4 ms·

What a load of shit, most people in the western world are "grounded" most of the time by virtue of being inside modern structures and directly grounded everytim

What a load of shit, most people in the western world are "grounded" most of the time by virtue of being inside modern structures and directly grounded everytime the touch any non double insulated appliance, water tap, gas appliance etc. Plus if there was significant charge in your body, or structure you would feel it. Here is an experiment, your tongue is sensitive to less than a volt, touch you tongue to a water pipe, or your fridge or washing machine. Feel any sparks or tingles? If the answer is no then you were already very close to ground potential. If you are prone to accumulating static electricity then a pointy foil hat will help bleed it off more quickly (that's a joke, but it's not).

dvfjsdhgfv 4y ago
I have two types of floor in my house: one conducts electricity relatively well, the other - not so much (wood). I walk barefoot most of the time when I'm inside in the summer. No difference at all except that wood feels warmer and therefore cosier, that's all.
- nikkwong 4y ago
  Ok sure.. but. Let's say you eat tuna every day for two months. You're likely to build up a significant amount of mercury in your body to the point where it's causing oxidative stress and antagonizing most major organ systems in your body. Are you going to notice that? Maybe your body will over the period of two months start to require maybe 15 more minutes of sleep to help cope with the new level of cellular burden it's experiencing. Are you realistically likely to be able to point to this subjectively? All of these actions we take as part of our lifestyle have a profound effect on our physiology on the macro level; but we're not likely to notice any single factor's contribution in isolation.
  - vorpalhex 4y ago
    Do you ever shower or bathe? Do you touch the faucet handle when doing so? Congrats - you just grounded yourself. Reset right back to neutral. If you want to test this go shuffle across carpet in your socks for a hot minute and then touch the faucet.
    - nikkwong 4y ago
      No argument from me; but I think the debate around this research is focused on what the biological effects are when one undergoes a prolonged period of grounding; i.e. for 8 hours during sleep, or several hours during the day, rather than for momentary periods.
      - airbreather 4y ago
        But the whole point is grounding is relative, and this context just refers to a body with larger volume than you that can absorb your charge (if there is a difference) with relatively little change. It is assumed that body has a balance of negative and positive charges, but not necessarily, because the purpose of "grounding" in any practical sense is to equalise the charge between two objects so there is no potential difference so the will be no current flow. All sorts of BS arguments then start emerging, "but what about if the outside of your body is +ve and inside is -ve ?", Well where does the energy for that come from? Or do you have a little charge daemon in there splitting out charges and pushing them to the exterior? I've heard them all and they are all BS from people that understand little to nothing about charge and electricity. Would love to be proven wrong by someone that did, because that would mean I would learn something, maybe something very interesting, but still waiting.
  - mistrial9 4y ago
    mercury is a bad example since it is lifetime-accumulative .. my reaction to this discussion is that not enough regard is held for odd or extreme living conditions, but that the subject is actually as most critics say.. contact with water, water bodies and cool earth in some way are trivially common for a vast majority of people.. Now, working with computers specifically adds a source .. but doesnt change the above..
    - nikkwong 4y ago
      Mercury does accumulate in the body but I was more pointing out that serum mercury levels can fluctuate greatly in a relatively short period. My mom eats a ton of that tuna from costco and had blood levels far above the reference range; which dropped into the reference range 4 months after consumption cessation. She saunas and exercises; so that may have something to do with it. I agree mercury is a bad example for the reason because the actual levels of mercury burden an individual carries can be nuanced (serum + housed into organs etc). I'm not sure I follow your final sentence.
      - manmal 4y ago
        Mercury just settles down inside cells (the parts that are not eliminated), where it’s hard to detect without using a chelator. Serum levels are not a good indicator in the long term.
nomel 4y ago
All of my modern furniture, flooring, and clothing is plastic. They all result in massive static buildup. I’ve lived in dry places where you would get a significant zap every time you touched a faucet. If you work with electronics, you’ll know that ground straps aren’t optional, in dry climates. Your perspective may be limited to a humid climate.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- kazinator 4y ago
  Static buildup is all on the outside of a body, because the body is conductive and the charges repel each other. The static buildup doesn't affect chemical reactions in your cells; e.g. with electrons that occupy positions, hindering electron movement. I think that's the essence of what this pseudo-scientific nonsense is trying to assert, which is false.
  - nomel 4y ago
    > I think that's the essence of what this pseudo-scientific nonsense is trying to assert, which is false. I agree, but it's important to fight pseudoscience with actual facts.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
- airbreather 4y ago
  I'm an electrical engineer and well versed in the theory and practice of electrical phenomena of most known kinds, plus did a deep dive specifically into body static a number of times, for assorted reasons. First one was related to ignition sources for explosive atmospheres, I have recognised certification for classification and design of equipment for explosive atmospheres and depending on the gas/liquid sometimes such things need to be considered. Secondly, my ex wife got a fibromyalgia diagnosis, along with a thyroid problem and this made her skin very dry and she had a lot of static problems (problems were sparks when she reached out to touch metallic objects, basically). The dry skin limited the normal rate of bleed off that occurs of static. If you know someone always getting static shocks when others don't, have them get their thyroid checked. There is a whole raft of issues associated, like atmospheric electricity etc. But, one thing to consider is any body charge someone does have is a result of the triboelectric effect, which is charge seperation, no charge is created, it's just shuffled around and concentrations of +ve or -ve charges accumulate in one place, but the tendancy is always to try and even out, like water finding level. If you want to really see a report of static so extreme it acted as an invisible wall, or force field, read the following link, but no associated reports of harm were ever made. http://amasci.com/weird/unusual/e-wall.html http://amasci.com/weird/unusual/e-wall.html
cush 4y ago
Tell all that to my elevator button. It shocks me every other day in my brand new modern building.

dvfjsdhgfv 4y ago

I have two types of floor in my house: one conducts electricity relatively well, the other - not so much (wood). I walk barefoot most of the time when I'm inside in the summer. No difference at all except that wood feels warmer and therefore cosier, that's all.

nikkwong 4y ago
Ok sure.. but. Let's say you eat tuna every day for two months. You're likely to build up a significant amount of mercury in your body to the point where it's causing oxidative stress and antagonizing most major organ systems in your body. Are you going to notice that? Maybe your body will over the period of two months start to require maybe 15 more minutes of sleep to help cope with the new level of cellular burden it's experiencing. Are you realistically likely to be able to point to this subjectively? All of these actions we take as part of our lifestyle have a profound effect on our physiology on the macro level; but we're not likely to notice any single factor's contribution in isolation.
- vorpalhex 4y ago
  Do you ever shower or bathe? Do you touch the faucet handle when doing so? Congrats - you just grounded yourself. Reset right back to neutral. If you want to test this go shuffle across carpet in your socks for a hot minute and then touch the faucet.
  - nikkwong 4y ago
    No argument from me; but I think the debate around this research is focused on what the biological effects are when one undergoes a prolonged period of grounding; i.e. for 8 hours during sleep, or several hours during the day, rather than for momentary periods.
    - airbreather 4y ago
      But the whole point is grounding is relative, and this context just refers to a body with larger volume than you that can absorb your charge (if there is a difference) with relatively little change. It is assumed that body has a balance of negative and positive charges, but not necessarily, because the purpose of "grounding" in any practical sense is to equalise the charge between two objects so there is no potential difference so the will be no current flow. All sorts of BS arguments then start emerging, "but what about if the outside of your body is +ve and inside is -ve ?", Well where does the energy for that come from? Or do you have a little charge daemon in there splitting out charges and pushing them to the exterior? I've heard them all and they are all BS from people that understand little to nothing about charge and electricity. Would love to be proven wrong by someone that did, because that would mean I would learn something, maybe something very interesting, but still waiting.
- mistrial9 4y ago
  mercury is a bad example since it is lifetime-accumulative .. my reaction to this discussion is that not enough regard is held for odd or extreme living conditions, but that the subject is actually as most critics say.. contact with water, water bodies and cool earth in some way are trivially common for a vast majority of people.. Now, working with computers specifically adds a source .. but doesnt change the above..
  - nikkwong 4y ago
    Mercury does accumulate in the body but I was more pointing out that serum mercury levels can fluctuate greatly in a relatively short period. My mom eats a ton of that tuna from costco and had blood levels far above the reference range; which dropped into the reference range 4 months after consumption cessation. She saunas and exercises; so that may have something to do with it. I agree mercury is a bad example for the reason because the actual levels of mercury burden an individual carries can be nuanced (serum + housed into organs etc). I'm not sure I follow your final sentence.
    - manmal 4y ago
      Mercury just settles down inside cells (the parts that are not eliminated), where it’s hard to detect without using a chelator. Serum levels are not a good indicator in the long term.

nomel 4y ago

All of my modern furniture, flooring, and clothing is plastic. They all result in massive static buildup. I’ve lived in dry places where you would get a significant zap every time you touched a faucet. If you work with electronics, you’ll know that ground straps aren’t optional, in dry climates. Your perspective may be limited to a humid climate.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
kazinator 4y ago
Static buildup is all on the outside of a body, because the body is conductive and the charges repel each other. The static buildup doesn't affect chemical reactions in your cells; e.g. with electrons that occupy positions, hindering electron movement. I think that's the essence of what this pseudo-scientific nonsense is trying to assert, which is false.
- nomel 4y ago
  > I think that's the essence of what this pseudo-scientific nonsense is trying to assert, which is false. I agree, but it's important to fight pseudoscience with actual facts.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
airbreather 4y ago
I'm an electrical engineer and well versed in the theory and practice of electrical phenomena of most known kinds, plus did a deep dive specifically into body static a number of times, for assorted reasons. First one was related to ignition sources for explosive atmospheres, I have recognised certification for classification and design of equipment for explosive atmospheres and depending on the gas/liquid sometimes such things need to be considered. Secondly, my ex wife got a fibromyalgia diagnosis, along with a thyroid problem and this made her skin very dry and she had a lot of static problems (problems were sparks when she reached out to touch metallic objects, basically). The dry skin limited the normal rate of bleed off that occurs of static. If you know someone always getting static shocks when others don't, have them get their thyroid checked. There is a whole raft of issues associated, like atmospheric electricity etc. But, one thing to consider is any body charge someone does have is a result of the triboelectric effect, which is charge seperation, no charge is created, it's just shuffled around and concentrations of +ve or -ve charges accumulate in one place, but the tendancy is always to try and even out, like water finding level. If you want to really see a report of static so extreme it acted as an invisible wall, or force field, read the following link, but no associated reports of harm were ever made. http://amasci.com/weird/unusual/e-wall.html http://amasci.com/weird/unusual/e-wall.html

cush 4y ago

Tell all that to my elevator button. It shocks me every other day in my brand new modern building.