García-Robledo et al. (2025) showed that hummingbird flower mites detect and respond to modulated electric fields generated by hummingbirds, using electroreception to facilitate rapid host detection and airborne transfer.

Nature’s Version of Modulation

In the case of the hummingbird, the modulation appears to be periodic and mechanical, driven by:

• Wingbeats (which generate cyclic fluctuations in charge and air pressure)
  
• Rapid movement through air (causing triboelectric charging/discharging)
  
• Intermittent contact with flower surfaces and air particles

It’s not digital modulation (like QAM or OFDM used in wireless tech), but it’s still structured, time-varying electric field activity.

Key Differences Between Hummingbird-Generated and Wireless Modulation

While man-made electromagnetic signals are deliberately modulated to carry data, hummingbird-generated electric fields are modulated naturally by movement, wingbeats, and contact with air and surfaces. These natural fields are analog, low-frequency, and often non-polarized — yet organisms like flower mites have evolved to detect them, showing that modulation is a biologically meaningful phenomenon in both nature and technology.

Natural vs. Man-Made Modulation

Here’s how natural modulation from hummingbirds compares to the modulation used in wireless technologies

Why It Matters

It also raises a broader point:

If natural modulation can shape biological behavior, what about the effects of artificial modulation? Could structured, high-frequency signals from modern devices interact with biological systems in unintended ways?

What Kind of Modulation Happens in Nature? It turns out, nature’s version is analog, irregular, and biologically relevant. From flower mites to pollinators, living organisms are tuned not just to electric fields — but to how those fields change over time.

This article includes content and visual support generated with the help of ChatGPT, an AI developed by OpenAI.

Reference

García-Robledo, C., Dierick, D., & Manser, K. (2025). Electric transportation and electroreception in hummingbird flower mites. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(5), e2419214122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2419214122

Further Reading

Wireless Communication Evolution: Modulation Techniques and Health Concerns with Pulse Modulation

The post What Kind of Modulation Happens in Nature? appeared first on EMFSA.

Abstract

The technological advancement and increased usage of wireless and other communication devices have greatly enhanced the level of radiofrequency electromagnetic field radiation (EMF-r) in the environment. It has resulted in unprecedented increased exposure of living organisms to these radiations. Most of the studies in past have, however, focused on animal systems and comparatively less attention has been paid to plants with studies reporting various, sometimes contradictory effects. This review is an attempt to provide a critical appraisal of the available reports regarding the impacts of these radiations on plant development and the underlying physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms involved. Here, we propose that the main entry point for the biological effects of EMF-r corresponds to an increase in ROS metabolism and cytosolic calcium that leads to various cellular responses including changes in gene expression and/or enzymatic activities, which could ultimately result in immediate cellular alterations or delayed plant growth. This may constitute a new perspective in the interpretation of plant responses to EMF-r exposure. Understanding the impacts of EMF-r and the inherent abilities of plants to cope up with such changes should lead to EMF-r being considered as full-fledged environmental signals that are perceived by the plants and integrated into their development patterns.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11157-020-09563-9

The post Sensitivity of plants to high frequency electromagnetic radiation: cellular mechanisms and morphological changes appeared first on EMFSA.

Katie Singer writes about technology and nature. “An Electronic Silent Spring” is her most recent book. In 2018, she spoke about the Internet’s footprint at the United Nations. She dreams that every smartphone user knows the supply chain of one substance (of 1000+) in every smartphone.

Her websites include www.DearGreta.com, www.ourweb.tech and www.electronicsilentspring.com.

13 OCTOBER 2020, KATIE SINGER

“Behind Our Screens: An Invitation to Learn a Smartphone’s True Costs” (Letter #3 to Greta) has just been posted at Wall St. International Magazine: https://wsimag.com/science-and-technology/63710-behind-our-screens

Snippet:

Dear Greta,

In 2018, when I met Soumya Dutta, co-founder of India Climate Justice, he spelled out my privileges as a U.S. American. (I think you know what he shared, but I did not.) “In the twentieth century,” Mr. Dutta explained, “the human population increased four-fold, from 1.6 to 6.1 billion people. During the same time, global energy consumption increased between twelve and sixteen-fold¹. Whenever one unit of energy is produced and consumed, water, land and other bio-resources are also consumed; and hazardous waste is generated. In other words, because of cars, electricity, air conditioning and televisions, the average person now uses over four times the amount of natural resources that our grandparents consumed. Meanwhile, in 2020, six billion more of us are alive.”

I added two items to Soumya Dutta’s list: because of cars, electricity, air conditioning, the Internet and smartphones, the average person now uses over four times the amount of natural resources that our grandparents consumed.

“Actually,” Soumya Dutta continued, “referring here to ‘average’ people is not correct. According to the World Bank, the average Indian consumes about 630 kilograms of oil equivalent (kgoe) per year. The average Bangladeshi consumes less than 300 kgoe. The average U.S. American annually consumes over 6000 kgoe. “To provide every global citizen with a decent opportunity for a healthy life (starting with clean water and toilets), poor countries with the lowest emissions might need to increase their per capita energy consumption. To reduce human-imposed burdens on natural ecosystems sufficiently, people who consume excessively will need to reduce their energy and water consumption by at least 70%² and eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions completely.” ³

Soumya Dutta got me wondering how I could reduce my consumption by 70% and eliminate my greenhouse gas emissions.

Read more at: https://wsimag.com/science-and-technology/63710-behind-our-screens

The post Katie Singer: “Letters to Greta” appeared first on EMFSA.

Abstract

The recent outbreak of COVID-19, which continues to ravage communities with high death tolls and untold psychosocial and catastrophic economic consequences, is a vivid reminder of nature’s capacity to defy contemporary healthcare. The pandemic calls for rapid mobilization of every potential clinical tool, including phototherapy—one of the most effective treatments used to reduce the impact of the 1918 “Spanish influenza” pandemic. This paper cites several studies showing that phototherapy has immense potential to reduce the impact of coronavirus diseases, and offers suggested ways that the healthcare industry can integrate modern light technologies in the fight against COVID-19 and other infections. The evidence shows that violet/blue (400–470 nm) light is antimicrobial against numerous bacteria, and that it accounts for Niels Ryberg Finsen’s Nobel-winning treatment of tuberculosis. Further evidence shows that blue light inactivates several viruses, including the common flu coronavirus, and that in experimental animals, red and near infrared light reduce respiratory disorders, similar to those complications associated with coronavirus infection. Moreover, in patients, red light has been shown to alleviate chronic obstructive lung disease and bronchial asthma. These findings call for urgent efforts to further explore the clinical value of light, and not wait for another pandemic to serve as a reminder. The ubiquity of inexpensive light emitting lasers and light emitting diodes (LEDs), makes it relatively easy to develop safe low-cost light-based devices with the potential to reduce infections, sanitize equipment, hospital facilities, emergency care vehicles, homes, and the general environment as pilot studies have shown.

Image: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1011134420303419?via%3Dihub

The post Light as a potential treatment for pandemic coronavirus infections: A perspective appeared first on EMFSA.

A base station has been erected on Matroosberg, the Western Cape’s second-highest mountain, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

The report stated that the structure is made from concrete, will hold an 8-metre mast, and that authorities have no definitive answer as to how it got there.

CapeNature officials, who are responsible for the peak, said they do not know who commissioned the tower – and said the party did not seek permission.

“CapeNature is in the process of conducting an in-field investigation into alleged trespassing on CapeNature-managed land as well as the illegal construction,” it said.

It told the Sunday Times that a “Western Cape Internet service provider allegedly gained illegal access” to the area. It then “transported equipment and building material to the top of the mountain and seemingly bulldozed a new piece of road as well”.

The report stated that sources identified a bakkie bearing the name of a local ISP which was seen transporting workers to the top of the mountain recently.

The province’s environmental affairs department has said the base station was “technically legal”, however.

This is because it “was just small enough not to trigger provisions of the National Environmental Management Act”.

Tower Battles

The news comes three months after residents of Constantia in Cape Town won a legal battle against MTN to have a “visually intrusive” cellphone mast taken down.

The seven-year legal battle cost the residents R2.5 million and was centred around a 5-metre cellphone mast “disguised as a chimney”

In 2017, a similar battle took place in Johannesburg, with residents fighting against the erection of cellphone towers and “4G street poles” which were installed without their approval.

Residents in Craighall Park fought the installation of a 30m cellphone tower on the property of the Old Apostolic Church.

While pockets of residents fight tower installations, network operators continue to roll out new towers to ensure their customers remain connected.

Thanks to no spectrum being allocated by ICASA and the government in recent years, mobile operators in particular are forced to continue adding more towers as users consume more data.

Tower rollouts will also intensify as 5G connectivity is implemented by the networks , for example, Helios Towers aims to build 1,000 telecommunication towers in South Africa in the next three years as a result.

The post “Mysterious” cell tower erected on Western Cape’s second-highest mountain appeared first on EMFSA.