I was reminded of that as well. This however seems that a voltage potential is conducted to the person standing on "the spot" so it would be interesting to see what that potential was relative to. If it were simply building up there would be occasional discharges, aka lightning zaps, when the air ionized. But given that there have not apparently been reports of bolts of lightning. There clearly is a grounding path somewhere, just a fairly high resistance one.
I like the idea of the pipes being charged. (picture of the big yellow building) if that were the case and you could install a heater to supply a massive amount of free electrons on a building across the way, you'd have the start of a very large 'tube' or 'valve' :-)
Seriously, I would totally buy a ticket to experience that - seems like the sort of thing that turns out to be important and later everyone feels stupid for not acting on it earlier.
>On entering the factory floor and far from the equipment, Mr. Swenson's 200KV/ft handheld electrometer was found to slam to full scale. When he attempted to walk through the corridor formed by the moving film, he was stopped about half way through by an "invisible wall." He could lean all his weight forward but was unable to pass. He observed a fly get pulled into the charged, moving plastic, and speculates that the e-fields might have been strong enough to suck in birds!
i wonder what Geiger counter would show there at such potentials (youtube has videos for 3M tape unrolling generating X-rays even at lower speeds and scales)
Would a faraday cage stop this field? I mean if you were sitting in a faraday cage on a moving conveyer belt perpendicular to the invisible wall and passed through the invisible wall, would it still have the effect or would you pass right through?
It's exciting to think that they might be testing some wild tech to charge cell phones from a distance or something, but in all likelihood there is a static electricity buildup from a forced-air system or a gas line.
The local utility is likely digging up the sidewalk now to properly ground whatever conduit might be generating the static electricity.
If I was going to assume this was an intentional effect, my first thought would be that it is meant to do something to the limited volume of air passing through the region, or to people as they pass through that region.
Random hypothesis: it's a huge ionized-air antimicrobial filter running the circumference of a corridor that runs under the area, such that you instantly get "sanitized" as you pass through that corridor before entering e.g. a clean-room hardware assembly area.
I like the idea of a sterilizing force-field. (Not like, sterilizing, but... sterilizing...)
I enjoy speculation like that, but I am comfortable making the following generalization:
Corporations worth billions do not run physics experiments in densely populated areas, targeted at public land meant for public use.
Disregarding that common sense, some other wild assumptions:
Use static electricity as a subconscious cue to pay attention to a billboard nearby. Pavlovian training, too--associate your brand with a tingly feeling?
Super-high-power RFID/NFC reading!
Make a positioning system with increased accuracy using strong magnetic fields
Gauge perceptive abilities by demographic groups, and willingness to experiment with curious physical sensations.
Honest question: How do you ground something that is already buried in the ground? Is there some sort of anti-corrosion covering that could act as a dielectric?
No, you have to connect to an existing ground after checking its resistance or dig a new one.
When digging the holes for new telco FTTC boxes replacing passive-only boxes, we have to measure the quality of the existing ground, usually done with either 5-10m of 2cm wide, 3mm thick flat steel about 30cm belowground, or with a steel pole rammed ~3m into the earth directly next to the old box.
Usually the flat-steel is corroded and not usable any more (because the earth simply dries out), while the 3m poles are still good enough to use them.
In case the "old ground" is unusable, we tear it out (shit, that can involve LOTS of digging) and place a 1x0.5m steel plate at 50cm belowground, so that the bottom border is at 1.00m.
In the case of building a new grounder in an urban environment, I'd choose ramming a pole. It's easier, especially in areas with loads of wires and pipework - the downside is you have to rely on sometimes decades-old plans which can be off as much as two meters, and ramming a steel pole is enough to rupture a water or, worse, a gas pipe.
Dry soil can be enough, but more likely, yes, there is probably an anti-corrosion coating. Either way, a ground clamp, a piece of #8-#4 bare copper, and an 8' ground rod, will solve the problem.
Copper? In plain earth? That will only give you complete corrosion in, depending on conditions, not even a whole year.
Usual standard is zinc-coated steel, 10mm (or larger, depending on stuff like attached lightning protectors, the diameter of the supply line and a number of other factors).
The connector wire is copper, sized from #8 to #4. The ground rod is 5/8" galvanized steel. That's the standard ground in the USA since water pipes went to PVC. And the copper will last underground indefinitely.
As mschuster91 said, there is always a risk of hitting existing lines when driving a rod in the ground.
Different types of the stuff we stand on have different resistances or conductivities. You can imagine solid granite is not as good a conductor as a farmers field of moist rich soil.
If a particular section of earth has poor conductivity it and has a charge you can imagine the charge can't escape. Maybe it is charged from lightning, a downed power line, friction in a pipe, etc. this is called ground potential rise.
If an area has low resistivity it can't create a steep potential gradient and the charge is spread out over the entire area.
a ground grid of copper conductor is buried under substations and power stations so that the ground on the entire premise is at the same potential. When a power line touches the ground the current flows back to the source through the ground to complete the circuit. If the ground has high resistivity and current flows through it there is a voltage difference from one point to the next. If those two points happen to be your feet you are a better conductor than ground. By laying the copper ground grid no ground potential difference can exist as the copper connects the whole premise with low resistance conductor.
Hasn't anyone been there with instruments yet? Is there a big electrostatic field, which looks like a big DC potential? A high-frequency AC field, as from a Tesla coil? Current running through the ground because of an open neutral somewhere nearby?
University College London has a good EE department. Somebody in London please contact them.
getting hairs to stand up takes more than several volts/centimeter i'd guess. Makes all the sense to wear tin hat (alum foil :) there to avoid headache/nosebleeds/increased mental abilities/etc...
