Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [radio]

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Did the 1938 radio broadcast of 'The War of the Worlds' lead to mass hysteria?

I've heard it so many times that I considered it a fact. (Image Source) In 1938 Orson Welles' radio adaption of H.G.Wells' The War of the World incited a nationwide panic: All across the United States, listeners reacted. Thousands of people …
Oliver_C
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The mystery of "Numbers Stations"

Source From NoiseAddicts: "Static. Faint voices. Seven slow, monotonous tones. A pause. Suddenly, you hear music–one of those wind-up songs played by a child’s toy. The melody repeats three times. A pause. Suddenly, you hear a female voice…
Oliver_C
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Is it possible to pick up radio signals from dental fillings?

I recently heard this claim referred to on House M.D. when the titular character is experiencing phantom sounds, and the show appeared to give the idea some credibility. So I decided to look it up, but only found half hearted explanations or…
John Rhoades
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Does home-WiFi expose you to less radiation than using the 3G on your cell-phone?

Are there any studies that compare WiFi and cellular data usage, in the home, over time? Mainly I've heard that WiFi uses more battery (so it should emit more radiation) but OTOH it feels like 3G/cellular needs to use higher power to reach the…
Macke
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Has ISIS and Al Qaeda sent out a message telling their terrorists to only attack white people?

Rush Limbaugh stated on the Rush Limbaugh show that ISIS and Al Qaeda sent out a memo to their people saying to not attack minorities, only white people. Their reasoning? If they kill minorities, Democrats will think Republicans where responsible…
PyRulez
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Is 2.4GHz IEEE 802.11 (WiFi) Dangerous?

Over the years, I've heard (and read about) various dubious claims and doubtful allegations regarding the dangers of WiFi & 2.4GHz wireless ISM band communications in general. The stories typically presented themselves with the tell-tale signs of…
voices
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Is Vatican Radio causing childhood leukaemia?

It an ugly, long standing story in Italy: Vatican radio has huge antennas, not subject to Italian law, and the people living in the surroundings lament severe ailments such as leukaemia. The Santa Maria di Galeria transmitter site is the subject of…
Sklivvz
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Did a radio DJ lock himself in the studio and play the same song on repeat?

I've heard and read this one in various places, in many variations: a radio DJ gets (disgruntled)/(drunk)/(fired), and as a response (locks)/(barricades) (himself)/(herself) alone in the (studio)/(broadcast station) and plays (the same song…
travisbartley
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Did Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil invent frequency hopping or spread spectrum communications?

A google search on frequency hopping gives numerous results crediting Ms. Lamarr (and George Antheil) for frequency hopping and spread spectrum technologies and further, suggests we wouldn't have WiFi or bluetooth had it not been for them. Here is…
CramerTV
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Can voice signals be radio-transmitted to a human head acting as a radio receiver?

US Patent 6470214 was recently mentioned on a Jesse Ventura's television program, "Conspiracy Theory", in relation to government mind control experiments and weapons. Now normally, the whole point of a TV show like "Conspiracy Theory" is to have a…
Paul
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Is the silence of BBC Radio a key test for UK (submarine) nuclear response?

A comment under a WorldBuilding.SE answer to the question What's the quickest way to tell if most of the people on Earth have disappeared? refers to the BBC Newsbeat article Trident: What are the letters of last resort? describing the instructions…
user22865
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Is it illegal to air a prank call in the United States because of FCC regulation?

There is a show in Houston radio show on KRBE called Roula & Ryan's Roses -- you can subscribe here. It's rather amusing and trashy. I've heard it a few times before. "Retired Engineer" on Kingwood.com, a local forum, made the claim that on-air…
Evan Carroll
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Do spying devices implanted through human ear canals exist?

An article from a professor of psychology describes a type of so-called “ radio-wave, auditory, assaultive. transmitting (RAAT) implants,” which is essentially a covert listening device, and it can be implanted into and stay in human ear canal as a…
RLR
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Why 'every' electrical devices in an airplane are prohibited during landing and departing?

Possible Duplicate: Are personal electronics a risk to commercial aviation? Not only the electrical devices using EM wave (ex: Cellphone, RC car, ...), but other electrical devices (ex: MP3, Nintendo DS, ...) are also prohibited in airplane, when…
JiminP
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What happenned at Ripon - Weston Elementary School

Links / news Did the radio tower cause the cancer? - There is little evidence that radio towers in general cause cancer. Tests reveal carcinogen (TCE) in tap water but carcinogen is 10x lower than the legal limit (0.56mg/l where legal limit is…
Sancarn
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