Smell Amazing Dan's Finger!
My family and I went to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City yesterday. We visited the Hayden Planetarium (Neil deGrasse Tyson’s stomping grounds.) Currently, the feature event playing in the planetarium is called Dark Universe, and it is 25 minutes of awesomeness. We were all very impressed and entertained by the show. Let’s face it, planetariums are a very cool way to learn things about outer space! However it would not have been a complete museum trip without a visit to the gift shop for some educational purchases. My daughter, Rachel, desired a plasma globe, so we got it (along with a neat little chemistry set.)
Rachel plugged in the plasma ball last night and began experimenting with it. Later in the evening, Rachel came to me to tell me she heard on the internet that by touching the plasma globe, your finger will smell like metal due to the heating of the metal in your blood. I told her that was quite a claim, and I asked her where she heard it? She showed to me a video produced by “Amazing Phil” with his sometimes co-host, “Amazing Dan”. Who?
Wikipedia to the rescue! They are roommates, they live in London, and they are vloggers. They are each educated (in their own right), and they are young and “hip” with Justin Bieber-ish circa 2010 hairstyles. They have millions of subscribers to their various YouTube projects. And, clearly, kids are listening to things they are saying. Here is the link to the video, and their plasma globe repartee begins at the 2:50 mark.
So as the father of an 11 year old, I guess I’m now infinitesimally cooler now that I know who these people are. That aside, I figured this was the perfect time for Rachel and I to investigate the claim.
Specifically, we went to look for any reference to health risks involving plasma globes. We found a section under the Wiki entry for plasma globes called “hazards”. While there are some hazards having to deal with the conduction of heat, it makes no reference to effecting your blood. Our search continued. We Googled various phrases, such as “plasma globe blood” and “plasma globe metal smell”, which yielded some interesting anecdotes. For example …
“The redness in your finger when touching the globe is actually due to the hemoglobin in your blood! Sure touching the globe induces the current to flow to the point where you are touching the globe. The current passing through the gas results in the emission of light which then passes through your finger where the hemoglobin works as a color filter.”
and …
“You might just be smelling ozone from the ionization discharge that you saw between the foil (aluminum foil) and your finger.”
While we were able to find stories from some people making claims about the interaction with the blood, and others about the smells they experienced, we could not find a plausible explanation as to how the interaction could result in an odor due to “metal in the blood.” So we kept looking around for some kind of scientific discussion about Amazing Dan’s smelly finger claim, but there was none to be had. We ended the search by reading a pdf produced by The Stanford Solar Center. This website has tons of information for teachers, students, and science enthusiasts about all things having to do with the sun. Including, yes, plasma globes! And they do a nice job of explaining exactly how the plasma globe works.
What did they have to say about the finger? Here is the takeaway from the piece:
“The electric field is also making electrons and atoms come and go in your finger, which is why your finger gets hot when you touch the globe.”
No mention of blood or hemoglobin or iron in the blood or metallic odors. I asked Rachel what she thought, and she came to the conclusion that the Amazings were wrong about the blood claim. And about the smell? Well, maybe Dan’s finger did smell after heating it up. But who knows what might have been on his finger at the time. After all, he was seen in the previous scene handling popcorn, as Rachel astutely observed.
So we are each a little wiser tonight. Rachel showed proper skepticism about the claim, and I learned who Amazing Phil and Amazing Dan are.
Ayy lmao
debunked ✔️
It’s AmazingPhil and Danisnotonfire… not Amazing Dan. Also, I had the same experience with the metal smell on my finger even though I had been no where near any metal before.
Same pool/copper metal smell on fingertips with our little plasma globe. It’s real, surprised no one knows why!
I was cringing at the fact he didn’t know the names
Lol it’s not amazing Dan first of all, it’s Danisnotonfire. Sorry it was bothering me. Second of all, thanks because my friend had one, and I was questioning what was happening.
As amazingly intellectual this post is I need to correct you because the inner fan is taking over me, AmazingPhil and danisnotonfire. They aren’t both called “amazing” I’m surprised your daughter didn’t correct you to be honest. (Btw I found your article because I was rewatching the video and wanted to google it so it was actually very informative thanks)
Actually, about that last part, I am pretty sure the smell of metal on your finger is DEFINITELY caused by the plasma ball! I tried it myself with a plasma ball I recently bought, and everything I touched to it started to smell like metal! My fingers, my palm, my arm, even my brother and sister noticed it on them when they touched it! So, although you are right about the rest, I just wanted to say that the smell was caused by the ball. However, it is most likely true that nothings happening to your blood. Who knows, maybe it only smells like that because the plasma balls were brand new!
although it might not say anything anywhere about the blood specifically, your finger will smell like metal if you put your finger on a plasma ball for longer than 3 or so seconds. try it. it’s true.
MY SONS K I L L M E
There is a distinct ‘ozone’ smell (reminds me of trains, photocopiers, and my dad’s bedside ionizer) that comes off my finger after holding it on my plasma ball for a few seconds. I can confirm that it’s nothing to do with blood, because if I hold my iPad Stylus against the ball for a few seconds, the stylus tips smells the same.
its actually the ozone. I think.