1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:13,320 Speaker 1: vogelbon Here the story goes that one stormy afternoon in 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: seventeen fifty two, Benjamin Franklin set out to discover the 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 1: truth about lightning. This inventor, statesman and bon vivant fashioned 5 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: a kite from a large silk handkerchief and went on 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: a kite flying expedition in the middle of a thunderstorm 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: in order to demonstrate for the first time that lightning 8 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: is made of electricity by catching a bolt in a jar. 9 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: Or did he well. As with many of the stories 10 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: we tell about lightning, there are some myths to dispel 11 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: here and some important nuances. Today, let's talk about how 12 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: lightning doesn't work and how to keep yourself safe during 13 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: a thunderstorm. A hint, do not go fly a kite. 14 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: First up, let's tackle the proverb that lightning never strikes 15 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,679 Speaker 1: the same place twice. This is a great metaphor for 16 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: how rare brilliance where fortune can be, but it's scientifically untrue. 17 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: Lightning strikes many places repeatedly. The Empire State Building, for example, 18 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: was once used as a lightning laboratory because of its 19 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: knack for collecting atmospheric bolts of electricity. That long metal 20 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: rod pointing up from the top isn't just for Godzilla 21 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,040 Speaker 1: to clean his ears with. The skyscraper is designed to 22 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: take lightning hits and keep on ticking. It struck anywhere 23 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: from a couple dozen to one hundred times a year. 24 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: Lightning tends to be attracted to the tallest point in 25 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,919 Speaker 1: a particular area, leaving the Empire State Building, which stands 26 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: at one thy four hundred and fifty four feet at 27 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: its tip that's four hundred and forty three meters to 28 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: duke it out with the smidgen taller Central Park Tower 29 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: and the slightly shorter Steinway Tower when storm clouds roll 30 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: in over Midtown Manhattan. There are also a number of 31 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: myths about how to stay safe during a thunderstorm. One 32 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: of the common ones, perhaps especially in the car centric 33 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: United States, is that if you can't get inside a building, 34 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: a car is one of these safest places to wade 35 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: out a storm because the rubber tires will insulate you 36 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: from lightning strikes. This is one of the ones where 37 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: nuance matters, because a car is a safe ish place 38 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: during a thunderstorm, but just not because of the tires. 39 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: If that were true, then motorcycles or bicycles, or particularly 40 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,679 Speaker 1: stacked doc martins would protect you too. They do not. 41 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: It is true that rubber is an electrical insulator, not 42 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: a conductor, but an inch or two of it in 43 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 1: tires or your shoes isn't going to stop lightning from 44 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: striking the roof of your car or your head. If 45 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: that's the tallest thing around where a car has an 46 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: advantage over your bare head is that it's basically a 47 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: passenger sized Faraday cage. Electricity takes the path of least resistance, 48 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,679 Speaker 1: which is down the metal body of your car, a 49 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: much like a lightning rod on a house. The metal 50 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: frame of the car will conduct an electric charge to 51 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: the ground, leaving the inside of the car shock free. 52 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: Just be sure to close the doors, roll up the windows, 53 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: and latch the sun roof in the event of a storm, 54 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: which you probably already did to keep dry, but just saying, 55 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: be aware that a convertible or a fiberglass framed car 56 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: won't protect you in the same way. If you're out 57 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: in a wide open area, you might want to pull over, 58 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: turn off the engine, put your emergency blinkers on and 59 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: wait out the storm in a safe stationary position where 60 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: if lightning does strike your car, it won't send you 61 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: careening out of control via say damage to important electrical 62 00:03:55,880 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: systems like breaking or steering. And if the thunderstorm is 63 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: accompanied by other conditions like strong winds or flooding that 64 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: could sweep your car away, definitely aim for a more grounded, 65 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: safe location, a pun intended after the fact. However, going 66 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: indoors during a thunderstorm won't make you completely safe. Most 67 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: any structure with walls and a roof is better than 68 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: a vehicle because it offers more physical protection. But remember 69 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: that lightning doesn't follow vampire rules. It doesn't need an 70 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: invitation to come in. During electrical storms, it's best to 71 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 1: stay away from doors and windows where lightning could travel 72 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 1: through metal components like a frame or handle, or break 73 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: the glass. To be on the safe side, you should 74 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: also steer clear of anything else that conducts electricity, like appliances, 75 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: especially if they're plugged in with a cord, and even 76 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: indoor plumbing like a shower or kitchen sink, especially if 77 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:57,839 Speaker 1: you have metal pipes. If you do get caught outside 78 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: during a storm, don't panic. You just want to make 79 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 1: sure that you're not the tallest object in the area, 80 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: so get to lower ground versus higher ground if you can, 81 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,280 Speaker 1: and never take shelter underneath tall objects like trees or 82 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 1: metal structures. You'll also want to steer clear of large 83 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: bodies of water. However, if you do panic a little, 84 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: take comfort in the fact the curling up in the 85 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:26,159 Speaker 1: fetal position is pretty much the gold standard advice. A 86 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,239 Speaker 1: prior wisdom was to lay down flat on the ground 87 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: if you can't find shelter, but the latest from safety 88 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: experts says to curl into what's called a lightning crouch. 89 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: You squat down with your feet together and tuck your 90 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 1: head toward your knees, with your hands covering your ears. 91 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: The advice here changed because when lightning strikes open ground, 92 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: it can send current some hundred feet or thirty meters 93 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: across the surface. That could mean trouble if you're sprawled out. 94 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: The crouch allows you to stay low while touching the 95 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: ground as little as possible. Note that this position is 96 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: no substitute for high tailing it indoors during a storm, 97 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: but if you're truly trapped outside, it's better than lying flat. 98 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: Also note that lightning isn't only dangerous when it's raining. 99 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: A lightning often hits some three miles that's five kilometers 100 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:25,680 Speaker 1: outside of a thunderstorm, and can strike much farther. One type, 101 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: sometimes called bolts from the blue, are lightning flashes that 102 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 1: come out of the back of a thunderstorm from generally 103 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: clear skies as far as twenty five miles or forty 104 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: kilometers from the nearest rain cloud. Another type, called anvil 105 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 1: lightning arcs away from the center of a storm, striking 106 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: the ground as far as fifty miles or eighty kilometers away. 107 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: If you hear thunder, the safest bet is to take 108 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,599 Speaker 1: shelter just in case, which brings us back to Ben 109 00:06:55,640 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: Franklin and his seventeen fifty two experiment. Theologized version of 110 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: this event goes that Franklin discovered electricity by getting a 111 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 1: kite he was holding struck by lightning, but that was 112 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: never really the claim. Humans have been observing and discussing electricity, 113 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: and particularly static electricity, for millennia, and a French scientist 114 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: beat Franklin's proof about lightning by about a month or so, 115 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: and if Franklin had been struck with lightning through a kite. 116 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: He probably would have died not gone on to publish 117 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: about it in the Pennsylvania Gazette. From his account and 118 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: that of fellow scientist Joseph Priestley, who wasn't there but 119 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: was interested, what seems to have happened was this. Franklin 120 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: wanted to show that lightning storms are a form of electricity, 121 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: so he and his son built a simple lightning rod 122 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: in the form of a kite, a silk handkerchief on 123 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: a frame of sticks with a metal wire attached to 124 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: the top. They used a hemp string for the lead 125 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 1: down to the ground, and then a silk string onto 126 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: the hemp one at hand height. The idea was that 127 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: the hemp would soak up water and conduct electricity, while 128 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: Franklin could hold onto the silk one and shelter in 129 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: a shed's doorway, keeping the silk string and himself more 130 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: or less dry and protected. He also suspended a metal 131 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: key from the hemp string in harm's way. So Franklin 132 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: and his son got the kite in the air, and eventually, 133 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: without ever being struck, what we can now identify as 134 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: negative charge from the ambient storm moved through the damp hemp, 135 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: making its frayed edges stand up, and when Franklin brought 136 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,959 Speaker 1: his positively charged finger near the attached metal key, there 137 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: was a spark. He even collected some of that charge 138 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,199 Speaker 1: in an early type of capacitor called a Leyden jar. 139 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: Some of the modern skepticism about the experiment comes from 140 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: failed attempts to repeat it with materials that would have 141 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: been available in Franklin's day. But we could chock that 142 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: up to difficult to control variables like kite flying dynamics 143 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:12,680 Speaker 1: and exactly how damp the materials were. Perhaps lightning doesn't 144 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 1: strike the same kite twice. Today's episode is based on 145 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: the article ten Myths about Lightning written by Chris Hoffer 146 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: and do rubber tires Insulate your Car from Lightning? Written 147 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: by Kate Kirshner, both on housetuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff 148 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: is production by Heart Radio in partnership with Houstuffworks dot Com, 149 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts for 150 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,679 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 151 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.