Boing Boing: Implanting a magnet in your fingertip adds a sixth sense

According to Huffman, the magnet works by moving very slightly, or with a noticeable oscillation, in response to EM fields. This stimulates the somatosensory receptors in the fingertip, the same nerves that are responsible for perceiving pressure, temperature and pain. Huffman and other recipients found they could locate electric stovetops and motors, and pick out live electrical cables. Appliance cords in the United States give off a 60-Hz field, a sensation with which Huffman has become intimately familiar. “It is a light, rapid buzz,” he says.

Also, remind me never to follow a link to poetry.rotten.com ever again. It appears to be their extremely distasteful Faces of Death server which, while ghoulishly fascinating, is not exactly suitable for work.