Omni Brain

On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study, Rahimi et al., 17 Feb 2005 (epub way, way ahead of print) studied three types of tin foil helmet designs with a $250,000 Agilent 8714ET network analyser and omnidirectional antenna sending out RF signals between 10 Khz to 3 Ghz. Four subjects tested the helmet designs, with a receiver variously placed above the frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes.

The findings were so shocking, they must be broadcast to the world.

Results

For all helmets, we noticed a 30 db amplification at 2.6 Ghz and a 20 db amplification at 1.2 Ghz, regardless of the position of the antenna on the cranium. In addition, all helmets exhibited a marked 20 db attenuation at around 1.5 Ghz, with no significant attenuation beyond 10 db anywhere else.

Conclusion

The helmets amplify frequency bands that coincide with those allocated to the US government between 1.2 Ghz and 1.4 Ghz. According to the FCC, these bands are supposedly reserved for ''radio location'' (i.e. GPS) and other communications with satellites (see, for example, [3]). The 2.6 Ghz band coincides with mobile phone technology. Though not affiliated by government, these bands are at the hands of multinational corporations.

Improved helmet designs are called for. That, and more effective antipsychotic drugs.

NOTE: Although this study was meant as a light-hearted joke, it does poke fun at people who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia and it's important to remember they deserve compassion just as much as anybody with an illness. But, there is a spectrum of paranoia between clearly psychotic and a bit "alternative," and maybe we don't need to be so sensitive about the latter. Is Elvis alive and wearing a tin foil hat?

Research on the definition of delusion is new, but fascinating. Just where do we draw a line between illness and dumbness? Who is drawing that line, and why?

Fab blog Mind Hacks has featured two posts on the subject: Mind control and the modern citizen, and earlier, Internet mind control and the diagnosis of delusions. Psychologist blogger Vaughan Bell was lead author on a relevant paper* and has made it available as a free PDF, along with a selection of other articles from his innovative work around psychosis and delusion.

* 'Mind Control' Experiences on the Internet: Implications for the Psychiatric Diagnosis of Delusions, Bell et al., Psychopathology 2006;39:87-91 (DOI: 10.1159/000090598)