Grass Death Under Power Lines: EMF's a Factor?

In summary, the power company may have applied a herbicide to the area to control vegetation, and the herbicide may have killed the plants around the power lines.
  • #36
sophiecentaur said:
How would you "record" them?
I think we can be pretty sure that the effects will not be immediately visible; I can't remember every having been aware of it. However, numerical logging of the Colour of the crops near the lines could give actual data which could be related to the positions of the lines. This is why I reckon google images could help you - if the resolution is good enough. But home sourced (drone?) videos could give plenty of data in a short time.
Well I was thinking taking burst photos and using something like OpenCV to analyze color.
 
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  • #37
FlimFlam said:
Alright, I can probably follow power lines for 20 miles in my car and constantly record then compare the results later.
But what will that tell you? It will not tell you why the foliage under the lines is as it is if you do not control for herbicide application and lack of tree cover. And probably a host of other variables.
 
  • #38
jbriggs444 said:
But what will that tell you? It will not tell you why the foliage under the lines is as it is if you do not control for herbicide application and lack of tree cover. And probably a host of other variables.
Well if I had a way to, I'd test for herbicides.
 
  • #39
FlimFlam said:
Well if I had a way to
It's not an "if". It's a prerequisite for the exercise that all possible factors are involved. I didn't realize that you were talking in terms of very high Electric Fields in the close proximity of a conductor. That's a different sort of experiment and would have no relevance to human risks of exposure to power lines. Anyone who stands that close is likely to die of electric shock.
Perhaps if, as a result of the few comments you have read on this thread, you could construct a thought experiment in detail and then present it for more comments. I don't think anyone is saying it's a nonsense basic idea - just that you haven't thought it through yet.
 
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  • #40
russ_watters said:
To be frank, if you've done quality research you should know that isn't a useful thing to do.
@FlimFlam -- this is the key point in this thread, and you have not addressed it. We are all about mainstream science here at the PF. This thread is closed until you can send me a Private Message with links to the references you have found and analyzed. Be careful -- there is a lot of misinformation out there. The standard bar that we set at the PF is to use peer-reviewed journal articles and mainstream textbooks for references in your reading and research. So much of what you read in the popular press is incorrect and misleading.

Please do that searching / reading / research. Then PM me with what you have found if you'd like this thread re-opened with a more scientific theme. Thank you.
 
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