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A fun experiment if you use an USB WiFi stick - put it on an USB extender cable and lay on any plant in your home. After few days the plant will most probably d
by M4v3R 13y ago
A fun experiment if you use an USB WiFi stick - put it on an USB extender cable and lay on any plant in your home. After few days the plant will most probably die in this place.
- Tichy 13y agoWhy?
- M4v3R 13y agoBecause it's basically a small microwave, at 2.4Ghz. Its harmless from a distance, but if it's very near the antenna, it will toast the flower.
- johnchristopher 13y agoI frequently put my laptop on my chest when slouching in the sofa. Does it have the same harmful effects ?
- sliverstorm 13y agoIf the method of action is the same as a microwave, it is just heating you. Human bodies are good at handling extra heat, so I'm not sure that warrants concern.
- saalweachter 13y agohttp://wap.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/science/eleanor-r-adair-microwave-safety-researcher-dies-at-86.html?from=obituaries http://wap.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/science/eleanor-r-adair-mi... Dr. Adair was indisputably an innovator in studying microwave radiation, work she began in the mid-1970s while a fellow at the John B. Pierce Laboratory in New Haven. First with squirrel monkeys and then with human volunteers, she placed subjects in a chamber into which she released relatively high levels of microwaves for about 45 minutes, followed by a cool-down period. She focused on what impact the heat generated by microwaves might have — and she said she never found much more than perspiration. She said the monkeys and the people mostly enjoyed the experience. “Particularly if the environment is cool, they love it when the field comes on,” she told The Times. She said: “It is very easy to sense it and it feels good. If they are in a warm environment, and the field is strong they may start to sweat and they may feel quite uncomfortable. They always have an option of getting out of the chamber at any time, saying, ‘I’ve had enough.’ ”
- nwh 13y agoThe main place this would actually be an issue is your eyes. The lenses have absolutely no blood flow, and therefor don't cool down quickly if exposed to microwave radiation. Usually leads to cataracts and such. Crazy right?
- sliverstorm 13y agoThis is an interesting point! Thankfully WiFi antennas are very low power. To give you an idea of heating capability, a candle typically releases 80 watts of heat. A WiFi antenna on your mobile device is probably a half a watt, and because it is not strongly directional, your eye will only receive a fraction of this.
- X4 13y agoNo, the heat of your laptop affects your sperm-count only when there is heat applied to your sack. If you're male and put it in your lap, then this would reduce your sperm-count temporarily, because of the heat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semen_quality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semen_quality I don't know if the signal can affect your DNA, your cells or anything else in any way or not. This or the opposite has to be shown in studies. I think the study with cress is just the beginning.
- sliverstorm 13y agoI objected to this statement at first, as frequency plays a big part in what electromagnetic radiation does, but then I discovered many microwave ovens do operate at 2.45GHz Though, before you freak out that you are cooking your family, consider that a microwave oven outputs 600-1200 watts, while a WiFi antenna is typically 0.5-1 watt.
- byw 13y agoIs there something special about this frequency, or would it have similar effect on 5Ghz?
- sliverstorm 13y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave
- swamp40 13y agoThe reason microwaves use 2.4 GHz is that water and fat molecules begin to resonate at that frequency, absorbing energy from the waves. It's also one reason why 2.4GHz systems can have problems outdoors. During rainstorms, the range drops to nothing as the water grabs all the energy. Also any foliage (leaves w/ moisture inside) blocks the signals more than at other frequencies.
- joshu 13y agoThe "resonating" explanation is wrong. Please stop propagating this mistake. From Wikipedia: "Sometimes, microwave heating is explained as a resonance of water molecules, but this is incorrect; such resonances occur only at above 1 terahertz (THz)."
- sliverstorm 13y agoNobody knows for sure. At this point there's just a few experiments supporting the idea, no one has made any claims about a possible mechanism for action. That doesn't mean it isn't true. I would not be especially surprised if 2.4GHz interacted in some special way with plant cells.
- Ellipsis753 13y agoFun fact: This post has no sources and no one has tried it yet but many people will still believe it.
- M4v3R 13y agoIt's basically anecdotal evidence, something that I personally observed with my plant and my USB stick. Is it necessary to have sources for my own observations?
- jadyoyster 13y agoNo, but you should have left out 'most probably'.
- nwh 13y agoLiterally the strangest thing I've ever read on HN. I've two large plants (spathiphyllum) that sit with their pots on either side of my wireless router. They're as healthy can be, though they do get a little brown when I get absent minded.
- M4v3R 13y agoThe question is probably how close they are to the antennas. In my setup, the USB stick was pasically left on the plants leaves, the plant acted as a scaffold for it. And it maybe I wasn't clear enough - the whole plant didn't die, just the exact spot when the USB stick was touching the leaves.
- nwh 13y agoI don't think it could have been any more than a fluke in your case. If there was some correlation between the two, somebody else would have found it, and we'd all probably be keeping our distance from the things. It's far more likely that the pressure from the antenna resting on the leaf caused the damage, or a lack of photosynthesis caused the area to yellow.
- M4v3R 13y agoWow, any reason I got downvoted for this? I'm not a wireless opponent or something (I'm probably using much more wireless devices in my home than most people), just stating my observation.