The troubling world of WiFi toxicity truthers on Instagram

Radiation.

The word inspires fear and images of mushroom clouds and meltdowns. And when people hear that their WiFi routers and cellphones emit radiation, they get scared. 

In response, maybe they read the recent FDA and FCC reports saying the electromagnetic radiation produced by cellphones and wireless devices is safe for humans. Or maybe they get sucked into an Instagram hole, where people sell crystal pyramids that promise to convert radiation "into positive energy." 

“Because radiation is such a scary term, I think it's incredibly easy to mislead people,” said David Robert Grimes, a cancer researcher who studies public understanding of science. “I would argue there's an awful lot of profiteering off of people's fears and misunderstanding implicit in this weird Instagram world.” Read more...