[Moogs]

Heheh. Yah. We've all been had.

Banana: I saw those posts but they're basically asking just the same as I am, rather than asserting x,y,z.

I'm literally asking any scientific types: "what happens to man-made technology when the earth's magnetic poles flip / start to flip? Anything? Depends on how fast?" Basically, is it possible the poles could be shifting and we would never notice?

[Elysium]

With a weakened (i.e. smaller) magnetic field, solar radiation increasingly affects the planet. With less magnetic shielding satellite circuitry becomes fried rendering them useless. Energized particles can induce current in electric grids causing power spikes. These energetic particles also interact with living organisms potentially resulting in an increase in diseases like cancer and even genetic mutations. Fun stuff.

Edited for clarity

[billybobsky]

Originally Posted by cynical_rock Without the magnetic field, solar radiation increasing affects the planet. Without magnetic shielding satellite circuitry becomes fried rendering them useless. Energized particles can induce current in electric grids causing power spikes. These energetic particles also interact with living organisms potentially resulting in an increase in diseases like cancer and even genetic mutations. Fun stuff.

The magnetic field won't totally 'disappear' in any reasonable time scale as that would involve the dispensation of huge amounts of energy...

As the field changes direction there will be more than two poles but the field flux will still be more or less the same over much of the earth's surface...

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by billybobsky The magnetic field won't totally 'disappear' in any reasonable time scale as that would involve the dispensation of huge amounts of energy...

True, we would need a shut down of the earth's core to accomplish that (turned into a really bad movie). However, reversals are typically located during periods of low field strength which would reduce the shielding capacity of the magnetosphere.

[Moogs]

That's what I'm talkin about... let the debate ride, physics monkeys!

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by cynical_rock Energized particles can induce current in electric grids causing power spikes. These energetic particles also interact with living organisms potentially resulting in an increase in diseases like cancer and even genetic mutations. Fun stuff.

My colleague from work and her husband bought a piece of land close to positively *massive* power lines. They got a great deal on the land because the location sucked; which they might have 'known', had they been reading relevant newspaper/magazine articles in a more timely and consistent fashion. Apparently, they didn't have a clue about 'powerline' concerns.

They proceeded to build a gorgeous home on this land, as well as a corral and stable for horses. They had a young daughter, probably three or four years old at the time.

When I heard about the power lines, I felt really concerned about their possible effects on the little girl; but since their house was almost finished, I hated to say anything to spoil things for them.

Anyway, after a few years, when the girl was in 3rd or 4th grade, she started having some kind of strange medical problems related to her urogenital system. I'm not sure what the problems were, but from the little her mother said, they were extremely unusual, and pretty serious.

Maybe her problems weren't related to the power lines, but, personally, I suspect that they were. What are your thoughts on the matter, cynical rock?

Municipalities and counties/states don't wish to address these concerns, because 'they' are the ones building the power lines.

Ah well.

[Moogs]

Yah another weird powerline fact is that under those mondo-towers that are like 200 ft high... plants will grow at like 2x the rate of the surrounding area sometimes. Very odd. There will be this "grove" of really denseshrubbery or weeds, then off to the sides, it will be much less dense, etc.

[Banana]

Well, that explains why farmers like to put their cows out to pasture lined with power lines. Free feed! Who care if their beef is electrifying, right?

[thegelding]

electricity might help them to grow some, but i bet the main reason plants grow better around the poles is a more simple reason...more water.
during a rain water falls everywhere, including the pole. so the ground gets the water that falls on it, plus it gets the water that falls on the pole and slides down the pole to the ground. the pole will also collect more dew and water from the air and this condenses and also slides down the pole to the ground. so the area near pole gets more water. more water means more growth

simple


as for the girl? i don't know. it's a tough call. when you think of it, we as humans are getting zapped with tv and radio and cellphone and all this crap that we, as a sepcies, didn't get zapped with 100 years ago. yet we live longer now....and we probably get more cancer too...

i don't know. i figure none of this crap is good for us...yet i almost died as a kid because my family was into "natural" food and got typhoid fever from unpasturized milk. kinda go with the "flight or fight" theory...everything is trying to kill you. so you either run or fight. though smart species probably do a bit of each.

maybe the bees just headed to cabo for a holiday and drank too much tekillya

g

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by Windswept My colleague from work and her husband bought a piece of land close to positively *massive* power lines. They got a great deal on the land because the location sucked; which they might have 'known', had they been reading relevant newspaper/magazine articles in a more timely and consistent fashion. Apparently, they didn't have a clue about 'powerline' concerns. They proceeded to build a gorgeous home on this land, as well as a corral and stable for horses. They had a young daughter, probably three or four years old at the time. When I heard about the power lines, I felt really concerned about their possible effects on the little girl; but since their house was almost finished, I hated to say anything to spoil things for them. Anyway, after a few years, when the girl was in 3rd or 4th grade, she started having some kind of strange medical problems related to her urogenital system. I'm not sure what the problems were, but from the little her mother said, they were extremely unusual, and pretty serious. Maybe her problems weren't related to the power lines, but, personally, I suspect that they were. What are your thoughts on the matter, cynical rock? Municipalities and counties/states don't wish to address these concerns, because 'they' are the ones building the power lines. Ah well.

Not a friggin' clue.

It would be interesting to see the electromagnetic effects that high current powerlines have in their immediate vicinity. However, I'm not sure how close you'd have to be on a regular basis to actually see effects from it.

[Moogs]

Originally Posted by thegelding electricity might help them to grow some, but i bet the main reason plants grow better around the poles is a more simple reason...more water. during a rain water falls everywhere, including the pole. so the ground gets the water that falls on it, plus it gets the water that falls on the pole and slides down the pole to the ground. the pole will also collect more dew and water from the air and this condenses and also slides down the pole to the ground. so the area near pole gets more water. more water means more growth simple

Damn you and your logic. I thought the electro-magnetic field created by the wires mutated the plants' growth genes and caused the top mm of soil to spontaneously sublimate into an aerosol form of Miracle Grow, which is then inhaled through the plants' newly formed gills, at which point they begin to grow like something out of B-rate horror flick.

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by cynical_rock Not a friggin' clue.

[billybobsky]

Actually, we don't know if there is low field strength during reversals... All we know is that the change is relatively sudden and doesn't stop at an intermediate state.

As for Windswept's concerns, it is far more likely that the defects were caused by a heritable genetic disorder than by electric fields from high tension wires. Look at it this way, trees don't grow oddly around high tension lines, this is a huge sample size that doesn't indicate any likely problems with the area.