Holm Hümmler studied physics and business administration and did his Ph.D. work in high energy nuclear physics at CERN and Brookhaven National Laboratory. He is now self-employed as a management consultant, specializing in dealing with uncertainty in future planning, mostly in the healthcare sector. In his skeptical work, he writes on pseudophysics, conspiracy myths and communicating skepticism. He is a permanent member of the science communication livestream “Ferngespräch”.
Abstract
5G mobile networks – the conspiracy myths and what they really do
Conspiracy myths around 5G mobile communication came to the attention of many people in 2020, when conspiracists linked 5G to the pandemic and network towers were set on fire in several European countries. However, irrational fears of wireless networks are even older than the earliest mobile phones, and they were systematically boosted by a right-wing campaign right before the advent of 5G, in 2019.
So what is 5G really? What does it change as far as radiation is concerned, compared to earlier networks? How realistic are the various dangers attributed to 5G by conspiracists? How do electromagnetic waves interact with living matter, and how realistic are the claims that mobile networks in general might be dangerous?