Electrical properties of silk

Good point! I think a simple experiment would entail just demonstrating that silk has protective properties, even if we don't know what they are. So if you can set up an experiment where EMF can be seen causing damage, then try blocking with silk, and even if you don't notice a particular change in the signal, you may observe reduced damage. At least that would be indicative of "something" going on, if nothing else.

Also found this one:
Silkworm silk has been used by the textile industry for thousands of years, due to its excellent physical and biomedical properties, such as flexibility, mechanical strength and most importantly, biocompatibility1,2,3. In particular, the biocompatibility of Bombyx mori silkworm silk has been demonstrated through its use in sutures for several millennia. Silk consists of protein fibers, typically produced by silkworms3 and spiders4. Recently, silk materials have attracted huge interest for photonics and optoelectronics. Currently existing research on silkworm silk photonics is mainly focused on relatively easily processed, so called regenerated silk. It means silk processed by dissolving purified silk fibers into aqueous solution of LiBr (lithiumbromide) and then casting, spin-coating, printing, or nanoimprinting it to form the desired structures3,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13. Regenerated silk has been used to realize various optical elements and photonic devices, such as optical waveguides4,7, diffraction gratings and microlenses6, inverse opals10,12,14, light-emitting transistors15, lasers16, distributed feedback lasers17, and luminescent solar concentrators18. Regenerated silk can be functionalized by doping it with e.g., ZnSe and CdTe quantum dots to realize white-light emission13, or with azo-benzene sidegroups for optically induced birefringence and holography19. Proposals have also been made to use regenerated silk for implantable, bioresorbable silicon electronics devices20. Inkjet printed optical waveguides fabricated from regenerated fibroin on glass substrates have been demonstrated to exhibit losses of <1 dB cm−1 at 633 nm7, which is comparable with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) plastic fibers’ loss of ~0.1 dB cm−1 21, silicon strip waveguides (2 ±1) dB cm−1 22, and TiO2 strip waveguides (2 ± 1) dB cm−1 23.

However, even though printed silkworm silk waveguides and natural spider silk fibers have been characterized previously4,7, little research has been conducted on the waveguiding properties of non-regenerated silkworm silk. What makes non-regenerated silk particularly interesting, compared to the more easily utilizable regenerated silk, is that the fibers are naturally organic waveguides without any post-processing. The only processing step required is the degumming process (to be explained later), which does not involve using and subsequently dialyzing metal salts that are byproducts from typical regeneration processes. The only waste product is the sericin protein3, which makes silk fibers friendlier for the environment than regenerated silk. Environmental friendliness and biocompatibility, combined with simple fabrication, may be the key arguments for using nonregenerated silk in various medical applications, where the fiber could be embedded in living tissue, and localized optical power delivered thereby directly into the tissue.

Granted these are optical experiments, but as mentioned, could have implications for other EMF frequencies. I bolded some parts I thought were interesting. I don't know what gives silk these properties, but I do wonder if it containing protein fibers, and proteins being said to have antennae, plays a role at all. DNA has been said to have some related properties as well, so perhaps there's a connection.
 
Before lockdown I would wear silk undergarments to work. I've stopped doing that while mostly working from home, so maybe I should look into that. If it would help with the "lockdown blues", it would be worth it. Although there is less EMF at home.

I don't know what gives silk these properties, but I do wonder if it containing protein fibers, and proteins being said to have antennae, plays a role at all. DNA has been said to have some related properties as well, so perhaps there's a connection.

Maybe it's a way to wear your DNA on your sleeve? :lol:
 
Hello,

I discovered mulberry silk. Can you know this? In the sessions with the Cassiopaeans, they talk about the mulberry.

Q: (S) Well, this kind of my question. Because we have cell phones that are so evil, right? The problem is that even if you never use a cell phone, there are towers EVERYWHERE. If a cell phone is on and it's close to you, that's worse, but... (L) You can't escape it all. (S) So we can obviously turn off the evil stuff, but... (L) I think there's also the stuff out there for cancelling that is dietary {like minerals}, or something you can do.

A: Silk is always good

Q: (L) What did Scottie say? (S) I was saying that if she's going to be in her bed, instead of mosquito netting, you have a silk netting. (Ark) Silk is a Faraday cage. (S) Why silk? Why silk protects against these things is totally bizarre to me. (L) It's made by caterpillars.

A: Mulberry.



I just bought one. I'll do my tests.

Have a great learning !

Marc
 
As I understand the vast majority of silk is from Bombix Mori, fed on mulberry leaves. Any silk you get is likely to be that. There are several larvae that produce silk, and a lot of other bugs that can't be farmed. Most of the time silk produced by bugs has high levels of oxalates, probably for self-defense, but Bombix Mori is one of the few with low levels, which I think may be one reason it is recommended.

Yes, silk is made of protein, and the Cs have said that proteins are antennas. And I think it is strongly implied this includes psychic waves and information fields, which we can't detect with EMF meters. So we could try to find someone sensitive and set up an experiment. But it is notoriously difficult to get any valid results at all with psychic research. Maybe, if we get all our members to participate in a random number guessing game, and track long term results with members wearing or not wearing silk?
 
Some notes regarding polarization. (I've highlit in green some bits I thought were important)...


~~~~~~~Begin Clip~~~~~~~~~
Antenna polarisation basics

For the electromagnetic wave the polarization is effectively the plane in which the electric wave vibrates. This is important when looking at antennas because they are sensitive to polarisation, and generally only receive or transmit a signal with a particular polarization.

For most antennas it is very easy to determine the polarization. It is simply in the same plane as the elements of the antenna. So a vertical antenna (i.e. one with vertical elements) will receive vertically polarised signals best and similarly a horizontal antenna will receive horizontally polarised signals.

electromagnetic-wave-polarisation-01.svg



It is important to match the polarization of the RF antenna to that of the incoming signal. In this way the maximum signal is obtained. If the RF antenna polarization does not match that of the signal there is a corresponding decrease in the level of the signal. It is reduced by a factor of cosine of the angle between the polarisation of the RF antenna and the signal.

Accordingly the polarisation of the antennas located in free space is very important, and obviously they should be in exactly the same plane to provide the optimum signal. If they were at right angles to one another (i.e. cross-polarised) then in theory no signal would be received.

For terrestrial radio communications applications it is found that once a signal has been transmitted then its polarisation will remain broadly the same. However reflections from objects in the path can change the polarisation. As the received signal is the sum of the direct signal plus a number of reflected signals the overall polarisation of the signal can change slightly although it remains broadly the same.

[...]

There are several categories of polarisation, and within each type there are several sub categories. Along with this the relevant antennas have corresponding polarisations.
  • Linear polarisation:Linear polarisation is the most common form of antenna polarisation. It is characterised by the fact that all of the radiation is in one plane - hence the term linear:
    • Horizontal polarisation: This form of antenna polarisation has horizontal elements. It picks up and radiates horizontally polarised signals, i.e. electromagnetic waves with the electric field in the horizontal plane.
    • Vertical polarisation: This form of antenna is typified by the vertical elements within the antenna. It could be a single vertical element. One of the reasons for using vertical polarisation is that antennas comprising of a single vertical element can radiate equally around it in the horizontal plane. Typically vertically polarised antennas have what is termed a low angle of radiation enabling a large proportion of their power to be radiated at an angle close to the earth’s surface. Vertically polarised antennas are also very convenient for use with automobiles.
    • Slant polarisation: This is a form of radio antenna polarisation that is at an angle to the horizontal or vertical planes. In this way both vertical and horizontally polarised antennas are able to receive the signal.
  • Circular polarisation: This has a number of benefits for areas such as satellite applications where it helps overcome the effects of propagation anomalies, ground reflections and the effects of the spin that occur on many satellites. Circular polarisation is a little more difficult to visualise than linear polarisation. However it can be imagined by visualising a signal propagating from an RF antenna that is rotating. The tip of the electric field vector will then be seen to trace out a helix or corkscrew as it travels away from the antenna.
    • Right hand circular polarisation: In this form of polarisation the vector rotates in a right handed fashion.
    • Left hand circular polarisation : In this form of polarisation the vector rotates in a left handed fashion, i.e. opposite to right handed.
  • Mixed polarisation: Another form of polarisation is known as elliptical polarisation. It occurs when there is a mix of linear and circular polarisation. This can be visualised as before by the tip of the electric field vector tracing out an elliptically shaped corkscrew.
It is possible for linearly polarised antennas to receive circularly polarised signals and vice versa. The strength will be equal whether the linearly polarised antenna is mounted vertically, horizontally or in any other plane but directed towards the arriving signal.

There will be some degradation because the signal level will be 3 dB less than if a circularly polarised antenna of the same sense was used. The same situation exists when a circularly polarised antenna receives a linearly polarised signal.

Applications for different types of antenna polarization

Different types of polarisation are used in different applications to enable their advantages to be used. Accordingly different forms of polarisation are used for different applications:
  • General radio communications: Linear polarization is by far the most widely used for most radio communications applications as the radio antennas are generally simpler and more straightforward.
  • Mobile phones and short range wireless communications: In recent years there has been a phenomenal amount of growth in the use of mobile phone and short range wireless communications. Everything from cellular communications to Wi-Fi and a host of other standards that enable short range wireless communications to be achieved.

    Normally linear polarisation is used for these devices because linearly polarised antennas are easier to fabricate in these devices, and hence the base stations need to have a similar polarisation. Although vertical polarisation is often used, many items like Wi-Fi routers have adjustable antennas. Also the fact that these communications often have signal paths that may reflect from a variety of surfaces, the polarisation that reaches the receiver can be relatively random, and therefore it can be less of an issue.
  • Mobile two way radio communications: There are many traditional mobile two way radio communication systems still in use for everything from the emergency services to a host of private mobile radio applications where radio transceivers are located in vehicles.

    Vertical polarisation is often used for these mobile two way radio communications. This is because many vertically polarised radio antenna designs have an omni-directional radiation pattern and it means that the antennas do not have to be re-orientated as positions as always happens for mobile radio communications as the vehicle moves.
~~~~~~~~~End Clip~~~~~~~~


I was trying to figure out what kind of polarization home office equipment would spit out. Here's some ad copy for cricular polarized antenna solutions for WiFi:


~~~~~~~Begin Clip~~~~~~~~~
Circular Polarization for Wi-Fi:

Due to the advanced signal propagation properties, circularly polarized (CP)antenna technologyoffers numerousperformance advantages over traditional linear(LP)technologies.When implemented as a central component within a Wi-Fi network, CP deliversbetter connectivity with both fixed and mobile devices and ultimately leads toa superior user experience.

CP waves “match” anyWi-Fidevices: In the modern world, mobile and handheld wirelessdevices are everywhere. These handheld devices typically use linear polarizedantennas and thus the orientation of the signal is often random, depending on how the device is being held by the user. This naturally leads to out of phaseissues. CPantennas address this issue by transmitting in all planes, making it more likely for a mobile client device to be able to establish areliable signal link regardless of the antenna orientation of the device.

CP waves propagate better: RF signals from different planes react differentlydepending on the type of material being struck. Because it transmits on allplanes, a CP antenna has a higher probability of penetrationto deliver a successful,stable link. As an example, in a commercial office environment, a linearpolarized antenna will have difficulty penetrating walls containing metal stud. However, in such a scenario, the signal from a CP antenna will more effectivelybe propagated through the wall and achieve an overall better reach throughout the building.Also, linear polarized antennas transmit in only one plane, if the reflecting surface does not reflect the signal precisely in the same plane, signal strength will be lost.


And here's an example product which looks a lot like the kind you might find inside a modern computer...
~~~~~~~~~End Clip~~~~~~~~

Okay! So it appears that circluar polarized antennas are not the norm, but are also not uncommon.

Regardless....

If silk de-polarizes a radio signal waveform, then while the receiving cell phone or computer may register a drop in the signal strength, the guy with the EM meter, (me) wouldn't likely notice a dip -not if the meter is using a range of sensors on multiple axes to do its sniffing.

All of which is to say that my little testing meter wouldn't detect any change in polarization with or without silk.

The question remains then, Does silk depolarize on the Radio Frequency level as it does in the light spectrum level?
 
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Holy cow.

I just read a report from a Chinese lab testing specifically to see how Terahertz (millimeter waves) do against a piece of silk fabric; apparently there is some concern for the safety of operators using this kind of scanning tech and they want body covering to protect them.


However the findings weren't terribly easy to decipher.

Quote:

"In summary, we have studied the phenomenon of millimeter wave through the silk fabric. The result shows that millimeter wave is easily able to traverse through the silk fabric. With the thickness increasing, the intensity of millimeter wave decreases slower and slower. We get the attenuation coefficient of the millimeter of the silk fabric. All these experiments result can be used in millimeter wave and THz imaging, security check in shop and subway, anthropometric shadow scanner for people to choose clothes that fit their body, and other secu-rity application."

Uh... So millimeter waves can easily go through silk, but when you increase the layers of silk, it's less so.

Thanks. That's not very helpful and your numbers don't make any sense.

Still.., it's interesting that people are exploring this stuff. Frankly, I thought I'd never see any actual testing done on silk. If you look at the document, (a .pdf, so I can't directly link the image), the piece of silk they were using was of a very low thread count and very thin.
 
Here is some more about that I posted earlier in the thread:

 
I'm guessing equipment measurement and observation has something to do with it. Before microscopes, scientists used to think life spontaneously arose from mud.

When I first decided to start testing this stuff, I'd jumped in whole-hog and ordered a number of articles of silk clothing, shirts and long-johns and such. I even have a silk beanie for my head. However, after my initial meter testing and finding that silk did zero to block a signal, I just packed that stuff away and never bothered trying it out to see if it made a difference to the way I felt.
I wear a lot of silk daily and use silk bedding, because it's so comfortable. It's not durable though. So it feels good, and if it happens to help with EMF, that's great too.
 
I do feel a bit better when wearing them, but honestly I don't know of anything I can do while wearing silk that I couldn't do while not wearing it. And that is really it for me. It actually has to matter in some tangible way. Maybe I feel a bit better, but how I feel is not really my first priority. It seems kind of vain to spend so much time caring for silk just to feel 2% better during the day. Maybe for an artist in constant concentration it would be more helpful.

After I wrote this I felt this response may be overly pessimistic. Since the colder days are arriving, I started wearing silk more. I will say it does seem to help, and is especially worth a try if you are having a chaotic emotional state or you are putting your maximum effort into something. If your intuition is vital at the moment, it seems to help. But unless I am already trying hard and I need my efforts to go further, I don't really feel limited if I don't wear it.

I do however encourage anyone to consider the merits of a given thing based on what you can do or cannot do when using that thing, and try not to go solely on feel. For instance, for all the supplements I take I can think of cases where the supplement allows me to do something I could not, and allows my efforts to go further. This way I don't fall into the trap of taking all sorts of supplements just because I think they might help. I don't take them just on guidelines, I take them because I know how they help me. This way I can save resources/money/time for things I know are important, and have some left over for what comes next.
 
The silk thread that can turn clothes into charging stations

Imagine a sweater that powers electronics to monitor your health or charge your mobile phone while running. This development faces challenges because of the lack of materials that both conduct electricity stably and are well suited for textiles. Now a research group, led by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, presents an ordinary silk thread, coated with a conductive plastic material, that shows promising properties for turning textiles into electricity generators.

Thermoelectric textiles convert temperature differences, for example between our bodies and the surrounding air, into an electrical potential. This technology can be of great benefit in our everyday lives and in society. Connected to a sensor, the textiles can power these devices without the need for batteries. These sensors can be used to monitor our movements or measure our heartbeat.

Since the textiles must be worn close to the body, the materials used in them must meet high demands on safety and flexibility. The silk thread that the researchers tested has a coating made of a conducting polymer. It is a plastic material with a chemical structure that makes the material electrically conductive and well adapted to textiles.

“The polymers that we use are bendable, lightweight and are easy to use in both liquid and solid form. They are also non-toxic," says Mariavittoria Craighero, who is a doctoral student at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology, and first author of a recently published study.

Enhanced stability and conductivity

The method used to make the electrically conductive thread is the same as used in previous studies within the same research project. Previously, the thread contained metals to maintain its stability in contact with air. Since then, advances have been made to manufacture the thread with only organic (carbon-based) polymers. In the current study, the researchers have developed a new type of thread with enhanced electrical conductivity and stability.

“We found the missing piece of the puzzle to make an optimal thread – a type of polymer that had recently been discovered. It has outstanding performance stability in contact with air, while at the same time having a very good ability to conduct electricity. By using polymers, we don't need any rare earth metals, which are common in electronics," says Mariavittoria Craighero.

To show how the new thread can be used in practice, the researchers manufactured two thermoelectric generators – a button sewn with the thread, and a piece of textile with sewn-in threads. When they placed the thermoelectric textiles between a hot and a cold surface, they could observe how the voltage increased on the measuring instrument. The effect depended on the temperature difference and the amount of conductive material in the textile. As an example, the larger piece of fabric showed about 6 millivolts at a temperature difference of 30 degrees Celsius. In combination with a voltage converter, it could theoretically be used to charge portable electronics via a USB connector. The researchers have also been able to show that the thread’s performance is maintained for at least a year. It is also machine washable.

"After seven washes, the thread retained two-thirds of its conducting properties. This is a very good result, although it needs to be improved significantly before it becomes commercially interesting," says Mariavittoria Craighero.

Can meet functions that these textiles require

The thermoelectric fabric and button cannot be produced efficiently outside the lab environment today. The material must be made and sewn in by hand, which is time-consuming. Just sewing it into the demonstrated fabric required four days of needlework. But the researchers see that the new thread has great potential and that it would be possible to develop an automated process and scale up.

“We have now shown that it is possible to produce conductive organic materials that can meet the functions and properties that these textiles require. This is an important step forward. There are fantastic opportunities in thermoelectric textiles and this research can be of great benefit to society," says Christian Müller, Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology and research leader of the study.


So, according to them, using just silk doesn't work.
 

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