We are on the verge of building the most precise telescopes in human history to detect gravitational waves, but there are still people who can’t see beyond their noses. We say this this time because in mid-2024, trend On TikTok, people think they’ve found a black thread wrapping their cell phones in aluminum foil. “I just found this video saying that if we wrap a cell phone in aluminum foil, it will supposedly not receive any signals, no Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth,” says TikToker Sasser Cervantes, who has 3.5 million followers. “I don’t know what function it has, maybe in case you don’t want to answer anyone,” he says, with a narration reminiscent of ’90s kids’ science shows. Please, Professor Beekman, do the experiment and show us.
@sacercervantes_ Aluminum foil with a cell phone removes the signal 😱 #hack #lifehack #papelalluminio
♬ original sound – Sasser Cervantes
What these TikTokers are “discovering” is a Faraday cage, a physical effect that causes the electromagnetic field of a conductor to become zero, and therefore there is no “highway” for electromagnetic waves to pass through.
Michael Faraday discovered this effect in 1836, and it has many more practical effects than just avoiding calls. For example, it is used in airplanes or delicate electronic equipment such as your computer’s hard drive or TV antennas. The idea is to avoid interference. You can, for example, test the Faraday cage effect by getting into an elevator while you are talking on the phone; you will see that the signal probably starts to weaken.
The “aluminum foil” button on your mobile phone
The truth is that if you “don’t want to answer anyone,” you can simply activate airplane mode on your mobile phone, which will effectively prevent your phone from receiving any kind of signal. You can even activate Wi-Fi, leaving your phone in airplane mode to avoid a phone call, but continue scrolling Instagram since you will still be connected to the Internet.
Also, remember that you can choose other, less drastic options to enjoy a moment of disconnection without wrapping your cell phone in aluminum foil or putting it on airplane mode.
For example, if you don’t want to receive calls, you can simply turn off notifications. If you’re using an iPhone, go to Parameter And in Telephone click on Notifications and turn off the box Turn on notifications.
If you are using Android, also go to Parameter and in the “Search” section, write the phone number. In the settings of the calling application, click on Notifications and turn off the box Show notifications.
You can apply this process to almost all applications on your mobile phone, so that although you will continue to receive calls and messages, you will be able to ignore them since you will not receive any tones or notifications. Plus, you will avoid recklessly using aluminum foil and making a fool of yourself.
Source: Digital Trends
