[Gllug] Lightning - was Evolution won't fetch my mail (Help)

[Mark Preston]

   Following up my question about lightning and copper body armour I have 
googled the web for useful info about this admittedly slightly OT subject.
I was a little disappointed that nobody seems particularly sure exactly what 
happens in a lightening strike. Despite the fact that lightning is a big 
killer amongst meteorological phenomena.
In fact, not since Nix divulged that his "gibbered" phrase was randomly 
generated have I been so surprised with this list. (I had received about 
three "Mark Preston gibbered ..."s prior to that and always felt it was spot 
on/ thoroughly deserved). 
   Anyway, it's not Linux, but it may help save your life, or somebody 
else's. 
David Damerell wrote:-
>No-one made full-body copper armour, though, so you would get the
>charge through parts of your body in any case. It might also become
>extremely hot.

   Surprisingly, the way that people die in a lightning strike is not a 
result of severe burns, as most people think, but because the electrical 
force shocks the heart into cardiac arrest and cuts off breathing by 
paralyzing the chest muscles.

    Thus the recommended position to adopt when caught out in the open with 
lightning around is to curl up with your head down only your feet touching 
the ground (less contact with earth, therefore less good conduction pathway). 
In this position it is less likely that the bolt of lightning will pass 
through your vital organs (mostly brain and heart), even if it strikes you. 
This can dramatically improve your chances of survival.

If someone is struck by lightning and not breathing, you should immediately 
attempt to restore life by giving CPR. Their bodies do not retain the 
electrical charge and are safe to handle, and most people can survive a 
strike if given proper treatment right away.

There are approximately 100 lightning strikes to earth per second. The 
frequency of lightning strikes is greater at higher altitudes and lower 
latitudes. 

   The average lightning bolt packs about 30,000 to 40,000 amps of direct 
current. Sitting inside a car and not touching anything metallic is about the 
safest way of weathering a thunderstorm as far as lightning is concerned (as 
long as it isn't a "soft top" car). Answering the phone, switching electrical 
appliances on or off, are hazardous activities whilst indoors when lightning 
is around. If you do seek shelter under a tree, don't hold onto the trunk. 
Normally the electrical pathway will be between the dead trunk of the tree 
and the bark. However, the electrical pathway will come out of the tree and 
pass through you, because you are a better conductor - more water/salts. If 
you stand/curl up slightly away from the tree trunk this is less likely to 
occur. In conclusion, a full copper armour with holes for ventilation, 
insulated with a full rubber wet-suit, again with holes for ventilation, 
should be a fairly safe outfit for swearing at gods in a thunderstorm. 
Now, does anybody know if lions actually like BBQ sauce? Hold on, what's 
this, some men in white coats come to take me away. What do you mean I 
shouldn't take things literally?
-- 
Regards from Mark Preston

www.markpreston.co.uk

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