iPod Saves Girl From Lightning Bolt
3:23 pm, June 19th, 2009, Nicole Martinelli
A 14-year-old British girl owes her life to her iPod earbuds, which took a 300,000-volt surge when lightning struck.
Sophie Frost and her boyfriend huddled together under a tree near Essex during a storm when a bolt of lightening hit. Doctors say that Frost and her beau were saved because the massive surge took the shortest route to the ground — through her earbuds.
The four-day-old iPod (a gift from her grandmother), may have saved her life, but she still suffered severe burns that left tie-dye like patterns down her torso and legs and a perforated eardrum.
The teens were knocked unconscious by the jolt and hospitalized for burns but doctors believe they may heal without permanent scars.
Dr. Ian Cotton, a reader in electrical engineering at Manchester University, told the Daily Mail Sophie could have been saved by her iPod:
“If lightning hits a person it can do one of two things. It can go down the outside of the skin, which is more likely if someone is caught in a storm and their body is wet. Or it can puncture the skin and go into the body. Potentially a metal wire, which is highly conductive could divert the electricity away from the heart and save someone’s life.”
There have been some reports of iPods directing currents and harming wearers in storms, this seems to be the first time it saved someone’s life during a blitz.
Via Daily Mail, BBC
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in News, iPod | Comment on this article
Submitted this to Mythbusters.
Cyxodus, on June 21st, 2009 at 6:29 am
Forgot to add the link.
http://community.discovery.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=6941912904&f=9701967776&m=78719928101&r=78719928101#78719928101
Cyxodus, on June 21st, 2009 at 6:29 am
Ha! I love that show. Would be very curious to know how they design the experiment…
Nicole Martinelli, on June 22nd, 2009 at 9:23 am