Electric Human: Extraordinary Claim or Dangerous Stunt?
May 1st, 2010
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Jose Ayala claims to have an amazing ability, an unexplainable ability that borders on the paranormal. Jose can conduct electrical current through his body to light bulbs and even burn paper with its discharge. In the following video he demonstrates this amazing power. Note that this is not limited to high voltage, low amperage sources like electrostatic generators or small Tesla coils. The electricity is coming from powerful high voltage fly-back transformers and even directly from an electrical outlet.
Jose also does not isolate his body from the ground or the current. While one can safely come into contact with high voltage sources while isolated from a return path (the “bird on a wire effect”), Jose is not doing this either. Rather, he is clearly providing a path for the electricity to travel through his body. In one scene he stands on a plastic bucket, but he still uses his hand to provide the return path.
So is this a super power?
Note: It seems embedding is disabled for this video. Click to go to the full Youtube player.
Now the explanation of what is happening:
Some may be surprised to find out that being shocked by the electricity from standard mains power is rarely fatal. In North America 120 volts at 60 hz AC is used for most electrical end users. In Europe, it’s 240 volts at 50 Hz. In Asia and Latin America, it can be either one. Having this current flow through your body can be a very shocking experience, but only on rare occasions is it fatal.
It’s been said that “volts hurt, amps kill” and that’s generally accurate when it comes to tissue damage, but that does not mean that voltage does not matter. Ohms law states that current is voltage divided by resistance. The human body is not an especially good conductor of electricity. While not truly an insulator, it’s nowhere near copper or aluminum. Since the human body has a reasonable amount of resistance to it, household voltage is not generally going to push much amperage through the body. The current that does flow through the body is enough to cause serious injury if it continues to for any period of time, but is not going to cause a limb to reduced to a charred stub, as high voltage transmission line current can. Dry skin can be as much as one million ohms, although skin can also be lower than one thousand ohms.
Exactly how much current goes through the body, however, depends on a number of factors, including the moisture on the skin and the path it takes from the body to ground. A person standing barefoot on cement is going to offer a much better path to ground than a person in rubber soled shoes. If the person is physically touching the metal chassis of an electrical box then there may be a low resistance path established that can let a fairly large amount of current flow through their body.
But there is another danger to electricity flowing through the human body. If the current does not pass through the heart, then a person can survive a fairly large amount of electricity passing through their body with only localized damage. However, if the current takes a path directly through the heart, it can paralyze the heart muscle or send it into fibrillation, stopping the heart’s internal pacemaker from working properly.
Whether or not electricity will go through the heart and thus cause death is difficult, if not impossible to know. Electricity follows the path of least resistance. Therefore, if a person were to bridge electrical terminals with two fingers on the same hand, the current would almost certainly not go through the heart. If current travels from the arm through the body and out the feet, it may or may not pass through the heart. It is slightly more likely to if the left hand forms the path. Whether or not the heart tissue may be part of the path is fairly chaotic, and in practice, it’’s a bit more complicated than saying that electricity takes a single path. As most of the current tends to flow through the lymphatic fluids and tissues of the body, it’s usually not prone to going through the heart – usually. How electricity travels through the body also depends, in part, on its frequency, in some cases, the “skin effect” can provide some level of protection by causing the electricity to go around, rather than through the body, but this protective effect only occurs at very high frequencies NOT at the 50 or 60 Hz from the electrical grid.
The only time that electricity is all but guaranteed to go through the heart is when it is applied directly to the chest area in large amounts. This is why defibrillators apply a large pulse of electricity to the chest, at least some of that electricity inevitably travels through the heart and the short burst can shock it back into proper function.
There are other dangers too. Electricity can interfere with nervous system function. A short shock is unlikely to cause permanent damage, but a longer duration of current flow can. In many circumstances, it can paralyze muscle movement, making it impossible for a person to let go of an electrified cable once they grab onto it. It can also cause respiratory paralysis and if it goes through the brain, it can cause serious damage.
It does not say the voltage that this man is being exposed to in all the cases and it also does not say what the potential amperage from the power supply is, but it is clear that he is facing the following real risks from this stunt:
- Internal burns, possibly serious, especially if the duration of the stunt is more than a very short period of time.
- Nervous system damage, including damage to nerves that could result in paralysis or numbness
- Possible muscle spasms or respiratory paralysis
- Burns to the skin
- Cardiac arrest if the current takes a path through his heart.
This is a dumb stunt that anyone can do but nobody should do. It takes no talent to do other than an ability to withstand a little bit of pain. It’s also very dangerous.
And yes, I have been shocked by household AC current. Surprisingly, it doesn’t really hurt all that much. You can definitely feel it, but it feels more like an extreme vibration or tingle than pain.
Please do not turn this into a debate on Capital Punishment. The Electric Chair is included only to provide context of electrocution. In reality, the chair is almost never used in the US anyway. It is not used as the method of execution in any states, except as a “secondary method,” which means that the condemned would have to choose it over lethal injection voluntarily. Of course that almost never happens. Regardless, that’s not the topic of this post and really has nothing to do with the subject matter.
This entry was posted on Saturday, May 1st, 2010 at 11:47 am and is filed under Bad Science, Good Science, Obfuscation, Paranormal, media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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May 1st, 2010 at 12:11 pm
If you get this error:
“This video contains content from Discovery Uk, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.”
Then you can bypass it and watch anyway by going to this link:
http://www.youtube.com/v/JxbhDePzVP0
Hope this helps.
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May 1st, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Ask anyone that has worked with or around electricity for some time, and they will almost always have stories of having see or been involved in incidents where someone should have died and didn’t, or they shouldn’t have and did.
But this video is not that hard to explain. Anyone can do the lightbulb thing, I was taught by a teacher in high school. As long as the lightbulb isn’t too high a wattage, it acts like a dropping resistor and limits the current. Once you have taught yourself to tolerate the discomfort of the connection, and hold on hard enough, it will work. Remember that electric shock is just that -a shock- if you are expecting it, you can take a surprising amount.
The high-voltage stuff looks impressive, but because the voltage is so high, almost all of the current (what little there was) was traveling by skin conduction. Again probably not too pleasant a sensation, but with practice, tolerable.
So my call is that this is a performance by someone practising the kind of stage magic fire-eaters, sword-swallowers and glass-eaters do – impressive skill yes – but not paranormal.
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May 1st, 2010 at 2:18 pm
DV82XL said:
I don’t know about that. Fire eaters and sword swallowers generally practice a lot and are very aware of how their tricks work, the dangers and what they can do to manage and avoid them. This guy really does not seem to have anything beyond an extremely amateur.
Some of the things he is shown doing could potentially have dangers associated with them. He clearly uses a TV flyback transformer. When doing stage stunts with fluorescent bulbs or something, generally the kind of power supply used is a very low amperage one, like a small tesla coil. A flyback has no current limiter of any real consequence. Putting the current in one arm and arcing it to ground out the other could be dangerous. I mean, 99% of the time it won’t kill you, but it HAS killed people. People have killed themselves with a tv flyback.
Discharging enough of an arc from your finger to start a fire can burn your sub-dermal skin. I’ve seen it happen.
I would also not trust the skin effect to keep someone safe with this. Most of the current does usually travel along the surface, but the effect is not very reliable at 60 hz, especially with a conductor as inconsistent and poor as the human body. Sometimes “traveling along the outside” does not mean the outside of the body. Depending on how resistance, it may travel along the outside of blood vessels.
Those electrical demonstrations with high voltage and such, which are done by professionals or those who know do not use things like unlimited current from a flyback transformer or non-isolated mains current.
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May 1st, 2010 at 4:59 pm
This is just a 2 minute clip and it is not very clear what is going on – but I think that it is intended to be not very clear. Baffled university physicists who forgot to bring the right tools – I am suspicious. I am not sure what else is going on but he appears to be doing his tricks with a high frequency generator – just like this man: http://www.oddballfilm.com/resources/science1.jpg
It is possible to pass enough high frequency current through yourself to set things on fire without any harmful effects. Fluorescent and other discharge lamps will readily glow with a hf current.
Nothing to see here – move on.
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May 1st, 2010 at 6:05 pm
drbuzz0 said:
That’s part of the patter.
Look everything you say is true; this being the case we have to assume some sort of created illusion. The Razor demands no less.
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May 1st, 2010 at 6:18 pm
let me show you the end results of this particular *ONE-DIMENSIONAL SCIENTIFIC MODE* of thinking that is called *CRITICAL THINKING*, which is completely divorced from any human objectives…
this style has been perfected by dawkins, pz, randi and the other *NEW ATHEISTS*
_______________
THE BOOBQUAKE – 911!
hey, atheists don’t even BELIEVE IN BOOBIES!!!
they thought BOOBIES had no effect… WRONG!
see, I just want to make it clear to the rest of you:
jen is unable to see that there is a CONFLICT BETWEEN EROS & SCIENCE….
________________
blaghag.com/2010/04/in-name-of-science-i-offer-my-boobs.html
ETA: follow-up
blaghag.com/2010/04/quick-clarification-about-boobquake.html
see how we take a term and convert it into its AUTHENTIC POLITICAL DIMENSION – THAT OF LIBERATION – not just merely harmless expression…
they thought BOOBIES had no effect… WRONG!
____________
Visit for the BOOBQUAKE:
dissidentphilosophy.lifediscussion.net/philosophy-f1/the-boobquake-911-t1310.htm
now, become Marxist Revolutionaries and FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!
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May 1st, 2010 at 6:19 pm
I think we even mention you… DON’T WE?
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May 1st, 2010 at 6:24 pm
KABOOM… I sank your BATTLESHIP!!!
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May 1st, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Alan Barnard said:
A fluorescent bulb will light without current flowing through your body. Just the HF electric field is enough.
Yeah, it is very clear what he is doing! He has a pliers set and he’s connected it to the HV transformer for the CRT on a television.
It shows more here:
He even uses unregulated mains current at one point
This is not safe!
DV82XL said:
Either that’s not really a TV or it’s a BAD idea. I’m sure the chances of death are low, but if you look at the second video it shows that it’s not just low electrostatic current. He could burn himself.
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May 1st, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Engineering Edgar said:
It could very well be just that, a very bad idea, by a very foolish man, who has just been luckly to this point – but it is not supernatural.
I believe absolutely nothing I see on video, and only a fraction of what I witness. There are all sorts of ways that this could be an illusion. Unless I was there, with my own instruments, and the freedom to take whatever measurements I want, I will give this no credence.
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May 1st, 2010 at 10:18 pm
DV82XL said:
Well then we can conclude that either it’s an idiot doing something foolish or someone who has made a convincing act of doing something foolish.
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May 1st, 2010 at 11:47 pm
dmabus said:
Okay guys, I’m asking for commenter response on this. At least this comment is new and not a repeat of others. Of course it’s off topic, but at the same time it does show what a wacko this guy is. Should I leave it?
BTW: I’m not even sure what he is trying to say in a few of these things… so… boobies… or rather… immodesty and liberation are the cause of 9/11 and other disasters, I assume?
I’m also not sure what he means by “now, become Marxist Revolutionaries and FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!”
Is he saying that sarcastically like “you’re now Marxists” or is he saying that we should become religious and also become Marxists? Is he advocating Marxism? I’m not sure.
(I’m definitely not a Marxist, but Marx was pretty anti-religion.)
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May 2nd, 2010 at 12:44 am
drbuzz0 said:
I think that the body of work so far offered by dmabus speaks eloquently enough of confusion, disjointedness and real mental illness. I’d probably leave it for now, and perhaps take action if he/she tries flooding the forum with this gibber.
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May 2nd, 2010 at 1:35 am
Agree with Finrod.
Unless it is a beginning of a flood, let it stand.
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May 2nd, 2010 at 9:29 am
drbuzz0 said:
Don’t get in your opponent’s way when he is making a mistake. If somebody wants to make a fool of themselves while opposing you, why not let them? After all, he’s making your point.
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May 3rd, 2010 at 9:41 am
Wasnt it napoleon who said: do not disturb your enemy while he is bussy making a mistake?
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May 3rd, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Some may be surprised to find out that being shocked by the electricity from standard mains power is rarely fatal.
Yup. Really unpleasant, though.
120v 60hz AC does not feel nice.
(Turns out the front power switch on a PC case is sometimes switching full-power 120V from the PSU.
Guess how I found THAT out?)
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May 3rd, 2010 at 5:49 pm
^Yup, this reminds me of that time I was building a coil gun and forgot to discharge the capacitor… It frightened me more than it hurt me!
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May 3rd, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Sigivald said:
It will wake you up better than even the strongest coffee though!
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May 9th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
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