Basile's sleeping beauty's name is Talia, and it didn't stop there with a kiss. The terrible will of the gods

Not many people are aware of what the SAR level is in mobile devices. Today we decided to discuss this issue. The SAR level is a special indicator that can characterize the most large amount electromagnetic radiation for various models and brands of mobile phones.

Dispute

If you have previously encountered information about how a mobile phone can influence the human body, then this article will be able to supplement your knowledge, and those people who have never seen the relevant data will be able to learn a lot of new things for themselves. For example, the SAR level of Philips may differ significantly in its characteristics from other mobile phones. It will be interesting to learn about how the communicator is able to influence the human body. Of course, there are currently a large number of different debates on this issue. Some experts are looking for every clue to prove that radiation from devices can cause great harm to people. On the other hand, scientists convince us that the dangerous indicator in mobile devices cannot exceed certain standards, and accordingly, communicators are completely harmless. Surely now many of you are wondering how the SAR level can affect the body, as well as how to determine mobile device, which produces the most radiation.

Unit

In fact, there is no definite answer, or rather, no one knows exactly how these waves can influence the human body. The SAR level of mobile phones is a certain part of the absorption coefficient of electromagnetic radiation by the human body.

This data can be measured in watts per kilogram.

Acceptable standards

Surely you know that almost everything Cell phones, which are currently sold in showrooms, undergo special certification, and this procedure can be completed successfully only if the SAR level does not exceed established standards. There are special regulatory bodies that test and measure these parameters, in most countries the SAR standard is 1.6 watts per kilogram. This refers to the unit of human mass. For example, the SAR level of Nokia is indicated separately for each model. The same can be said about large quantities other popular mobile device manufacturers. The quantity is characterized directly electromagnetic radiation the device itself at maximum power. Judging by practice, then we can confidently note that the level of this indicator is significantly lower than critical, but at the same time, an increase in these parameters may depend on various factors, such as the presence of a signal.

How to reduce the negative influence of a communicator

Surely many people want to learn about the basic rules that can reduce the impact of mobile device radiation on the human body. Now we will give you several such rules, and if you wish, you can use them. The SAR level can actually negatively affect the human body, but with the help of special rules you can move away from such radiation, of course, this cannot be done 100% of the time.

The first rule is that you should keep your mobile device as far away from your body as possible, especially around vital organs such as your heart. During telephone conversations It is recommended to use a special headset more often or simply turn on the speakerphone, while the communicator itself must be kept as far away from you as possible. If you are in an area where the signal from your mobile device is poor, it is wise to avoid long conversations, as in such cases the radiation can even increase several times. It is recommended to bring the mobile phone to your ear only after there is a complete connection with the called subscriber, since when dialing the phone begins to operate at maximum power level.

Closed space

SAR (from English Specific Absorption Rate), specific absorption rate of electromagnetic energy, is an indicator that determines the energy of the electromagnetic field absorbed in the tissues of the human body in one second. These indicators also measure the magnitude of the harmful effects of mobile phones or smartphones on the human body. Therefore, this parameter can be found in the characteristics of mobile devices.

It is interesting that science has not fully figured out how the radiation of a mobile phone or smartphone affects our body; accordingly, no one can provide accurate data. However, in Europe it is considered that the specific absorption rate of electromagnetic energy should not exceed 2 W/kg for 10 grams of tissue - this is the intensity at which a smartphone or telephone can emit radiation during a conversation when held near a person's ear. In the USA, a different measurement system is used - no higher than 1.6 W/kg for 1 gram of tissue.

Another feature is that the SAR value is determined when the phone or smartphone is running at full power. If we talk about ordinary life, then the transmitter power depends on the conditions in which the user is located. So, if it is in a place where the communication quality is excellent, the less power. However, there are other situations. In addition, the SAR level depends on other circumstances.

Should you pay attention to the SAR level when buying a new smartphone or phone? As was written above, scientists have not fully elucidated the effect of radiation from mobile gadgets on the human body. Still, it is recommended to take into account the SAR indicator - the lower it is, the better for human health.

You can check the SAR level in the device specifications. Let's take for example Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) SM-A520F. Here are its characteristics on Yandex.Market:

As you can see, the SAR level indicated here is 0.52. This is a very good figure, although not a record. For the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, it is only 0.264, and with this indicator the smartphone occupies a leading position at the end of 2016. By the way, here are the ten safest devices in terms of SAR level at the end of 2016 (according to sammobile.com).

When you put down a book Stephen King or watch end credits film Hitchcock, then you can breathe a sigh of relief and even laugh at what scared you, because it’s fiction.

But real world scarier than we can imagine. Specially in honor of Halloween: here is a selection from seven creepy stories , which have actually happened in the United States in recent years.

Death Eliza Lam

IN last time Elisa Lam was seen on January 31, 2013 at the Cecil Hotel in the center Los Angeles. The girl was resting on West coast, documented the trip on her blog and talked with her parents every day, when suddenly these calls stopped - Eliza disappeared.

In February, the Los Angeles Police Department released video recording security cameras in the hotel elevator where Elisa was filmed before she disappeared. The girl behaves strangely, talks to invisible people, looks around the corner, crouches, opens and closes doors. Theories ranged from psychosis to possession or a conversation with someone not in the picture.

Around the same time, hotel guests began talking about strange things occurring with water supply. As reported, the guests talked about black water, about water with a disgusting taste that is difficult to describe.

On the morning of February 19, hotel staff went to the roof to check the water tanks. It was there that the decomposing, naked body of Elisa Lam was discovered. The strangest thing was that the roof was equipped with an alarm and a door with a complex lock.

If that's not enough for you, here are three facts: In the 1980s, serial killer Richard Ramirez lived in a single room at the Cecil Hotel. In the 90s - another maniac, Jack Unterweger. In 1962, a guest jumped out of a hotel window. Both she and the pedestrian died.

Obsession in Indianapolis

In 2014, she published an article about a family that was terrorized by children, allegedly possessed by demons. And this is not just the fabrication of a sensation-seeking journalist - the article contains links to 800-page reports from police officers, doctors and other specialists.

According to them, the children spoke in unnatural voices. A 12-year-old girl during the period of “enlightenment” told psychiatrists that someone invisible periodically held her by the throat, and she could not speak or move.

Valerie Washington, a child care services manager, said she saw the woman's 9-year-old son walk on the walls and ceiling, then jump off and land on his feet.

Mass suicide in Utah

In September 2014, a Utah teenager returned home to find his parents and three siblings dead. IN notebook mother, Christy Strack, had the usual to-do list, but no suicide notes, no indication that the family intended to kill themselves.

For about a year, the police did not have a single lead, reported. An investigation later concluded that the children's parents were afraid "the coming apocalypse", and were also obsessed with the Utah killer, Dan Lafferty (the man said he killed his daughter-in-law and her one-year-old daughter on the orders of his brother, who allegedly received a revelation from God).

Christy Strack and her husband visited Lafferty in prison before the tragedy.

Calls from nowhere

In 2007, the Kukendall family from Washington State began receiving hundreds of terrifying calls on mobile phones. The callers told what the family members were wearing, what they were doing, and threatened to cut their throats.

The calls were heard day and night for several months, it was reported. The police were powerless to do anything, since, tracing the calls, it turned out that they were coming... from the Kukendalls' own mobile phones. Even when the mobile phones were turned off.

The creepy calls stopped as suddenly as they began.

The Observer from New Jersey

After moving into their $1.3 million dream home, a family with children from... New Jersey I started receiving letters from an unknown person.

He called himself "Observer", - the channel reported and wrote that “the house belonged to him for decades, and now they will wait for his second coming”.

“Have you already discovered what is inside the walls of the house? I am glad that I learned your names and the names of the young blood that you brought to me.", - said in next letters. As a result, the family simply ran away from the house and then filed a lawsuit against the previous owners.

Missing girls in North Carolina

On the morning of September 5, 2017, in Lumberton, North Carolina, 20-year-old Abby Patterson told her mother she would be back in an hour, got into an old brown Buick... and never returned.

In Lumberton (population - 22 thousand people), since April, the corpses of young women, all near the same abandoned house.

After the first two cases, journalists interviewed the local population, including 28-year-old Megan Oxendine. It was Megan who soon became the third victim of the unknown or unknown. As for Abby Patterson, she is still considered missing.

In each other's arms

21-year-old California couple Joseph and Rachel were last seen on July 27 in the National Park Joshua Tree. Later, they did not show up at their apartments reserved through Airbnb, and then their relatives sounded the alarm.

For several months, rescuers and volunteers combed the park, but there were no traces of the guy and the girl.

And in mid-October, a group of rescuers suddenly found bodies hugging each other. It is believed that Joseph, who had a gun, first killed Rachel and then shot himself as they died from heat and dehydration.

The only mystery that remains is why, in 100-degree heat, the couple went to a remote area of ​​the park without phones, why they didn’t leave suicide note. There is no one to shed light on these questions.

7 creepy stories that actually happened in America updated: October 31, 2017 by: Alina Dykhman

Places and buildings covered in legends and mystical stories. Places that give you goosebumps.
Hunters looking for thrills and adrenaline, glasses splashing in the blood, can not only jump with a parachute and run from avalanches. Less athletic citizens, especially those inclined to travel, prefer to travel to strange and scary places, of which there are plenty on our planet. And it’s not always Pripyat where it really happened terrible disaster. These are places that are the stuff of legends. About which you can make horror films.

(1) House of Winchester
California.

160 rooms, 40 stairs and one big secret. This is what the Winchester house is like - a huge manor in San Jose, where a crazy widow and a whole family of ghosts lived. It all started when Sarah Winchester lost her husband and inherited his multi-million dollar fortune. Later, the spirit of the deceased appeared to her, who told her the sad news: money was made on human bones, all Winchesters were cursed, and the ghosts would take revenge. You can make peace with them only by starting to build a house. Preferably without stopping. Because if the hammering stops, the woman will die.
Sarah immediately got to work. The newly minted millionaire bought out in California old mansion and hired workers. New rooms, corridors, balconies and secret passages began to appear in the house. The floors were intertwined with a web of stairs, which most often led to nowhere - Mrs. Winchester, who was gradually losing her mind, hoped to lead the ghosts that were pursuing her astray. The house grew by leaps and bounds, construction did not stop for more than a day, and eventually continued for 38 years! Today, tourist excursions are taken to this grand mansion. You cannot fight off the group - otherwise you will instantly get lost in the maze of creepy rooms. In which, as they say, ghosts are still waiting for their victims.

(2) Aokigahara Forest
Japan


The gloomy forest at the foot of Mount Fuji would be suitable for filming The Blair Witch Project. Through the dense trees national park The sun hardly breaks through, people's compasses stop working here. The Japanese themselves nicknamed this place the “Forest of Suicides”: since the 1950s, more than five hundred people have committed suicide in the remote thicket. In terms of the number of suicides, only the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is ahead of Aokigahara.
Instead of signs saying “Don’t throw trash!” There are notices in the forest asking people to think about their loved ones. Telephone numbers of psychological services are written everywhere. Video surveillance is underway. But people (most often these are clerks tortured by office life in business suits) continue to die regularly: peaceful tourists from time to time stumble upon the bodies of the dead or “murder weapons” in the form of tablets and rope loops in the forest. In general, have a nice walk!

(3) Overtone Bridge
Scotland


The old arch bridge is located near the Scottish village of Milton. Next to it is the powerful Overtown mansion, which could become a refuge for dozens of disgruntled ghosts. But we have no complaints about the house, but we do have complaints about the bridge. In the middle of the 20th century, strange things began to happen on it: dozens of dogs suddenly threw themselves from a 15-meter height, fell onto rocks and were killed. Those that survived returned and tried again. The bridge has turned into a real “four-legged killer.”
Over the course of ten years, several hundred dogs died on the bridge. They all jumped from the same parapet. No one could understand what pushed the watchdogs into the abyss. Zoologists, veterinarians and other specialists tried to unravel the terrible mystery. It soon became clear that rats and minks lived under the bridge, on which dogs driven by the hunting instinct could rush. But there was another version - they say, the bridge is located on the border between the worlds of the living and the dead. Sensing something paranormal, the dogs followed the trail and died as punishment for their curiosity.

(4) San Zhi Ghost Town
Taiwan

A luxurious resort on the sea coast was built specifically for the local rich. Futuristic-style houses with round rooms and curved staircases were intended for those who were tired of everyday life. However, already at the construction stage it became clear that San Zhi was under a curse. Dozens of workers died under strange circumstances: they broke their necks falling from a height (even with safety ropes), and died under collapsed cranes. The surrounding residents were sure that the town was inhabited evil spirits. There were harrowing stories about a Japanese “death camp” that had once been located here.
At the end of the 1980s, construction stalled. Investors expected that San Zhi’s “space” apartments would find their buyers, but all negotiations ended in nothing. Having learned about the ominous features of this place, superstitious Taiwanese refused to invest money in real estate. As a result, the resort gradually turned into a ghost town. Pot-bellied houses stand in disrepair, beautiful beaches are deserted, paths are overgrown with weeds. The authorities even wanted to demolish the abandoned resort, but were stopped by a wave of protests: local residents They are afraid that after the destruction of houses, evil spirits will go for a walk in the nearest villages.

(5) Poveglia Island
Italy


The tiny island of Poveglia near Venice is surrounded by thick fog horror stories. For several decades of the 14th century, during the Black Death that raged in the world, people infected with the plague were brought here - hopelessly ill people who had no chance to survive. Here, on the island, a “ mass grave", in which thousands of bodies were buried. There is a version that the corpses were not buried, but burned, which is why the soil on Poveglia consists of 50 percent human ash.
However, this is only the beginning of the horror story. In 1922, a psychiatric hospital was located on the island. Almost all of her patients soon began to suffer from terrible headaches and complain that the clinic was literally filled with the ghosts of the dead. But this only played into the hands of the chief doctor, who fed the mentally ill with neuroleptics and experimented on them. The dilapidated clinic building with barred windows, beds and fragments of medical equipment still remains on the island. There is also a bell tower here (now it serves as a lighthouse), from which, according to legend, a crazy doctor threw himself at the end of the story.

(6)Jatinga
India


The village of Jatinga in the mountains of the Indian state of Assam has long been nicknamed “the graveyard of birds.” Every August, large flocks of birds appear in the sky above the local valley and fall to the ground screaming. The mass suicide lasts for several days in a row, some of the birds die, while the rest, as if under the influence of hypnosis, easily allow themselves to be controlled. The peasants call this eerie phenomenon “nights of falling birds” and specially gather around the fires in the evenings to watch the almost constant fall of birds. Indians consider it a gift from God.
Ornithologists have been studying the Jatinga phenomenon for many years. According to one version, the culprit is geophysical anomalies that throw migratory birds off course. Another idea is that the birds get caught in powerful wind currents, lose their strength, and are blown towards the village. Noticing the lit fires, the birds rush into the light and, not calculating the distance, die.

(7) Island of the Dolls
Mexico


You can get to this kingdom of fear in the land of the Aztecs by boat along the famous canals of Xochimilco. The views will appeal to fans of films about Chucky the killer doll: every tree and every building on the island is covered with creepy dolls with empty eye sockets, broken limbs and crushed heads. All this was done on the island by a guy named Julian Barrera. Once, when a girl drowned in a canal, he accidentally found a doll at the place of her death. Believing that the toy was connected to the spirit of the deceased, Barrera left it on the island. And then I found another doll. And he could no longer stop, continuing to collect discarded dolls for the next 50 years.
The crazy Mexican (who, by the way, loved to pawn his collar) even built a hut on the island, where he settled. The collection of mutilated toys continued to grow. One day, the island suddenly went under water (this sometimes happens in Mexico), and soon surfaced again, but by that time its inhabitant had already disappeared without a trace. All that remains are the dolls, which today tourists who are partial to horror stories come to see.

Illustrations: Alexander Kotlyarov

People constantly go to extremes, even in something as basic as eating. A man once heard that what more water he drinks a day, the better he feels and the faster he loses weight - and let's drink liters of water! Or that boiled meat without fat is healthier than grilled meat - and let's eat kilos of meat! Meanwhile, any excesses are bad. It is on this thesis that several tortures that we will tell you about are based.

Each torture will be commented on by a real living doctor, or rather, surgeon Alexey Bekhtev. And not by shouting “A-ah! What a horror!”, but with a detailed medical explanation.


Salt torture


So much has already been said, written and filmed about the dangers of salt. feature films(okay, not filmed), which would seem stupid in Once again repeat how harmful salt is. But hardly anyone has felt the deadly qualities of salt more than the one who was subjected to brutal torture with salt.

IN Ancient China this penalty was applied to “salt sharers” - persons who added all sorts of foreign ingredients to expensive salt. But if the goal is not murder, but simply slow torture, then by feeding the prisoner very salty food and limiting him in water, you can bring him to a very serious condition in the absence of visible injuries. Which is especially useful if all sorts of opponents of torture and human rights defenders suddenly become involved in the case.

Here, for example, is how they act in modern China. Dissident Yuan Yuchun, arrested in 2000, recounts being force-fed extremely salty food at the Shanli-Jinzhou Detention Center. For ten days, diluted starch with the addition of salt was poured into her esophagus through a tube. “My body darkened, became cold and stiff,” Yuchun writes. - Ten days later, I could not straighten my back, legs, arms, even fingers without effort; salty mucus was constantly dripping from my nose and mouth. They must have thought I was dying because I was released on December 12, 2000.”

Word to the doctor In this torture we are dealing with a violation of water-salt metabolism. If a person consumes more than a kilogram of salt per day, the level of sodium in the blood goes off scale, hypernatremia occurs, and this, in turn, causes dehydration, that is, dehydration of the body. Typical symptoms: weight loss, sagging skin, constipation, drowsiness, hallucinations. Final stage Before death, a person falls into a coma.

Chicken egg torture


At first glance, the eggs seem to be round and harmless. This is not true: they are oval and dangerous. Especially if you don't limit yourself to five eggs a week. However, torture with chicken eggs does not mean that the unfortunate person is fed scrambled eggs until the level of cholesterol in the blood exceeds the norm. Torture with chicken eggs is much more inventive. It is mentioned in “The Tale of Khoja Nasreddin” by Leonid Solovyov and in several Arabic sources and looks like this.

A wide tube was inserted into the condemned person's esophagus and several raw chicken eggs were stuffed into it. The shell perfectly resists the action of digestive enzymes of the human stomach. Therefore, the eggs traveled through the intestines for a long time, leading to severe colic and painful bowel movements at the end. Smash egg, which is protected by muscles in the stomach or intestines, is completely impossible.

A word from the doctor I would also add that due to its shape, the egg moves through the intestines quite slowly. After all, intestinal peristalsis - the pushing ability, expressed in wave-like contractions - is designed not for whole eggs, but for digested pulp. This situation is dangerous due to the development of fecal peritonitis (inflammation), which smoothly and painfully flows into death. And there is also a small, but still probability that when the egg moves along the esophagus, there will be sudden death from reflex cardiac arrest, since in a small area the egg will pass very close to the heart.

Torture with boiled meat


It is known that it is better to prefer boiled meat to fried meat, and meat without fat to a shiny piece of lard. But you shouldn’t overeat meat, even boiled and without fat. Chinese criminals who have experienced boiled meat torture would support this statement. If only they were alive.

The torture with boiled meat lasted about a month, and almost all this time the criminal experienced extreme suffering. He was locked in a narrow and low cage, in which he could only lie or sit crouched, and was given water clean water, and were fed carefully boiled meat without veins, fat and bones. A month later, a fresh corpse was taken out of the cage. By the way, in the Chinese judicial reference books where this torture is mentioned, there is a note stating that this torture is ineffective for representatives of some peoples, for example the Xiongnu, since they can live in these conditions for a very long time. Indeed, the Chinese, who ate mainly plant foods, were much more sensitive to such changes in diet than the Mongols or Huns, who for centuries ate pure meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Word to doctor B in this case The tortured person may have more than one reason for death. The first reason: a person may die due to insufficient production of digestive enzymes - pepsin and trypsin, necessary for the full digestion process. To produce these enzymes, internal proteins that are not present in the meat entering the body will be used, and this will lead to a malfunction in the functioning of the entire body. The second reason: when heavy food enters the body, a person needs to move. Physical inactivity in this case is fraught with intestinal paresis, and then it is not far from the absorption of bacteria into the blood. And finally, such a “sitting in a cage” lifestyle, together with eating meat, can lead to excess levels of nitrogenous products in the blood, that is, to azotemia. Its consequences are numerous: from tachycardia to swelling and uremia.

Water torture


Don't worry if you can't drink the two liters of water a day that your body supposedly needs to thrive. Of course, it is stupid to deny that in aqua sanitas, that is, in water, there is health. But we must not forget that sometimes in aqua mors, that is, in water there is death (and not fruit drink at all). With this non-existent Latin truth European executioners of the 15th–18th centuries were very familiar.

In torture museums throughout Europe, there is sometimes an unpresentable, boring thing - a wooden or copper funnel covered with shabby leather, which does not look at all against the backdrop of spectacular collars with spikes pointing inward, or chipped blocks. But, if you look closely, you can see numerous dents on its narrow part. These are the marks of the teeth of the victims of water torture, which was considered “neat, humane and not violating decency” and therefore, by the way, was especially often applied to women, who for this reason did not need to be undressed or butchered to the detriment of Christian modesty. The victim was tied to a bench with his head raised, after which a funnel was forcibly inserted into his throat, and water was poured into the funnel. Much water. In addition to the feeling of suffocation and pain from the stomach bursting with liquid, water torture was long-lasting, gradually bringing the victim into a state of weakness, clouded consciousness and submission.

A word to the doctor As in the case of torture with salt, we are faced with a violation of water-salt metabolism. Only this time the diagnostic criterion is different - a decrease in plasma sodium concentration. In addition, excess water leads to an increase in all the fluid spaces of the body. Water intoxication occurs. An overdose of water leads to swelling of cells and tissue edema, causing nausea, vomiting and cramps. And death occurs directly due to cerebral edema and respiratory arrest.

Not only food excesses are harmful to health. Here are a few tortures that demonstrate the need for moderation in all aspects of life. Well, almost all of them.


Torture with drops

Cinema of the 20th century gave us many stereotypes. In particular, that walking in the rain, singing in the rain and hugging in the rain is cool. Of course, to some extent it’s really cool, especially if out of the rain you find yourself in a warm living room, where the fireplace is burning, mulled wine is boiling and a Labrador is lying around (yes, another stereotype). In all other cases, prolonged dripping of water on an uncovered head is not recommended. And in European and Eastern sources, torture with drops was even listed as one of the most effective. The victim was tied to a special chair. A flask was placed above the head, from which water dripped continuously at regular intervals. Drop. A drop. A drop. A drop. A drop. A drop...

Word to the doctor

The crown is one of the most vulnerable places in a person, therefore nerve impulses, experiencing even a slight impact in this area, transmit a signal of danger. Soon the signals become similar to pain sensations. Overvoltage occurs nervous system, breakdown of the regulatory mechanisms of the functioning of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, which leads to disruption of the regulation of vascular tone. In addition, prolonged and repeated damaging effects often lead to changes in the functional state (increased reactivity) of the pain system, which gives rise to its pathophysiological changes.

Torture by insomnia


The temptation not to sleep can be even stronger than the temptation to sleep, especially if life is full of bright, exciting events that you don’t want to miss. But if you approach the problem of insomnia from a medical point of view, then the popular call to “sleep in a coffin” ceases to seem so innocent. Moreover, one of the most popular tortures that can break a person’s will is based precisely on lack of sleep.

Torture by insomnia was especially popular in the 20th century, since, despite all its painfulness, it leaves no traces and it is usually difficult for the prisoner to prove the fact of torture.

The writer Evgenia Ginzburg, who spent 18 years in prisons, camps and exile, wrote in her memoirs “Steep Route” about how in the basements of the Lubyanka the arrested were given “sleepless weeks”, not allowing them to sleep with endless interrogations. As a result, even people who could endure any physical pain and were not afraid of death signed everything they were told, since after a week of insomnia they experienced serious personality disorders and the ability to make volitional decisions completely disappeared. They began to sleep in reality, practically losing control over reality, without even recording it in memory. After they were finally allowed to sleep, they most often did not remember the events of several last days and looked with amazement at their own signatures under confessions of espionage and sabotage.

A word from the doctor When you are awake for more than 72 hours, the body’s nervous systems respond with a malfunction, which is expressed in a deficiency of neurotransmitters. In fact, sleep is a reboot for the entire body, and especially for the nervous systems. During sleep, thanks to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, errors accumulated during the day are eliminated. Accordingly, if the “reboot” has not occurred, the person begins to behave inappropriately. At this moment, the body mobilizes internal resources to continue its existence, and it does not care what its owner signs.

Torture by silence and darkness

A quiet evening at home without a computer, TV or gramophone - what could be worse? Only torture by silence and darkness, which was used in the ancient Roman prison Tullianum. There, criminals were kept in dark bag cells, whose guilt was insufficient for death penalty, but too large simply for corporal punishment. They were placed in tightly closed cells with a good ventilation system. Food was served from the dark hall upstairs - so that not a single ray of light penetrated into the prison. The jailers entered this part of the prison barefoot or wearing felt shoes, and they were strictly forbidden to talk to the prisoners.

A few months later, an ulcerated, toothless, and often blind man was delivered from the bag. crazy man, thus killing him “only partially,” as required by the sentence. Absence sunlight led to vitamin deficiency, primarily to vitamin D deficiency. The prisoner developed scurvy - a disease in which connective tissue loses its strength, teeth fall out, a characteristic hemorrhagic rash appears on the body, and the patient experiences constant severe pain in the joints. For months, darkness, silence and aching pain deprived even the most persistent and strong-willed person of a sense of reality. So you can safely trade a quiet evening in a dark room for a loud night at the club.

A word to the doctor The science of the soul is a delicate thing, and I am a surgeon. Can I go home now?