Mega-chicanery

Down the rabbit hole

You never know when an Internet search will lead you down an entirely different path. And so I found a press release for a device called a MegaChi Pendant. It typically sells for over US $200.

What makes this pendant so special is that it emits a miraculous set of frequencies ("Schumann Resonance, Harmonic Resonance, and White Light Energy") with the alleged power to deflect "all forms of negativity," electromagnetic fields, and extra low frequency electromagnetic waves!

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
— Carl Sagan

According to one marketer of this device,

NASA implemented the Schumann Resonance frequency, 7.83 Hertz, in the space shuttles to help keep the Astronauts healthier, happier and protected from EMF's during their time in space. … The Schumann Resonance frequency, is the same as the earths [sic] magnetosphere. 

Frauds use your scientific ignorance to exploit you. This marketing is a good example.

There are several inaccuracies in this claim:

• Nasa never implemented the "Schumann Resonance frequency" in the shuttles — it is too dangerous. You may be appalled when you learn the likely source of the Schumann-shuttle connection.
• An extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic wave, such as 7.83 Hertz (1 Hertz = 1 vibration per second), is not going to have any effect on an electromagnetic field (EMF).

The most powerful EMF affecting the space shuttles emanates from the planet they left — why would they require protection from their home? Earth's EMF measures 30,000 to 60,000 nanotesla on the ground. The second most powerful EMF, the interplanetary magnetic field, is measured at 2 to 5 nanoteslas at the distance of Earth's orbit. (Here is information on how spacecraft measure magnetic fields.) Based on the marketers' claims you have to wonder how life has survived for millions of years.

• According to Nasa, exposure to ionizing radiation is the real danger and requires constant monitoring. Astronauts also need protection from space junk as much as they need protection from space weather.
• Taxpayers don't care whether astronauts are happy, and they don't want their tax dollars to pay for shuttle payloads that promise such results. Thankfully, astronauts consider the privilege of being part of a mission as a highlight of their lives. And they swallow thermometers so ground crews can monitor their health.

MegaChi marketing wants to convince you that people who passed the Nasa flight physical and are doing what they love are somehow unhappy and ill, despite a great amount of evidence to the contrary.

Schumann resonances are much more interesting than they are portrayed in MegaChi marketing.

The frequencies of Schumann resonances are not the same as those of the magnetosphere. For example, Alfven field line resonances are found in the frequency range of 1 to 100 mHz. An auroral roar can soar to several megahertz. Schumann resonances indicate a wave resonating in a cavity.

Just a heartbeat away from reality

The cranks love Schumann resonances. Some believe they are "the Earth's heartbeat" — which means "the Earth's heartbeat" can be heard on Titan, Jupiter and Mars, because resonances have been detected there.

Let's avoid the mental theme park built by the cranks. The words "Schumann resonance" will be replaced with the term Global Electromagnetic Circuit — a user-friendly version of the scientific terms cavity resonator, Earth-ionosphere waveguide and Earth-ionosphere cavity. These terms are more frequently applied to the conditions that create Schumann resonances.

The Global Electromagnetic Circuit is

• Electromagnetic radiation in the ELF range, fluctuating between 5 and 60 Hertz (Hz)
• A wavelength equal to the circumference of the Earth (one long wave)
• Trapped between the ground and a height of roughly 80 km (nearly 50 miles), where the ozone layer and the ionosphere meet
• An atmospheric condition maintained mostly by thunderstorms in the Tropics and electrified clouds in the ionosphere

There is no sound reason why Nasa would install equipment based on an atmospheric condition that feeds on thunderstorms.

The lowest frequency and highest intensity of the Circuit occurs at 7.8 Hz, known as the resonance fundamental. There are other peaks at 14, 20, 26, 33, 39 and 45 Hz. It is the resonance fundamental that fascinates people.

The amplitude and frequency of the Circuit

• Change daily, becoming stronger at dawn and tapering off toward nightfall
• Change with the seasons, because the amount of water in the atmosphere changes, and so do the number of lightning strikes
• Change at different latitudes
• Change with the space weather, especially solar flares (the lowest frequency shifts upward because the cavity shrinks)

Some hobbyists build antennas to listen to the Circuit, and to other natural phenomena like the electrical organ discharge of the Elephant-nose Fish.

No lightning onboard, thank you very much

How did the marketers of the MegaChi manage to "implement" the association between "Schumann Resonance frequency" and space shuttles? According to the person who wrote the marketing,

I have no clue how they did it or where it was implemented, just the information that is readily available to anyone on the internet was used here.

Nasa documents everything, and their sites have a tremendous amount of information on shuttle flights and equipment (for example, the chronology of wake-up calls or what equipment is considered surplus).

Based on the availability of information, an Internet search should find

• The name of the company that manufactured and installed the "Schumann Resonance frequency" equipment, and when. (Nasa outsources most equipment for the shuttles. You would be able to find online a press release announcing the awarding of the contract to produce and install the equipment — especially if the equipment is as miraculous as they claim. Here is a typical one.)
• Names of people, such as a company spokesperson and a Nasa spokesperson. (Refer to the typical press release for an example.)
• Details about the equipment.
• Which shuttle was retrofitted first.
• Which mission was the first to use it.
• How and when it is used.

Nasa sites do not mention this equipment. There are no press releases on the Internet from Nasa or any companies. All of the search results take you to sites trying to sell you junk. They use similar vague language. Ask them about the Schumann-shuttle connection and nobody knows anything, they just repeated what they pulled from someone else's site. "Sounds great! Let's use it!"

Hard facts, velvet lies

The most likely source of the information is Nasa. However, the "Schumann Resonance frequency" was not "implemented" in the space shuttles. It was measured during mission STS-107 as part of a scientific experiment called MEIDEX (the Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment). The experiment collected electromagnetic data in extra low frequency (ELF) and very low frequency (VLF) ranges. MEIDEX recorded Schumann resonances.

STS-107 is the only shuttle mission that had involvement with any "Schumann resonance frequency."

The people who claim "Schumann Resonance frequency" was "implemented" on the space shuttles to keep crews happy and safe seem unaware that STS-107 disintegrated on reentry February 1, 2003.