The strange American patent for an interface has been making the rounds on social media again. It claims that television and computer screens can influence the human mind and body. According to the document, which the Daily Mail calls «Manipulation of the Nervous System by Means of Electromagnetic Fields from Monitors», physicist Hendricus Gerardus Lous filed it in 2001. The document states that weak electromagnetic fields emitted by screens, especially old CRT monitors, can generate physiological effects on humans, including skin stimulation and modification of nervous system activity. The patent also suggests that electromagnetic pulses can be embedded directly into video content, working covertly without the viewer's awareness. The diagram attached to the patent highlights that these pulses generate small electrical currents that affect the firing of nerve signals, potentially altering a person's perception and physical responses without their conscious knowledge. Despite the idea sparking a wave of conspiracy theories online, technology and physics experts point out that modern LED screens have a much weaker effect compared to older ones, reducing the likelihood of the technology working as described in the patent without advanced technical modifications. Lous, who died in 2017, had filed several similar patents concerning the effects of electromagnetic fields on the nervous system and had previously worked with NASA on studies of cloud physics and low-gravity environments, which explains his interest in the complex physical aspects of frequencies and pulses. Nevertheless, the patent has reignited the debate on mind-control programs, especially in light of past statements from U.S. officials, declassified documents, and recent accusations of similar digital experiments, akin to the Cold War-era MKUltra program for mind control. The question remains: can television and computer screens become tools for influencing the human mind, or will this idea remain just a theoretical concept that has not been scientifically proven to this day?
