from Hacker News

Belly Armor: tinfoil hats for the expectant mother

by soyelmango on 9/15/10, 2:14 PM with 23 comments

  • by twillerelator on 9/15/10, 3:08 PM

    $59 could also buy folic acid, vitamin d3 and choline capsules.

    There's a simple exercise you can do in the final weeks of pregnancy to encourage your baby to lie in the optimal position for childbirth (which is ofc free to view, but, amazingly, isn't widely put into practice, I understand).

    http://www.bloomingbellys.com/bb-blog/optimal-fetal-position...

  • by KoZeN on 9/15/10, 3:10 PM

    Ridiculous.

    If your cellphone is in your pocket, you're not protected from these perceived risks, if the radiation is coming from behind you, you're not protected either.

    It's this kind of scaremongering that drives me insane. Expectant mothers are under enough stress as it is without some pointless product telling them they are being attacked by vicious radiation on a daily basis despite their own admission that there is little to no evidence to prove that it is potentially harmful.

  • by frgbhnmnjh on 9/15/10, 4:12 PM

    It's not just EM waves. Billions of sub-atomic neutrinos pass through your unborn baby's body and yet no research has been done to show these are safe.

    My special neutrino proof baby wear (made from only natural recycled neutron star cores) will screen out (or about as much as this blocks 10Mhz RF) of this potentially dangerous radiation.

    As a bonus the curvature of the light around the super massive corset will also make you look thinner!

  • by jswinghammer on 9/15/10, 3:10 PM

    Given that they are not specific about what materials they use I can't help but wonder if they are just selling expensive organic cotton clothes labeled as baby protection.

  • by scott_s on 9/15/10, 3:20 PM

    I have to wonder if this product is cynically designed to exploit people who do not understand basic scientific reasoning. See: http://www.bellyarmor.com/radiation/health-risks/autism

  • by poutine on 9/15/10, 3:42 PM

    It often strikes me that for people that have no reasonable science education the world must seems like an extremely random, unpredictable and mysterious place without cause and consequence.

    "My God, what must it be like in your funny little brains? It must be so... boring." -Sherlock (BBC)

  • by lkrubner on 9/15/10, 3:45 PM

    People in general seem to have a weak understanding of electromagnetism, and they vacillate between ignoring it and fearing it. I have friends who will turn on a radio and listen to their favorite station and they were unaware that the radio waves going to their radio were also hitting them. When I explained this to them, they seem surprised. I wasn't able to quite explain to them that an AM radio wave coming from several miles away was extremely weak and extremely unlikely to ever do them any damage.

  • by jbyers on 9/15/10, 3:02 PM

    Snarky comments were running through my mind, but I credit them for being reasonably up front about the uncertainty of radiation risks. The first item under under Radiation -> Health Risks starts with:

      What is the impact of everyday radiation during pregnancy?  
  Today, the evidence remains mixed.
    Edit: After further reading I agree with the comments below. There's no real balance here.

  • by aphyr on 9/15/10, 5:00 PM

    The description also does an excellent job of mixing scary statements about ionizing radiation (which you are not likely to encounter) and low-frequency RF, which is all over the place. It's like arguing that wrecking balls could destroy your house, and it's therefore unsafe to play at lawn bowling.

  • by BillGoatse on 9/15/10, 3:47 PM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTXqHZiDcR0

    Read the comments. One born every minute, so to speak :)

  • by brazzy on 9/15/10, 2:46 PM

    Brilliant idea!

    I can so see women buying these to compensate for their inability to even temporarily give up Cosmopolitans and Margaritas.