View Full Version : Human electrical fields
Kyobanim
12-05-2005, 11:14
Maybe one of you docs can field this one.
Is it possible for the human body to generate an electrical field strong enough to interupt or cause to malfunction a mouse or any other thing associated with a PC? I've witnessed that some people can't wear watches because of this, (supposedly).
VelociMorte
12-05-2005, 12:01
It's highly unlikely that a person would have a self-generated electrical field greatly different from the general population. It IS possible that a person could accumulate greater than normal amounts of static electricity due to the shoes they wear, flooring they walk on, low humidity, and how often they discharge normally accumulated static electricity.
If you are consistantly encountering unexplained computer damage, try using an electrostatic grounding mat at your computer station.
Handling certain material like plastics without being grounded, dragging your feet on carpet, removing laundry from the dryer, or certain other activities, can generate enough static to arc an inch or two, and cause considerable discomfort. I've seen the hoist cable on a helo arc about a foot as it discharged all the static generated from the main rotor cutting through the air.
The Reaper
12-05-2005, 16:10
If they are, I don't want to be on the demo range with them.:eek:
TR
Cant tell weither or not people having different electrical fields are true, though im sure it would be possible to google to see if theres a study in it.
One of my friends seems to work as an example that there might be something about it though.
Its at a point where he no longer attempts to install new hardware by himself, since he's fried everything he's touched so far(and yeah, been next to him to see if he fucked it up a couple of times, nothing that suggests he did).
Maybe his luck just sucks =)
-Tetrian
aricbcool
12-05-2005, 22:07
It's highly unlikely that a person would have a self-generated electrical field greatly different from the general population.
What about this guy? ;)
--Aric
The Reaper
12-05-2005, 22:12
What about this guy? ;)
--Aric
That would be "Lightning" from John Carpenter's "Big Trouble in Little China"
TR
aricbcool
12-05-2005, 22:23
That would be "Lightning" from John Carpenter's "Big Trouble in Little China"
TR
Yeah buddy!
I mean, you are correct TR, Sir. :cool:
--Aric :D
The Reaper
12-05-2005, 22:37
Excellent movie philosophy, and one-liners for Kurt.
"Just remember what ol' Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big old storm right in the eye and says, "Give me your best shot. I can take it."
"When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, looks you crooked in the eye and asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail."
Bill Harsey
12-06-2005, 08:59
Kyo,
I've never heard of humans generating enough electricity to harm electric equipment but if you grab the right thing you can conduct enough electricity to ruin lots of stuff.
While on the topic...
Once we talked the neighbor kid into urinating on an electric fence. We told him if he peed fast enough he wouldn't get shocked. He must not have peed fast enough.
I know this will sound like BS, but I know a woman who, when she is having her period, can walk by electrical devices and mess them up in various ways: copy machines spontaneously spit out paper, ECGs lock up and require a reboot, DNA sequencers start spitting out infinite ATGC...ATGC... sequences.
Weird. REALLY weird.
There are a lot of very skeptical scientists who work with her who will scream "NO NO NO GET OUT!" if she approaches during a critical sequencing run.
No one has suggested she leave -- she's brilliant. And smokin' hot.
Sweetbriar
12-06-2005, 11:01
I know this will sound like BS, but I know a woman who, when she is having her period, can walk by electrical devices and mess them up in various ways: copy machines spontaneously spit out paper, ECGs lock up and require a reboot, DNA sequencers start spitting out infinite ATGC...ATGC... sequences.
Weird. REALLY weird.
There are a lot of very skeptical scientists who work with her who will scream "NO NO NO GET OUT!" if she approaches during a critical sequencing run.
No one has suggested she leave -- she's brilliant. And smokin' hot.
I believe you.
VelociMorte
12-06-2005, 11:20
Hmmm. I'm just wondering how you made the correlation between the strange electrical activity and the other.
The Reaper
12-06-2005, 11:48
Hmmm. I'm just wondering how you made the correlation between the strange electrical activity and the other.
I just curious how he knows what the hottie's cycle is.:D
TR
Hmmm. I'm just wondering how you made the correlation between the strange electrical activity and the other.
I didn't. She did. It's been happening since she was 12.
She couldn't use an analog cell phone when menstruating. New digital phones work fine. She has a red felt 'M' in her office that someone only half-jokingly gave to her with a request to wear it on 'those days.'
She's a walking encyclopedia of menstrual taboos, it's something of a hobby with her. Do you know that, into the early 20th century, mensturating women were not allowed in bakeries because it was thought it would make the bread fall? That the origin of walking under a ladder = bad luck is based upon a menstrual taboo? Or that to this day menstruating women aren't allowed in French perfumeries? How would anyone know, you ask? According to her, a prime criterion for a menstrual taboo is that it is self-imposed; women do not violate it because they buy into it.
...just curious how he knows what the hottie's cycle is.:D
TR
I wish...she's young enough to be my daughter. And before the young bucks chime in, yes it matters. I have a swimming pool, and a hottie daughter, who has hottie friends, who wear teenie bikinis. I had to perform some weird zen-kung fu-mind-trick thingie (too technical?) and mentally turn them all into daughters or else turn into a "funny father" that all the girls shrink from.
It's spoiled me for women half my age. Thankfully there are many, many MEN around.
Michelle
12-06-2005, 12:30
Light bulbs.
When I get really stressed out, the light bulbs in my house blow (the filiment, not the glass bulb itself). It's been that way since I was about 12. Might be the same thing?
m1
The Reaper
12-06-2005, 12:47
Light bulbs.
When I get really stressed out, the light bulbs in my house blow (the filiment, not the glass bulb itself). It's been that way since I was about 12. Might be the same thing?
m1
Does the tossing them have anything to do with it?:munchin :D
TR
Michelle
12-06-2005, 12:54
Does the tossing them have anything to do with it?:munchin :D
TR
Nope. The Sig Sauer doesn't have anything to do with it either. ;)
m1
aricbcool
12-06-2005, 18:21
She's a walking encyclopedia of menstrual taboos, it's something of a hobby with her. Do you know that, into the early 20th century, mensturating women were not allowed in bakeries because it was thought it would make the bread fall? That the origin of walking under a ladder = bad luck is based upon a menstrual taboo? Or that to this day menstruating women aren't allowed in French perfumeries? How would anyone know, you ask? According to her, a prime criterion for a menstrual taboo is that it is self-imposed; women do not violate it because they buy into it.
The information I get from this site never ceases to surprise and amaze... :eek:
I wish...she's young enough to be my daughter. And before the young bucks chime in, yes it matters. I have a swimming pool, and a hottie daughter, who has hottie friends, who wear teenie bikinis. I had to perform some weird zen-kung fu-mind-trick thingie (too technical?) and mentally turn them all into daughters or else turn into a "funny father" that all the girls shrink from.
Could the kung fu-mind-trick thingie have anything to do with the constant text messaging and talking on the cell, the overuse of phrases such as "omigosh", "like", "hot", and "dude", the love affair with "emo", and the cry of awwwwww whenever they see something cute, sad, sweet, or happy? :D
Sorry. I'm not commenting on your daughter (who I just now realized may be older than that) but more on my 17 and 21 y/o old sisters and all their hottie friends who are ruining the 18-21 age group for me. :boohoo
--Aric
Sorry. I'm not commenting on your daughter (who I just now realized may be older than that) but more on my 17 and 21 y/o old sisters and all their hottie friends who are ruining the 18-21 age group for me. :boohoo
--Aric
Aric,
I feel your pain, while my little sister is normal, I coach high school swimming and the girls who are graduated last year ruined me for life when it comes to girls who are freshmen in college. It's a horrible loss.:mad:
It's spoiled me for women half my age. Thankfully there are many, many MEN around.
Sorry, message received. But it's worse after the edit. :)
Sweetbriar
12-06-2005, 20:11
Not to distract from the hottie issues, but I have a static electricity question (since we're kinda on the subject). With the cold and winter, I generate static every time I stand up, and I noticed that the discharge seems to be more painful when I touch the two-way radio first rather than the aluminum door frame. Does static electricity draw electricity from a power circuit when it's discharged? Obviously I don't know the first thing about circuits, but I don't mean to make my life more difficult than it needs to be.
Ambush Master
12-06-2005, 20:27
Not to distract from the hottie issues, but I have a static electricity question (since we're kinda on the subject). With the cold and winter, I generate static every time I stand up, and I noticed that the discharge seems to be more painful when I touch the two-way radio first rather than the aluminum door frame. Does static electricity draw electricity from a power circuit when it's discharged? Obviously I don't know the first thing about circuits, but I don't mean to make my life more difficult than it needs to be.
Negative, it does not "Draw Power" from anything. It simply depends on the "Potential Difference" between the two objects. If you hold a key or some other conductive object in your hand and touch the other surface with it you will not feel the ZAP as bad as without it. If you have a bad static problem, put a tablespoon or two of fabric softener into a bottle (16 oz or so) of H2O and spray it on your carpet/clothes/car seats .....etc, it will dissipate the Static Potential. Just remember that this stuff, if used too frequently or in too high of concentrations, will leave a residue that will build up over time. You only need to LIGHTLY mist the area for it to be effective.
If you have any ????s just give a shout !!
Later
Martin
The Reaper
12-06-2005, 20:35
Sorry, message received. But it's worse after the edit. :)
No, now it just got worse.
TR
No, now it just got worse.
TR
LOL! TR you're in fine form as usual.
No, now it just got worse.
TR
Note to self: don't tic off moderators or medics.
Ok, here is the deal.
But let me first state that at various times I may be very critical in my reference to certain unknown entities, this is not an attack on anyone, simply an attempt to educate, even if overly verbose and sometimes hopelessly multi-directional. The seemingly diffuse cloud of my random thoughts on a subject usually end up making a fairly clear picture by the time I finish, my apologies ahead of time if any end up confused by the fog. Pipe up with any concerns and I'll attempt to resolve any questions.
No one is responsible for training they haven't received, so since this is probably the first "class" you've seen on it, I'm not calling anyone an idiot for failing to comply with something they have no training on.
However, I will call "custom" builders idiots for their failure to properly educate themselves in their business as well as their failure to conduct themselves in an appropriate, responsible manner. If there are any "custom" builders here who aren't following best practices with respect to static and energy dissipation methods, you should be, and you should take certain points which may crop up in my rantings as an opportunity to correct previous mis-instruction you may have received rather than an insult.
I generally reserve insults for those who are damn wrong and know they are damn wrong but refuse to honestly awknowledge the same.
----
1. Nearly all "custom" computer shops are staffed by people who are idiots. They know nothing of electronics, only what boards to plug in based on whatever their customer's wants are. Very bad habits abound with respect to the handling of electronic components, and you should never take advice on installation from them OR buy anything that isn't shrinkwrapped. Manufacturers ship modern components in Faraday cage bags and anti-static packaging that costs several dollars each in multi-thousand quantities for a reason, and it isn't to make their products look pretty. Faraday cage bags (black carbon trace pattern on silver anti-static plastic) not only drain static, but protect from 'stray' RADIO frequency energy. Yes, the parts ARE THAT SENSITIVE.
If a seller handles memory with their hands, pulling it out of the 'display' counter packaging to wrap it in a thin pink "anti-stat" bag without first slipping a grounding device on their wrist, ask to see the one they should be wearing one on their ankle and inquire as to whether or not they are on an antistatic mat. If the answer is no to either question, shop elsewhere. You can get it safer and cheaper from the manufacturer directly on-line anyway. The vast majority of those Windows blue-screen errors come from memory that was damaged by idiots such as these. (But they don't mind re-installing Windows for you and calling it 'fixed' charging you big money for not fixing the trouble they cause.)
2. Why? Every human (and every other thing on the planet) has a varying POTENTIAL. The AVERAGE POTENTIAL (of difference) of humans between their hands and ungrounded feet is ~200V. Yup. And you can overcome the insulators you are wearing on your feet (your foot gear) by staticly charging them on the rug on dry days, allowing you to complete a circuit when you touch fairly grounded metal things, or objects with different potentials. You can even demonstrate the ability to generate great differences in potential between different body parts. To demonstrate you could rub a ballon on the wall or your hand on the carpet and watch them attract the hair on your head when they get close.
3. This is why you NEVER work on computers without properly grounding yourself. Holding on to the metal case with one hand is not good enough, and never really was, but now modern motherboards STAY POWERED WHEN OFF, requiring you to UNPLUG THE POWERSUPPLY when you install things such as new Video Cards or memory. If you handle the parts without proper grounding before and during, you'll zap them, they WILL BE DAMAGED, but the damage isn't likely to show up for a while. If you fail to unplug the powersupply, THEY WILL BE DAMAGED, probably showing up immediately. These two things are the reason most self installers blow things up, or end up with strange computer behaviours that they don't know the cause of. (Many intermittant problems can even mimic virus infections.)
4. While the AVERAGE POTENTIAL of a human is 200V, (like body temperature averages 98.6) everyone is different. Some trend way lower, and some trend WAY HIGHER. The statistical variance would be much greater than body temperature however, as everyone's chemical and mineral content and consumption is completely different. I personally tend to range between 200 and 400V, I also knew a guy whose potential was so low he wouldn't read on a continuity checker until the probes were less than a couple inches away on his skin.
5. Modern circuitry is nearly unimaginably small inside those little chips. And they run on ever lower voltages, 5 volts used to be the norm, 2.8v and 3.3v are common now and some run as low as 1.5v. The very low amperage, but high voltage potential we present can cause instant fractures in the structures of the microscopic 'gates' in these chips, the newer and lower the voltage, the more succeptible to damage they become. The newer circuits are beginning to have 'drains' and other technologies built in to protect them from extraneous surges, but improper handling will still overwhelm these protections which are only designed to make them as sturdy as the older 5 volt tech, these things are not designed to make them "invincible" or "indestructible." So get your own grounding strap and mat and make sure you know how to properly ground yourself and your equipment before you work on it. And turn off everything that has the potential to general radio frequency energy in the area as well (EVERYTHING ELECTRONIC). And never trust anyone who doesn't with anything more than staying the hell away from you and your machines.
6. I have known people who cannot wear watches, but I would tend to attribute this to some form of magnetic hysteresis rather than electrical disturbance, although they could be related (high personal mineral retention/content). I have known people who had their mice do strange things, but usually, if a mouse it twitching, it's just dirty, (yes even the 'laser' mice, as they will try and read the lint and fuzzy crud). If you have a rare, true case of electrical hysteresis with your mouse, 99.9 times out of 100 I'd go with electrical damage to the port or the mouse itself, generally due to plugging/unplugging while powered. (Same goes for hysterical laser printers, usually hooked up improperly through a manual (instead of an isolated electrical)printer switch in multiprinter environment.)
-----
Hope that clears a few things up. NOW you may consider yourself accountable, if only to yourself.
Bill Harsey
12-26-2005, 20:41
Phantom,
We have a girl we need to introduce you to around here...
Phantom,
We have a girl we need to introduce you to around here...
LOL!
Phantom,
We have a girl we need to introduce you to around here...
Thank you sir, but, I introduced myself shortly after I let myself in. She seemed highly enthusiastic that my measurement for fitting a particular product of hers was larger than 6".
Hopefully, she won't worry herself about my "custom" builders comment, as I was speaking of computers, not knives. Yes, I am aware of how sensitive she is of the "custom maker" moniker, I'll try not to be as harsh with the word in the future.
I am multi-talented and multi-tasking having the wonderful ability to step on my crank in many differing subjects and a couple of different languages, poorly. I have already instigated a hauté cuisine conflagration in another thread with the Team Sergeant, expecting silent death to attempt to bypass my active and passive infrared surveillence devices at anytime, and steal my grits secrets. ;)
Now that I have thoroughly immersed myself in the quagmire, by opening up another "dangerous front", I shall enjoy testing my ability to survive.
She seemed highly enthusiastic that my measurement for fitting a particular product of hers was larger than 6".
I bet she was. :D
I'm late and I believe Velocemorte gave the reasonable answer. People, as well as their clothing, jewellry etc' can build up static electric charges. It is always recommended to use a grounded surface whenever working with electronic equipment. You will usually find this in the instructions and many components come with a grounding strap included.
While in Alaska I got into the habit of touching everything with the back of my hand first. Sometimes you could see the sparks fly. That had to do with the very cold/dry atmosphere which aids electrical conduction.
OTOH I am certain that a fair amount of energy can be generated by manipulating certain cranks included on the human body.:D
The Reaper
12-27-2005, 14:09
I see your self-delusional spit, and raise you a hunk of phlegm ::splat:: :lifter .
I see your self-delusional spit, and raise you a hunk of phlegm ::splat:: :lifter .
I see your self-delusional spit, and raise you a hunk of phlegm ::splat:: :lifter .
Okay, it was funny the first time, but enough to post it three times?
TR
And there you Have it A Mozambique Post By Razor. BamBam-Bam:D
Ambush Master
12-27-2005, 14:18
And there you Have it A Mozambique Post By Razor. BamBam-Bam:D
NO.....NO.....NO!!!!
SplatSplat-SPLAT!!!!:D :D :munchin
Working backwards...
Nice redirection to the next "problem custom builder" subject. Very subtle, nice work. I used to have a RIA M60 that was done by a custom builder, took me a while tinkering, modifying and replacing to get it to the point to where I felt it operated properly, and I ended up selling it shortly after all was right with it.
{Let's keep discussions of our ankles out of this conversation, thanks ;) -Razor}
{You are of course absolutely correct. Having too much fun disengaged my SA monitor and caused me to violate PERSEC the hard way, by making myself a potential FF target. I apologize to anyone offended, and promise you won't ever have to drag me out of the bar or take me out to keep me from taking on the whole crowd, even if in jest, again. - Phantom}
I like to be as accurate as possible, so for the record, I am 5' 9" tall, 29" wide at the shoulder, my own wrist is 9", my neck is 19", and I when I am in shape my class A's consist of a highly tailored 52L tunic with 34/32 trousers, and I wear 7 3/4 headgear, and 13EEE or 13EEEE footgear. As you can see, I am built more like a Neandertal than most, an probably could have much fun up here in WA if I wandered through the woods barefoot. I must have progenitors among the Caucussus Neandertals, and their traits must be dominant, because while I am thoroughly a genetic mutt, counting Native American, African American and Hungarian Jewish among my recent ancestors, I somehow managed to retain fair skin, dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. I am built neither for speed or comfort, as I was obviously purpose built to be a of something along the lines of a cross between a compact organic bulldozer and pack mule.
As far as my fingers go, my ring size is 16. Of course the operative fingers for the given application considered are larger. Much to your credit, I am surprized that you stuck to your regular price, when I gave you an opening to adjust upward for materials cost.