[ale] OT: 802.11b radiation? (was: Wireless Design Suggestions)

[James P. Kinney III]

I'm not sure. The standards for "absorbed radiation" are incredibly
difficult to write and interpret. Ballpark, I would put 802.11b at a bit
higher power output than cell phones. This only due to the wider
bandwidth (not data bandwidth, but actual MHz) than cell phones. The
principle concern is the frequency. It is in the range that water
absorbs microwaves from. Since the human body is predominately water, it
stands to reason that a human can attenuate an 802.11b signal. 

I haven't tested that as the wireless junk I have is a D-link DWL-120
usb device that is not supported by Linux. The D-Link DWL-1000AP can be
manipulated with Linux tools.

My early grad school work was in radiation damage on biological
compounds (DNA, RNA, enzymes, etc). Most of the work in my lab involved
X-ray damage to molecules (ionizing radiation). But some of the papers I
read dealt with more subtle issues involving protein folding changes due
to bond bending caused by non-ionizing radiation.

When water absorbs microwave energy, it is converted from
electromagnetic energy to mechanical. The energy increase causes the
hydrogens to "wave about" rather wildly as they do during the boiling
process. As they calm back down, they release that energy as heat. So my
oatmeal get hot fast.

There has been a debate going on for 40+ years about the what the actual
effects of low-level radiation really are. We are getting close to
having the computational facilities and the detection abilities to
measure and calculate those effects. For now, most discussion are well
meaning speculation. 

Of course, I write this sitting less than 2 feet away from a 21" monitor
that has a 1000+V 20mA current crashing into phosphor dots. At that rate
of deceleration, the dominate radiation output is X-ray. Which I know
the eyes are particularly susceptible to damage from. 

Hmm. Maybe I can justify the upgrade to a 40" plasma display as a
medical need...

On Mon, 2002-12-30 at 19:11, Fulton Green wrote:
> And just what is the signal strength of 802.11b WAPs and/or client cards
> w/r/t cell phones these days?
> 
> On Mon, Dec 30, 2002 at 06:26:44PM -0500, James P. Kinney III wrote:
> > Besides, how much microwave radiation does your spouse want bouncing
> > through her? Or you for that matter? Be realistic. How long can the
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GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics) <jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
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