Electric Shavers Rot Your Brain

Damek writes "According to UW researchers, prolonged exposure to low-level magnetic fields, similar to those emitted by such common household devices as blow dryers, electric blankets and razors, can damage brain cell DNA. The damage appears to be cumulative, so you'd best get rid of your electric razors & blankets ASAP! The full study is available online now. No word yet for Cell Phone users' brains..."

No sweat.

[grub]

Personally I'm not concerned, my tinfoil hat doubles as a Faraday cage.

Screwed

[BWJones]

Hmmmm. Let's see: Electric shaver in the morning, RF access through security to my labs, Bluetooth synching, 802.11b & g for my internet access and music streaming, television, radio, microwave oven, cell phone..........Oh man, I'm screwed. :-)

But at least I got rid of most of the CRTs in my life.

sweet.

[fjordboy]

So not only am I more manly for using a straight razor...I'm also less likely to have brain rot!

Now if I could just find some more tissues before pass out from bloodloss....

pff, fp

[Anonymous Coward]

"No word yet for Cell Phone users' brains..."
I'm sure someone will prove its existence, eventually.

damn it, now this?

[Anonymous Coward]

i'm still getting over my blindness from masturbation!

:P

Re:No sweat.

[Libertarian_Geek]

Or parabolic antenna, when you shave your chin!
Joke disclaimer: The above is a joke
or is it?
oh wait, yes it is?

blondes -- the final answer:

[SubtleNuance]

its the BLOW DRYERS.

Re:sweet.

[grub]

Most /.ers don't have to worry:

A : They're not old enough to shave.
B : All the electrical plugs in their parents' basement are populated by computer gear.

Not Poissble

[FisterBelvedere]

I shav eevry dai nd I deosn't ntoice aynthign.

Explains a lot

[jbrader]

I used to work for a guy who buzzed the stubble off his face like twice a day. He was a real hustler and he thought he got more sales if he was all bay smooth I guess. But he was dumber than a bag of hammers. I guess now i know why.

Well...

[ProudClod]

When electric cars become widespread, we'll all be fucked!

Re:Umm...

[El]

Excuse me, but yes, I do shave my whole head everday with an electric razor... and I haven't noticed any... uh, what were we talking about?

Hair Dryers

[Saeed al-Sahaf]

"emitted by such common household devices as blow dryers, electric blankets and razors, can damage brain cell DNA"

Blond joke here someplace.

Re:Radiation from Monitors

[Andorion]

So my dual monitor setup is double-notgood for me? =(

~Berj

Dirty GNU/Hippies

[Anonymous Coward]

no blow dryers and razors?

Now I understand why Richard Stallman is so smart.

Coming soon...

[funny-jack]

So, I'll need to upgrade my tinfoil hat to a full tinfoil helmet?

Re:Not Poissble

[Anonymous Coward]

Me get brain damage? That's unpossible!

Re:Doubt this is a big problem...

[Tebriel]

Judging by most posts on Slashdot, I'd say the damage has already been done!

Re:Radiation from Monitors

[SnowDeath]

Are I don thnk has ani affect.

Re:pff, fp

[kfg]

"No word yet for Cell Phone users' brains..."

I'm sure someone will prove its existence, eventually.

If my anecdotal experiences gathered at the mall are any indication, good luck.

KFG

Re:Radiation from Monitors

[tgd]

And it'll make hair grow on your palms.

Oh, did you mean at work?

Re:Well...

[jbrader]

Haha see the oil companies are realy our saviors

Time to invest in an AFDB

[Anonymous Coward]

Better known as an Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie [zapatopi.net]

Re:Radiation from Monitors

[pyros]

So my dual monitor setup is double-notgood for me? =(

No, it's double-plus ungood.

Objection! Assuming facts not in evidence!

[www.sorehands.com]

You are making the assumption that people on /. shave, use hair dryers, or any type of personal grooming.

This explains it

[rixstep]

I use a dual G5 shaver every morning, and the g/f always points out how I missed something here, something there, and it gets consecutively worse - I keep missing more and more.

And here I thought it was just because I was hungover.

Magnetic Fields are the Enemy

[Doesn't_Comment_Code]

In related news, DARPA funds research to eliminate the North and South pole.

No danger in old Europe :-)

[f97magu]

In the study, the researchers discovered that rats exposed to a 60-hertz field for 24 hours showed significant DNA damage
In Europe we have 50 Hz fields. *sighs in relief*

Re:My poor ex-girlfriend :(

[bathmatt]

No, not even this is going to get women to give up their vibrators.

Fortunatly, most women use their vrbrators no where near their brain, However, the male version of this device is typically placed directly over the male brain.....

Blowdrying a rat ?

[balbeir]

Hmm,

I'm getting this weird vision.
Well maybe the rat likes it ...

Re:Radiation from Monitors

[Anonymous Coward]

Will it make hair grow on my iPAQ too?

This why Magneto is more dangerous

[kellman]

to your mind than Professor X:

One significant implication of this is that certain types of cells with higher iron content - such as brain cells - may be more susceptible to damage from electromagnetic fields.

;)

Re:Coming soon...

[kfg]

So, I'll need to upgrade my tinfoil hat to a full tinfoil helmet?

And don't forget your cup.

KFG

Re:Umm...

[Trillan]

Personally, I'd expect to catch fire before getting brain damage if exposed to a hair dryer for 48 hours straight...

Re:Radiation from Monitors

[iotaborg]

And you think you have it bad? Look at my misery! [tomshardware.com]

Re:Umm...

[inertia187]

A loose analogy would be that I can hold my breath for ten seconds 30 times over the course of a day without any danger, but if I tried to do it all at once the results would probably be pretty harmful.

Pirate #3: Got any skills?
Guybrush Threepwood: Well, I can hold my breath for 10 minutes.

Re:No sweat.

[pHDNgell]

my tinfoil hat doubles as a Faraday cage

Do you mean to suggest that they're generally worn only for fashion?

Melatonin

[Cyran0]

Good news: The study says that the brain cell damage effects were negated by use of "free radical scavengers" like melatonin!

Bad news: Now I have to worry about falling asleep on the freeway!

Re:Screwed

[Chriscypher]

I am so much *happier* now that I don't think as much.

All issues requiring thought just roll off me.

I know freedom from the burden of intelligence, sentience, ignorance.

I am an animal!

Grrrowlhahaha! More electric shaver please!

Re:Umm...

[inertia187]

No, I don't have headphones that tap 110 AC. If you're using headphones like that, you should have your head examined...literally.

Does anyone know.....

[Eradicator2k3]

....if this affects the DNA in, oh I don't know, the "nether" regions of the human body. I mean, I do plan on having kids someday, provided I ever hook up with a woman (ANY WOMAN). Please respond immediately as my razor finished recharging and I'm kind o in the middle of something.

Re:sweet Straight Razors

[Venner]

That, and I like the fact that if I take care of my straight razor, I'll probably need to buy another one in, oh, 50-75 years. The one I'm using now was manufactured around 1895 and I picked it up at a flea market for $3. Shaves great.

I've only found one downside. If you're in a real hurry and try to rush a shave, you'll end up looking like you were in a knife fight ^_^

Moral of the story: spend an extra 3 minutes and take your time.

Yay! More Junk Science!

[errxn]

I find this whole study to be flawed. I mean, really, when are rats gonna use electric razors or blow dryers in the "real world"? C'mon!

Oblig. Onion reference: We're doing Five Blades

[transporter]

Man this article [theonion.com] just cracked me up.

Transporter

Re:Umm...

[number11]

Actually, the magnitude of a magnetic field drops away as the square of the distance from the source.

For a point source, it does. For a line source, it drops proportional to the distance. For a (relative to you) large plane, it doesn't drop at all. Granted, a point source probably approximates an electric razor, except at close range. (How far away do you hold your electric razor?) Old electric blankets had a large loop, not very good. Newer ones have the wire in pairs, so the field cancels out better (twisted pairs would be better yet, but probably lumpy). My house was wired sometime around when they invented electricity, before they had multiconductor cable, and sometimes the hot and neutral wires go by completely different routes (at least two circuits share the same neutral, too). So it's like living inside of an electric razor, I guess. Maybe I should connect a ground wire to my tinfoil hat.

Re:This explains it

[jrobertray]

If you are attempting to shave by rubbing your face on your Mac, you're probably still drunk.

Re:Magnetic Fields are the Enemy

[beej]

In related news, DARPA funds research to eliminate the North and South pole.

Never wage war on two fronts at once!

They should start by just eliminating the north magnetic pole.

All I know is...

[mcpkaaos]

If you are a male who not only owns a blow dryer but uses it, you have bigger problems than potential brain damage. =P

Re:blondes -- the final answer:

[MartianKillerBarbies]

So blow-dried blondes are *literally* airheads?

Nah, it's probably just...

[cnelzie]

...the results of some chemistry students attempt at creating some ultra-powerful hallucinagenic substance.

blow dryers

[icanoop]

> prolonged exposure to low-level magnetic fields,
> similar to those emitted by such common household
> devices as blow dryers

So that explains women.

Re:blow dryers

[jeni generic]

Get laid much?

Re:Gender?

[TobySmurf]

Hey, I resent that! I shower at *least* once a week, or even more often if the flies that follow me around start dying by Wednesday or so...

Wouldn't that include...

[HangingChad]

...the electric field put out by my mon....mon thingy...this glowy thing next to my computer with the pretty pictures on it. Mon...mon something.

new regulations?

[Anonymous Coward]

so, where are those who were so critical of bush after this article [slashdot.org]? shouldn't you be demanding he imposes some new regulations based on this new study? is he ignoring this for political reasons?!? damn his soft money contributors from pro-electric razor groups!!

Re:Umm...

[dilvish_the_damned]

Well of course light duty magnetic fields can directly effect the health of your body or all these [dmoz.org] would would be of little practical use at all.

Re:Umm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hair driers do not transmit electrical energy through the air.

Then your hairdryer is insufficiently overclocked, sir.

Hey

[RedA$$edMonkey]

Joe: These magnetic fields are sucking away my electrons.

Billy: Are you sure?

Joe: I'm positive!

Re:Umm...

[Hrvat]

Um, I don't know where your jaw is, but mine is attached to my skull.

Next up: alarm clocks

[Nathaniel]

Next on the list, that alarm clock on my headboard that I sleep next to for 5-6 hours a day. Not that I'll be sad to see it go.

Re:Umm...

[Sponge Bath]

...low-frequency mahnetic fields.

Governor Schwarzenegger, is that you?

Mods...

[danielsfca2]

> As I've said elsewhere, your tinfoil hat won't do a damn thing to block a magnetic field, grounded or not. Come on, you can surely find a magnet and piece of foil somewhere in your house and perform the extremely simple and obvious experiment that proves this...

(Score:-1, No Freaking Sense of Humor)

New Gillete slogan

[Gorimek]

"A Sharp Blade for a Sharp Mind!"

So, sleep repairs the damage...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's good news! All I need to do now is shave _before_ I go to bed!

Re:Umm...

[Hooya]

you are holding it against your skull when you shave your beard. unless you've named *that* "beard". in that case, god save your children.

Science

[chunkwhite86]

Is this like when they inject rats daily, with three times their body-weight of caffeine, and then say that caffeine gives you cancer?

Re:Umm...

[donutello]

Does anyone else have a problem with a science news site that has ads for "FDA cheap weight loss prescriptions" and "Complete out free profile and find your soulmate today" (TrueBeginnings)

Science geeks are fat and lonely - of course.

Now we know why all the best hackers have beards

[Alan Cox]

At last a rational scientific explanation for observed facts ;)

Re:Umm...

[Virtex]

But at least your hair would be dry.

It's NOT my brain I'm worried about

[jxliv7]

.

What does my brain care if its DNA is damaged, does that affect my thinking? Will i stop shaving with an electric razor? I dunno.

But, I guarantee I WILL stop shaving my genitals with an electric razor. No way do I want to damage any sperm swimming nearby.

Re:Magnetic Fields are the Enemy

[JahToasted]

Oh yeah, it's always Blame Canada isn't it?

Re:Umm...

[CheeseTroll]

It's not a tumah!!

Re:Most electric shavers don't use 60 hz. AC...

[R33MSpec]

One of my favorite doctors, Dr. Weil, who has a great website, by the way, recommends that...

Well he does have some credibility, from his photo it looks like he hasn't used any type of personal grooming device in at least 30 years.

Re:Umm...

[Kwil]

Except that the very fact that you've blacked out indicates that some harm was done to your brain.

So how many times have you done this?

In related news...

[nice]

Small amounts of saliva trickling down your throat causes cancer.

Re:Umm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Huh?

Why should holding your breath be attractive to females?

If you're thinking of cunnilingus...if you need to hold your breath, you're either doing it wrong or with a hygienically challenged partner...

Re:Umm...

[pipingguy]

Uh-huh. In related news, the 3 blade disposable razor now gives way to the 4-blade dispozable razor.

Re:Umm...

[twentycavities]

If NyQuil doesn't put you to sleep, then clearly God doesn't want you to sleep.

(Interesting point about computer usage...I've experienced it but didn't realize it...it's 'cause the monitor stimulates your brain?)

Smart bearded men

[frambris]

Aaaahh.... So that's why smart men have beards =].

Re:My car is killing me

[vena]

any tape left in my car for any length of time will eventually mutate into a Queen album.