Did you know that you can get hurt bad (even killed) by lightning if you are listening to your iPod or talking on your cell phone during a thunderstorm?
The danger of talking on a landline telephone or even standing near electrical appliances was known for a long time. But cell phones? iPods?
According to a case study published by British Medical Journal (BMJ), a 15 year old girl was hit by lightning while talking to her friend on her cell phone in a thunderstorm. She had a heart attack but was saved.
After the incident she did not remember anything about the incident. Memory loss is a frequent side effect of lightning hits. But the people who witnessed the event confirmed the report.
A year later the British lightning victim developed a number of additional ailments, including deafness in the ear where she was holding her cell phone.
However, the danger is not a universally accepted one. Some U.S. sources deny the danger, claiming there is no direct relationship between a lightning and cell phone and iPod usage.
But there is a universal consensus that carrying metallic objects in a thunderstorm is not a good idea. Since both cell phones and iPods do have metallic parts, it makes inherent logical sense not to carry such items when there is a thunderstorm out there.
An interesting factoid from news.BBC.co.uk: “A lightning bolt travels at about 14,000 miles per hour and heats up the air around it to 30,000°C - five times hotter than the surface of the sun.”
Would you want to press against your ear any gadgets in a thunderstorm that have even the remotest probability of transferring 30,000°C heat at 14,000 miles per hour? It’s your call.
Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases, movie reviews and hi-tech documentation.
He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 companies for the last 7 years.
In addition to being an Ezine Articles Expert Author, he is also a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), and a Member of American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI).
You can reach him at writer111@gmail.com for a FREE consultation on all your copywriting needs.
You are most welcomed to visit his official web site http://www.writer111.com for more information on his multidisciplinary background, writing career, and client testimonials.
While at it, you might also want to check the latest book he has edited, PRIVATE TUTOR FOR SAT MATH SUCCESS 2006:
http://www.lulu.com/content/263630
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ugur_Akinci
No comments:
Post a Comment