Submitted 2 hours ago by coasterrider@lemmy.cafe to [deleted]
For whatever reason, this decade has been popular for articles from seemingly scientific sources saying that geomagnetic storms are causing negative health effects on the body, through magnetic field fluctuations.
I looked it up…and during the most extreme geomagnetic storms, Earth’s magnetic field fluctuates at a rate of about 500 nanotesla per minute. Is that rate of change enough to induce enough of a current that it acts as a cellular stressor?
Nah, sounds like nonsense. An MRI is 1.5-3 Tesla, and people sit inside those with no negative effects.
As for the ER thing, how do they know there is a geomagnetic storm going on if they don’t have the detectors already? And how would the detectors help, if they don’t provide advanced warning?
I thought so, too, but it does seem like a lot of seemingly reputable sources are talking about it as if it’s common knowledge now… magneticstorms.co/health/heart and yeah, good point! I think there are sites where you can track space weather, but if someone’s a paramedic I’d hope they’d be tracking patients more than space weather…
talking about it as if it’s common knowledge
This is basically saying to the viewer “only idiots don’t know this, your not an idiot are you?”, common sales/snake oil trick, makes you feel unsafe to push back
Maybe reconsider how reputable the sources are?
Earths magnetic field isn’t even powerful enough to make naturally occurring magnets (lodestones) with. So no, it’s not anywhere near powerful enough to mess with your cells. There maybe some biological functions are an influenced or can sense the magnetic field (one theory why birds seemingly know which direction north is) but as far as I know these are all theories or myth (men have metal in their nose which they use to sense north which is why they never get lost.)
Naturally occurring magnetic rocks, for anyone who is curious, are created by lightning striking iron-rich deposits in the ground. You can make a ferrous metal magnetic in a similar way (quick bursts of electricity.)
The narrative isn’t so much the static magnetic field but fluctuating/time varying magnetic fields induced on Earth during magnetic storms. When a magnetic field changes it can induce currents in tissues. It’s proportional to both the strength of the field and the rate of change. During an extreme geomagnetic storm, the rate of change can be up to 500 nanoteslas per minute.
Still insignificant. Solar storms and fluctuating magnetic fields have been happening for longer than humans have been here and have been happening while humans were here. Theres tons of pseudo-science gaining popularity online, can’t believe astrology is still so popular with people, and this sounds like one of them to be honest.
My bullshit alarm is going off. MRI machines use very powerful magnets for imaging: usually around 1.5 Teslas, but some go up to 10 T, and there are concepts for machines up to 14 T. That is a billion times stronger than a 500 nanotesla fluctuation. And MRIs are completely safe. If a 500 nanotesla fluctuation was a cellular stressor, I could only imagine that a 10 T MRI would tear you apart.
Mine did, too, then I looked into it and it does seem there’s a lot of research concluding that fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field during geomagnetic storms is causing more heart attacks, nervous system dysregulation, etc. magneticstorms.co/health/heart but I’m not as well versed in science compared to many of the people on Lemmy.
That’s pretty interesting, honestly. It’s a good sign that the site cites specific research and gives names, at least. So that beats my speculation. I’m not qualified to interpret any of the research though. I get the impression this phenomenon needs more research before regular folks can draw any of their own conclusions.
radix@lemmy.world 50 minutes ago
I can’t vouch for the complete accuracy of the numbers here, but if they’re true, 500 nanotesla is basically identical to standing 1 foot away from a running dishwasher, and less than using an electric can opener or a vacuum cleaner.