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> Some emerging research suggests Earth’s magnetism matters, as well. Being barefoot on the ground versus 30 stories high in a downtown skyscraper puts you in a

> Some emerging research suggests Earth’s magnetism matters, as well. Being barefoot on the ground versus 30 stories high in a downtown skyscraper puts you in a completely different magnetic environment. Really? My instinctive reaction to this statement is that it's quackery. Would be very interested to see headlines appear about this if it's true.

eru 1mo ago
People already live in different altitudes, ie with vastly different amounts of rock between themselves and the bits of the earth that produce her magnetic field. So colour me skeptical of this claim as well. And while I like going barefoot for other reasons, I don't think it makes much of a difference to the magnetic fields.
- krige 1mo ago
  > People already live in different altitudes, ie with vastly different amounts of rock between themselves and the bits of the earth that produce her magnetic field. It's not really the same thing. Construction and especially the high content of charged metal (whether it's power conduits or plain old frame) may make a considerable difference.
  - dotancohen 1mo ago
    Do many people sleep in such tall buildings? Obviously they exist, but I can't think of any over-20 story residential building I've ever been in. Office space, sure, but not residential.
    - nkrisc 1mo ago
      The amount of people who would regularly sleep in such a building is a minuscule fraction of the world population.
    - eru 1mo ago
      See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pinnacle@Duxton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pinnacle@Duxton
      - dotancohen 1mo ago
        Yes, like I said, these things exist. But I ask do significant populations of humans reside in the upper floors of such structures?
        eru 1mo ago
        In absolute terms, yes. In relative terms, no.
  - dolmen 1mo ago
    What about flowing underground water when sleeping on the ground? What about the metal frame of a bed?
  - IAmBroom 1mo ago
    You forgot to mention whether they slept near shakra-aligning crystals or not. That may make a considerable difference. And I may be a 10,000 year-old alien.
    - fuzzfactor 1mo ago
      >I may be a 10,000 year-old alien. That would be so disappointing, I've been picturing you as Mickey's assistant in Fantasia :) Then again, maybe that checks?
LYFMail 1mo ago
It's a creative innovation!
unprovable 1mo ago
More evidence this may have been written by a pigeon...
iammrpayments 1mo ago
You can write pretty much anything you want after “Some emerging research suggests”
krackers 1mo ago
There might be precedent for being able to detect changes in magnetic field https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/dogs-poop-in-alignment-with-earths-magnetic-field-study-finds https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/dogs-poop-in-alignment-... but then again maybe not https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787821001696 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S15587...
- IAmBroom 1mo ago
  Yeah, that first study was pure bunkum. Some animals - migrating birds, notably - can detect magnetic fields. IIRC, sharks have close-range magnetic sensors in their gumlines. But these are extremely rare and niche adaptations to difficult problems.
ymolodtsov 1mo ago
And Earth's magnetic field is extremely weak
alex43578 1mo ago
It's definitely quackery. There's way more "natural" magnetic variation between two different cities than between a ground floor apartment and a 30th floor apartment (see magnetic declination maps), and that's even before you get into the way-more-powerful magnetic fields generated or present in a home.
randusername 1mo ago
This is called "grounding" or "earthing" and Wikipedia doesn't pull punches in dismissing it [0]. You can buy grounding wires for your mattress or copper rivets for your shoes. From my tissue engineering class in undergrad my 2 cents is this is maybe 95% supplements quackery and 5% genuine mystery. You can find papers that claim EM fields have cellular interactions [1]. I don't think serious scientists will touch conventional earthing, though. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine#Earthing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine#Earthing [1]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38068954/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38068954/
- n4r9 1mo ago
  Hilariously, the wikipedia page suggests that the research looks less like it's "emerging" and more like it's "submerging".
giov4 1mo ago
I would not jump to such conclusions, I would assume is not fully known and needs to be further understood. on the other side, do you know we have polarized and non-polarized cells? do you know they can be affected by electromagnetism? this two things already establish the existence of a relationship and effects between them. If we then consider that cells mechanism work based on differential of electrical or chemical potentials, and that they continuously use that for their functions, reactions or environmental compensations well... I just think they are related and we need to understand better.
- giov4 1mo ago
  just stumbled upon this https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49360307 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49360307 even mechanical of course :)
- IAmBroom 1mo ago
  Fascinating, but polarization is a red herring. Magnetism is famously the wildly-unreactive half of electromagnetism; copper is REALLY sensitive to electricity and REALLY insensitive to magnetism. I agree ideas shouldn't be dismissed out-of-hand.

eru 1mo ago

People already live in different altitudes, ie with vastly different amounts of rock between themselves and the bits of the earth that produce her magnetic field. So colour me skeptical of this claim as well. And while I like going barefoot for other reasons, I don't think it makes much of a difference to the magnetic fields.

krige 1mo ago
> People already live in different altitudes, ie with vastly different amounts of rock between themselves and the bits of the earth that produce her magnetic field. It's not really the same thing. Construction and especially the high content of charged metal (whether it's power conduits or plain old frame) may make a considerable difference.
- dotancohen 1mo ago
  Do many people sleep in such tall buildings? Obviously they exist, but I can't think of any over-20 story residential building I've ever been in. Office space, sure, but not residential.
  - nkrisc 1mo ago
    The amount of people who would regularly sleep in such a building is a minuscule fraction of the world population.
  - eru 1mo ago
    See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pinnacle@Duxton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pinnacle@Duxton
    - dotancohen 1mo ago
      Yes, like I said, these things exist. But I ask do significant populations of humans reside in the upper floors of such structures?
      - eru 1mo ago
        In absolute terms, yes. In relative terms, no.
- dolmen 1mo ago
  What about flowing underground water when sleeping on the ground? What about the metal frame of a bed?
- IAmBroom 1mo ago
  You forgot to mention whether they slept near shakra-aligning crystals or not. That may make a considerable difference. And I may be a 10,000 year-old alien.
  - fuzzfactor 1mo ago
    >I may be a 10,000 year-old alien. That would be so disappointing, I've been picturing you as Mickey's assistant in Fantasia :) Then again, maybe that checks?

LYFMail 1mo ago

It's a creative innovation!

unprovable 1mo ago

More evidence this may have been written by a pigeon...

iammrpayments 1mo ago

You can write pretty much anything you want after “Some emerging research suggests”

krackers 1mo ago

There might be precedent for being able to detect changes in magnetic field https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/dogs-poop-in-alignment-with-earths-magnetic-field-study-finds https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/dogs-poop-in-alignment-... but then again maybe not https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787821001696 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S15587...

IAmBroom 1mo ago
Yeah, that first study was pure bunkum. Some animals - migrating birds, notably - can detect magnetic fields. IIRC, sharks have close-range magnetic sensors in their gumlines. But these are extremely rare and niche adaptations to difficult problems.

ymolodtsov 1mo ago

And Earth's magnetic field is extremely weak

alex43578 1mo ago

It's definitely quackery. There's way more "natural" magnetic variation between two different cities than between a ground floor apartment and a 30th floor apartment (see magnetic declination maps), and that's even before you get into the way-more-powerful magnetic fields generated or present in a home.

randusername 1mo ago

This is called "grounding" or "earthing" and Wikipedia doesn't pull punches in dismissing it [0]. You can buy grounding wires for your mattress or copper rivets for your shoes. From my tissue engineering class in undergrad my 2 cents is this is maybe 95% supplements quackery and 5% genuine mystery. You can find papers that claim EM fields have cellular interactions [1]. I don't think serious scientists will touch conventional earthing, though. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine#Earthing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine#Earthing [1]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38068954/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38068954/

n4r9 1mo ago
Hilariously, the wikipedia page suggests that the research looks less like it's "emerging" and more like it's "submerging".

giov4 1mo ago

I would not jump to such conclusions, I would assume is not fully known and needs to be further understood. on the other side, do you know we have polarized and non-polarized cells? do you know they can be affected by electromagnetism? this two things already establish the existence of a relationship and effects between them. If we then consider that cells mechanism work based on differential of electrical or chemical potentials, and that they continuously use that for their functions, reactions or environmental compensations well... I just think they are related and we need to understand better.

giov4 1mo ago
just stumbled upon this https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49360307 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49360307 even mechanical of course :)
IAmBroom 1mo ago
Fascinating, but polarization is a red herring. Magnetism is famously the wildly-unreactive half of electromagnetism; copper is REALLY sensitive to electricity and REALLY insensitive to magnetism. I agree ideas shouldn't be dismissed out-of-hand.