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Possible application candidate

It all appears rather illogical to me.

If I had a problem such as this I would not allow a remote control in my house. Simple. I would simply discard them when buying any device which uses them.

If visiting someone who may have one, I would make it clear in advance that I cannot be in the vicinity of one.

In other words, this would be a very well signalled issue, and not one which can be discovered (to my cost) in a casual manner by an unknowing relative.

I would insists that my doctor also investigate thoroughly, and that the whole issue be escalated to the point where further surgery be performed if required. If I were a doctor with such a patient I would see a rather unique and interesting paper in this case.

In designing the test, by the way, you will ned to isolate the remotes from their target devices. As in test in an entirely separate room. these devices flicker when a remote is used and provide clues.
 
TheBoyPaj said:
You are among skeptics here. You have to expect that the people on this board will not simply believe the first explanation they are given. We are trying to think of alternative explanations. Your uncle may have told you that it's due to the shrapnel in his foot, but you must accept that this may not be the correct explanation.
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Not only that, but.... From the point of view of the MDC, it doesn't matter. If he detects the operation of the remote, he wins a million dollars. I would think that the wording of the claim doesn't even need to mention the words shrapnel or foot.
 
jimtron said:
Jeff has said twice that detecting IR from a remote would be paranormal. See my recent posts where I quoted him. So that's resolved, no?
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Seems so. I assume they have consulted some scientist about this. Personally I would be a bit wary. I mean, there is an actual interaction of a signal, and we do know of creatures that can sense IR, so there is a slight possibility that by some freak effect, Burner's uncle might have aquired such an ability.

To be sure, I find it far more likely that the ability is an illusion: Pain is a very subjective thing, and perceiving pain can be triggered by mental processes. There are no of the accounts that Burner has given that suggest that the uncle could not have had visual or audible clues to when the remote was activated, and if the use of the remote has at some point happened to coincide with a random twinge of pain, he might beleive in a connection and perceive accordingly.

There is one thing that bothers me about this story, btw: Why cannot the schrapnell be removed? I could understand that in the head or some other delicate part of the body, the risks involved in removing it could be greater than in leaving it in, but in the foot? Has he had recent qualified medical advice on this? (of course, just now I see why that would have to wait ;) )

Hans
 
Hello NiallM,

With coherent, amplified in phase low-intensity infrared light, the article explains how they can precisely stimulate the proper nerves to get desired motor action of specific body parts. A goal they're striving for is…

Imagining future applications, Konrad said he can envision an array of fiber optic threads that runs directly from the brain or spinal cord to a prosthetic arm or leg, creating the ultimate man-machine interface.
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The point is that nerves have sensitivity to low-intensity infrared light. That is a physical characteristic of nerve tissue. The idea of a man-machine interface has been a puzzle in electronics for some time. I remember that discussion when I was studying electronics. It seems where they were looking for a bio-acceptable material, light was the answer. humm...

Gene
 
AgingYoung said:
Hello NiallM,

With coherent, amplified in phase low-intensity infrared light, the article explains how they can precisely stimulate the proper nerves to get desired motor action of specific body parts. A goal they're striving for is…



The point is that nerves have sensitivity to low-intensity infrared light. That is a physical characteristic of nerve tissue. The idea of a man-machine interface has been a puzzle in electronics for some time. I remember that discussion when I was studying electronics. It seems where they were looking for a bio-acceptable material, light was the answer. humm...

Gene
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But that article mentions laser. That's different to the low-intensity infrared light which is typically used by remotes.
 
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I was looking for information in the article to argue one way or the other, but I did not see anything that either supports or dismisses the possibility of generating a nerve response with the kind of IR radiation produced by common remote controls.

In the absence of any other known claim of this phenomenon, I would still hold that a standard remote's IR signal would be insufficient to produce such a result. However, this claim would remain as a footnote in my mind as related but unproven.
 
NiallM said:
Not so. My understanding of laser is that it must be directed at a target. Infr-red spread like a lightbulb's light. Laser must be directed; TV remote controls don't require the type of acccuracy that a laser would demand. They're dofferent things.
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The laser is used because it is a narrow beam that can be used to to stimulate single nerves. It makes no difference to the nerve whether the light is in a narrow beam or not, all it knows is that there is light falling on it, whether from a directed laser or from a remote. The article specifically mentions that it is a low intensity laser, and so it is unlikely to be much stronger, if at all, than a remote, since more powerful lasers are used to cut through tissue and not just excite it.
 
Sounds woo but it isn't

Seems like near-infrared light has some amazing properties. The more I research, the more likely infrared is capable of effecting nerves after all.

Does a TV remote use an LED to produce the infrared?

Healing power of light. Glowing red light emitted by light-emitting diodes or LEDs has been used to grow plants on NASA's Space Shuttle. Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and several other U.S. and foreign hospitals are using this near-infrared light, now in the second phase of clinical trials, to promote wound healing.


Different cells, such as skin, bone and muscle cells, respond differently to various wavelengths or energy levels of light. The light can penetrate tissue to a depth of up to 9 inches (23 centimeters).
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http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/multimedia/photos/2003/photos03-199.html
 
TV remotes control the TV by using infrared light emitting diodes (LED's) to send coded pulses of IR light. You can usually see the LED bulb on the front end of the remote.
 
Burner said:
Very good. Does this mean that even when a perfectly logical explanation would be found and demonstrated 1 mill prize would still have to be awarded?
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If one performs according to the protocol - and succeeds - the Prize legally will have to be awarded.

News from your uncle's claim, Burner? Did you consider to post the claim verbatim in this thread?
 
From the top of my head:
I WILL DEMOSNTRATE I CAN DETECT IR LIGHT FROM THE REMOTE CONTROL WITH A SHRAPNEL IN MY FOOT WHEN THE REMOTE IS POINTED AT IT FROM 1.5 M DISTANCE. CLOTHES ON. (MAYBE EVEN A CANVAS CURTAIN)

Simple enough. I will test him when I get the chance. Frankly I'm in no rush since this thing is turning out to be less paranormal by the day. I'll continue to watch this thread for further developments and report back after I do the testing. Don't feel like I can't contribute much more in this thread until then.
 
Burner said:
From the top of my head:
I WILL DEMOSNTRATE I CAN DETECT IR LIGHT FROM THE REMOTE CONTROL WITH A SHRAPNEL IN MY FOOT WHEN THE REMOTE IS POINTED AT IT FROM 1.5 M DISTANCE. CLOTHES ON. (MAYBE EVEN A CANVAS CURTAIN)

Simple enough. I will test him when I get the chance. Frankly I'm in no rush since this thing is turning out to be less paranormal by the day. I'll continue to watch this thread for further developments and report back after I do the testing. Don't feel like I can't contribute much more in this thread until then.
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How about:

I will demonstrate that my {left|right} foot can detect IR light from a TV remote pointed at it from no more than 1.5 meters away [that's 150 centimeters - I can never remember what you 'mericans use for decimal points]. I will be wearing socks, and the remote can be hidden behind a curtain.

This eliminates the shrapnel part, but specifies it's the foot and not other parts of his body.

And I agree it doesn't sound like a paranormal ability when I read the links others have posted, but that's the JREF's problem.
 
pbs did an enlightening special on cyborgs. Something that really caught my attention was the vision of a world wide mind (wwm). It's a little frightening to think that I could one day actually know what you folks are thinking. :)

Gene
 
AgingYoung said:
pbs did an enlightening special on cyborgs. Something that really caught my attention was the vision of a world wide mind (wwm). It's a little frightening to think that I could one day actually know what you folks are thinking. :)
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Claims like this always amuse me. Even if it one day becomes possible to implant chips in our brain so we can talk to each other and connect to the internet, it is a long way from being forced to. It is like claiming that the evolution of vocal chords allowed us to actually know what everyone is thinking. It allowed us to choose to tell people some things we are thinking, but it doesn't mean we are forced to shout out every little thought we have for everyone to hear. In most cases at least.;)
 
Cuddles said:
Claims like this always amuse me. Even if it one day becomes possible to implant chips in our brain so we can talk to each other and connect to the internet, it is a long way from being forced to. ....
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Oh believe me, I'll hack that little chip in your head. Glad to amuse you.

One of the discussion points from the show was the idea of how cyborg could be used for good or how it could give corrupt individuals a virtual omniscience to oppress the majority of people. Usually corrupt people tend to get their hands on powerful tools.

Gene
 
Hi all,
I found the discussion interesting, and jumped to the last page of the discussion, so please don't bite my head off if this has already been suggested.

Getting a whole collection of IR remotes sounds like a pretty cumbersone affair in my ears. IR LEDs come in a large variety of sizes and width of beam, and consistency between individual remotes is a matter of guesswork.

The IR LEDs used in such remotes however, can be purchased for less than $1 a piece (e.g. from ledtronics - or your nearest radio shack).

I would suggest building a simple circuit consisting of an IR-led connected to a random generating IC chip, such as the "True Random Number Generator (TRNG) RPG100 / RPG100B" (produced by FDK), a push button and a standard LED for verification.

Hook up the IR-LED to the foot (gaffer tape) and let the test person press the button a pre-determined number of times. The random IC then determines whether the LED lights up or not.

For each press, he will simply answer whether he can feel anything or not. Judge 1 who will remain with the test-person jots down the answer. This judge, for obcious reasons does not know whether the IR-LED has gone off or not.
A visible-LED in parallel with the IR-LED can be connected via a length of cable to judge 2 in an adjacent room. This judge jots down whether the light goes on or off with each pressing, and cannot see neither the test-person nor judge 1.

After a certain number of presses, the two lists can be compared.
I think this would constitute a decent, and fairly easy double blind experiment.
 
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