Gizmodo
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ipod
iPod Saves Girl From Lightning Death
14-yo Sophie Frost was trying to find shelter from a thunder storm when she dropped unconscious and fried like a bag of chips. The culprit: A lightning bolt. Thankfully, this one didn't die thanks to her iPod. More »
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89
By Jesus DiazComment by CustomFirmware: "Don't know, don't care, she's safe, I'm headed to Atlantic City. Bye." Was that really necessary? That's just rude, what if... 13 Responses | Other threads
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audio
Sweet Songs of Zeus! Geek Anthems Sung By Tesla Coils
Zaps from tesla coils sound like old school synthesizers, so they're the perfect instrument of delivery for 8-bit video game and geek anthems. Plus, lightning. More »
12,633
By Brian LamComment by xbrav: Hmm... tesla coil near room heater... smart. 2 Responses | Other threads
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zap
Scientist Tries to Create a Phaser to Shoot Lightning Balls
Apparently, sometimes lightning comes in ball form, slowly falling out of the sky and exploding on contact. Unsurprisingly, people want to turn lightning balls into weapons. Oh, humanity. More »
23,061
By Adam FrucciComment by mrrobotanger: I don't think that was ball lightning in the lab, more likely globules of molten metal sputtering and hissing on... 5 Responses | Other threads
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traffic
Theory: Traffic Triggers Lightning
It's just a theory but some scientists believe that lightning strikes are provoked by traffic. Honk if you like thunder! More »
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By Brian LamComment by Jestermeister: It sure has hell triggers lightning from my head. 9 Responses | Other threads
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samsung behold review
T-Mobile Samsung Behold Lightning Review
The Gadget: Samsung's Behold, T-Mobile's slice of touchscreen feature phone pie with a Korea-style five-megapixel camera and Sammy's "innovative" TouchWiz UI. -
review
Lighting Review: Berkeley Lamp II - 'The Only Lamp Designed By Science'
The Gadget: A lamp with two bulbs, both dimmable, that provides a 50% energy savings over incandescent lamps, an extra 120v port on its base to make up for the one it takes up, and a choice of either 5500K daylight bulbs or 3500K sunset bulbs. It's patented by Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, which is the oldest national laboratory and is responsible for a bunch of cool research. More »
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By Jason ChenComment by Markarian: I'm so sick of "green" gadgets I could puke. 2 Responses | Other threads
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science
Slow Motion Lightning Video is Mindblowing, Will Sell a Thousand Slo-Mo Cameras
Well, this is just about the most amazing thing I've ever seen. It's a lightning bolt that's shooting down from the sky, shot in slow motion. I'm not sure exactly how fast this camera is, but it's got to be shooting at a speed faster than the Casio EX-F1 can shoot at, at least at a resolution this high. Whatever, who cares? Just watch this and prepare to be blown away. More »
439,068
By Adam FrucciComment by swag: Oddly, it reminds me of the Challenger explosion. more » | Other threads
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the gods hate gadgets
Gadgets Blamed For Dozens of Deadly Lightning Strikes in Russia
It appears that the gods hate gadgets, which is why they have been striking down citizens in the new, westernized Russia left and right with lightning. The fact that many of these individuals were outside using gadgets at the time has lead people to believe that the devices themselves are to blame. These incidents include a woman found dead with a melted cellphone in her hand, a 10-year-old boy on a bike and an elderly farmer tending her potato plants with what I assume was some sort of metal tool. More »
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By Sean FallonComment by Captain_Sarcastic: To think people used to complain about cell phones causing cancer, well now they can worry about lighting instead. Maybe... more » | Other threads
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weapons
Lightning Guns to Short Out Cars, Fry Roadside Bombs
If there's one thing that Storm from the X-men has taught us, it's that controlling lightning is pretty cool. Controlling it as a weapon? Even cooler. That's why Applied Energetics (formerly Ionatron) is developing gigantic lightning guns that will be able to stall a car from afar. Initially, they were focused on zapping people, but have since shifted their focus to harnessing lightning to shorting out vehicles and IEDs. More »
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By Adam FrucciComment by octopussy: this is all america cares: developing guns. more » | Other threads
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diy
Lightning in Block Form Adds to Desk Clutter, Looks Amazing
Lichtenberg figures are fantastic; they perfectly display branching electric charges that occur within, or on the surface of, certain insulating materials. Sure, that may sound like a whole load of boring, but check the image above to see why you are wrong—they look amazing. Popsci is hosting a video that shows you how to make your very own with some office supplies, a metal point and some shag carpeting. More »
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By Haroon MalikComment by BertHickman: @JoOngle: Yes - when charged, a piece of Plexiglas behaves exactly like a capacitor with invisible plates. And charged specimens... more » | Other threads
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review
Lightning Round: Smartphone Experts iPhone Headphone Adapter
The Gadget: Smartphone Experts' Headphone Adapter for the iPhone. More »
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By Jason ChenComment by MartinaFlute: I've been trawling many sites looking for adaptors, but NO ONE has addressed the following problem I've had. I have bought... more » | Other threads
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review
Lightning Round: Newertech miniStack NAS
The Gadget: Newertech's miniStack NAS, which lets up to 20 people access 750GB of data over a 10/100 Ethernet connection. More » -
review
Lightning Round: Gomadic's QuadCharge Universal Charging Station
The Gadget: Gomadic's QuadCharge Universal Charging Station, which charges your phones, MP3 players, Bluetooth headsets and various USB devices all in one place. It saves space, plus organizes cables neatly with only one cord running out into the wall. More »
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By Jason ChenComment by wisemommaerts: I am so glad I did a search for reviews of this device. The site I initially discovered it on... more » | Other threads
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review
Lightning Round: T-Mobile Samsung Blast
The Gadget: The T-Mobile Blast, a medium-to-low-end red and black slider from Samsung. More » -
review
Lightning Round: Newertech MacBook/MacBook Pro Battery Charger
The Gadget: Newertech's MacBook and MacBook Pro Battery Charging Station, which let you charge and condition laptop batteries without having to swap out the one in your laptop. More » -
review
Lightning Round: Belkin iPhone Headphone Adapter
The Gadget: Belkin's iPhone headphone adapter, which lets you use any set of headphones that don't normally fit into the iPhone's recessed headphone jack. More »
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By Jason ChenComment by nintendodude: i think apple really fucked up! not only do you have to pay $10 just to use a pair of... more » | Other threads
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review
Lightning Round: Kontrolfreek's Speedfreek Xbox 360 Controller Attachment
The gadget: Speedfreek, an add-on from Kontrolfreek for the Xbox 360's left analog stick to make racing games easier to play by making the cars more precise to control. More »
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By Jason ChenComment by NPC: Piece of plastic? $9.95? Not worth it. 1 Responses | Other threads
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mother nature plays too
Brazilian Gamer Gets Struck By Lighting... With Joystick in Mouth?
Following last week's RPG kidnapping, a 18-year-old brazilian near Sao Paulo has been hospitalized after being struck by lightning while he had one joystick in his hand and another in his mouth. I know, weird. The proof that Mother Nature can be a bitch sometimes was left in the teen's bedroom wall, as you can see here. More » -
diy
DIY Lightning Activated Camera Trigger
Want to get great pictures of lightning without sitting outside all night? Check out this DIY lightning activated camera shutter trigger. It works by detecting really fast changes in light—which is either a lightning flash or your 2-year-old going nuts with the light switch—and triggers the camera shutter. The result is a convoluted way to automatically capture lightning without doing work yourself. Unless you count building the thing as work, which may actually be more work than sitting outside. [Solorb via DIYLive via Make]
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By Jason ChenComment by lordhensingham: I have taken many photographs in the past of lightning strikes without all of this gear. I used a Rolliflex... more » | Other threads
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shazam my ass
Nokia Phones to Detect Lightning Using FM, GPS Frequencies
Just when you thought you had to carry around a tacky pager in order to tell when lightning's coming, Nokia goes and files a patent to integrate lightning detection into their phones. More » -
not the greased kind
StrikeAlert Personal Lightning Detector
At first we thought this was a lighting detector (for photographers), but upon closer inspection we realized it was a lightNing detector. You know, the type that tells you if there's lightning. The thing has a convenient belt clilp and tells you whether lightning's 20-40 miles away, 12-24 miles away, 6-12 miles away, or less than 6 miles way. More »
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By Jason ChenComment by zolielo: I thought that it worked on somewhat the same methods but more along the lines of ultra high frequency detection... more » | Other threads
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cars
Lightning Strikes Car, With Man In It
Cars are supposed to protect the driver in the case of a lightning/voltage strike. Apparently it's not the rubber tires that insulate the vehicle, but that the shell is attached in a way to keep the threat away from (most) of the cabin. More »
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By Mark WilsonComment by drumz0rz: Like CrunchyMush said, Electrons line themselves up along the outer edge of the metal. The guy in the car is... more » | Other threads
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Comment by Gadget Guy: I live in Denver -- the storm activity was pretty obvious this past weekend. more » | Other threads
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cellphones
Fearmongers: Cellphones Add to Lightning Death Risk
British doctors warned cellphone users not to use their handsets outdoors during a thunderstorm, lest they be struck down by a bolt of lightning. Citing anecdotal evidence of a 15-year-old girl using a cellphone when she was struck, along with three other fatal cases of lightning striking cellphone talkers in China, South Korea and Malaysia, a spokesperson for the doctors stirred up fear of the almighty wrath of the lightning bolt:"This rare phenomenon is a public health issue, and education is necessary to highlight the risk of using mobile phones outdoors during stormy weather to prevent future fatal consequences from lighting strike injuries."
Apparently any metal object, including a cellphone, that's in contact with your skin as you're struck by lightning disrupts what's known as a flashover, where you're saved because the electricity passes over your skin on its way to the ground. So if you hear thunder, step away from the cellphone, folks—there's a 1-in-83,930 chance of being struck by lightning. However, be more afraid of the death penalty, where your chances of being executed are 1 in 58,618. But you can worry less about an asteroid impact, where you have only a 1-in-200,000 chance of an asteroid grinding you up into hamburger. Comforting thought. More »
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