jlg@lanl.ARPA (Jim Giles) (03/14/86)
In article <469@ccivax.UUCP> rb@ccivax.UUCP (What's in a name ?) writes: >True, but the ability to lower the electrical output to the EEG/Biofeedback >monitor involves a change in consciousness. This "different conciousness >is a technique used by fire walkers and yogi's in india. I still don't >know why fire walkers don't burn their feet. Any explanations? Fire walking can be done by ANYONE!! It has nothing to do with your state of mind, your electrical output, or any other unexplained phenomenon. It is entirely a result of the interaction of hot coals and feet. Part of the explanation was given by a physics professor in _Scientific American_ "The Amateur Scientist" a few years back. His explanation was a vapor layer caused by the sudden heating of moisture from your foot. Most scientists agreee this happens, but is only part of the explanation. The other part has to do with the nature of hot 'coals' from a wood fire: the contact with your foot cools the surface layer of ash on the coals, since ash is a very good insulator it keeps the heat from reaching your foot. You can tell that this happens by watching the coal bed behind a fire walker as he moves across the bed - his footprints are visible as darker outlines in the coal bed. Even with these effects working for you, firewalking can still burn your feet. You must walk quickly and deliberately across the coals. If you panic and try to rush, you will probably burn your feet by crushing or brushing off the ash layer that protects you. Also, for any particular coal-bed temperature, there appears to be a time limit for a successful traverse; more than about 30 seconds seems difficult to achieve without burns. This is probably because your feet slowly heat up to critical temperatures even with the insulation provided by vapor cushions and ashes. This should be no surprise to anyone that has walked across hot parking lots as a kid, the first half the distance is easy, the rest of the way hurts! J. Giles Los Alamos