Why not just super-glue the magnet to your fingernail? Almost all the benefits, almost none of the risks.
Well, except that you need to reposition it all the time as your nail grows out.
Change sticky base every 3-4 months?
I have magnets implanted in my hands
71–80 of 112 posts
Re: I have magnets implanted in my hands
#72I had one in my left ring finger for a while. It was neat, totally impractical, and way too sensitive to touch. I could feel EM fields. This might be really useful if you work with electricity, but as a developer, it was only every so often that I noticed something. It lost a lot of its power to pick up small stuff after a while. The procedure wasn't painful because the person I went to had some numbing agent that I'…
One day I was watching The Thought Emporium, the host did the same thing[0].
It was cool to watch, but then I was starting to worry what if one day my doctor want to put me through a MRI machine ...
Re: I have magnets implanted in my hands
#73every one of my friends who implanted neodymium magnets had it rejected at some point within 5 years of implantation
Re: I have magnets implanted in my hands
#74I was surprised to read that the magnets weaken over time. I honestly thought permanent where really permanent, but according to a google search: > Neodymium magnets are the strongest and most permanent magnets known to man. If they are not overheated or physically damaged, neodymium magnets will lose less than 1% of their strength over 10 years - not enough for you to notice unless you have very sensitive measuring…
As a parallel question: does that mean that permanent magnet motors degrade their performance over time ?
To a negligible amount in my experience. Many electrical motors have an official shelf-life of around 10 years, due to other factors. If the magnet is treated correctly, it wouldn't loose much strength, maybe 1-2%.
Some magnets lose strength from concussions and higher temperatures. A very strong magnetic field can also damage the magnet. That said, motors with permanent magnets have quite good performance properties and are pretty energy efficient.
And if your magnet fails, you can always revitalize it with an external magnetic field.
Re: I have magnets implanted in my hands
#75I was surprised to read that the magnets weaken over time. I honestly thought permanent where really permanent, but according to a google search: > Neodymium magnets are the strongest and most permanent magnets known to man. If they are not overheated or physically damaged, neodymium magnets will lose less than 1% of their strength over 10 years - not enough for you to notice unless you have very sensitive measuring…
Makes sense when you think about it. The property of magnetism is caused by the alignment of the atoms in the material. Surely this ordering is as subject to entropy as all other order.
But the speed at which people are reporting their magnets losing strength makes me think they're either using low-quality magnets, or their brains getting used to the sensations and tuning them out. I think if mammals had an evolutionary purpose for sensing magnetic fields, they'd already have methods for doing so. From recollection I think dolphins have this trait and use it to navigate.
Re: I have magnets implanted in my hands
#76I was surprised to read that the magnets weaken over time. I honestly thought permanent where really permanent, but according to a google search: > Neodymium magnets are the strongest and most permanent magnets known to man. If they are not overheated or physically damaged, neodymium magnets will lose less than 1% of their strength over 10 years - not enough for you to notice unless you have very sensitive measuring…
From what I read it could be the buildup of scar tissue around the magnet. I can't find the source, sry.
Re: I have magnets implanted in my hands
#77Can I just buy a magnetic ring somewhere, giving all the same benefits but without the downsides of surgery? Still sense EM fields but without pain, infection risk, can still get MRIs etc.
not really. the sensitivity of magnets under the skin in contact with nerve endings is an order of magnitude more powerful.
I wonder if a piercing would be a suitable hybrid, giving additional sensitivity while still being removable. If detecting EM fields is the goal, I'm not sure there's much advantage to using a finger as the location.
Re: I have magnets implanted in my hands
#78I was surprised to read that the magnets weaken over time. I honestly thought permanent where really permanent, but according to a google search: > Neodymium magnets are the strongest and most permanent magnets known to man. If they are not overheated or physically damaged, neodymium magnets will lose less than 1% of their strength over 10 years - not enough for you to notice unless you have very sensitive measuring…
Makes sense when you think about it. The property of magnetism is caused by the alignment of the atoms in the material. Surely this ordering is as subject to entropy as all other order. But the speed at which people are reporting their magnets losing strength makes me think they're either using low-quality magnets, or their brains getting used to the sensations and tuning them out. I think if mammals had an evolution…
>, or their brains getting used to the sensations and tuning them out.
or nerve damage from having a magnet just under the surface, several of the people here said it hurt to bump them
Re: I have magnets implanted in my hands
#79Instead of large magnets wouldn't it make more sense to have lots of little ones? I am thinking something like magnetic tattoo ink. It would remove the touch/blockiness issues and be touching many more nerves.
Your immune system would try to collect and excrete all of them. This happens to tattoos. Soon your magnets would be allocated in your lymph nodes.
Re: I have magnets implanted in my hands
#80Pretty sad to hear they degrade so fast over time, the possibility of sensing electromagnetic fields just sounds so fun to me, like adding another layer to the human senses