Human magnetism

A man with a hammer attached to his skin

Human magnetism is a popular name for an alleged ability of some people to attract objects to their skin. People alleged to have such an ability are often called human magnets. Although metal objects are the most popular, some are also alleged to be able to stick other types of materials, such as glass, porcelain, wood or plastic as well as metals with no ferromagnetic properties such as brass and aluminum.^[1] In fact none of the recorded claims of human magnetism corresponds with the actual physics of magnetism, indicating that this "ability" is in fact nothing more than a misunderstanding of the physics and meaning of the term and a misapplication of it to what has been shown to be nothing more than unusually sticky skin.

Selected claimed human magnets

• Aurel Răileanu from Romania, also known as Mr. Magnet; is said to be the strongest human magnet^[2]
• Etibar Elchyev from Georgia, Guinness World Record holder for most spoons on a human body^[3]
• Ivan Stoiljkovic, a boy from Croatia^[4]
• Liew Thow Lin, known as Mr. Magnetic Man^[5]
• Wang Baoqiang, from Shaoxing, China.^[6]

Explanations

According to scientists, if people can stick objects to their body, not only metal but also other materials, it has actually nothing to do with magnetism. Skeptic Benjamin Radford has used a compass to check the magnetic field of a person that claimed to be a human magnet. He claims that person didn't actually produce magnetic fields. It shows that human magnetism uses different kinds of physical effects. Many scientists and proponents of science, including James Randi, claim that this ability is caused by sticky skin.^[1][7][8]

See also

• Animal magnetism
• Biomagnetism
• Magnetoception

References