Foster, Kenneth R
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Publication Should Children Use Mobile Phones?(2005-12-01) Chau, Tung Tommy; Foster, Kenneth R.Should children be allowed to use mobile phones? Parents have been receiving mixed messages from health authorities, some of whom recommend that children limit their use of mobile phones on precautionary health grounds. Other health agencies make no such recommendation. Given the enormous popularity of mobile phones with children—indeed, in the United Kindom, more than half of all seven to 16 year-olds own a mobile phone—parents may be understandably confused and worried by such conflicting advice.Publication RFID Inside: The Murky Ethics of Implanted Chips(2007-03-01) Foster, Kenneth R; Jaeger, JanPublication The Precautionary Principle - Common Sense or Environmental Extremism?(2002-12-01) Foster, Kenneth RThe fact that technologies have unintended consequences is self-evident. But risk management - managing the adverse effects of technology - is both uncertain and politically contentious, since it entails making decisions about socially important issues in the face of scientific uncertainty. Originating in European environmental policy in the 1970s, the precautionary principle (PP) is embodied in adages such as "better safe than sorry" and "err on the side of caution". In practice, this means taking steps to avoid possible environmental or health damage, in the face of insufficient scientific evidence. The PP has achieved widespread political support, and - by the Treaty on European Union - it is the foundation of environmental policy in the European Union (EU). The PP is firmly established in international law, and a considerable body of case law is developing about its use in the EU. However, it has also generated immense controversy.Publication Regulating Radio-Frequency Fields in Italy(2002-12-01) Vecchia, Paolo; Foster, Kenneth RThroughout the world, there has been a move to "harmonize" exposure limits to radio-frequency (RF) energy from sources such as mobile phones, communications transmitters, radar, industrial equipment, and the like. "Harmonization", in practice, means the adoption of a consistent set of exposure limits in different nations around the world. Precautions taken in Italy are discussed, as are the Vatican radio transmitters, public controversy, health concerns, politics and the science involved.Publication Modeling thermal responses in human subjects following extended exposure to radiofrequency energy(2004-02-28) Foster, Kenneth R; Adair, Eleanor RBackground: This study examines the use of a simple thermoregulatory model for the human body exposed to extended (45 minute) exposures to radiofrequency/microwave (RF/MW) energy at different frequencies (100, 450, 2450 MHz) and under different environmental conditions. The exposure levels were comparable to or above present limits for human exposure to RF energy. Methods: We adapted a compartmental model for the human thermoregulatory system developed by Hardy and Stolwijk, adding power to the torso skin, fat, and muscle compartments to simulate exposure to RF energy. The model uses values for parameters for "standard man" that were originally determined by Hardy and Stolwijk, with no additional adjustment. The model predicts changes in core and skin temperatures, sweat rate, and changes in skin blood flow as a result of RF energy exposure. Results: The model yielded remarkably good quantitative agreement between predicted and measured changes in skin and core temperatures, and qualitative agreement between predicted and measured changes in skin blood flow. The model considerably underpredicted the measured sweat rates. Conclusions: The model, with previously determined parameter values, was successful in predicting major aspects of human thermoregulatory response to RF energy exposure over a wide frequency range, and at different environmental temperatures. The model was most successful in predicting changes in skin temperature, and it provides insights into the mechanisms by which the heat added to body by RF energy is dissipated to the environment. Several factors are discussed that may have contributed to the failure to account properly for sweat rate. Some features of the data, in particular heating of the legs and ankles during exposure at 100 MHz, would require a more complex model than that considered here.Publication Emerging neurotechnologies for lie-detection: promises and perils(2005-03-01) Wolpe, Paul Root; Foster, Kenneth; Langleben, Daniel D.Detection of deception and confirmation of truth telling with conventional polygraphy raised a host of technical and ethical issues. Recently, newer methods of recording electromagnetic signals from the brain show promise in permitting the detection of deception or truth telling. Some are even being promoted as more accurate than conventional polygraphy. While the new technologies raise issues of personal privacy, acceptable forensic application, and other social issues, the focus of this paper is the technical limitations of the developing technology. Those limitations include the measurement validity of the new technologies, which remains largely unknown. Another set of questions pertains to the psychological paradigms used to model or constrain the target behavior. Finally, there is little standardization in the field, and the vulnerability of the techniques to countermeasures is unknown. Premature application of these technologies outside of research settings should be resisted, and the social conversation about the appropriate parameters of its civil, forensic, and security use should begin.Publication State-of-Science Review: SR-E29, Brain-Computer Interfaces and Cognitive Neural Prostheses(2008-09-01) Foster, Kenneth R.This review looks at recently developed technology that allows engineers to record signals from the brain, identify the subject’s intent, and allow the subject to control prosthetic devices or communicate with others. It explores the current status of the technology, focusing on studies aimed at developing assistive devices for human subjects. Lastly, it reviews the impressive accomplishments to date, as well as limitations of the technology that will need to be overcome to enable the development of fully practical assistive technologies.Publication Bioethics and the Brain(2003-06-01) Foster, Kenneth R; Wolpe, Paul Root; Caplan, Arthur L.Microelectronics and medical imaging are bringing us closer to a world where mind reading is possible and blindness banished--but we may not want to live there. New ways of imaging the human brain and new developments in microelectronics are providing unprecedented capabilities for monitoring the brain in real time and even for controlling brain function. The technologies are novel, but some of the questions that they will raise are not. Electrical activity in the brain can reveal the contents of a person's memory. New imaging techniques might allow physician to detect devastating diseases long before those diseases become clinically apparent. And researchers may one day find brain activity that correlates with behavior patterns such as tendencies toward alcoholism, aggression, pedophilia, or racism. But how reliable will the information be, how should it be used, and what will it do to our notion of privacy? Meanwhile, microelectronics is making access to the brain a two-way street. The same electrical stimulation technologies that allow some deaf people to hear could be fashioned to control behavior as well. What are the appropriate limits to the use of this technology? Ethicists are only now beginning to take note of these developments in neuroscience.Publication LVAD as Destination Therapy - The Economic Dilemma(2004-06-21) Douglas, Pamela; Morgan, Courtney; Lee, Heather; Foster, Kenneth R.The artificial heart, after decades of development, remains a long way off as a practical remedy for people with failing hearts. But a related technology, the left ventricular assist device (LVAD), has passed major milestones in its development and is poised for widespread use. This technology, which is an offshoot of the artificial heart program, may well have greater impact on society than the artificial heart. It is time to consider its probable costs to society. A heart transplant is the present treatment of choice for end-stage heart failure (ESHF).Publication Collateral Damage: American Science and the War on Terrorism(2005-09-23) Foster, Kenneth R; Lerch, Irving A.In the wake of the terrorist attacks of 2001, the United States government undertook a rushed effort to increase security. In addition to new legislation such as the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the government dramatically ramped up enforcement of laws that have long been on the books, and revised its policies to deal with new terrorist threats. While the need for increased security is undeniable, the costs of security measures need to be weighed as well, in terms of collateral damage they produce to the U.S. science and engineering (S&E) enterprise. That was the message of a panel discussion held at the June 2004 IEEE-SSIT International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS'04) in Worcester, MA [1]. We focus here on two main problems: the increasing difficulties faced by students and scientists from abroad in obtaining visas to visit and study in the United States, and the barriers that are being erected to communication and collaboration between U.S. investigators and international scholars.