By having tiny magnetic implants inserted in their fingers, people are able to pick up metal items, such as paper clips or bottle tops, seemingly by magic. Some people have even had magnets inserted in the backs of their hands or on their ears!

A small incision is made either at the front or to the side of the fingertip, a tiny dermal elevator is used to separate the layers of the skin, and then the magnet covered in silicone is inserted slightly to the side of the finger pad. The incision is then closed with a stitch. With a finger magnet, people can detect live electrical cables but they can’t erase computer hard drives or credit cards or get stuck to refrigerators. The magnets are effective at lifting small items, but this shouldn’t be done for longer than 20 minutes at a time in case the skin over the magnet becomes damaged.

Body modification artists Jesse Jarrell and Steve Haworth initially experimented with magnets as a way to create removable metal adornments. Unfortunately, keeping something against the magnet for an extended period of time can crush and kill the skin in between, which leads to rejection and potential infection.

Secondarily, however, magnetic implants have another effect. They allow a person to sense magnetic fields, such as those created by magnets or by electrical currents traveling through wires.

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Sadly they’re just plastic saucers implanted under the skin and don’t actually stick to anything, although they look reasonably like the real thing. The dude should have gotten them all along the insides of his arms though. That would have been way more octo-like.

Is it just me or do they look like they’d be really itchy?