Hospitals banning the use of mobile phones may be being overcautious.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, New York, found that cellphones
interfered with 41 per cent of cardiopulmonary devices, but this was clinically
significant in only 7.4 per cent of cases. The only potentially dangerous
incident was when a mobile phone was used very close to the rear of a
ventilator, which then shut down. Mobile phones seem to be safe if kept more
than 150 centimetres from equipment (Mayo Clinic Proceedings, vol 76, p11).
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
2
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
3
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
4
The weirdness of neutrinos could completely rewrite particle physics
5
We’re not the most successful human species
6
A type of fibre that stimulates GLP-1 release approved for use in food
7
The best new science-fiction novels published in July 2026
8
US government wants to have a useful quantum computer by 2028
9
Slowdown of AMOC ocean current may be gradual and reversible
10
Have scientists really made a living cell from scratch? Not quite
