Where Wi-Fi is illegal in the US

January 10, 2015 7:57 PM

The residents of Green Bank, West Virginia, can’t use cell phones, wi-fi, or other kinds of modern technology due to a high-tech government telescope. This ban has made the town a magnet for technophobes, and the locals aren’t thrilled to have them.
posted by valkane (8 comments total)

I remember reading about this place on MeFi before. I think this was the thread that I recall.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:12 PM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

I have a friend with ehs. I still don't know what to make of it. Glad I don't live in Green Bank, although that's pretty country up there.
posted by irisclara at 8:22 PM on January 10, 2015

[Diane Schou] spent months living in a Faraday cage, a wood-framed box with metal meshing that blocked out cell signals (more typically used by scientists conducting experiments in labs). She even briefly considered buying a repurposed space suit so she could get out of the house without pain. “I was told it would be $24,000,” she says. “I don’t have that kind of money. And what if it gets a hole in it?”

What, indeed.
posted by ZaphodB at 8:25 PM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm surprised that space suits aren't a lot more than $24k.
posted by aubilenon at 8:29 PM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

Just to be clear because "high tech government telescope" sounds kind of sinister, these NRAO radio telescopes are used for cool innocuous space science.

and programming your dog to kill
posted by selfnoise at 8:29 PM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

But don't they attract all the radio waves coming from space? (that's how that works, right?)
posted by aubilenon at 8:31 PM on January 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm surprised that space suits aren't a lot more than $24k.

I can sell you something that I will call a "space suit"* that will protect you from all the negative effects of Wi-Fi and cell phone radiation for just $18k. Act today and I'll throw in a rock that prevents tiger attacks for just $1k more.

*Warranty void if exposed to vacuum
posted by Hatashran at 8:33 PM on January 10, 2015 [4 favorites]

She even briefly considered buying a repurposed space suit

Are space suits built to be Faraday cages? Wouldn’t chain mail work as well, or better, and be cheaper? Even wrapping yourself in grounded aluminum foil ought to get the job done, if you are price conscious.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 8:35 PM on January 10, 2015 [2 favorites]