THE BORE
General => The Superdeep Borehole => Topic started by: The Fake Shemp on June 24, 2009, 07:26:47 PM
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From Switched: (http://www.switched.com/2009/06/22/video-gaming-a-lightning-magnet-one-researcher-thinks-so)
(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.switched.com/media/2009/06/06192009_lightning.jpg)
Well, the video game fear mongering continues. According to a University of Illinois at Chicago researcher, there has been an increase in instances of indoor gamers being injured by lightning strikes. Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, director of the university's lightning injury research program told UPI that in the case of a thunderstorm, "people need to stay off landlines, computers, and video games."
We all know about unplugging computers during storms, so Dr. Cooper's warning does carry some weight. But, we couldn't find enough occurrences to warrant a specific focus on video games. Actually, a quick Google search renders more cases of people being struck by lightning while talking on the phone (even mobiles) and doing laundry than being struck during gaming sessions.
According to the National Weather Service, 28 people died from lightning strikes in 2008, nearly half of them having been struck in open outdoor areas. While death is never a trivial matter, the odds of dying from lightning are 1 in 83,930, according to LiveScience.com. So, the threat is incredibly minimal. At the same time, it's still a good idea to disengage from any hard-wired appliances during a storm. [From: UPI]
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PI KA CHUUUUUUUUUUUUU
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Sucks to be them, cause I'll be off in Argentina with a very dear friend
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We have wireless controllers now noobs. :smug
PI KA CHUUUUUUUUUUUUU
:lol