4 ms·

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 rele

by 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.

by mikece 6y ago

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.