Physics question

[ThirdWay]

To be blunt, bnc, you clearly have no understanding of these concepts. Trying to learn something new is no bad thing, but you are not going to grasp something this complex without a long period of study. I'd stick to writing about things you understand.

[quelquod]

Without having the slightest interest in the subject that bnc is considering, I'm surprised by the scathing comments based on his lack of electrical knowledge - I don't think you need to know why something happens to be aware of it, believe it or be affected by it.

It's demonstrably true that people emit electromagnetic radiation. Not strong, but detectable.
It's true that electromagnetic radiation carries energy, otherwise radios, TVs, microwaves and wifi wouldn't operate.
It's the case that even weak EM radiation continues infinitely unless absorbed growing even weaker to the point of undetectability but scientifically still there.
It's been claimed for years that some people are unusually sensitive to radiated fields from power lines and the like.

As we say up here, oan ye go yersel bnc.

[ThirdWay]

Without having the slightest interest in the subject that bnc is considering, I'm surprised by the scathing comments based on his lack of electrical knowledge - I don't think you need to know why something happens to be aware of it, believe it or be affected by it.

I'm aware of the existence of brain surgery, but I wouldn't consider writing an article lecturing people about it...

[seekingbalance]

Do you have any scientific evidence for your assumption at all?

Why would i need any?

Ah, the Donald Trump, Creationist, post-thought, post-experts approach!

Make something up that has absolutely no scientific basis, but then check the underlying science of an essentially unrelated phenomenon which sounds the same because it has some physics buzzwords in it.

Can you figure out a way to get "quantum" in there, that always works.

I assume you are a big fan of holistic medicine, raki, homeopathy, chi and ghost hunting too?

SB

[seekingbalance]

It's been claimed for years that some people are unusually sensitive to radiated fields from power lines and the like.

Exactly - claimed - just as many people claim to have seen Bigfoot (but never have any evidence), just as Uri Geller claimed to bend spoons with his mind (until exposed for the umpteenth time, when he finally admitted it was a trick, not psychic ability), just as a woman I read of recently who claimed to have been abducted by aliens over 100 times, just as Boris claims not to have promised the people the NHS will get £350m extra per week if we pull out of the EU.

A claim is not necessarily the same as the truth.

[chas49]

This topicseems to be slipping towards personal name-calling. Please keep discussion on-topic for DAK - broadly factual answers to questions.

Moderator Message:
Posted by moderator - chas49

[brightncheerful]

Make something up that has absolutely no scientific basis, ……

The scientific method is "a continuous process, which usually begins with observations about the natural world. The best hypotheses lead to predictions that can be tested in various ways, including making further observations about nature. In general, the strongest tests of hypotheses come from carefully controlled and replicated experiments that gather empirical data. Depending on how well the tests match the predictions, the original hypothesis may require refinement, alteration, expansion or even rejection. If a particular hypothesis becomes very well supported a general theory may be developed."

Were it for the freedom of thought and stimulation of curiousity that the scientific method supports, I think you'd find the human world would become dull and boring!

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Since those of you prone to the cryptic really have no idea what I'm writing the article for, let alone its target readership, might I suggest you stick to what you know too! The comments from the knowledgeable have been most helpful.

[Lootman]

A claim is not necessarily the same as the truth.

In science there is no such thing as the "truth". As brightncheerful explains immediately above, the scientific process takes hypotheses and tries to break them. If that hypothesis withstands a large amount of controlled objective attempts at falsification then at some point it becomes accepted as a theory, but still not the truth.

The problem of induction applies here. At best what you have is a theory that has not yet been falsified, and an approximation to the truth that works for most practical purposes.

The ultimate truth is a destination that you will never arrival at. At best you will gradually and hopefully become closer to it over time and with effort. Or to put it another way, your predictions of what will happen will score higher than the predictions of someone armed with an inferior claim or hypothesis.

[csearle]

When you reply, (hopefully you will!) I'd also appreciate knowing whether correct to say that the thicker the wire the less the resistance because the resistance itself depends upon how much energy can be steered in a particular direction.

To get back to the original question (or at least part of it). My answer would be "yes" to the above, so " ...the thicker the wire the less the resistance" would definitely be true from my perspective. The explanation "because the resistance itself depends upon how much energy can be steered in a particular direction" doesn't change this for me because a thinner wire causes more of the energy to be converted to heat, which would presumably radiate in all sorts of directions and thus in the direction of the wire less (electrical) energy is available to flow.

Regards,
Chris
PS I agree that without a certain amount of imagination scientific progress would be hindered.

[seekingbalance]

Hey, I am all for scientific freedom, the right to have a hypothesis, and absolutely understand that pushing the boundaries is how scientific knowledge gets extended.

But, we are talking about something that has been extensively studied over many years and has many proper scientific papers written that show that while of course humans produce electrical currents in our brains, there is no communication (ESP) between people via this process. This is what I read into brightncheerful's aim for his article - he is writing an article, not a story, that is going to base a premise on the fact that we can influence how electromagnetic energy is conducted by our bodies, and can use it to communicate something to others. I don't have a clue what the last bit of the following quote means, but my objection to all this is that it has been proven already that we can't do this, there is no ESP, and we can't do anything to control electromagnetic energy either positively or negatively.

My wonder is that surely the electromagnetic field is all around regardless. Since (as I understand) the Sun is the primary source of electromagnetic energy on planet Earth, surely the whole of the Earth is affected? That would explain, not necessarily in a scientific way. why some people are sensitive to electromagnetic energy in the (human) atmosphere. Without wanting to give much away, the project I'm writing the article for concerns the impact of positive and negative vibes between human beings. I am working on the assumption that our natural ability to conduct (electromagnetic) energy can be used positively or negatively depending upon the circumstances and our deliberation. Since 'deliberate' is to do with removing freedom, the freedom that electromagnetic energy would enjoy if left to its own devices can be interfered with.

While I agree that science progresses by challenge, this is pretty much beyond challenge, and certainly should not be used as a base assumption for whatever else brightncheerful is writing in the article. It is a tested theory that the earth is spherical. I can challenge that, and I can say in a story that it is flat, but I really should not use I think as a premise for an article that is attempting to make a genuine claim. If brightncheerful is writing a scientific paper and doing some research that shows that this form of ESP exists and he can prove it, that is a different point altogether, and good luck to him, true scientific progress in action.

Anyway, on a more practical note - it is the Earth's spin that creates our electromagnetic field, not the Sun. In fact it is our field that protects us from the main strength of the Sun's electromagnetic emissions.
http://www.physics.org/article-questions.asp?id=64

Current flows through a wire, not around it. This is true even for AC current, even though it is indeed different to DC. In an AC wire the too and fro of the current causes eddies in the wire and a phenomena called the skin effect comes into play. This causes the current to flow close to the surface, in the surface layers of the atomic structure of the wire, but not outside of the wire. There may be some electromagnetic effect, and there certainly will be if the wire is coiled, which will be detectable some distance from the wire, but this is not the same as the current carrying the charge through the wires.


SB

[AleisterCrowley]

"...whether correct to say that the thicker the wire the less the resistance because the resistance itself determines how much energy can be steered in a particular direction." Not so much steered as delivered to a load of some sort (a bulb/heater/motor etc)
All other things being equal. Obviously depends on the resistivity of the wire - a silver or copper wire will have a lower resistance than a steel wire of the same length/thickness

[brightncheerful]

I've been asked if I mind if this thread is locked, ok by me.

Re the op I read an article on-line that introduced me to a concept of which I have no knowledge. Wondering whether the concept could have any efficacy, for my purposes, I enquired here in the hope of response from physicists and knowledgeable persons. (The scientist friends that I have are not physicists and were unable to help.) Your comments have all been very helpful and useful.

I haven't suggested human beings are capable of ESP but "we can influence how electromagnetic energy is conducted by our bodies, and can use it to communicate something to others" to me it's obvious that we can and do, whether consciously or not, otherwise for example other people's moods would affect us. It's suggested that I stick to what I know. Rest assured the content of the article I'm writing will be doing just that!

[csearle]

Moderator Message:
This topic has probably yielded all the factual answers that can reasonably be expected. Regards, C.