An amazing ability

Jul 10, 2007 18:46 GMT  ·  By

You may have heard about electric rays, electric eels, or electric catfish. But an electric man? The reports show that the 71 year-old Zhang Deke, a retired highway maintainer from Altay city of China's westernmost Xinjiang, is able to stand charges (and he charges himself) of 220V of electricity passing through his body as a form of routine "exercise" to keep himself fit!

With both his hands grabbing onto live wires, Mr Zhang shows his "physical conductor" capacity, being able to even control their brightness.

But the best part is that with the current passing through his body, he can "cook" a live fish in only 2 minutes! Local people often call him "Electric Man", or "Wonder Man". Zhang also employs his unique ability to cure his friends and relatives of conditions such as rheumatism, arthritis and lumbago, and his "treatment" seems to be really effective.

You should know that on average, a low-voltage (110 to 220 V), 50 or 60-Hz AC current passing through a person's chest for a fraction of a second may provoke ventricular fibrillation even at a current as low as 60mA. With direct current, 300 to 500 mA is required. If the current has a direct pathway to the heart (e.g., via a cardiac catheter or other kind of electrode), a much lower current (of less than 1 mA) can cause fibrillation.

Fibrillations are usually deadly as all the heart muscle cells contract independently. Above 200mA, the muscles enter such powerful contraction that they cannot move at all and the heart stops.

Over 80% of all injuries and fatalities caused by electrical incidents are not caused by the electric shock, but by the intense heat, light, and pressure wave (blast) caused by electrical faults.

The 220 V is the charge delivered for example by an electric eel to kill a man. A 500 V current can kill even a horse.

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