May 02, 2023 20:00:00

Aluminum foil hats amplify 5G signals

Many people have seen the image of a person trying to block radio waves by covering their head with aluminum foil, which is a symbol of conspiracy theorists. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have confirmed that this act of 'covering your head with aluminum foil' can actually block radio waves, and have found that while it can attenuate some radio waves, it actually amplifies the radio waves of the frequencies used in 5G communication.

On the Effectiveness of Aluminum Foil Helmets

https://web.archive.org/web/20100708230258/http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

In the experiment, three types of aluminum foil hats made with Reynolds aluminum foil were used. The shapes of each aluminum foil hat are as follows:

'The Classical'

'The Fez'

'The Centurion (Ancient Roman Army Style)'

The research team placed receiving antennas on the inside of the aluminum foil hat at positions corresponding to the 'forehead,' 'top,' and 'back of the head,' and measured the frequency characteristics using Agilent Technologies' network analyzer ' 8714ET .' The total cost of the experiment, including a laptop for recording, was about $250,000 (about 34 million yen).

The measurements revealed that the three types of aluminum foil hats amplified and attenuated radio waves of the same frequency regardless of the position of the antenna. Specifically, it was found that the 1.5GHz radio waves were attenuated by 10dB. On the other hand, it was found that the 2.6GHz radio waves were amplified by 30dB, and the 1.2GHz radio waves were amplified by 20dB.

◆What are attenuated 1.5GHz radio waves?
The 1.5 GHz frequency radio waves, for which the aluminum foil hat showed an attenuation effect, are used by NTT Docomo for LTE communications , so it is possible that the aluminum foil hat can attenuate some of the radio waves used for LTE communications.

◆What is the amplified 2.6GHz radio wave?
The 2.6 GHz frequency radio waves, where an amplification of up to 30 dB was confirmed, are allocated to UQ Communications' nationwide BWA system in Japan and have been used for 5G services since December 2022. This means that aluminum foil hats have the potential to amplify 5G radio waves.

◆What is the amplified 1.2GHz radio wave?
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (PDF) document , radio waves with a frequency of around 1.2 GHz are used for 'broadcasting services,' 'GPS,' 'earth exploration satellites,' 'quasi-zenith satellites,' 'aviation radio navigation,' and 'various radars.' These radio waves can also be amplified by aluminum foil hats.