finally issued alerts to hospitals to read the freakin' manuals before fiddling with their equipment. [LA Times via Slashdot]

Photo by Akira Ohgaki

This is their top 10 in best phones. The cellphone with less radiation (0.15 - 0.35 W/kg) is the Samsung Impression SGH-a877, sold in the US by AT&T. Second position goes to the Motorola RAZR V8 (0.36 W/kg), and third is another Samsung, the SGH-t229 from T-Mobile.

1. Samsung Impression (SGH-a877) [AT&T]
2. Motorola RAZR V8 [CellularONE]
3. Samsung SGH-t229 [T-Mobile]
4. Samsung Rugby (SGH-a837) [AT&T]
5. Samsung Propel Pro (SGH-i627) [AT&T]
6. Samsung Gravity (SGH-t459) [CellularONE, T-Mobile]
7. T-Mobile Sidekick [T-Mobile]
8. LG Xenon (GR500) [AT&T]
9. Motorola Karma QA1 [AT&T]
10. Sanyo Katana II [Kajeet]

But wait, where are the big names? Well, as you probably guessed, those are the ones with the bad grades, way down in the list. All the iPhone models have poor scores, with the iPhone 3GS getting 0.52 - 1.19 W/kg. The Palm Pre gets a pretty lousy score too, sitting at 0.92 W/Kg, and so does the T-Mobile G1, at 1.11 W/kg.

So there you go: If you are paranoid, and use your cellphone a lot without an ear piece, then better be safe than sorry, no matter what the research says now. [All Cellphones Ranking and Smartphones Ranking]

Officially called the "Lunar Texshield," this wearable blanket is made from a lightweight polymer material that has a layer of radiation shielding that deflects or absorbs harmful rays. The skin of the blanket also contains solar cells that help to generate electricity.

If NASA wants to make a permanent base on the moon, the question of how to protect our astronauts from radiation for extended periods of time needs to be addressed. Fabric like this could be the answer—but the fate of the project won't be known until NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace RASC-AL competition concludes during a forum held from June 1st-3rd. Projects entered into the competition could wind up traveling with astronauts on future moon exploration missions. [Networkworld via Digg]

During the study, scientists exposed samples of blood to varying degrees of microwave radiation (including levels well below those emitted by cellphones) for periods between ten to 60 hours. No matter how you cut it, the result was hemoglobin leakage (which just sounds nasty). Obviously, heart disease is the most serious condition of the two, but I can tell you from experience that you don't want any part of a kidney stone either. Those things could make even Chuck Norris cry like a little girl.

I wouldn't say that this test was the most thorough ever conducted, but I think deep down we all know that when all is said and done, the final verdict about cellphone use is going to be grim. [MINA via textually]

Omega, a Belgian health products company that usually markets things like suntan lotion and wart treatments, is branching out into protective tech gadgets. It's E-wave chip, which attaches onto phones, allegedly offsets electromagnetic radiation and neutralizes the "heating effect" caused by electromagnetic signals. All tests to prove these claims seem to have been done by Omega itself.

In case you've run out of tin foil hats, this little device is now out in Belgium for $50. It'll be rolled out to the rest of the cellphone radiation fearing world in 2009. [Reuters]

Now, just to summarize, before we get to the depressing part, the IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer) was conceived to study the farthest reaches of our solar system. At the very edge is the termination shock, where the system ends, and deep space begins. Studying the unknown will always be cool, but it turns out the IBEX mission could also lead to a better understanding of our future doom.

The termination shock is also the point at which the sun's solar wind begins to taper off, and eventually end. Much like our atmosphere here on Earth, the solar wind protects the solar system from the deadly radiation that saturates deep space. It does this by hurling ions in every direction, at 1 million miles per hour, all the time. Scientists believe the solar wind stops about 90% of the radiation from reaching the planets housed within the termination shock.

The trouble is these winds have fallen to their weakest levels in 50 years. In the past 10 years, the wind's intensity weakened by about 25%. Why? Who knows. Hence, IBEX.

Said David McComas, IBEX chief scientist, "We don't believe we're in imminent danger, but we've only measured the solar wind for about 50 years." Reassuring, thy name be NASA. [Bloomberg]

Like the Batman system, the more phones on the ground, the better, since it would be able to triangulate the source of radiation more accurately. Phones closest to the deadly stuff as they pass by would give off stronger signals, pinpointing where it's at, or how it's moving in real time. Also, the larger the scale of the project, the less the system would cost per phone—right now it's around $50-$100 a phone. Blown up to a hundred million phones, the price would plummet.

Obviously, there are some major civil rights issues here, especially if you're legally required to be a constantly lo-jacked, walking bomb detector for the Man. Newsweek suggests a more diplomatic and less creepy solution, where government agencies would pay you to opt-in. I think that's one paycheck I'd have to pass on. [Newsweek]

In case you're curious, the study consisted of 35 men and 36 women and ran for 18 months. During that time, the people were exposed to the RF radiation at random times. Another control group was observed, but did not receive the RF blasts. The end result was a finding that the cellphone radiation caused not just insomnia, but headaches and difficulty concentrating.

"The ones who were exposed reported headaches, it took longer for them to fall asleep and they did not sleep as well through the night," said Bengt Arnetz, a professor of social medicine and stress research at Uppsala University in Sweden, which conducted the study alongside Sweden's Karolinska Institute and Wayne State University in Michigan. [AFP/SMH]

If you are interested in building one of these yourself, the designer is in the process of developing a simpler, cheaper version complete with detailed information and schematics. Until then, you can hit him up for some info on the project in the following link [N1VG via Hack a Day via Make]

Space Shield to Block Radiation [BBC]

German research has long shown that bees' behaviour changes near power lines. Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby....Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the Nineties, said: "I am convinced the possibility is real."

Are Mobile Phones Wiping Out Our Bees? [via boingboing]
Photo

"Those men who used a cell phone for more than 4 hours per day had the biggest decrease in properties in sperm especially the count, quality, and quantity of the sperm. They are significantly impaired in these men."

Textually [via Core77]

Find out just how much of those deadly rays are surrounding you 24/7 with this $39.95 device, priced for the home fraidycat. Might be a good tool for a movie theater owner, to keep those cell-talking jabberjaws out of the cineplex. – Charlie White

Product Page [Scientifics Online, via Red Ferret]

Wi-Fi Killed My Baby! [Broadband Reports]