Posted on 04/24/2008 1:31:52 PM PDT by blam
Does the Earth's magnetic field cause suicides?
13:39 24 April 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Catherine Brahic
Many animals can sense the Earth's magnetic field, so why not people, asks Oleg Shumilov of the Institute of North Industrial Ecology Problems in Russia.
Shumilov looked at activity in the Earth's geomagnetic field from 1948 to 1997 and found that it grouped into three seasonal peaks every year: one from March to May, another in July and the last in October.
Surprisingly, he also found that the geomagnetism peaks matched up with peaks in the number of suicides in the northern Russian city of Kirovsk over the same period.
Shumilov acknowledges that a correlation like this does not necessarily mean there is a causal link, but he points out that there have been several other studies suggesting a link between human health and geomagnetism.
For example, a 2006 review of research on cardiovascular health and disturbances in the geomagnetic field in the journal Surveys in Geophysics (DOI: 10.1007/s10712-006-9010-7) concluded that a link was possible and that the effects seemed to be more pronounced at high latitudes.
Twinned peaks
The review's author, Michael Rycroft, formerly head of the European Geosciences Society, says that geomagnetic health problems affect 10 to 15% of the population.
"Others have found similar things [to Shumilov's results] in independent sets of data," says Rycroft. "It suggests something may be linking the two factors."
A 2006 Australian study, for example, also found a correlation between peaks in suicide numbers and geomagnetic activity (Bioelectromagnetics, vol. 27 p 155).
Brain storms
Psychiatrists too have noticed a correlation between geomagnetic activity and suicide rates. A review of 13 years of South African data on suicides and magnetic storms in South African Psychiatry Review, vol. 6 p. 24) suggested a
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
It’s not your fault you’re a suicidal maniac. It’s the earth’s fault. It’s angry at you for destroying the environment with your SUV and hairspray. Repent, save the planet, save yourselves!
/sarc
“Does The Earth’s Magnetic Field Cause Suicides?”
No,
Just one heck of a sunburn.
What ever. There’s be no life on Earth without it.
“Does The Earth’s Magnetic Field Cause Suicides?”
Yeah but you can prevent it by drilling a hole in your head so the evil spirits can escape.
What passes for science these days is ridiculous.
Well, I guess old mother earth isn’t so motherly is it? Jihadi man say....Death to mother earth!!!
No, Global Warming and the climate change is causing it...it has, alas, not hit the right people yet....
"I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy...."
Or they just get fed up with the Democrats in Congress.
None of that stuff has me considering suicide, but I must confess to harboring unkind thoughts about AGW hucksters.
Does this mean I can blame that on the geomagnetic field?
If so, then all I gotta say is, "w00t!!"
I say we ban the magnetic field.
And end the war on Poverty?
No....but a lack of magnetic field might cause some deaths.....
A pretty forgettable movie, except for Timex providing a custom "watch" that told the ETs how much time they had left for their plan, and one scene in a produce aisle. A woman smashes some tomatoes, and an irate employee yells "Who's going to clean that up?". The woman slashes her throat, and a guy in the theater yells out "Who's going clean THAT up?"
People who get MRI imaging done are exposed to a field of one Tesla or more, while the geomagneic field is at most 62 microTeslas.
Plus, the MRI operators work in or near strong fields. That’s the population you want in your study, not Russians in a northern town.
Yes. Women can do it too. And government. And your neighbors kid slamming his skateboard into the new car... or is that murder???
The Earth's magnetic field affects the flux of charged particles from the sun that impinge on the Earth near the poles. Maybe the aurora borealis makes people suicidal.
What a great idea for a study, paid for by the government. Study global warmings effects on the earths magnetic field and how this correlates to mental disorders such as mania, schizophrenia, and of course the catch all, bipolar disorder.
I think I'm going to dust off my old Atari 800XL, quit my job, ask my parents if I can use their garage and start my institute to study this. What the hell, if that don't work I can always ask for a government grant to study the Ozone Hole and how it causes skin cancer. Wait, wasn't that already done? I wonder, what ever came of that? Hmmmmmm, I have another great idea, I could study Acid Rain and how all our forests will by dead by the year 2000.
I had not thought of that; when I apply for my grant I’ll include solar flux correlation in the white paper.
If particles cause suicide, then April 11, 2003 should have shown a peak, followed closely by February 4, 2001.
Dear Oleg, just add another layer of aluminum foil to your beanie and you’ll be fine.
This just might be true, I know every time I get near my refrigerator I have these crazy thoughts.
I expect people with metal roofs are less affected then...huh?
The aurora was pale but active with some color this morning and yesterday morning, but there is so little night sky left that this is about the last time we will see it until this fall.
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