4 ms·

Terahertz radiation can disrupt proteins in living cells

27 points by consumer451 6y ago

consumer451 6y ago
Deeper link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-65955-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-65955-5
- Junk_Collector 6y ago
  It's interesting to me because this same team published https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28245-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28245-9 which claims to show that THz radiation promotes actin filaments, but their new publication claims are that the THz radiation induces mechanical vibrations which remove or destroy actin filaments. It will be interesting to see where this all goes.
  - sansnomme 6y ago
    See also: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29764717/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29764717/
  - elcritch 6y ago
    They could be doing both. Similar to how oxidants stimulate cellular regeneration. If the THz waves induce mechanical destruction, especially on already weakened or damaged actin filaments, it could induce cellular repair mechanisms to create new action. It might be something useful in certain cases. Say, deep cellular regeneration... or not.
mikece 6y ago
There is so much FUD, conspiracy, and disinformation surrounding the topic of the hazards of EM radiation to human tissue that it's hard to separate what's relevant from the hyperbolic. Is there a good primer on which frequencies are actually harmful to humans? I seem to remember from studying for my amateur radio license (back in 1990) that the potential harm to a human was based one height and the frequency in question, that the body would act like an antenna and resonate with certain frequencies but in the 5G and Terahertz discussions we're talking about something rather different.
- aSockPuppeteer 6y ago
  Human height ~ frequency. Power level and time are the other parameters. A 6ft tall person’s resonant frequency is 150MHz. 300,000,000 m/s (light) / height(wavelength) = frequency From what I remember, the higher microwave frequencies have less affect unless they are directed at you or confined like a microwave oven. Then it’s a matter of the resonant frequencies of water. There is more to it but that’s just an intro. “The most dangerous frequencies of electromagnetic energy are X-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet light and microwaves. X-rays, gamma rays and UV light can damage living tissues, and microwaves can cook them.” -https://sciencing.com/wavelengths-frequencies-dangerous-7487438.html https://sciencing.com/wavelengths-frequencies-dangerous-7487...
  - hopfscotch 6y ago
    Humans are not conductive enough for standing waves to form at that scale, so this analysis does not make sense. The human body, as a macro object, does not resonate with EM waves in any way. Proteins in the body are a different story, obviously.
- consumer451 6y ago
  > There is so much FUD, conspiracy, and disinformation surrounding the topic of the hazards of EM radiation to human tissue that it's hard to separate what's relevant from the hyperbolic. I posted this and I agree. To be entirely honest I was hoping to gain some insights from comments here on HN. u/Junk_Collector has an interesting question that I was wondering about as well.
sansnomme 6y ago
HN needs something like r/science's level of rigorous moderation when it comes to comments on scientific articles that are not math/CS/classical mechanics related.
flingo 6y ago
What's the goal in posting this/having this phrasing? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terahertz_gap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terahertz_gap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum Please point to the spot on the EM-specrtum that you're scared of, and tell me what color it is.

27 points by consumer451 6y ago

consumer451 6y ago

Deeper link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-65955-5 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-65955-5

Junk_Collector 6y ago
It's interesting to me because this same team published https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28245-9 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28245-9 which claims to show that THz radiation promotes actin filaments, but their new publication claims are that the THz radiation induces mechanical vibrations which remove or destroy actin filaments. It will be interesting to see where this all goes.
- sansnomme 6y ago
  See also: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29764717/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29764717/
- elcritch 6y ago
  They could be doing both. Similar to how oxidants stimulate cellular regeneration. If the THz waves induce mechanical destruction, especially on already weakened or damaged actin filaments, it could induce cellular repair mechanisms to create new action. It might be something useful in certain cases. Say, deep cellular regeneration... or not.

mikece 6y ago

There is so much FUD, conspiracy, and disinformation surrounding the topic of the hazards of EM radiation to human tissue that it's hard to separate what's relevant from the hyperbolic. Is there a good primer on which frequencies are actually harmful to humans? I seem to remember from studying for my amateur radio license (back in 1990) that the potential harm to a human was based one height and the frequency in question, that the body would act like an antenna and resonate with certain frequencies but in the 5G and Terahertz discussions we're talking about something rather different.

aSockPuppeteer 6y ago
Human height ~ frequency. Power level and time are the other parameters. A 6ft tall person’s resonant frequency is 150MHz. 300,000,000 m/s (light) / height(wavelength) = frequency From what I remember, the higher microwave frequencies have less affect unless they are directed at you or confined like a microwave oven. Then it’s a matter of the resonant frequencies of water. There is more to it but that’s just an intro. “The most dangerous frequencies of electromagnetic energy are X-rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet light and microwaves. X-rays, gamma rays and UV light can damage living tissues, and microwaves can cook them.” -https://sciencing.com/wavelengths-frequencies-dangerous-7487438.html https://sciencing.com/wavelengths-frequencies-dangerous-7487...
- hopfscotch 6y ago
  Humans are not conductive enough for standing waves to form at that scale, so this analysis does not make sense. The human body, as a macro object, does not resonate with EM waves in any way. Proteins in the body are a different story, obviously.
consumer451 6y ago
> There is so much FUD, conspiracy, and disinformation surrounding the topic of the hazards of EM radiation to human tissue that it's hard to separate what's relevant from the hyperbolic. I posted this and I agree. To be entirely honest I was hoping to gain some insights from comments here on HN. u/Junk_Collector has an interesting question that I was wondering about as well.

sansnomme 6y ago

HN needs something like r/science's level of rigorous moderation when it comes to comments on scientific articles that are not math/CS/classical mechanics related.

flingo 6y ago

What's the goal in posting this/having this phrasing? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terahertz_gap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terahertz_gap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum Please point to the spot on the EM-specrtum that you're scared of, and tell me what color it is.