Grounding or Earthing

Yes, but those are so unfair. I was going to say "slightly OT" but given the subject of this thread, it's probably very on-topic. Did anyone read about those two psychics who complained when tested ...

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A scientific experiment has found that two mediums were unable to demonstrate that they had special psychic powers.

The test by researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London, tried to establish whether mediums could use psychic abilities to identify something about five unseen volunteers.

The results, carried out under test conditions, did not show evidence of any unexplained powers of insight.

But medium Patricia Putt said this experiment "doesn't prove a thing".

This Halloween challenge was an attempt to investigate whether professional mediums could demonstrate their psychic powers in a controlled setting - by inviting them to deduce something about people they had never met and could not see or hear.

'Psychic energy'

The experiment, designed by Chris French, head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, asked two professional mediums to write something about five individuals who were concealed behind a screen.

These five volunteers were then asked to try to identify themselves from these psychic readings - with a success rate of only one in five.

This was a result that was "entirely consistent with the operation of chance alone", said Professor French.

But one of the mediums, Patricia Putt, rejected the suggestion that this showed any absence of psychic powers - saying that she needed to work face-to-face with people or to hear their voice, so that a connection could be established.

"Psychic energy" was not likely to work in the setting created for the experiment, she said, and her success rate was usually very high.

Ms Putt said the experiment was designed to confirm the researchers' pre- conceptions - rather than examine the nature of her psychic ability.

"Scientists are very closed-minded," she said.

She said there were fraudsters operating as psychic mediums - but that it was wrong for scientists to think that such mediums "were all the same".

But Michael Marshall of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, who helped to organise the test, said it showed that claims to have special abilities "aren't based in reality".

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Reply to
Jethro_uk
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Had this sort of problem on comms sites located on remote hill tops next to a tall mast..

Fibre optic cable has its advantages in these places:)....

Reply to
tony sayer

I dropped our last one in a skip in about 1998.

Reply to
Huge

Whereas she's so open-minded her brains fell out.

BTW, she's already failed the James Randi $1M challenge;

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Reply to
Huge

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I'm really, really bored I tune the TV into "Psychic TV" for a few minutes to laugh at the 'tards. It's odd how "psychic ability" only seems to manifest in drooling morons and the gutter sweepings of humanity.

Reply to
Steve Firth

The company I worked for in the early '80's was moving from using TTL (F and LS series) to static sensitive *MOS logic, and we went on a static handling course at AMD. There was a good demo there...

A new CMOS logic chip (probably 4000 series, but I don't recall now) was fully tested in front of us, including parameters such as input switching levels, output drive capability, etc. The chip was then handed around for everyone to look at, just like passing a biro or something similar around. When it got back to the front bench, it was left to temperature stabalise, and then tested again. Most of the parameters had deteriorated slightly, but it was still in spec. It was handed around a few more times and rechecked, and eventually it went out of spec.

They did this with each class. The chip always deteriorated, and often went out of spec, but it was very rare that it was actually destroyed. What you're normally left with is a chip which has less noise immunity than it should have, on inputs and/or outputs.

They showed us some microscope images of chips (electron microscope I presume), specifically the junctions connected to the pins. You could see massive holes blown in them, but the surprising thing was these chips had still worked - it was simply that 50-90% of the junction was blown away, and it was still operating on the tiny bit left, and hence at reduced capability.

It also did terrible things to the MTBF. Whilst chips might normally have an MTBF of well over a million years (i.e. even with a million of them in appliances, no failues expected during the several year expected lifetime of the appliance), a static zap can bring this down to, say, 1000 hours, meaning the appliance would fail within a year.

Nowadays, many *MOS chips have some protection logic designed in, which does help, but doesn't make them immune. Back in the 80's, they didn't.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

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> When I'm really, really bored I tune the TV into "Psychic TV" for a few

No it isn't. :o)

Reply to
Huge

Where does that leave the modellers of puffer trains and twee little railway station buildings in fields replete with dinky fluffy sheep ?

DerekG

Reply to
DerekG

I thought York used current loop? Certainly did in my day, which isn't that long before then.

Andy

Reply to
Andy Champ

It might have done for the PAD feeds - though I seem to remember thick coax all over the place too??? But a large amount of end-user RS232 was up there too (PAD not in the vicinity of terminal room).

It was around 1989 ish that they were putting the first fibre in for the PADs.

BTW - if you want a shock, Youtube has some current YUSU (union) "rough guides" - blimey the place has changed - and expanded. Goodricke is now Halifax and Goodricke has moved to East Heslington sub campus. Wenty bar is now a reading room (oh the irony!).

Reply to
Tim Watts

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DerekG

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Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Actually this one creased the Missus!.. Soo very sadly correct 'tho..

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Reply to
tony sayer

A friend had one of those on his car many years ago. One day his normally very placid dog went nuts. he had no idea why but the dog reacted the same every time in the car. Some time later he found the earthing strap had got caught on the rear bumper. He fixed it and the dog went back to its usual placid self. A few months later, the dog again went nuts in the car. This time the earth strap was broken. He fixed it, and dog went back to normal again.

It could have been the dog detecting the noise of the strap touching the floor ...but maybe not.

Reply to
The Other Mike

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