Relax: 5G did not cause the mutation that created Covid-19
By MUNGAI KIHANYA
The Sunday Nation
Nairobi,
19 April 2020
There are several
videos going round in the Social Media (especially WhataApp) claiming
that there is a link between the new 5G Mobile Internet service and the
Novel Coronavirus responsible for the Covid-19 disease. Apparently, 5G
uses electromagnetic radiation of such high intensity that it caused a
mutation of the SARS-COV into SARS-COV-2 and that’s what started all the
problems we are facing today.
Well, this is
complete and utter nonsense! (Genetic) mutation occurs at the molecular
level; it involves breaking inter-atomic bonds thereby rearranging the
molecules in the genes. High-energy electromagnetic waves can do this;
so, we need to find out if 5G uses high-energy radiation.
In simple terms,
electromagnetic waves are vibrating electric and magnetic fields. The
best example of this is light and heat radiation. I cite these two to
illustrate that, despite the sophisticated name, electromagnetic waves
are, largely, quite harmless.
Like sound waves,
electromagnetic waves have two main characteristic properties: intensity
and frequency. The intensity determines the brightness while the
frequency determines the colour.
When molecules are
exposed to electromagnetic waves, their bonds can be broken. However,
that only happens if the waves are vibrating above a certain minimum
frequency. Anything below the critical value will not break the bond, no
matter how intense the radiation.
Imagine trying to
throw a stone over a wall; you must hurl with certain minimum force. If
you don’t, it will never go over, no matter how many times you try. In
this illustration, the minimum force is the frequency while the number
of trials is the intensity.
In short; to break
molecular bonds and thus cause genetic mutation, what matters is the
frequency of the electromagnetic waves; not the intensity. So, what the
frequency used in 5G Mobile Internet?
The 5G spectrum is in
the giga-hertz (GHz) range; that is, billions of vibrations per second.
It sounds high, but it is the same range used by 4G and 3G. The
difference is that 5G frequency can go as high as 72GHz while 4G reaches
about 6GHz.
Nevertheless, these
numbers are very low when placed in the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
The frequency of visible light ranges from about 400tera-hertz (THz) -
red colour - to about 800THz - violet. One THz is one trillion
vibrations per second – a thousand times a giga-hertz!
Obviously, even 500
trillion vibrations per second (yellowish orange light) is not enough to
break molecular bonds. If it was, we would not exist! We would have been
obliterated by sunlight a long time ago.
The frequency that
can break molecular bonds is at least one quadrillion vibrations per
second. That is, 1,000,000,000,000,000! This is called a peta-hertz,
PHz. Such electromagnetic waves are found in the extreme ultra-violet,
x-rays and gamma ray ranges.
Producing these rays
takes so much energy that nobody would dream about using them for
communications even if they were not dangerous (ask your doctor about
the electricity bill of an x-ray machines).
So, relax: 5G has
nothing to do with the mutation that created the SARs-COV-2 virus.
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