You won’t get cancer, but you might catch fire if you keep doing this.

You've probably heard this warning before: Never sleep with your phone under the pillow; your brain will get all the radiation, and you'll develop cancer. Well, a World Health Organization (WHO)-commissioned study from two years ago says that's quite unlikely, so you don't have to worry about cancer if you end up tucking the phone under your head for the night. You should, however, be concerned about your phone overheating and the risks of it causing a fire.

It's quite understandable that, after finally finishing scrolling social media or whatever it is you do before bed, you'd want to tuck that phone away wherever it's closest to you. That's either right next to your head or under your pillow, if you want to ensure you won't slap it into the next dimension in your sleep. The problem is that, if your phone is also charging, its temperature will rise. With it tucked under your pillow, the growing heat can't dissipate into the open air like it normally would. Over time, this can damage your device, shorten the battery's lifespan and, in some rare but documented cases, lead to burns or fires. Understanding why this happens and what to do instead can help protect both your phone and your home without giving up the convenience of keeping your device nearby.

Charging your phone is very much a thermal process. Lithium-ion batteries, which nearly all smartphones use nowadays, release heat as they draw power.

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