The electromagnetic menace

As a geophysicist I work with electromagnetism as a part of my everyday job. One of my favorite functions of my profession is taking time out to discuss the physics of electromagnetic (EM) waves. Scientists refer to EM-waves by another name, electromagnetic radiation. The word radiation usually scares the hell out of people therefore making people subjective to any spine-chilling misinformation.

A lucrative example of this is the belief that any amount of EM-radiation causes cancer. Specifically, cell phones, power lines and any other device that emits electromagnetic fields (EMF). These diabolical waves accused of causing all sorts of cancers and many non-descript afflictions. I am writing this to inform you that it is all b.s. Those who make these pseudoscientific claims do not understand the basic physics of EM-radiation.

The physical mechanism that creates EM-radiation (also called EM-waves, EMF, or simply light – different names same monster) are wiggling electric charges. The wiggling generates a self-reinforcing coupled electric and magnetic fields which form the wave and it’s frequency. The frequency is basically a measurement of how fast the charges are wiggled, the faster the wiggling, the higher the frequency. EM-waves are classified based on their frequency, scientists call this classification the electromagnetic spectrum (as seen below)

As you can see from the picture above, we are surrounded by EM waves. Everything from radio waves, to visible light to x-rays are a kind of EM-radiation. The only property separating them is the frequency of the wave.

Quantum physics tells us that all EM-radiation is emitted by photons. The energy of this wiggling photon or EM-radiation is determined by its frequency in the formula below
Energy = hf

where f is frequency and h is Planck’s constant, constant being the key word. Its value does not change no matter the frequency or anything else. Given that h is constant the only variable that can increase or decrease the energy of the EM-radiation is the frequency.

The pseudo-scientists argue that EM-radiation travels into your body, breaks the chemical bonds of your DNA and thus causes cancer. What they do understand is that there is a certain minimal amount of energy needed to break these chemical bonds. This bare minimum amount of energy is 10 electron volts, which is only produced by EM-radiation in the in the Ultra Violet (UV), or above, part of the spectrum. Most of the UV radiation you receive is from the sun. Thankfully our ozone layer absorbs 98.7% of UV radiation. The sunburn you have received this summer is thanks to the 2.3% of the UVA (UV long wave, or black light) that reaches the Earth’s surface. This UVA radiation has been proven time and time again to cause cancer. UVA causes cancer by doing what everyone fears your cell phone is doing, it disrupts your body on the molecular level.

Since UV radiation takes a lot of energy to produce, it is almost never used in commercial applications. UV is also easily dissipated, due to its high energy and small wavelength. It is constantly bumping into things and dying out. That is why your forearms get burned and the covered part of your body does not. UV can’t get past cotton tee’s.

Looking at the diagram above, all of the nasty cancer causing radiation is on the high energy part of the spectrum. The EM-radiation that is emitted by your cell phone, power lines, wi-fi and so on are in the radio wave region of the spectrum. This part of the spectrum is low frequency and therefore low energy. In fact the wavelengths are the size of buildings. Due to their size, they don’t go through your cotton tees they go over it. Currently the only thing on this planet at risk of cancer from cell phones is buildings. Cell phones waves bump into them all the time, and when they do you drop your call. So unless your DNA is the size of a 3 story building, you are in the clear.

To have a real life example of the size of EM waves, go look at your microwave door. You might notice that the clear opening in the door has a screen that has a lot of tiny holes in it. These hole are there to protect you, they keep the microwaves from leaving the microwave. Microwaves operate at a frequency of 2.45 Gigahertz with a wavelength of 12.25 cm ( 4.8 inches). My microwave door window has a screen with holes 1.3 millimeters in diameter (0.050 inch) , which is close to 1/100 of a wavelength of the microwave. When EM-radiation is forced toward openings with a width of 1/100 of its wavelength, the EM-radiation signal passing through the opening is almost undetectable. This is to prevent your face from cooking alongside your burrito.

If you still fear cell phone and other radiation I would like to leave you with this thought: you are constantly bathed in EM-radiation of higher frequency therefore higher energy when you turn on a light bulb, go out in the sunlight. This high frequency menace is called visible light. If you honestly fear EM-radiation, then I suggest taking a night job and getting use to moving about in the dark.

Facebook "the electronic friend generator"

Puffy lips and sideways peace sign does NOT = good picture

What's up with all the pictures of girls with puffy lips and the sideways peace sign? Am I that out-of-touch with pop culture? I see several pictures of my daughters friends sporting this pose. I am have asked..why, why do you do this. They can not give me an answer.

Does it mean..
"<"ictory
scissors beats lips
I spread my legs and then do this
"<"ictory for fish
sideways stupid
bulimics distress...stand back I'm gonna puke

It doesn't enhance your attractiveness. If fact I think it does the opposite. However, I have also noticed that this occurred along side the sharp increase in the number of photos thanks to digital cameras and camera phones. I guess if your going to have zilloins of photos of yourself, you merely smiling at the camera gets boring.

Does the band play if the ship is on fire and sinking?

I have decided to go down with the ship. The word layoff's has not crossed any official lips, but is still on everyone's mind. I looked for other positions, and even found a few in my area, but thought "Is this place any better then the one I am leaving?" "Do I really want to be a new hire in this economy?"

The answer, no and fucking no. I have decided to ride it down to the murky deep. Maybe I will get some sort of severance package out of the deal. My life has been more upbeat since I made this decision. I guess I have let go of my fears and just decided to roll with whatever may come. Sometimes realizing you truly have no control and running with it is the best thing you can do.

On a similar note, I have been watching (more like hearing) a friend spiral out of control. She has made some poor decisions, and is paying dearly for them. She lives out of state, so it makes it harder. She has found herself with a new baby, old psychological issues and new soon to be ex batshit crazy husband. Their divorce is as whirlwinded and illogical as their courtship.

What is worse is that it is all very very public. They both (as myself, I shamefully admit) are on Facebook. As an aside, I totally intend to do a post on the evils vs the wonders of social networking sites. What to do when you are going through talk of divorce when you are linked as married on Facebook...you change it to complicated of course. Now you have virtually outed yourself for friends and family to see, bring on the onslaught of comments, blocking, deletions and down right immature stupidity.

Unfortunately this is directed at my friend exclusively. I know her family and I know most of her friends, they would rather insult you to your face then by Facebook and other virtual means. Also, most of us understand that it is between her and him, and our snarky comments should be either kept to ourselves or told to her directly...so she can share in the laughter.

However, my friend took it one step further, she started publicly blogging about it. She posted the link to her new fuck you husband blog on Facebook. She claims (and I believe it to a point) that it is therapy. She does have carpal tunnel and typing is faster then writing, however, by putting out there and letting everyone know it is there you do open your self up. This blog is therapy for me. I use a fake name and never use real names of friends and family to keep it private. Only a few friends and family knows that it even exists. I even cut down on the number of posts to bring my visits per day down. I do all of this so I can throw my ideas into the universe and only have to have minimal claim to them.

I think for her, it is her way of throwing all of the dirty laundry on the front porch of her in laws. She wants them to see what he has done, or maybe to try to absolve herself of wrong doing. I am not sure. I do know that she is transferring her anger and pain to many others, which is being tossed right back at her. A very vicious and long cycle. It is hard to take back the things you said, it is harder when they are published for all to see. I could try to tell her, but it would be lost. When you wake up in the morning to heartache and rage, your mind cannot see anything else.

I hope that she comes to this conclusion on her own and soon. She needs to remove the public blog and write and anonymous one. She needs to get the e-mails to family and friends and drop Facebook, at least for now. Her husband needs to leave her alone for a month or two, let his mind and anger settle. Everyone involved needs to take a step back, shut their mouths, clear their minds, take a breath and relax. Sometimes realizing you truly have no control and running with it is the best thing you can do.

Sword of Damocles

The recession has finally came knocking on my door. For the past six months I have watched friends and family lose their jobs. After a job loss or a threat of a loss, I would feel a sense of uneasiness about my own situation, but never any real concern until recently.

I have only traveled twice since January. Both trips were for a few days and were for minor things. My work has been mainly report writing, which I find horribly dull. Unfortunately, this horribly dull work is running out and I will be left with nothing. My fellow field geologists have been trickling back to their cubicles, having finished the last of their field work. None of us know of any field work on the horizon. The office geologist assigning me my reporting tasks will also be out of work shortly since we have not been doing field work that he can report on.

So as the office fills with the field staff so does fear. We know what it means for us to all be there at the same time. What is worse is that we are all speculating. It is hard not to. It starts off innocently enough..."Do you know of any work? Does so and so have any? Do you know of any new projects?" From there expressions of worry, and general defeat. We wonder aloud if we will have a job. Publicly kick ourselves for not doing more professional development so that we are more valuable to the company. I think most of us have resigned ourselves to the firing range.

I don't want to leave my company. I actually like what I do and I like the company. However, I find myself looking more and more for my next employment opportunity. Slowly trying to get use to the thought of interviewing again. The more I look, the more I realize that I may have to move to the job. This might mean a transfer to another city, or even another country. Which in itself is both exciting and unnerving.

Ghosts of Hannibal

The other night my coworker and I ate dinner at Lulabelle's in Hannibal Missouri. In the early 1900's up to 1950 it was a bordello...or more simply a whorehouse. I wanted to eat there because of this. We arrived, the food was great and the restaurant decor was lovely. However, during our meal two guys who were sitting at the bar kept staring our direction. I noticed my coworker staring back. We were finishing up or meal when one got up and walked to the doorway that was separating the bar from the main dining room. He was looking at the floor pacing. My coworker and I exchanged the what the hell look when he looked up and said:

"I swear I say something fly across the room, I just now got the nerve to come look for it."

His buddy at the bar concurred and the other man kept starring at the floor. After a minute or so he looked up stated once again he saw something mumbled about the barmaid telling stories and freaking him out. I looked at my coworker and said:

"Is this place supposedly haunted?"
"I don't know why don't you ask that waitress."
"Excuse me, is this place haunted?"
"Well that is what I have heard."
"Really, have you seen anything?"
"No, but I have heard tales."
"Can you tell me some?"
"I am writing a book and I am still collecting stories."
"Can you tell me some that you have collected?"
"Oh, basically most of the stuff happens in the kitchen. Things flying across the kitchen, being moved or go missing. People see stuff all the time."

My coworker chimes in..incidently he is male

"What's up stairs?"
"The bed and breakfast."
"Do people see ghosts up there?"
"Yes."
"Are they naked, if so I might want to check in!"

Que the uncomfortable laughter and she scurries away.

I don't personally believe in ghosts, but I must admit I was totally digging this. We stuck around for another 15 minutes to see what the succubus's would throw next. Alas, nothing happened...but then again I was not drinking and listing to ghost stories like the other patrons were.

Happiness

This seems more relevant then ever.