What if I could see in radio instead of light?

[Nik_2213]

Don't forget terahertz region, which has interesting resolution...

New, near-fractal sub-wavelength antennae, with superficial resemblance to eg 'Celtic Knots', may open access...

FWIW, our house would be opaque at many RF frequencies. The 'locally thrown' bricks swallow anything above 2G / DECT. Mine is a 'desk with no bars', so I've a 'tamed & tethered' window-hung LTE router for SMS 2FA. And, anything beyond line-of-sight from my WAPs needs wired connection...

 

[cmb]

There is another way to look at this, which you almost touched on.

OK, I think I see the problem with my premise.
Everything's going to be fuzzy and indistinct. (which knew I, but not so bad as this.)
Radio wavelengths are near the size of much of the human-scale world.

Yes, and I would posit to consider that this may not simply be 'co-incidence'.

Consider some extra-terrestrial species in a galaxy far away. They learn to communicate via EM waves. What wavelengths would they use?

Well, they'd have to be able to manufacture antenna of a size that can radiate a reasonable amount of energy and also receive it.

Now consider how the range of 'radio' wavelengths we use are related or not to our human-scale world.

If these extra-terrestrials were 1/100th of our size, they'd probably have developed cm wavelength radio before exploring shorter and longer wavelengths than us. They'd probably move on to using terahertz radiation like we now use the high microwave spectrum. They'd explore what are HF frequencies to us as we have ELF and huge array antenna like Clam Lake.

So my proposition is that 'radio frequency' is actually in the 'radio frequency spectrum' for precisely the reason that it necessitates a scaling that is notably (but not by too many OOM) in excess, in dimension, than the limits of our own biological perceptions.

As such, the premise of the question, that we might 'see' in radiowaves, might be missing the possibility that it's precisely because we can't see in that wavelength that we, as humans, use this spectrum for such 'radiowaves'.

There is a corollary to this, however, which I am sure you're all considering reading this; the nature of EM radiation is confined to specific phenomenologies related to material properties. For example, we see in a wavelength that is as energetic as possible without it becoming ionising to common molecules (UV). We can transmit radio waves through a breathable, but radio-transparent, atmosphere which further limits the spectrum we can use. We also use wavelengths that can interact with the planet's surface and atmospheric physics to send radiowaves around the planet.

Nonetheless, this does not necessarily unstitch the logical connection between the radio spectrums we use and our 'human-scale' world in which we have to be able to physically engineer antenna and electromagnetic structures, which are therefore of a human-scale nature (at least, in our earlier stages of technological development, and what we 'call' radio-waves). Rather, what it might mean is that technological species might only develop the range of radio-engineering skills we have only if they (also) are 'human-scaled' and proportioned to what we understand to be radio-engineered antenna dimensions.

 

[Robert Stenton]

Summary:: What would the world look like if I could see it with "eyes" that detected radio wavelengths?

If my eyes were sensitive to radio wavelength instead of visible wavelengths (and were large enough to resolve an image), what would the world look like?

I assume that my brain would interpret different frequencies in a way that is analogous to colours, such that I could distinguish them from each other.

I think that, as I sat here in my living room:

• My house would be virtually transparent, like a ghost. I would be able to make out portions of it, where it was dense enough to interfere with radio signals, but everything would be very fuzzy. For example, a block of metal would look like a fuzzy blob because it is too small compared to the radio wavelengths to be resolved and the signals would just diffract around it.
• I would be able to see my (fuzzy) phone flashing brightly as it sent and received signals.
• I would be able to see the transmitter towers as beacons in the distance.
• Everything else would be dark but not black, as radio waves would pass through most things but with at least some reflection.
• The sun would shine brightly of course.
• Would the sky be dark? I guess it would be dark enough that I could see stars.
• My cell phone would light up so bright (and omnidirectional) that it could be easily seen by a cell tower a mile away.
• A faraday cage would be a blob with black at its centre.
• I guess my microwave (which I can see in my kitchen, right through my living room wall) would be opaque inside.
• What colour would radio antennae, like on cars, be? I guess they would be black? They would have to be resolveable (if weren't at least partially opaque to radio waves, they couldn't receive radio signals.)

What other weird things might I see?

My son and I made a mini-radio telescope. Surprisingly, the sun does not radiate in the radio wavelength unless there is a flare or sunspot. Transformers along electrical wires will be very bright. Passing cars will also produce radio waves.

 

[sophiecentaur]

If these extra-terrestrials were 1/100th of our size, they'd probably have developed cm wavelength radio before exploring shorter and longer wavelengths than us. They'd probably move on to using terahertz radiation like we now use the high microwave spectrum.

Unfortunately, at this point in our fantasy, the reality of 'failure of scaling' creeps in. Humans came up with Radio Waves because of the nature of EM and the way electrons behave in metals and a vacuum. Our 1/100 scale friends would have really been stuck with the same Physics that we had in developing Radio Communication. They would have to had the ability to make microwave circuits and electronic devices, much the same as we use here. Perhaps the 1/100 scale would have been a bit extreme for them but mice-sized creatures could perhaps have developed Electrical Technology and been able to refine metals (I'm not really sure that a Blast Furnace would have been possible for them) and make glass thermionic valves for frequencies up to a few MHz. But simple Power circuits wouldn't be possible to scale because Resistors do not scale with Power and high enough Power is needed to deal with Signal To Noise Ratios.

But I see I've started to spoil the party.

At the other extreme, I was wondering about massive, gaseous life forms, living inside Nebulae. Their timescales would be have to be very long, bearing in mind that Nebulae tend to be light years in extent . . . . . . . .

Perhaps we're Homo Goldiloxus.

 

[alan123hk]

Without using a radio telescope, you can directly observe the radio signals emitted by distant astronomical objects with the naked eye. Or it can also be applied to radio communication, as long as the frequency of the modulated signal is low enough, the radio signal can be directly viewed and interpreted with the naked eye. But one of the disadvantages is that the lighting system needs to be switched to use the radio, so for daily life, it is best to be able to see both visible light and radio.

 

[DaveC426913]

Without using a radio telescope, you can directly observe the radio signals emitted by distant astronomical objects with the naked eye.

I would be bathed in light from them, but I do not think they could be resolved as distinct objects.

 

[mrfixitrick]

If were able to see radio waves, all humans would glow brightly. The human body is an excellent receiver and transmitter of electromagnetic radiation such as radio waves, which are present everywhere on Earth...and beyond. A practical example is to touch an AM radio antenna and hear the sound get louder. Another example is creating a static spark with a finger can be heard nearby on an AM radio.

It has been said that if you have a radiation detector and want to measure the radiation in a room, simply measure the humans. There is a scientific paper showing human forehead temperature as a practical way of measuring 5G signal strength.

 

[DaveC426913]

If were able to see radio waves, all humans would glow brightly. The human body is an excellent receiver and transmitter of electromagnetic radiation such as radio waves, which are present everywhere on Earth...and beyond. A practical example is to touch an AM radio antenna and hear the sound get louder. Another example is creating a static spark with a finger can be heard nearby on an AM radio.

Sorry. That simply means that humans won't be darker than the background diffuse grey. They certainly won't be brighter.

 

[alan123hk]

I would be bathed in light from them, but I do not think they could be resolved as distinct objects

But one thing is certain. You can't live close to radio stations. Even cities where cell phone base transceiver stations are everywhere nowadays may have a great impact on you, because even those powerful radios will not hurt your eyes. It may prevent you from falling asleep.

But one way is to wear a eye mask that can block the radio while sleeping.

 

[DaveC426913]

But one thing is certain. You can't live close to radio stations. Even cities where cell phone base transceiver stations are everywhere nowadays may have a great impact on you, because even those powerful radios will not hurt your eyes. It may prevent you from falling asleep.

But one way is to wear a eye mask that can block the radio while sleeping.

Oh very good point! Your eye lids* are transparent!

*_{over your metre-diameter aluminium mesh eyeballs}