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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.'"

3 of 374 comments (clear)

  1. Talking in the rain by nightsnack · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And this information is useful because we are always using our mobile phones out in thunderstorms.

  2. Another disgusting pseudo-science article by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is another of those disgusting Slashdot pseudo-science articles. Slashdot editors apparently spent their entire childhoods playing video games, and didn't learn anything about the real world.

    Edited paragraph, without the nonsense: "The Australian Lightning Protection Standard recommends that metallic objects... should not be used (or carried) outdoors during a thunderstorm..."

    The warning about metal and lightning has nothing particularly to do with cell phones. A tiny cell phone is not the biggest hazard. Don't use metal umbrellas during lightning storms.

    Don't fly kites with metal string. (Or any kite. Lightning travels on non-metallic paths sometimes.)

  3. In other news .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Doctors find that prolonged submersion under oceans can cause suffocation, and that walking into an active volcano can result in extensive burn damage.

    It is suspected that some natural forces can be injurious to human health. MORE FUNDING is needed to study these phenomena.

    Seriously, every slash-dotter must be aware that conductive objects on or near the body - jewelery is the obvious and most likely candidate - will act as a focus for energy transmission during a lightning strike. Belt buckles and shoe nails used to be the problem in earlier times.

    This can turn a survivable accident into a fatal accident. But should we all buy plastic-mounted diamond studs? Do we want to live forever? Or do we want to welcome our new insulated overlords.....?