A warning. There is a new web article going aroud that is a crock of schmidt.

[scott wurcer]

Jeez. The original author really doesn't know much. Audio noise in electronic circuits can be Johnson noise, which is thermal noise from the electrons and varies with Temp and circuit impedance (and can be shaped by whatever filter effects are in the channel) and is universal and irreducible. Some audio noise appears as "shot" noise in systems where the discrete nature of electron charge is detectable. Shot noise has statistical qualities that differ from the thermal or Johnson noise.

Carver Mead has an interesting article on the equivalence of shot and Johnson-Nyquist noise. In any case they both have a white spectrum at normal frequencies (there are quantum mechanical issues at extreme frequency). https://authors.library.caltech.edu/53119/1/00261888.pdf BTW he might have been buddies with our current protagonist but there is no nonsense reasoning here.

 

[BDWoody]

Whoa! No, I didn't. Now I'm gonna have to track it down and give it a listen.

You'll recognize him immediately with that singing guitar...

 

[DonH56]

May be thinking of flicker noise, popcorn noise, and other 1/f^n noise terms that have different PSD... Johnson depends upon resistance and temperature, shot on current (often through a junction). Also capacitor switch (SC) noise, etc. Big topic. Not neurology.

 

[Wombat]

I think it's more a reference to getting away from button pushing and "screen addiction". I rarely carry my cell phone and virtually never use it, my kids can stare at it literally for hours on end and the thought of not having it is one of the worst things that they can imagine. I understand the sentiment but it is no excuse for the pseudo-scientific drivel.

Agree.

I do prefer living in a rural environment. Life is much more relaxed'

 

[Wombat]

My spidersense tells me SheilaHears is talking about RF from wireless devices and stray magnetic fields from transformers that are affecting the human body/brain in a negative way.

That is interesting as I had a collegue who said he could sense such and remarkably came up with a working modification for a Technics cassette deck (back in the days) that recorded 'ticks' on tapes in playback mode. Turned out the wind motor did build up static charge that at some voltage discharged and due to plastic and metal parts in the mechanism created a current in the magnetic head and recording the 'tick' on tape.
The solution was to spray the plastic part on the motor with graphite spray.

Later he complained that he could sense when the measuring transmitter was on (and it was adjacent to his workplace).
I decided to test that and randomly switched the transmitter on and off for a few days in a row.
When confronted later he said he had noticed. So a second test was done to see if he really could by logging it.
And just like with subjective listening ... of course absolutely no correlation.

2 years ago, when doing EMC testing (has to be done externally) I spoke to the engineer about test that were done in their anechoic room (for RF, not audio) with a bunch of folks that claimed GSM affected their health and they could tell if transmitters were on and off.
This testing was performed with a bunch of folks making the claims where RF (various bands and levels) were transmitted or not.
Also with logging.
Here too.... absolutely no correlation whatsoever and the claim they wanted to make ultimately wasn't made because of this test.

So... very likely that some people experience positive effects from being in nature... I don't believe for a minute this has anything to do with electronics but rather other aspects....

An anecdote possibly, related.

Early in my career our State Electricity Commission commissioned its first 500kV Terminal/Switching Station which was manned 24/7 by HV operators. When on afternoon shift the guys would have a BBQ dinner on Friday evenings.

The BBQ attracted a dog which became the station mascot. The dog would happily follow them around in the switchyards except for the 500kV ones. It then would stick to the perimeter roads and wait for them to return. It sure knew something.

2016 publication: Occupational EMF Environments.

 

[Wombat]

Refuting ridiculous mistakes is not "emotional fury and vitriol". You have your right to a silly idea. When you expose it to the public, you also have the right to see your silly idea ridiculed into bits.

Seconded.

 

[j_j]

Did you know Mark Knopfler did the soundtrack for that movie?

I didn't know he did the sound track for Princess Bride, but I love his soundtrack for Local Hero!

 

[j_j]

An anecdote possibly, related.

Early in my career our State Electricity Commission commissioned its first 500kV Terminal/Switching Station which was manned 24/7 by HV operators. When on afternoon shift the guys would have a BBQ dinner on Friday evenings.

The BBQ attracted a dog which became the station mascot. The dog would happily follow them around in the switchyards except for the 500kV ones. It then would stick to the perimeter roads and wait for them to return. It sure knew something.

2016 publication: Occupational EMF Environments.

Odds on it was supra-20kHz noise from the corona. There is a crapload of it.