The question that came to mind in class the other day when asked what I thought the most interesting or important scientific question was, was does texting cause brain cancer or arthritis in the fingers. There is no denying that people around the world use their cell phones everyday in some form or another. The underlying use of cell phones in today’s age is instant messaging. People spend countless hours of the day staring down at their phones, whether they are texting, or using one of the various apps offered on today’s smartphones. I can’t help but wonder if there is an inevitable downfall to this. Could using your fingers to type thousands of words a day on a small screen one day cause the worst cases of arthritis people have ever seen? Could the constant use of their phones cause youth to be more perceptible to brain cancer than those who grew up without cellphones?

Texting seems to be fine now, with no threats visible, but cigarettes were also once thought of as fine, and it scares me to think of the possibility that science may make a big discovery one day revealing the true problems with cellphones and their health issues.Scientists who have been studying this over the past few years are still inconclusive on whether or not their studies prove that cell phones due indeed cause cancer. What scientists have come up with, is that cellphones emit radiation into the brain when on phone calls, which eventually cause the brain to become more susceptible to cancer. There is evidence supporting this theory, but it is still unclear as to what it all means.

Many scientists believe in this theory, but others don’t. My question stems towards texting, and whether or not staring at a bright screen for hours on end causes any harmful effects on the brain. There is not as much evidence towards texting as there is for phone calls, but there are studies that are taking place to try and figure out if texting does have harmful affects on people.