jcf_gauss

Why?

For fun! And science!

More seriously, I'm fascinated by the idea that the world which we perceive is only a very thin slice of reality. Our hearing range is limited to about 10 octaves, our vision is only 3-color and covers an extraordinarily small section of the electromagnetic spectrum, a dog can smell compounds we can't even detect, and there are whole other senses which we do not possess (electroreception, echolocation, pressure detection, etc). There's this great idea called 'Umwelt', which is the idea that because animals' senses pick up on different things, two creatures in the same ecosystem actually live in entirely different worlds. Being able to actually cross that boundary and sense the invisible magnetic fields that surround us every day is something I find incredible.

I'd leap at the chance to gain tetrachromacy, the ability to breath underwater, etc.

You say you are not a raccoon, but I have my doubts.

Wait, how do you use anything touchscreen without ruining it?

Most touchscreens work through capacitance, so magnets don't affect them. I haven't had any issues with using electronics - they're not strong enough to mess anything up. No issues with credit cards or metal detectors either.

Can you describe the sensation at all to us?

Static magnetic fields are from permanent magnets or DC electromagnets, and they feel a bit like a 'bump' in space if the magnets are aligned to repel, or 'divot' if they are aligned to attract. It’s a half-dome of force that I can push into or pull out of.

Alternating magnetic fields are generated by alternating currents, such as the electricity that comes from the wall. This magnetic field flips at a given frequency (60 times per second for US wall power), and the sensation is that of a buzzing vibration. It still has a half-dome shape, but it’s fuzzier, more permeable, and buzzes neutrally instead of pushing or pulling. I have to be no more than a few inches away to feel most fields.

Both of these are interpreted from my brain feeling the magnet in my finger either vibrate or pull in one direction or another. However, this interpretation feels like a direct sense – rather than the sensation of a foreign object moving inside my finger, it feels like my finger itself is vibrating. 'Seeing' magnetic fields is a bit of a misnomer - it's much more like I am touching them.

Big flat surfaces like a refrigerator aren't that interesting. My finger sticks to it slightly more than otherwise, but there’s no texture like a small magnet or vibrating field has.

So, MRI's yes or no?

MRI's are out, and this is the one downside.

The fear of course is that it gets ripped out of the skin. I'm not sure this would happen - I have heard 2 stories of people with these who got MRI's and neither of them experienced this. In one case it was heated by induction and got really hot, and in the other it vibrated really strongly. But both of these stories were second hand, so I can't verify them.

I also heard that the MRI techs could give me a shield to put around my hand, similar to how they would treat a piece of shrapnel. But I couldn't verify any stories of this either.