The Low-Tech Times

The Low-Tech Times published an article a few months ago entitled Three Problems with GPS Navigation Systems. One of the problems explored in the article was that a loss of knowledge can result from a user becoming dependent on an electronic devices for their sense of direction.

Now, Cloe Shasha from ABC news, writes a piece with a similar theme entitled Will GPS Make Us Dumb? Here are a couple excerpts from Cloe’s article:

…some experts believe that the guiding device gives less than what it takes away. The price we pay for the convenience, they say, could be our sense of direction.

“One effect of an increased dependence on GPS will be that peoples’ ability to read maps will further decay,” Knowles said. “Americans are generally poor map readers. Some cannot read maps at all…

In other news, an Associated Press (AP) article on AOL tells the story of a couple that got stranded as a result of GPS system directions. Apparently there is a new AP policy to charge bloggers for quoting from their stories, so I will refrain from posting any excerpts of the story here. Here is a link to the story, Couple Stranded in Desert by GPS Device.

The Washington Post’s Rick Weiss reports that hi-tech nanotubes used in electronics may cause cancer, similar to asbestos related illness:

Microscopic, high-tech “nanotubes” that are being made for use in a wide variety of consumer products cause the same kind of damage in the body as asbestos does, according to a study in mice that is raising alarms among workplace safety experts and others.

Within days of being injected into mice, the nanotubes — which are increasingly used in electronic components, sporting goods and dozens of other products — triggered a kind of cellular reaction that over a period of years typically leads to mesothelioma, a fatal form of cancer, researchers said.

Kris De Decker of Low-tech Magazine also covers the issue with a detailed post entitled Is ecotech the new asbestos?

The Low-Tech Times previously covered a story linking cell phone radiation with cancerous brain tumors. Now, some people may have another health reason to limit their own usage and their young children’s usage of mobile phones.

Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor of The Independent, reports:

Women who use mobile phones when pregnant are more likely to give birth to children with behavioural problems, according to authoritative research.

A giant study, which surveyed more than 13,000 children, found that using the handsets just two or three times a day was enough to raise the risk of their babies developing hyperactivity and difficulties with conduct, emotions and relationships by the time they reached school age. And it adds that the likelihood is even greater if the children themselves used the phones before the age of seven.