Questions tagged [electronics]
Electronics deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components and associated passive interconnection technologies. Use this when asking about electronic devices, electronic design and use (or misuse) of some devices.
42
questions
10
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2answers
1k views
Do 4K displays use more power, because it is hard for the backlight to shine through those super tiny pixels?
I was watching Linus reviewing the 2020 MacBook Air and he said about the competing laptops that 4K was pointless on a 13" laptop and that it just hurts the battery life, because it's harder for the ...
2
votes
0answers
272 views
Does using yellow paper hide the yellow tracking dots that commercial printers put on anything you print? [closed]
I just learned about those yellow dots printers put on paper that the government uses to track you in case it doesn't like what you're printing. Does anyone know if using yellow paper like this in ...
10
votes
3answers
8k views
Did “hundreds of birds” fall out of the sky in the Netherlands due to a 5G test? [duplicate]
A conspiracy news site claims that (emphasis added):
Hundreds of birds have fallen from the sky in The Hague, the Netherlands, during a 5G experiment to see how large the range was and whether the ...
3
votes
1answer
427 views
Does the Sion electric car solar cells provide enough charge for up to 30km travel per day?
Sonomotors have an electric car, the Sion. They claim that this car use its own solar-cells to charge the batteries in one day sufficient to drive up to 34km.
Their information sheet says:
Thus, ...
21
votes
1answer
1k views
Does turning the lamp in my classroom off and on use more energy than it being turned on for 30 minutes?
My physics teacher regularly said to our class:
Turning these lights [pointing to the ceiling of the classroom] off and on uses more energy than
leaving them on for 30 minutes.
Is this true?
I ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
Have people died by being shocked through the headphone cord of their cell phone?
The headline of an article in Vice magazine claims that "A 16-Year-Old Has Died After Being Electrocuted by His Headphones"
Last week, a teenager was electrocuted to death while listening ...
11
votes
1answer
632 views
Is keyless theft/relay theft a practical threat for vehicles with fob/keyless entry?
Some sites, such as AutoExpress, are warning about a method of breaking into vehicles with keyless entry by capturing and relaying the fob's signal.
To quote AutoExpress:
The process criminals use ...
18
votes
1answer
931 views
Does fully discharging a Lithium-based battery reduce its lifespan?
According to Battery University, the less you allow a Lithium-based battery to discharge before charging it again, the less wear it will undergo and therefore the longer lifespan it will have. (e.g. ...
3
votes
1answer
492 views
Did Marconi steal and patent Jagadeesh Chandra Bose's wireless technology?
https://web.archive.org/web/20161026225031/http://indiainnings.in/108Facts/marconi
This is an excerpt from a books called 108 Facts eternally India
As early as 1885, J. C. Bose had demonstrated ...
18
votes
1answer
3k views
Killed by 9V battery (via multimeter)
I found a Darwin award story claiming that someone was killed by pushing the leads of a Simpson 260 into his skin in ohmmeter mode. Furthermore, the story claims it is based on an unnamed US Navy ...
3
votes
0answers
503 views
Does Tesla's 70 kWh battery have 63 kg of lithium and if so, why? [closed]
I have found information that Tesla's 70 kWh battery pack has 63 kg of lithium: https://electrek.co/2016/11/01/breakdown-raw-materials-tesla-batteries-possible-bottleneck/
Considering there's only 13 ...
24
votes
1answer
1k views
Are criminals wandering around with contactless POS sale terminals helping themselves to small amounts from people's RFID credit/debit cards?
There is quite a lot of good coverage on Skeptics already of the security of RFID and contactless credit/debit cards, but it mainly focusses on card cloning and identity protection/privacy/tracking ...
6
votes
1answer
674 views
Do cellphones pose any harm to pacemaker users?
In Japan it is very common to see signs on trains that encourage/require you to turn off your phone on trains, or just near the priority seating areas. The thinking goes that the signals somehow ...
2
votes
0answers
170 views
Can you power a smartwatch by your body heat? [closed]
I stumbled across this indiegogo page for a new kind of smartwatch.
It promised to that you never have to charge it because it will be powered by your body heat.
Now i'm wondering, can you really ...
23
votes
2answers
8k views
Do fitness trackers make you fatter?
The idea of using a fitness tracker is that you should pay more attention to the amount of exercise you get and, therefore, be more likely to get enough. This should support weight loss in people who ...
131
votes
2answers
17k views
Do consumer computers include components that can connect to the internet when the computer is apparently turned off?
I have seen many claims that devices such as laptop computers contain components that can "connect to the internet" even when the main device is powered off. The implication is that such devices could ...
36
votes
1answer
2k views
Does a SSD only store data for 3 months without power?
On this document published by Dell, in section 6, it states:
I have unplugged my SSD drive and put it into storage. How long can I expect the drive to retain my data without needing to plug the ...
11
votes
1answer
603 views
Can you charge your phone using a non-electrified railway?
I recently watched a video on Youtube where two people use a railway to charge their phone. The person in the video uses a voltmeter and shows there is a small (under 5VAC) voltage difference between ...
5
votes
0answers
975 views
Does the 3M mouse pad extend battery life up to 50% or 75%?
The 3M company has a product called 3M™ Precise™ Mouse Pad with Repositionable Adhesive Backing and Battery Saving Design, MP200PS that claims to:
Battery saving design extends battery life of ...
13
votes
2answers
860 views
Does placing metal inside the microwave damage the microwave?
It's practically common knowledge that microwaving metal objects can damage the microwave. I've heard this multiple times, mostly from my mom, and I've always believed it to be true. But is it? Would ...
2
votes
0answers
243 views
Does turning off a light truly help the environment? [closed]
I have heard that a power plant will produce the same amount of power no matter what amount of electricity is being used. If this is the case, turning off a light bulb would not help reduce the ...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
Can a “special resistor” save a water heater tank from rust?
The Rheem water heaters say
The Rheem Performance Platinum 50 Gal. Electric medium water heater provides an ample supply of hot water for households with 3 to 5 people. This unit comes with two ...
78
votes
3answers
9k views
Does Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS) exist?
A recent article from Daily Mail cited the case of a woman claiming to be allergic to Wi-Fi, and that it could even kill her. This claim sounded ridiculous and absurd to me. Quoting parts of the exact ...
22
votes
2answers
4k views
Are British plugs safer than all other plugs?
There is a very interesting Youtube Video British Plugs Are Better Than All Other Plugs, And Here's Why that indicates some engineering reasons why the British power plug is safer than for example the ...
8
votes
1answer
352 views
Is there a 12% chance that a solar storm does damage to the electrical grid in the next decade?
Reuters: The probability of a solar storm striking Earth in the next decade with enough force to do serious damage to electricity networks could be as high as 12 percent, according to solar scientists....
2
votes
0answers
213 views
Is the risk of explosion increased by calling and charging a cell phone at the same time?
I have often heard that charging a cell phone and calling in the same time may cause the cell phone to explode.
Here is a Facebook page that has pictures of what is claimed to be one such example. [...
5
votes
0answers
4k views
Terabytes of data generated by Boeing Jet every hour
2010 article from gigaom (http://gigaom.com/2010/09/13/sensor-networks-top-social-networks-for-big-data-2/ Sensor Networks Top Social Networks for Big Data) says that twin engine Boeing Jet aircraft ...
30
votes
1answer
3k views
Can the health of an alkaline battery be determined by bouncing it?
I was just sent a YouTube video, which appears to demonstrate that one can determine the "health" of a battery (current voltage, useful lifetime remaining, etc.) by bouncing it on a level surface.
A ...
19
votes
2answers
931 views
Does reading off a self-luminous tablet impact the quality of sleep?
I've heard claimed many times that reading an iPad in bed makes for worse sleep quality than reading a book or a Kindle with a bedside lamp,
Possible explanations I've heard are because of the ...
9
votes
3answers
33k views
Can hot-plugging an HDMI cable damage the HDMI port?
I found this site on the Internet saying something to that effect:
Warning!!.....Never connect and disconnect HDMI cables and equipment while your devices are powered on (hot plugging cables). The ...
24
votes
1answer
5k views
Is it dangerous to vacuum-clean motherboards (and other electronics)?
I've been informed that using the standard household vacuum cleaner's blower attachment to clean motherboards (and the insides of laptops and desktops in general) is dangerous due to the possibility ...
14
votes
1answer
1k views
Could phone and electronics batteries be recharged by a lightning strike?
I was reading this story about lightning that stuck a vehicle while the family was still inside: Utah family films car as it’s struck by lightning
About halfway through the article is the following ...
8
votes
1answer
638 views
Do electronics have a startup cost?
There is a long held belief with some electricians that turning on an electric device requires a "startup" cost, or an overhead in the amount of power needed for it to start functioning normally. I ...
6
votes
0answers
571 views
Is it possible to fix stuck LCD pixels using flashing colours?
The LCD of my $700 smartphone has a stuck subpixel (blue, almost invisible due to the high screen resolution).
There are literally dozens of apps that claim to fix stuck pixels.
For example: Here's ...
9
votes
2answers
11k views
Does a mobile phone send signals when it's off?
I've heard that mobile phones send signals to the tower even when the mobile goes off so your location can be detected. Is this possible?
5
votes
0answers
271 views
Can an RFID tag be identified at distance in the real world?
For example, this guy says:
To that end, the ZRK [Japanese alien ID card] has an embedded IC Chip with RFID technology, which, as I have argued for years now, is a means to remotely track NJ [non-...
18
votes
3answers
2k views
Can you harvest energy from radio transmissions?
This video gives instructions on building a circuit to harvest energy from radio waves in the air using some pretty straightforward circuitry.
The creator has another video showing such a circuit ...
12
votes
1answer
36k views
Can magnets damage LCD screens?
My guitar teacher once told me that leaving a magnet near a LCD screen will affect it. I was skeptical because I guess that he believes that because magnets can affect CRT screens.
Here are some ...
20
votes
2answers
21k views
Does baking your graphics card fix it?
There's a tonne of articles online about fixing you graphics card by baking it in the oven. Supposedly this 'reflows' the solder to fix flaky connections. It's even been reported on sites such as ...
3
votes
1answer
660 views
Are Japanese capacitors more reliable in general?
Motherboard and PSU manufacturer's marketing department typically like to highlight the fact that they use Japanese capacitors, and there are even videos on Youtube and some articles about how to ...
15
votes
1answer
22k views
Do ultrasonic cat repellents work?
Amazon sells roughly 355 different cat repellent products but judging by the consumer ratings, most of them don't actually work -- and even those that do, could be correlation rather than causation.
...
7
votes
1answer
7k views
Should we remove batteries from electronic devices when not in use?
When I bought a digital camera recently, the shopkeeper advised me "to remove the batteries when the camera is not used for a long time".
I have heard this kind of thing for other devices also (like ...
