TheEffectofCellularTelephoneElectromagneticRadiationon

theNervousSystemof
Lumbricusterrestris
LilyShearer
NilesNorthHighSchool

Shearer1
TableofContents
Acknowledgements..2
Purpose,Hypothesis,andRationale.3
ReviewofLiterature.....4
Materials..11
Procedure.12
Variables.14
Results.15
StatisticalAnalysis......20
Discussion............22
ErrorAnalysis..24
Conclusion...25
References....27

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Acknowledgements
Icouldnothavecompletedthisprojectwithoutthehelpofsomanypeople.

Firstofall,IwouldliketothankmyteacherandsponsorMrs.Camelforallofthehelp
throughoutthedurationofmyproject.Thankyouforalwaysbeingsopatientwithmeandfor
givingsuchgreatcommentsoneveryaspectofmyproject.Iwouldnotbehereifitwasnotfor
youandyourhelp.

IwouldalsoliketoextendthankstoAyeshaQuraishi,aformerNilesNorthstudent,forallofher
assistance.Iamsogratefulforallofthealloftheadviceyouprovidedmewith,andallofyour
helpwassowonderful.

AspecialthankstomyclassmatesforlisteningasIwentthroughallofmyideasandalways
providingmoralsupportwhenIneededit.Iamsoluckytohaveclassmatesandfriendswhoare
sohelpfulandsosupportive.

Finally,Iwouldliketothankmyparentsforalwayspushingmetodobetterandforalloftheir
supportthroughoutallofmylife.

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Purpose
Thepurposeofthisexperimentistodetermineiftheradiationemittedfromcellularphoneshas
aneffectonthenervoussystemofearthworms.

Itisimportanttoattainanunderstandingofwhatcellphonesreallydotothenervoussystem
becauseofthesignificantincreaseofusageofcellphonesinrecentyears.Newinformationon
howradiationaffectsthebrainishelpfulininformingpeopleabouthowtousecellphonessafely
andhowtolimitexposure.

Hypothesis

If
L.terrestris
areexposedtomobileradiationforlongerperiodsoftime,thenthespeedofthe
electronictransmissionofthenerves,ortheconductionvelocity,willnotbeasfast.

Rationale

Repeatedexposuretoelectromagneticradiationhasbeenknowntodamageneuronsbyreducing
thecomplexityofthedendritesandaxons,aswellashaveeffectsonoverallbrainfunction.
Therefore,thenervesinthenervoussystemofthewormswillbeoveralldamagedandless
effective,andthereforecausetheexposedwormstohaveaslowerconductionvelocityofneuron
signaling.

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ReviewofLiterature

Inthepast40years,ourworldhasbeendrasticallychangedbytheinventionofcell
phones.About90%oftheadultpopulationownsacellphone(Ballve2013).Theyhavebecome
anecessityforalmosteverypersonintheUnitedStates,notonlyforcalls,butformanyother
functionssuchastextingandsocialmedia.Theaveragepersonspendstwohoursadayontheir
phone(Ballve2013).Aswithanytechnologythatisusedbyawiderangeofpeople,thepossible
problemsanddangerswithcellphonesshouldbeexamined.Thefrequenciesthatcellphones
emitrangebetween450and800MHzwiththepowerpeaksbetween.1and2watts,andis
consideredanonionizingradiation(Electromagneticfieldsandpublichealth:mobilephones
2014).Whilethisisconsideredalowfrequency,longtermhealthresultsandsideeffectsofthe
constantuseofcellphonesshouldbethoroughlyexamined.

In2011,theInternationalAgencyforResearchonCancer(IARC)classifiedcellphone
radiationinGroupB,meaningthatthereissomeriskofcancerfrommobileradiation(IARC
ClassifiesRadiofrequencyElectromagneticFields2011).Thistermisusedwhenthereisa
possibilityofrisk,butthatchanceandbiascanbeareasonforthecorrelation,andmoretests
needtobedone.(IARCClassifiesRadiofrequencyElectromagneticFields2011).In2014,the
IARCreleasedthepointthat,todate,noadversehealtheffectshavebeenestablishedasbeing
causedbymobilephoneuse,butthattheWorldHealthOrganization,ortheWHO,willstillbe
conductingindepthstudiesonthistopic,specificallyaformalriskassessmentin2016ofmany
varioushealthoutcomes(Electromagneticfieldsandpublichealth:mobilephones2014).

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Scientistsusuallydifferentiatebetweentheeffectsofionizingradiation(suchas
farultraviolet,Xrayandgammaray)andnonionizingradiation(includingvisiblelight,
microwaveandradio).TheionizingvarietyisconsidereddangerousbecauseitcancauseDNA
mutationsanddamage,andsoweshouldalllimitourexposuretoitssources(Raz2006).
However,therearemanysourcesofnonionizingradiationthatarepracticallyunavoidable,given
moderntechnology.Extremelylowfrequencyelectromagneticfields(EMF)arepresentinmany
homeappliancesaswellaselectricaltransmissionlines,andotherdevicesweusedaily(Raz
2006).

MostofthelongtermeffectsfromEMFarestillinconclusivemostevidenceandtests
arecontradictory(George2006).However,ithasbeenproventhatexposuretocertainhigh
levelsofnonionizingenergy,likeradiowavefrequencies,canpotentiallydamagethefunction
andstructureofthenervoussystem.Forexample,microwavefrequenciesthatarebelow3,000
megahertzcaninfiltratetheouterlayersoftheskinandthenbeconsumedintheunderlying
tissues.Thisresultsinmanyoftheeffectsthataretypicallyrelatedtoheating,suchasburns,
cataracts,andpossiblydeath(Raz2006).Cellphonestypicallyfallbelowthislevelhowever,
thesignificantincreasedusageofthesedevicesinthepast40yearsmaycauseanincreaseofthe
effectsandcausedamage.

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Figure1:
(TheNervousSystem:OrganizationandTissue,n.d.)

Therearetwopartsofthenervoussystem:thecentralnervoussystemandtheperipheral
nervoussystem,asshownabove.Inthecentralnervoussystem,therearetwotypesoftissues.
Greymattercontainsnervecellbodies,axons,anddendrites.Whitematteriscomposedof
mostlyaxons
(TheNervousSystem:OrganizationandTissue,n.d.)
.Theperipheralnervous
systemcontainsthenervesthatarenotrelatedtothecentralnervoussystem,includingnervesin
organsandskin.Theperipheralnervoussystemconnectstheseorganstothecentralnervous
system,Theperipheralnervoussystemconnectsthecentralnervoussystemtothesevitalbody
parts
(TheNervousSystem:OrganizationandTissue,n.d.)
.Also,theperipheralnervous
systemisdividedintotwonervoussystems.Thesomaticnervoussystemtransmitssensory
informationandcontrolsvoluntarymovement.Theautonomicnervoussystemcontrols
involuntarybodymovements,suchastheheartbeat,bloodflow,andbreathing.Dendritesand
axonsaretwoimportantpartsofthenervoussystem.Axonsarelongthreadlikefibersofthe

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nervoussystemthattakeinformationawayfromthecellbody,whiledendritesbringinformation
tothecellbodyandhavearoughsurface.Thesearetwoveryimportantpiecesinneuron
signaling.
Inthisexperiment,earthwormswillbeused.Wormsconsumesoilastheyburrow,and
extractnutrientsfromdecomposingmatter.Theyareveryimportanttothehealthofsoiland
plantsbecausetheytransportthesenutrients,andtheirtunnelsservetoaeratethesoil.
Earthwormsarealsofoodformanyotheranimals,andtheytypicallyliveintheNorthern
hemisphere,specificallyNorthAmerica,Europe,andWestAsia.Earthwormsbodiesaremade
upofringlikesegmentscalledannuli,whicharecoveredinsmallhairsthathelpinmovingand
burrowing(CommonEarthworm2015).

Figure2:("Experiment:MeasuringNeuronSpeedBackyardBrains,"n.d.)

Theearthwormhasasimpleandsensitivecentralnervoussystem.Itcontainsthreeaxons
thatcarryoutgoingmessagesfromtheneuron'scellbodythatcontinuethroughoutitsentirebody

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("Experiment:MeasuringNeuronSpeedBackyardBrains,"n.d.).Theseaxonsareinanerve
cordandincludethemedialgiantfiber,aswellastwolateralgiantfibers.Themedialgiantfiber
transmitsinformationfromthefrontoftheworm,whilethelateralgiantfiberstransmit
informationfromtheskincellstotheendoftheworm.Inadditiontothis,theperipheralnervous
systemoftheearthwormisnotcomprisedofanervenet,butismadeupofofelementsthathave
definiteconnectionsinthenervecord(Coonfield,1931).Thismeansthattherearedirect
pathwaysbetweenneuronsintheearthworm,whichmakesitpossibletogatherresults.
Earthwormsalsoexuberateaspecificneuralcoding,calledasparsecoding.Aneural
codingistherepresentationofafractionofneuronsthatarestronglyactiveatanyonetime
(Foldiak,n.d.).Sparsecodingisthereforetherepresentationofitemsbyanactivationofasetof
neurons,relativelysmall(Foldiak,n.d.).Sparsecodingallowstheconductionvelocitytobe
measured,orspikesofaneuronbecauseitillustratesapatternthathelpsunderstandwhatis
goingon(electrically)intheneuron.

Neuralsynapseisthedistanceofwhichthemessagefromthedendriteissentacrossto
theaxon.Thedendriteisthefiberthatbringsinformationtothecellbody.Thereisapresynaptic
endingcontainingcellorganellessuchasneurotransmittersandmitochondria,apostsynaptic
endingcontainingreceptorsitesforneurotransmitters,andthespacebetweentheseendings
calledthesynapticcleftinthisdistance(TheSynapse,n.d.).Therearethreedifferenttypesof
synapse.Axodendriticsynapseisthesynapticcontactbetweenanaxonofonenervecelltothe
dendriteofanotherneuron.Axosomaticsynapseisthecontactbetweenaneuronscellbodyand
anotherneuronsaxon.Axoaxonicsynapseisthecontactbetweenaneuronsaxonandanother
neuronsaxon.

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Figure3:("Experiment:MeasuringNeuronSpeedBackyardBrains,"n.d.)
TheSpikerboxisabioamplifierthatallowsyouseeandhearconductionvelocity,orthe
spikesemittedfromthesynapseoftheneuron.Itgathersthesignalsofelectricalactivityitcan
detectthesignalsbytheuseofelectrodes,whichisaconductorthatelectricityentersandleaves
through.Ithasasoundcablethatisconnectedtothecomputer,whichusesasoundsoftwareto
showthespikesafterapulse.Itdisplaystheelectricalactivity,andthereisadifferencein
electricalactivitybetweentwotrialswhenthetimehasincreasedordecreased.TheSpikerbox
simplyusesitstwoelectrodes,pinnedontheendsoftheinvertebrate,tomeasuretheelectrical
conductivityoftheneuron(Experiment:GettingStartedwiththeSpikerBox,n.d.).
Inastudydoneseveralyearsago,itwasconcludedthatincreasinglevelsof
electromagneticradiationprogressivelyimpairedtheneuronsbyinhibitingaxonregeneration
andresultedindecreaseofaxonproductivity(Moss&Lewkowitz1999).Anotherstudydonein
theUniversityofCalifornia,theyconcludedthatthisradiationcauseda4070percentreduction
inthedensityofdendriticspinesofmice,andtheseresultshavebeenknowntodisorderssuchas
epilepsy,Alzheimers,andHuntingtonsdisease(Palmer2013).Thishasbeenknowntoleadto

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problemswithbrainandnervefunctioningaswellasdiseasessuchasAlzheimer's(Palmer
2013).Whilethelevelofradiationwasnotashighastheamountofradiationemittedfromacell
phone,itwasnotfaroff,andtheconclusionsthatthescientistsgatheredfromtheresults
exemplifytheidealthatelectromagneticradiationdoeshaveanimpactonthefunctioningofthe
nervoussystem.

Inadataminingstudydonein2013thatlookedatthehealthrecordsofmanyindividuals,
itwasconcludedthatthereisahighchancethattheelectromagneticradiationcausedbycell
phonesdoesaffectthebrain.(Kesari2013).Therewasalsoastudydonebyresearchersthat
testedtheamountmobileradiationaffectedthedamageofbraincellsofmice.Theyconcluded
thattherewasneuronaldamageinthecortex,hippocampus,andbasalgangliainthebrainsof
exposedrats(Salford,et.al2012).

Theworldwithoutcellphonesisclearlyover.Cellphonesarebeingusedalloverthe
world,andmoreandmorepeopleinpoorernationsarebeginningtogetaccesstotechnology
likethis.Theyhavebecomeawayoflifeforsomanypeopleanditisimpossibletogoback.
However,itisimportanttounderstandhowcellphonesaffectthehealthofpeoplebecauseofthe
significantincreaseofusagethathasoccurredoverthepast40years.Newinformationonhow
radiationaffectsthebraincanbeveryhelpfulininformingpeopleabouthowtousecellphones
safelyandhowtolimitexposure.Newadvancementsintechnologyalwayscomewithrisk,and
itisimportanttounderstandtheseriskssothattechnologycanbeusedsafely.

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Materials

36worms

3wormbins

Figure4:
Lumbricus

Soil

terrestris
in

Water

wormfarm

WormFood

SpikerBox

Faradaycage

BalsaWood

Gloves

Graduatedcylinder

IPhone5s

Beakers

Gloves

Laptopcableusedtogatherresults

LaptopdownloadedwithAudacity

Ethanol

Toothpick

Figure5:SpikerBox

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Procedure
CareofWorms
1. Use3containersaswormfarms:1control,1lowexposure,and1higher
exposure.
2. Place300gramsofsoilintothefarm
3. Add300mLofdistilledwater.
4. Place10wormsinfarm.
5. Addtworowsofwormfoodand200mLofwatereveryday.

ExposingWormstoRadiation
1. Placewormsfromfarm#2inastyrofoamcontainer.
2. PlaceIPhone5sthatisturnedondirectlyaboveopeningofstyrofoamcontainer
andleavefor30minutes.
3. Repeatsteps1and2forFarm#3,butexposefor45minutes.
4. Repeatsteps13onceadayforfivedays.Afterlasttest,gatherresults.

UsingtheSpikerbox
1. GatherMaterials:
2channelSpikerbox,balsawood,earthworm,microphone
cable,laptopdownloadedwithAudacity,ruler,faradaycage,and10%alcohol
solution.
2. Takeoutalaptopandchangeitssettingstohighestbrightnessandmuteany
sound
3. PlugintheSpikerbox
4. SelectMicinfortheuseofthemachineinthelaptop
5. OpenuptheAudacitysoftware(Windows)
6. Gotoedit,thenpreferences:
a. changethePlaybacksettingintoOUTPUT
b. changetherecordingsettingintoINPUT
c. UnderRECORDINGuncheckOVERDUBandcheckSOFTWARE
PLAYTHROUGH
7. Createa10%ethylalcoholsolutionbypouring90mLdistilledwaterintoa
beakerandadding10mLethylalcoholintoit.
8. Measuringonefarmatatime,putall6redwormsofafarmintothesolution
9. Wait7minutesforthewormstobefullyanesthetized
10. Takeoutastyrofoamboardandplacethesixwormsontoit.
11. Pickuponewormandplaceitonthebedofthefaradaycage.
12. Measurethelengthofthewormfromtheendofitsclitellumtoitsanus.
13. Placetheblackelectrodeontheendoftheclitellum

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14. Placetheredelectrodeonthewormsanus
15. Placethewhiteelectrodeinthemiddleofthetwoelectrodes.Recordthedistance
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.

betweentheredelectrodeandthewhiteelectrode.
Turnonthespikerbox
Beginrecordingbyclickingrecordinaudacity
Usingaplastictoothpick,slowlytaptheanusofthewormseveraltimes
Stoprecordingonaudacity
Repeatsteps1119fortheremainingworms
Savethefileasacompressed,.oggfile

GatheringResults
22. Opentheaudacity,.oggfile
23. Zoomintoaspike
24. Expandtheverticalviewofthespike
25. Lookatwherechannelonesspikehitsthexaxisandrecordthetime
26. Lookatwherechanneltwosspikehitsthexaxisandrecordthetime
27. Subtractchanneltwostimefromchannelones
28. Dividethedistancebythedifferenceintime
29. Recordtheconductionvelocityinthedatatable

DisposalofWorms
1. Preparea200mLbeakerof100mLof100%ethylalcohol
2. Placewormsinbeakerandleaveovernight
3. Throwwormsintrash

Figure6:ConductionVelocitybeingmeasuredwith
SpikerBox

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Variables

IndependentVariable:Theindependentvariablesinthisexperimentaretheamountoftimethat
thewormsareexposedtothecellphoneradiation.Thetimesof30minutesperdayand45
minutesperdaywereusedforthisexperiment.Thedifferingamountsoftimehavethe
possibilitytochangetheconductionvelocity,andthereforearetheindependentvariables.

DependentVariable:Thedependentvariableistheconductionvelocityofthenervesignalingof
theearthworms.ThiswillbemeasuredincentimeterspersecondbytheSpikerBox.The
conductionvelocityisthedependentvariablebecauseitcanpossiblybechangedbytheamount
ofcellphoneradiationthatitisexposedto.

Control:Thecontrolgroupistheconductionvelocityoftheearthwormsthathavenotbeen
exposedtocellphoneradiation.Thisisthecontrolbecauseitwillnotbeaffectedbythecell
phoneradiation.

Constants:
Environmentofworms:soilineachfarm,foodgiveneachday,watergiveneachday,
andnumberofwormsineachfarm
Amountoftimewormsareanesthetizedfor
Materialsusedtogatherresults(SpikerBox,beakers,faradaycage,balsawood,etc)
Thesethingswerekeptconstanttopreventexperimentalerror.Bykeepingtheonlyvariablethat
changestheamountofradiationitwasexposedto,theresultswouldbemorefocusedonhowthe
radiationaffectstheconductionvelocity,insteadofhowtheseothervariablesaffectthe
conductionvelocity.

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Results

Control

Differenceof
Time(seconds)

Worm

Spacebetween
Electrodes(cm)

Conduction
Velocity(cm/s)

0.0000112

181,818.18

0.0000092

2.25

244,565.21

0.0000090

1.5

166,666.67

0.0000099

1.75

176,767.68

0.0000081

1.75

218,750.00

0.0000096

208,333.33

0.0000089

224,719.10

0.0000081

1.5

187,500.00

0.0000132

2.25

173,076.92

10

0.0000212

2.5

119,047.62

11

0.0000143

142,857.14

12

0.0000075

1.75

233,333.33

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Average

30minutesofexposureaday

Spacebetween Conduction
DifferenceofTime(seconds) Electrodes(cm) Velocity(cm/s)

Worm

Average

189,786.27

0.000035

1.75

50,000.00

0.000057

2.00

35,087.72

0.000021

2.25

107,142.85

0.000027

1.50

55,555.56

0.000032

2.25

70,312.50

0.000053

2.00

37,735.85

0.000025

2.00

80,000.00

0.000035

1.75

83,333.33

0.000021

2.00

95,238.10

10

0.000020

1.50

75,000.00

11

0.000037

2.25

60,810.81

12

0.000053

1.5

28,301.89

64,876.55

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45minutesofexposureaday

Differenceof
Time(seconds)

Worm

Conduction
Velocity(cm/s)

0.00045

2.00

4,444.44

0.00056

1.75

3125

0.00091

1.50

1648.35

0.00013

2.00

15,384.62

0.00009

2.00

22,222.22

0.00082

1.50

1,829.27

0.00065

1.75

2,692.31

0.000095

2.25

23,684.21

0.00034

2.00

5,882.35

10

0.00030

2.00

6,666.67

11

0.00078

1.75

2243.59

12

0.00087

2.25

2587.21

Average

Spacebetween
Electrodes(cm)

7,700.85

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Figure7:Thisgraphshowstheindividualvaluesoftheconductionvelocitiesonascatterplot
thathighlightsthedifferencesbetweentheconductionvelocitiesofthewormsexposedto
radiationandthewormsnotexposedtoradiation.Italsoshowsthebestfitlineforeachsetof
datathathighlightsthedifferencesoftheaverageconductionvelocities

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Figure8:Thisbargraphshowseachtrialandtheconductionvelocityforeachworm.Theheight
ofthebarsshowthedifferenceinconductionvelocity.

Figure9:Thisbargraphhighlightstheaverageconductionvelocityforeachtest,andjustclearly
exemplifiesthedifferenceofconductionvelocitiesforeachtypeofexposure.

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StatisticalAnalysis
45minuteexposure
Nullhypothesis:Theaverageconductionvelocityofthewormexposedtonoradiationisequal
totheaverageconductionvelocityofwormexposedtoradiation
Alternativehypothesis:Theaverageconductionvelocityofthewormexposedtonoradiationis
differentthantheaverageconductionvelocityofwormexposedtoradiation
Averagecontrolconductionvelocity:189,786.27
StandardDeviation:37608.62051

Averageexposureconductionvelocity:7,700.85
StandardDeviation:8053.356536

Samplesize:12

t=1.79626
degreesoffreedom=12.0067
p=0.039824
Becausep<.05,itisstatisticallysignificantandthenullhypothesisisrejectedinfavorofthe
alternativehypothesis
30minuteexposure
Nullhypothesis:Theaverageconductionvelocityofthewormexposedtonoradiationisequal
totheaverageconductionvelocityofwormexposedtoradiation
Alternativehypothesis:Theaverageconductionvelocityofthewormexposedtonoradiationis
differentthantheaverageconductionvelocityofwormexposedtoradiation
Averagecontrolconductionvelocity:189,786.27
StandardDeviation:37608.62051

Averageexposureconductionvelocity:64,876.55
StandardDeviation:24672.56421

Samplesize:12

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t=2.58829
p=.006434
degreesoffreedom=12.3203
Becausep>.05,itisstatisticallysignificantandthenullhypothesisisrejectedinfavorofthe
alternativehypothesis

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Discussion
After1week,theconductionvelocitiesofthenervesignalingofthewormswas
measuredbyusingAudacity.Thelapseoftime,alongwiththespacebetweentheelectrodeswas
usedtocalculatethisconductionvelocity.Itisevidentfromthedatathatthereisasignificant
trendoftheconductionvelocitythatisrelatedtoincreasedcellphoneexposure.Bylooking
simplyattheaverages,youcanclearlyseethatthewormsexposedtocellphoneradiationhada
lowerconductionvelocity.Theaverageforthecontrolwas189,786.27cm/s,theaveragefor
wormsexposedto30minutesofradiationwas64,876.55cm/s,andtheaveragefor45minutesof
radiationwas7,700.85cm/s.Youcantellthattheadditional15minutesofradiationadaydid
haveaneffect,andthereforeyoucanassumethatthisnervedamageissignificantlydifferentfor
differentamountsoftime,butthatthedifferencebetweenthetestswith30minutesand45
minuteswerelesssignificantthantheoveralltestsofwhethertheywereexposedtoradiation.
Thegraphsalsofurthertheideathattheconductionvelocitywasaffectedbytheexposure
tocellphoneradiation.Itisclearfromthelastgraphthatsimplylooksattheaverageshow
significantthisdifferencewas.Theothergraphslookmorespecificallyineachtest,butthebar
graphusestheheighttoclearlyshowthatthecontrolhadamuchhigherconductionvelocityfor
eachtest.Thescatterplotshowsthespecificpointsandthedifferencesbetweenthesetests,and
thesepointsalongwiththebestfitlinesalsodemonstratethesignificanceofthisdata.
Whenthestatisticalanalysisisobserved,bycalculatingthevaluesofpandt,aswellas
thedegreesoffreedom,Iwasabletodeterminethatthenullhypothesiswasrejectedbecausethe
pvalueswerelowerthan.05.Therefore,thealternativehypothesiswasprovencorrectandthe
overalldataisstatisticallysignificant.Thestatisticalevidence,alongwiththegraphsportraying

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thedataandtheoverallaveragesleadtotheconclusionthatmyhypothesiswassupportedbythis
data.

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ErrorAnalysis
Thereweremanypossibilitiesforexperimentalerrorinthisexperiment.Onemajor
exampleofexperimentalerroristhefactthatbyworkingwithlivingorganisms,eachoneisnot
identicalandthereforehasdifferencesintheirbodystructureandnervoussystem.Iattemptedto
ruleoutthiserrorbyusingasmanywormsaspossible,butmorewormsandmoredataformy
nextattemptwouldbeagoodwaytotryandlimitexperimentalerror.
OneissuewiththeSpikerBoxwasthattherewassomestaticforafewoftheteststhat
hadthepossibilitytoslightlyaltermydata.Tocombatthis,nexttimeIwilllookatwaysto
reducestaticbycontactingBackyardbrainsaboutwaystotroubleshoottheSpikerBox.Thereis
alsothepossibilityofothertechnicalissueswithAudacitythatcouldcausefluctuationsindata.I
attemptedtomakeeachtestassimilaraspossibleandwiththeleastamountoftechnicalissues
aspossible.
Anotherpossibilityforexperimentalerrorishumanerroreventhoughexact
measurementswereattemptedforeachstep,thereisalwaysthepossibilitythatsomethingwas
notmeasuredcorrectlyorwasinsertedincorrectly.Iattemptedtomakeasprecisemeasurements
aspossibletotryandpreventthisexperimentalerror.Toreallycombatthepossibilityoferror,
moretestsshouldalwaysbecompleted.

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Conclusion
Myhypothesiswassupportedbytheseresults.Itcanbeconcludedthatthereisa
significantspeeddecreaseoftheneuronsignalingwhenexposedtocontinualradiationemitted
fromacellphone.Youcanconcludethisbasedsimplyoffoftheaveragesfromeachtest,as
wellasthestatisticalanalysisthatprovesthatthisdataisstatisticallysignificant.Thisdifference
betweentheconductionvelocityofwormsexposedtocellphoneelectromagneticradiationand
thewormsnotexposedtoradiationprovesthattheseresultsshouldbetakenseriously,andmore
examinationshouldfollowtofurtherrelatethiscorrelationtoothertypesoftests.Whileworms
cannotbedirectlycorrelatedwithhumans,theseresultsaresignificantenoughthatthereisthe
possibilityitisaffectinghumans,andmoreadvancedtrialsneedtobedonetodeterminethe
exacteffects.Ifcellphonesareimpairingtheabilityofthenervestocommunicate,thiscanlead
tomanynervediseasesandoverallproblemswiththehumannervoussystem.Testingonthe
humanresponsetothisradiationisanotherbigstepthatshouldbetakenwhenyoulookatthe
resultsfromthisexperimentation,butissomethingthatprovestobemorelogistically
complicated.
Theworldwithoutcellphonesisclearlyover.Cellphonesarebeingusedalloverthe
world,andmoreandmorepeopleinpoorernationsarebeginningtogetaccesstotechnology
likethis.Theyhavebecomeawayoflifeforsomanypeopleanditisimpossibletogoback.
However,itisimportanttounderstandhowcellphonesaffectthehealthofpeoplebecauseofthe
significantincreaseofusagethathasoccurredoverthepast40years.Understandingthatthis
radiationcancauseslightdamagetoourbrainsisimportantsothatwecantakemeasuresto
protectourselvesfromthisdamage,andpeoplecanlookforwaystodecreasethedamage

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caused.Therearestillalotmorestudiesthatshouldbedonetotrulytesttheseeffects,butmy
findingsareastepinthedirectionthatmorestudiesshouldoccurtounderstandwhatgoeson
whenweuseacellphone.

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