Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Power Lines Affect Computers??
Message-ID: <1989Nov26.225014.27655@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <1989Nov25.213858.4811@mccc.uucp>
Date: Sun, 26 Nov 89 22:50:14 GMT

In article <1989Nov25.213858.4811@mccc.uucp> root@mccc.uucp (Pete Holsberg) writes:
>I'm looking at a house that has power lines running at the rear edge of
>the property and I'm wondering if radiation of any kind from those lines
>might affect my computer, disks, whatever.  None of the people who live
>there now have 11 fingers or 3 eyes or even one computer...

Health effects of living very near major power lines (the big ones with
the metal towers, not just ordinary local wire-on-pole types) are somewhat
controversial.  One or two studies have shown effects that are noticeable
enough to cause some concern, although attempts to replicate them have
not been uniformly successful.  There may be some small health hazard.
However, we're definitely talking about subtle, low-level effects from
large power lines.  Anything bigger would have been noticed long ago.

If you're talking about just an ordinary power line, not a high-voltage
transmission line, forget it.  *All* urban houses have such lines near
them, although in some cases the lines are buried rather than elevated.
You get much more exposure to magnetic fields etc. from the wiring in
your own walls.

Effects on computers will be zero unless something remarkable is going on.
Contrary to popular folklore, even a fairly respectable magnet needs to
be within a few millimeters of disks etc. to have any effect.
-- 
That's not a joke, that's      |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
NASA.  -Nick Szabo             | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
