WEBVTT - What Advice About Lightning Is Wrong?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>vogelbon Here the story goes that one stormy afternoon in

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen fifty two, Benjamin Franklin set out to discover the

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<v Speaker 1>truth about lightning. This inventor, statesman and bon vivant fashioned

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<v Speaker 1>a kite from a large silk handkerchief and went on

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<v Speaker 1>a kite flying expedition in the middle of a thunderstorm

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<v Speaker 1>in order to demonstrate for the first time that lightning

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<v Speaker 1>is made of electricity by catching a bolt in a jar.

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<v Speaker 1>Or did he well. As with many of the stories

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<v Speaker 1>we tell about lightning, there are some myths to dispel

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<v Speaker 1>here and some important nuances. Today, let's talk about how

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<v Speaker 1>lightning doesn't work and how to keep yourself safe during

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<v Speaker 1>a thunderstorm. A hint, do not go fly a kite.

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<v Speaker 1>First up, let's tackle the proverb that lightning never strikes

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<v Speaker 1>the same place twice. This is a great metaphor for

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<v Speaker 1>how rare brilliance where fortune can be, but it's scientifically untrue.

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<v Speaker 1>Lightning strikes many places repeatedly. The Empire State Building, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>was once used as a lightning laboratory because of its

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<v Speaker 1>knack for collecting atmospheric bolts of electricity. That long metal

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<v Speaker 1>rod pointing up from the top isn't just for Godzilla

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<v Speaker 1>to clean his ears with. The skyscraper is designed to

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<v Speaker 1>take lightning hits and keep on ticking. It struck anywhere

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<v Speaker 1>from a couple dozen to one hundred times a year.

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<v Speaker 1>Lightning tends to be attracted to the tallest point in

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<v Speaker 1>a particular area, leaving the Empire State Building, which stands

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<v Speaker 1>at one thy four hundred and fifty four feet at

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<v Speaker 1>its tip that's four hundred and forty three meters to

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<v Speaker 1>duke it out with the smidgen taller Central Park Tower

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<v Speaker 1>and the slightly shorter Steinway Tower when storm clouds roll

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<v Speaker 1>in over Midtown Manhattan. There are also a number of

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<v Speaker 1>myths about how to stay safe during a thunderstorm. One

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<v Speaker 1>of the common ones, perhaps especially in the car centric

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<v Speaker 1>United States, is that if you can't get inside a building,

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<v Speaker 1>a car is one of these safest places to wade

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<v Speaker 1>out a storm because the rubber tires will insulate you

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<v Speaker 1>from lightning strikes. This is one of the ones where

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<v Speaker 1>nuance matters, because a car is a safe ish place

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<v Speaker 1>during a thunderstorm, but just not because of the tires.

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<v Speaker 1>If that were true, then motorcycles or bicycles, or particularly

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<v Speaker 1>stacked doc martins would protect you too. They do not.

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<v Speaker 1>It is true that rubber is an electrical insulator, not

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<v Speaker 1>a conductor, but an inch or two of it in

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<v Speaker 1>tires or your shoes isn't going to stop lightning from

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<v Speaker 1>striking the roof of your car or your head. If

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<v Speaker 1>that's the tallest thing around where a car has an

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<v Speaker 1>advantage over your bare head is that it's basically a

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<v Speaker 1>passenger sized Faraday cage. Electricity takes the path of least resistance,

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<v Speaker 1>which is down the metal body of your car, a

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<v Speaker 1>much like a lightning rod on a house. The metal

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<v Speaker 1>frame of the car will conduct an electric charge to

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<v Speaker 1>the ground, leaving the inside of the car shock free.

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<v Speaker 1>Just be sure to close the doors, roll up the windows,

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<v Speaker 1>and latch the sun roof in the event of a storm,

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<v Speaker 1>which you probably already did to keep dry, but just saying,

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<v Speaker 1>be aware that a convertible or a fiberglass framed car

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<v Speaker 1>won't protect you in the same way. If you're out

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<v Speaker 1>in a wide open area, you might want to pull over,

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<v Speaker 1>turn off the engine, put your emergency blinkers on and

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<v Speaker 1>wait out the storm in a safe stationary position where

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<v Speaker 1>if lightning does strike your car, it won't send you

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<v Speaker 1>careening out of control via say damage to important electrical

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<v Speaker 1>systems like breaking or steering. And if the thunderstorm is

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<v Speaker 1>accompanied by other conditions like strong winds or flooding that

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<v Speaker 1>could sweep your car away, definitely aim for a more grounded,

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<v Speaker 1>safe location, a pun intended after the fact. However, going

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<v Speaker 1>indoors during a thunderstorm won't make you completely safe. Most

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<v Speaker 1>any structure with walls and a roof is better than

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<v Speaker 1>a vehicle because it offers more physical protection. But remember

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<v Speaker 1>that lightning doesn't follow vampire rules. It doesn't need an

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<v Speaker 1>invitation to come in. During electrical storms, it's best to

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<v Speaker 1>stay away from doors and windows where lightning could travel

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<v Speaker 1>through metal components like a frame or handle, or break

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<v Speaker 1>the glass. To be on the safe side, you should

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<v Speaker 1>also steer clear of anything else that conducts electricity, like appliances,

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<v Speaker 1>especially if they're plugged in with a cord, and even

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<v Speaker 1>indoor plumbing like a shower or kitchen sink, especially if

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<v Speaker 1>you have metal pipes. If you do get caught outside

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<v Speaker 1>during a storm, don't panic. You just want to make

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<v Speaker 1>sure that you're not the tallest object in the area,

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<v Speaker 1>so get to lower ground versus higher ground if you can,

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<v Speaker 1>and never take shelter underneath tall objects like trees or

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<v Speaker 1>metal structures. You'll also want to steer clear of large

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<v Speaker 1>bodies of water. However, if you do panic a little,

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<v Speaker 1>take comfort in the fact the curling up in the

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<v Speaker 1>fetal position is pretty much the gold standard advice. A

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<v Speaker 1>prior wisdom was to lay down flat on the ground

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<v Speaker 1>if you can't find shelter, but the latest from safety

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<v Speaker 1>experts says to curl into what's called a lightning crouch.

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<v Speaker 1>You squat down with your feet together and tuck your

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<v Speaker 1>head toward your knees, with your hands covering your ears.

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<v Speaker 1>The advice here changed because when lightning strikes open ground,

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<v Speaker 1>it can send current some hundred feet or thirty meters

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<v Speaker 1>across the surface. That could mean trouble if you're sprawled out.

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<v Speaker 1>The crouch allows you to stay low while touching the

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<v Speaker 1>ground as little as possible. Note that this position is

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<v Speaker 1>no substitute for high tailing it indoors during a storm,

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<v Speaker 1>but if you're truly trapped outside, it's better than lying flat.

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<v Speaker 1>Also note that lightning isn't only dangerous when it's raining.

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<v Speaker 1>A lightning often hits some three miles that's five kilometers

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<v Speaker 1>outside of a thunderstorm, and can strike much farther. One type,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes called bolts from the blue, are lightning flashes that

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<v Speaker 1>come out of the back of a thunderstorm from generally

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<v Speaker 1>clear skies as far as twenty five miles or forty

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<v Speaker 1>kilometers from the nearest rain cloud. Another type, called anvil

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<v Speaker 1>lightning arcs away from the center of a storm, striking

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<v Speaker 1>the ground as far as fifty miles or eighty kilometers away.

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<v Speaker 1>If you hear thunder, the safest bet is to take

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<v Speaker 1>shelter just in case, which brings us back to Ben

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<v Speaker 1>Franklin and his seventeen fifty two experiment. Theologized version of

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<v Speaker 1>this event goes that Franklin discovered electricity by getting a

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<v Speaker 1>kite he was holding struck by lightning, but that was

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<v Speaker 1>never really the claim. Humans have been observing and discussing electricity,

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<v Speaker 1>and particularly static electricity, for millennia, and a French scientist

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<v Speaker 1>beat Franklin's proof about lightning by about a month or so,

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<v Speaker 1>and if Franklin had been struck with lightning through a kite.

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<v Speaker 1>He probably would have died not gone on to publish

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<v Speaker 1>about it in the Pennsylvania Gazette. From his account and

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<v Speaker 1>that of fellow scientist Joseph Priestley, who wasn't there but

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<v Speaker 1>was interested, what seems to have happened was this. Franklin

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to show that lightning storms are a form of electricity,

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<v Speaker 1>so he and his son built a simple lightning rod

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<v Speaker 1>in the form of a kite, a silk handkerchief on

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<v Speaker 1>a frame of sticks with a metal wire attached to

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<v Speaker 1>the top. They used a hemp string for the lead

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<v Speaker 1>down to the ground, and then a silk string onto

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<v Speaker 1>the hemp one at hand height. The idea was that

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<v Speaker 1>the hemp would soak up water and conduct electricity, while

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<v Speaker 1>Franklin could hold onto the silk one and shelter in

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<v Speaker 1>a shed's doorway, keeping the silk string and himself more

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<v Speaker 1>or less dry and protected. He also suspended a metal

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<v Speaker 1>key from the hemp string in harm's way. So Franklin

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<v Speaker 1>and his son got the kite in the air, and eventually,

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<v Speaker 1>without ever being struck, what we can now identify as

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<v Speaker 1>negative charge from the ambient storm moved through the damp hemp,

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<v Speaker 1>making its frayed edges stand up, and when Franklin brought

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<v Speaker 1>his positively charged finger near the attached metal key, there

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<v Speaker 1>was a spark. He even collected some of that charge

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<v Speaker 1>in an early type of capacitor called a Leyden jar.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of the modern skepticism about the experiment comes from

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<v Speaker 1>failed attempts to repeat it with materials that would have

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<v Speaker 1>been available in Franklin's day. But we could chock that

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<v Speaker 1>up to difficult to control variables like kite flying dynamics

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<v Speaker 1>and exactly how damp the materials were. Perhaps lightning doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>strike the same kite twice. Today's episode is based on

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<v Speaker 1>the article ten Myths about Lightning written by Chris Hoffer

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<v Speaker 1>and do rubber tires Insulate your Car from Lightning? Written

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<v Speaker 1>by Kate Kirshner, both on housetuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production by Heart Radio in partnership with Houstuffworks dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts for

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.