"Author Kate Figes, spent hundreds of pounds installing wireless internet in her Stoke Newington home, then found it made her so ill she had to scrap it. Ms Figes, 49, claims she is so sensitive to wi-fi's electro-magnetic waves she can instantly tell whether it is installed in a particular room," reports This is London.
Comment: Well, that's good, because it should be very easy for Ms Figes to prove it in a double-blind test. I'd bet that she can't, but it would certainly be interesting.
Can she also detect her neighbours' Wi-Fi systems? How about their kids' remote-controlled toys? Can she detect cordless or mobile phones? What about all those dreadfully damaging radio waves being pumped out by the BBC?
A quick scan of http://www.electrosensitivity.org.uk/ suggests there are millions of people who are hypersensitive to electromagnetic radiation. In which case, it should be possible to do a properly controlled, open minded scientific study....
Update by Charles Arthur: we've also done a Newly Asked Question this week in the print section ("Is there any proof that Wi-Fi networks can make you sick?"). We also suggest there a good-enough first test to see if you're "electrosensitive" to Wi-Fi: all you need is a friend, a coin, a wireless router and about 15 minutes. Try it.
Originally posted at 2006-11-25 13:34:09
