WEIRD STUFF: Phone use no risk to brain

Phone use no risk to brain

Mobile phones do not raise the risk of brain tumours.

A major new study has allayed concerns surrounding the safety of the wireless technology - as mobile phones emit radio frequency waves that can penetrate several centimetres into the brain when held near the head.

The findings, which have been published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, have revealed that there is no significant difference in the risk of developing a brain tumour between those who had never used a phone and those who had.

The experts collected data on phone use and subsequent reports of tumours on 776,000 women in Britain.

Kirstin Pirie, from Oxford Population Health's Cancer Epidemiology Unit, said: "These results support the accumulating evidence that mobile phone use under usual conditions does not increase brain tumour risk."

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Peacock attacks cars

A jealous peacock has been attacking cars after it mistook its reflection for a love rival.

The bird has been seen pecking at doors and windows and has left them covered in scrapes and scratches.

The peacock's latest target was a black vehicle in the town of Corsham in Wiltshire, which was left with "bad scratches" after being savaged by the confused bird.

A witness did step in to stop the peacock's assault but it soon returned to take its anger out on the car.

She said: "I don't know if it will polish out. I moved it away but it returned and scratched the front of the car."

The person said she left a note on the windscreen informing the owner of the damage that had been caused by the bird.

Free-roaming peacocks are tourist attractions in several towns in the area and attract thousands of visitors every year.

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Chinese man lives at airport to escape family

A Chinese man has been living in an airport for the past 14 years.

Wei Jianguo has resided in Terminal 2 of Beijing Capital International Airport since 2008 after leaving home to escape his family.

Wei claims that his relatives prevented him from smoking and drinking and decided to live at the airport after losing his job.

He told China Daily: "I can't go back home because I have no freedom there.

"My family told me if I wanted to stay, I had to quit smoking and drinking. If I couldn't do that, I had to give them all my monthly government allowance of 1,000 Yuan. But then how would I buy my cigarettes and alcohol?"

Remarkably, Wei does not have the record for the longest time living at an airport - as Turkish man Bayram Tepeli resided at Ataturk Airport from 1991 until its closure in 2019.