A Warning For Your iPod

This has recently been on the news, so it might slightly more credible that a rumor lurking in a message board. Everyone has been subject to a rather nasty thunderstorm, the kind that sets off all the car alarms and uproots all the trees in the neighborhood. As you may have noticed, whether through unfortunate circumstances or otherwise, any small electronic objects that are on your person at the time are not safe, especially iPods.

Three people have been made the example of this. The first gentlemen from Canada suffered major burns, ruptured eardrums and a broken jaw as a result of lightning running through the wires in his earplugs. The second person, a teenager from Colorado, was struck by lightening as he was mowing the grass while listening to his iPod. Another teen from Colorado was struck by lightning as it hit a nearby tree and bounced off onto him. He was at the time listening to Metallica and also mowing the grass (Coincidence? You decide).

This phenomenon is, of course, caused by the metal pieces inside the iPod. Even if the supposed lightning storm sounds miles away, there is still a chance that the lightning will hit you while you are unsuspectingly listening to music. This is not at all in the way that lightning will be attracted to the metal rod on someone’s roof, so there is a very slim chance of lightning actually hitting you. However, if you were to be hit, then the metal on your body will cause for even greater damage.

So, the lesson of this story is, be careful using an iPod when spending time outside during a major storm. You may come back with more that just wet clothes.

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