9 ms·

I am talking about the infrared range, which is above 300GHz.

by ko27 9y ago

cma 9y ago
The body also reflects terahertz radiation from the surrounding environment, even directly into other people's eyes. This has the bizarre side-effect of causing people to be able to "see" each other.
- slackingoff2017 9y ago
  This is great
  - katastic 9y ago
    Won't someone think of the children!?!?
manmal 9y ago
Interesting thought. Near infrared light does interact with cells (photobiomodulation), usually in a beneficial way. Maybe the wave form is another factor, or some frequency ranges are beneficial while others are not?
- hutzlibu 9y ago
  "some frequency ranges are beneficial while others are not" Certainly. Heat is nice (if not too much), but x-ray is usually bad. Gamma-rays a lot worse. And cellphone radiation is probably somewhere in between ... so like the article cites: we don't know yet. So I do not like sleeping next to my mobile nor have it next to lower body parts for too long ...
  - thaumasiotes 9y ago
    Heat is not a frequency or a frequency range.
    - BenjiWiebe 9y ago
      Generally speaking, warm/hot objects radiate in the infrared range. In my understanding, all objects radiate something, unless at absolute zero.
    - microcolonel 9y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-body_radiation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-body_radiation
    - pmontra 9y ago
      It's quite complicated. Interesting read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat
      - CyberDildonics 9y ago
        I don't think the radiation heat transfer from microscopic bodies is the same as saying a human body emits infrared light on a macro scale.
        boooooo 9y ago
        It does though, that's how infrared cameras work for one thing.
        CyberDildonics 9y ago
        I think this is mixing up two different things. People seem to emit infrared light, but that is not the light that people usually see through an infrared camera. https://www.livescience.com/7799-strange-humans-glow-visible-light.html https://www.livescience.com/7799-strange-humans-glow-visible... This is showing infrared and even visible light radiation from a person's body in extremely small amounts. An infrared camera just sees infrared light period, the vast majority of which is what is reflecting off of someone from other sources.
  - SigmundA 9y ago
    X-rays and Gamma and all the way down to UV are ionizing which is why they are harmful. Radio waves are way below light and infrared as was stated. Forget body heat, why does no one care we are walking around 60w terahertz radiators in our home! Then we go outside and bathe in 1000 watt per meter sunlight which includes ionizing UV. Cell phones put out the equivalent of a low power LED light I am not sure way everyone assumes they cause harm but seem to ignore light bulbs.
    - phkahler 9y ago
      Cell phones emit RF signals that penetrate the body. Lightbulbs for the most part do not. I've always considered the notion of antennas important. Your circulatory system may act as antennas of all different lengths and that would put the received energy right into the blood where it can cause leukemia or other similar cancers. Just speculation of course, but the proposed mechanism applies to RF and not light bulbs.
      - ThrowawayR2 9y ago
        > Lightbulbs for the most part do not. 1) Take a flashlight 2) Put a finger over the bulb and turn it on 3) Observe the surprising amount of light that passes through your finger.
        manmal 9y ago
        Grandparent is right though since most of the blue and green light parts are reflected or absorbed in the top skin layers. Starting with red and infrared, deep tissue penetration is possible. The higher the frequency, the lower its ability to penetrate. That’s why RF can pass through bodies while UV light can’t.
        SigmundA 9y ago
        Its not as simple as that, X-rays also penetrate but are much higher frequency than UV. The difference as far as health concerns is X-rays cause DNA damage, RF will simply increase temperature. Increase temperature enough and you cause tissue damage of course, but we are talking milliwatts at the transmitter point source that falls off at inverse square, again similar to the amount of heating you would get from a low power LED held near your skin, actually less since as you pointed out RF mainly passes right through us rather than being absorbed. This stuff should continue to be studied, but so should the effects of much higher power light bulbs just in case there is some damaging mechanism yet to be discovered beyond heating your flesh.

I am talking about the infrared range, which is above 300GHz.

by ko27 9y ago

I am talking about the infrared range, which is above 300GHz.

cma 9y ago

The body also reflects terahertz radiation from the surrounding environment, even directly into other people's eyes. This has the bizarre side-effect of causing people to be able to "see" each other.

slackingoff2017 9y ago
This is great
- katastic 9y ago
  Won't someone think of the children!?!?

manmal 9y ago

Interesting thought. Near infrared light does interact with cells (photobiomodulation), usually in a beneficial way. Maybe the wave form is another factor, or some frequency ranges are beneficial while others are not?

hutzlibu 9y ago
"some frequency ranges are beneficial while others are not" Certainly. Heat is nice (if not too much), but x-ray is usually bad. Gamma-rays a lot worse. And cellphone radiation is probably somewhere in between ... so like the article cites: we don't know yet. So I do not like sleeping next to my mobile nor have it next to lower body parts for too long ...
- thaumasiotes 9y ago
  Heat is not a frequency or a frequency range.
  - BenjiWiebe 9y ago
    Generally speaking, warm/hot objects radiate in the infrared range. In my understanding, all objects radiate something, unless at absolute zero.
  - microcolonel 9y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-body_radiation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-body_radiation
  - pmontra 9y ago
    It's quite complicated. Interesting read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat
    - CyberDildonics 9y ago
      I don't think the radiation heat transfer from microscopic bodies is the same as saying a human body emits infrared light on a macro scale.
      - boooooo 9y ago
        It does though, that's how infrared cameras work for one thing.
        CyberDildonics 9y ago
        I think this is mixing up two different things. People seem to emit infrared light, but that is not the light that people usually see through an infrared camera. https://www.livescience.com/7799-strange-humans-glow-visible-light.html https://www.livescience.com/7799-strange-humans-glow-visible... This is showing infrared and even visible light radiation from a person's body in extremely small amounts. An infrared camera just sees infrared light period, the vast majority of which is what is reflecting off of someone from other sources.
- SigmundA 9y ago
  X-rays and Gamma and all the way down to UV are ionizing which is why they are harmful. Radio waves are way below light and infrared as was stated. Forget body heat, why does no one care we are walking around 60w terahertz radiators in our home! Then we go outside and bathe in 1000 watt per meter sunlight which includes ionizing UV. Cell phones put out the equivalent of a low power LED light I am not sure way everyone assumes they cause harm but seem to ignore light bulbs.
  - phkahler 9y ago
    Cell phones emit RF signals that penetrate the body. Lightbulbs for the most part do not. I've always considered the notion of antennas important. Your circulatory system may act as antennas of all different lengths and that would put the received energy right into the blood where it can cause leukemia or other similar cancers. Just speculation of course, but the proposed mechanism applies to RF and not light bulbs.
    - ThrowawayR2 9y ago
      > Lightbulbs for the most part do not. 1) Take a flashlight 2) Put a finger over the bulb and turn it on 3) Observe the surprising amount of light that passes through your finger.
      - manmal 9y ago
        Grandparent is right though since most of the blue and green light parts are reflected or absorbed in the top skin layers. Starting with red and infrared, deep tissue penetration is possible. The higher the frequency, the lower its ability to penetrate. That’s why RF can pass through bodies while UV light can’t.
        SigmundA 9y ago
        Its not as simple as that, X-rays also penetrate but are much higher frequency than UV. The difference as far as health concerns is X-rays cause DNA damage, RF will simply increase temperature. Increase temperature enough and you cause tissue damage of course, but we are talking milliwatts at the transmitter point source that falls off at inverse square, again similar to the amount of heating you would get from a low power LED held near your skin, actually less since as you pointed out RF mainly passes right through us rather than being absorbed. This stuff should continue to be studied, but so should the effects of much higher power light bulbs just in case there is some damaging mechanism yet to be discovered beyond heating your flesh.