The link is about a guy and his son in Japan who claim to be human magnets and can make metal things stick to their bodies. Randi does his usual superlative job of debunking them, this time with talcum powder, and says the following:
“We know it’s not magnetic, so it must be some other kind of energy. Talcum powder is not going to interfere with electricity or any other kind of energy. One thing is certain, it’s not psychic power.”
The thing I’m wondering is how did the father and the son actually do it. If they would have had some type of glue coated on, it seems like Randi would have noticed it when he applied the talcum. I’m stumped.
It’s their skin. They did it on a show on Discovery channel called SuperHuman. Their skin is extremely smooth, and when he rubs a piece of metal on there, it builds up static friction and works almost like his skin is a bunch of suction cups.
“Builds up static friction”? That sounds almost as silly as magnetism. I suspect it’s just sweat and skin oil; these things make the skin a bit sticky, and talcum powder will kill that effect.
I don’t remember exactly, it was just one of the hundreds of random shows that I’ve seen on the science/discover/history/etc. channels in my sitting-on-the-couch career, so that might not have been it. However I do remember them saying it had something to do with just how ridiculously smooth his skin is. I don’t think sweat and skin oil is everything, because the guy can attach heavy ass irons and hammers and shit to his body, and it even stays stuck after he hammers down on them, it’s more than just a bit sticky.
I don’t see what the big deal is. The guy was leaning back slightly when he stuck on the iron and the big flat whatever it was. When I’m a little moist in the summer I can get stuff to stick to me, too. Maybe not as heavy as what that guy can do, but maybe his skin is slightly stickier than mine. This didn’t even look good from the get go.
