How did I miss this one from 2005? And how come no one told me to take off my tinfoil hat? Via @kmerritt, "On the Effectiveness of Aluminium Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study" by Ali Rahimi, Ben Recht, Jason Taylor, and Noah Vawter.
Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four individuals. Using a $250,000 network analyser, we find that although on average all helmets attenuate invasive radio frequencies in either directions (either emanating from an outside source, or emanating from the cranium of the subject), certain frequencies are in fact greatly amplified. These amplified frequencies coincide with radio bands reserved for government use according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Statistical evidence suggests the use of helmets may in fact enhance the government's invasive abilities. We speculate that the government may in fact have started the helmet craze for this reason.
Obviously
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It's a couple years old, but good science never goes bad. Here's the abstract:
Among a fringe community of paranoids, aluminum helmets serve as the protective measure of choice against invasive radio signals. We investigate the efficacy of three aluminum helmet designs on a sample group of four…
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That is awesome dude. Good find.
This is worthy of an Ig Nobel prize.
Great article.
It makes me question my choice of protective headgear for use while manipulating atomic hyperfine qubits with microwave horns.
It's interesting that those tattoos do a better job of realistically representing the cephalopod eye (the one that's visible in each, anyway!) than most cartoons do. There are probably cartoony versions of cephalopods on tattoos too though.
What ever happened to picking up AM on your braces? This was a staple of sitcoms 40 years ago. Are modern braces all plastic? Apparently, if you lived near one of those big AM stations this could really happen, or so my EE professors at MIT claimed. Could this have something to do with the rumors, or is it just schizophrenia?