In grad school, I found myself highly electrically charged for much of the time in the winter. (Eventually, I traced the cause to the polar fleece pants I wore under my jeans to walk to school in the ridiculously low temperatures.) Anyway, It was so bad when I taught labs that if I touched the cords we had connecting the microscope to the TV, the whole thing would shut down. I kept causing errors with the equipment, and I had to have my students operate everything (with my instructions). Once, I even had a very large spark shoot between my hands and a stream of water in the sink.
Of course, I concluded that I had super powers…
Once I combed my long-haired cat in the dark. Awesome light show. Cat fur has a texture to it that holds a charge well. Although it's mostly a wives' tale, there might be some truth to the idea that cats can predict lightning strikes.
Oh, and really quickly, I'd like to clear up some confusion about lightning. Pure water does not conduct electricity. However, if anything at all is dissolved in it, it becomes a VERY good conductor. You can expect practically everything outside to have a coating of water on it, and it is not distilled. Lightning will tend to take a path of least resistance – which means any solid object. Rubber tires do not protect you from lightning. However, an enclosed metal container (such as your car) is a Faraday Cage. Electricity travels around whatever might be inside. In short, stay in your car. Don't touch the door. But if you're in a convertible or a motorcycle, you probably want to seek cover – ideally not in a fort made of car tires.
Comments
Please login to comment.
Login or Register${ comment.author }} at
${ comment.author }} at