…and this is a 
This odd duck, discovered by Phil, has an amazing theory, which is his:
Abd Al-Baset Al-Sayyid: This is because the magnetic force is concentrated there, which affects people's blood and the biological movement of life. It has been proven that if magnetism, anywhere, exceeds 1,000 gauss, which equals one tenth of a tesla, it affects the ability of the hemoglobin in the blood to carry oxygen to the body's tissues, the ability of the blood to carry oxygen to the tissues.
Interviewer: In other words, the ability to live…
Abd Al-Baset Al-Sayyid: Yes, to live… This means is that when you are in Mecca, the ability of the blood to carry oxygen to the tissues is greater than anywhere else in the world.
Now these ideas are crazy enough—magnetic fields can't have that much of an effect, or as Phil mentions, MRIs would be fatal—but the real topper is why this loon is making the argument: in order to justify changing the world standard time from a Greenwich Mean Time standard to Mecca time. Why the magnetic fields at one place would be an argument for changing an arbitrary standard is unclear. Why this would affect the ability of people at the North and South Poles to make the pilgrimage to Mecca is even murkier. This kook makes the assertions anyway — no non sequitur is too far-fetched for the True Loon, you know.
Comments
Posted by: Llywellyn | January 17, 2007 7:18 AM
Man, is that why the Islamic center of the world sticks to my fridge door? I'd always wondered.
I don't know who wigs me out more, the people who totally throw science and rational thinking out of the window "It's TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN!!!" or the ones like this guy, who try to make up a way that their lunacy is validated by science and reason.
Posted by: bones | January 17, 2007 8:15 AM
MR Environment:
This term is used to describe the general environment present in the vicinity of an MR Scanner. In particular, this refers to the area within the 5 gauss line around the scanner. Characteristics of the environment include the following:
the static magnetic field (the range of 0.2 to 1.5 tesla is most common, but it can exceed 4.0 tesla*) and associated spatial gradients;
rapidly changing magnetic fields (imaging gradients ~kHz); and
radio frequency (RF) magnetic field pulses (on the order of tens to hundreds of MHz, i.e., in the FM radio band).
* note: 1 tesla = 10,000 gauss
I call bullshot. And I guess my local hospital is not only a harbinger of death to hundreds who have MRI scans everyday, it should be designated as the standard for time measurement.
Posted by: Greg Laden | January 17, 2007 9:02 AM
As usual, the science types are playing fast and loose and just scoffing at the proposal without giving it a chance. I've completed a dispassionate analysis of this proposal:
http://gregladen.com/wordpress/?p=156
It turns out that it's kind of wacky.
Posted by: jpf | January 17, 2007 9:55 AM
Does this mean that Mecca is actually under the influence of diamagnetic demons.
Posted by: TheBrummell | January 17, 2007 10:07 AM
I love that video; I saw it a couple of days ago.
I still don't understand how changing the world time standard to Mecca from Greenwhich would fix some weird 8.5 minute problem he almost vaguely defines. Also, he's shamelessly pandering to that powerful "antarctic-Muslims-trapped-8.5-minutes-in-the-past" political lobby.
Are the two references to "latitude" accurate translations, or mistranslations of "longitude" by an ignorant translator?
Posted by: nemo ramjet | January 17, 2007 10:56 AM
-If only- their way of thought could've been destroyed by something as simple as magnetism...
Posted by: Kristine | January 17, 2007 11:52 AM
You know, there are indications that the magnetic poles are in the process of switching again. So, will the "Mecca effect" switch to its pole then or what?
Of course, since prayers to Mecca obviously follow a trajectory rather than a straight line (that is, if you subscribe to the round-earth theory), I guess the curve would just get longer, and no one would have to face a different direction to pray.
Isn't it wonderful how religion creates and solves problems at the same time!
Posted by: Pi Guy | January 17, 2007 1:03 PM
Here at Chateau Pi, we keep plenty of liquid nitrogen on hand and that, along with a big bucket of magnets, seems to keep the Double Ds amused.
It's the paramagnetic demons that you have to keep your eye on...
Posted by: Dr. William Dyer | January 17, 2007 1:10 PM
I have actually run experiments on the magnets at the National High Magnetic Field Lab at Florida State Univ. The magnet cell my group used for the week was one of the resistive 35 Tesla(350,000 gauss) and beyond worries of credit card erasure or wrenches becoming projectiles we were all fine.
The resident PhD in charge of the magnets had said he had considered placing a wooden chair on top of the platform over the magnets. The intent was to sell slots to people who believed in magnetic healing and letting them sit for "sessions". Also he wondered about bottling the water that was used to cool the magnets for the much same purpose. He figured such things could be done if the DOE cut grants and the lab needed money to operate.
Posted by: MJ Memphis | January 17, 2007 3:20 PM
Dr. Dyer, somehow that idea reminded me of the great astronomers of old casting horoscopes for superstitious nobles to pay for their real scientific work. Then as now, the real money is in catering to the gullible.
Posted by: Zahi Stephens | January 18, 2007 8:27 PM
He isn't a fundamentalist. An Islamic fundamentalist would shout "innovation!", (the second worst insult after "infidel"). Fundamentalists believe that Islam is perfect, so anything added to it must be a sin. Fundamentalists would also be wary of trying to push Islamic standards on non-Muslims, (something they are pretty stricly against). This guy is a pseudo-progressive. Progressive Muslims try to adapt to modern technology and ideas. Pseudo-progressives try to get their 15 minutes of fame by making up pseudo-scientific discoveries. There are similar people in New Age and Christianity as well. Looks like he got his fame after all.
He would be better off creating an Islamic-oriented mapping coordinate system. There are hundreds of different standards, each one optimized for some locality, so it wouldn't be extraordinary -- and it would actually help Muslims who need to find the direction to face when praying.
Posted by: Steven | January 23, 2007 12:51 AM
Wow what a crackpot.