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Mobile Phones and Lightning a Lethal Mix

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the shocking-outcomes dept.

An anonymous reader writes "In a letter to the British Medical Journal, doctors wrote that people should not use mobile phones outdoors during thunderstorms because of the risk of being struck by lightning. Usually 'when someone is struck by lightning, the high resistance of the skin conducts the flash over the body in what is known as a flashover, but if a metal object, such as a phone, is in contact with the skin it disrupts the flashover and increases the odds of internal injuries and death.'"

20 of 374 comments (clear)

  1. So you're telling me... by cwalk · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...I no longer need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electrical power I need?

    1. Re:So you're telling me... by troc · · Score: 5, Funny

      But you still need a DeLorean.

      --
      Troc's dubious podcast and blog: http://www.trocnet.net
  2. Guess everone better take off their Levis then. by ABeowulfCluster · · Score: 5, Funny

    Damn rivets! Catching my doo hoo willy on fire!

    1. Re:Guess everone better take off their Levis then. by SomethingOrOther · · Score: 4, Funny

      You can laugh matie, but I still have a permenent brand on my arse from when I came off my motorbike and slid along the tarmac wearing jeans.

      The denim held up fine, but the rivit heated up during the slide and gave me a DEEP burn :-)

      --
      Anyone quoted by a reporter knows how little they understand
      Don't believe what you read is the truth.
  3. In other news ... by xav_jones · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't hold up umbrellas, large metal spikes or TV antennae. Jury is still out on iPods and tin foil hats maybe OK.

  4. Re:old wives tail? by onion2k · · Score: 4, Funny

    You mean "tale". Unless the women around your bit of the world are really weird..

    --
    http://twitter.com/onion2k
  5. Hello!? by damburger · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm in a thunderstorm!

    No, its crap!

    *ZAP*

    --
    If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
  6. WTF is this about metal objects? by bmo · · Score: 4, Funny

    The best way to insulate oneself from lightning is to be _inside_ a metal object, such as an automobile.

    Anyone who has seen the Electricity Show at the increasingly unchanging Boston Museum of Science knows that.

    Lightning Safety tips, for the uniniated:

    1. Do try to not be the highest thing around.
    2. Don't stand under the highest thing around.
    3. Don't lay flat on the ground if you are at a golf course or open field. Crouch.
    3a. Some country clubs splurge and buy lightning detectors. Pay attention to the warning.
    4. Seek freakin' shelter
    5. 4 may conflict with 2.
    6. Cell phones are the least of your worries.
    7. Geeks should be more concerned whether the insurance covers the electronics.
    8. The rubber soles of your shoes won't protect you.
    9. If you are talking on your cell phone in the middle of a field during a lightning storm, Saint Darwin will announce "You! Out of the gene pool!" and take your soul.

    and lastly...

    10. **"The Australian Lightning Protection Standard recommends that >>metallic objects, including cordless or mobile phones, should not be used (or carried) outdoors during a thunderstorm," Esprit added.** So drop your pants and toss your belt buckle when the storm hits.

    --
    BMO

  7. Re:What about piercings by William+Robinson · · Score: 5, Funny
    Yeah....

    And what about my tin foil hat...

    --
    hilarious
  8. Now if you want science... Checkout the cows! by GrpA · · Score: 4, Funny

    Lighting information week...
    http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/week.htm

    Safety.
    http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm

    Check out the line of dead cows near the metal fence.... I didn't see a single cow with a mobile phone in it's non-opposable-thumb hoof.

    GrpA

    --
    Enjoy science fiction? "Turing Evolved" - AI, Mecha, Androids and rail-gun battles. What more could you want?
  9. Re:Metal objects ? by leuk_he · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or metal object like coins or jewels. no-one ever carries coins. Use paper money/plastic only! it is safer!

  10. Re:Talking in the rain by gerrysteele · · Score: 4, Funny
    Stupid story. I bet more people who get struck are without mobile phones to their ear.

    Ergo, I propose, via deduction, that you are MORE SAFE if you carry a mobile in a thunder storm. Statistics don't lie.

  11. Maybe OK??? by Savage-Rabbit · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...and tin foil hats maybe OK.

    Wearing a tin foil hat in a lightning storm is a win/win situation. If it works you are protected from lightning, if it dosen't work the lightning will melt the tinfoil and fuse it with your skull creating a permanent mindsheild to protect you from those cosmic mind rays plus the lightning will probably also fry all those alien implants.

    --
    Only to idiots, are orders laws.
    -- Henning von Tresckow
  12. Re:Are you kidding? by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 4, Funny

    I spend 3 hours a day commuting on trains, and my most hated saying has become "NO! I'M ON THE TRAIN! I'VE GOT PLENTY OF TIME!". I always know it's going to be a long ride after I hear that.

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  13. Re:Talking in the rain by LordSnooty · · Score: 4, Funny

    Doubly so if it is captured on video.

    Heheh. In South London ver kidz call it "happy-(thunder)-clapping".

  14. Old golfers' trick... by jpellino · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... that if you're in an area prone to lightning, you should make sure you have a 1-iron in your bag.
    When it gets dicey hold it up in the air - because as every golfer knows, even God can't hit a 1-iron.

    --
    "Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
  15. Re:Metal objects ? by surprise_audit · · Score: 4, Funny
    Make sure your pants don't have metal zippers either...

    Hey, there's an idea for a stupid lawsuit - sue to make pants manufacturers include a warning label on metal-zippered pants: "In case of thunderstorms, drop pants and hurl them away from you"

  16. Re:Talking in the rain by Orange+Crush · · Score: 4, Funny

    It makes me so mad when some loudmouth on a cell phone keeps yacking while I'm trying to watch a good thunderstorm.

  17. Re:Talking in the rain by KDR_11k · · Score: 3, Funny

    Easy. If it's squishy that's normal, if it's crunchy the lightning did it.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  18. Re:Metal objects ? by Doctor+Memory · · Score: 4, Funny

    So I have a Cell Phone of +1 Lightning Damage?

    Back off, bitch!

    --
    Just junk food for thought...