Sing the body electric

Researchers in Japan have developed a network that uses [the human body’s electrical field](http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_101703.asp)  as a conduit. Special floor tiles are the links to the “real” network, and the eggheads at NTT claim that they’ve been getting speeds around 10mbit (just like good old fashioned Ethernet) from this human network.

This is all well and good, and a very nifty idea – but I’m wary of the health risks here. I’m uncomfortable with screwing around with the natural magnetic field of my body, especially since no one really understands how it works, what it’s there for, and how it affects other parts of our body.

This brings up all kinds of interesting points; everything from auras (aurae?) and being “sensitive” all the way to how this could interfere with our own internal nervous system – our built-in Ethernet, if you will. I’m not that worried here about RF radiation (mobile phones, 802.11, etc), since they don’t seem to be adding any electricity to our bodies, but what happens when our fields are modulated?

Long term, this seems like a much better idea than Bluetooth, which adds yet another layer of RF, on top of the mobile phone in the pocket, the 802.11 in the laptop, the crap from the microwave and television, and who knows what else in the air around us. There’s something about using what we already have that appeals to me, but because we don’t know why we have it, or what it’s for, disturbs me at the same time.