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Keraunophobe's Brainstorm
Mon Sep 03, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
Hey! It’s the beginning of September, and that means it’s time for another Brainstorm,
one
that will intrigue all the Keraunophobes and Brontophobes. And that’s not even the
question.
Hi, I’m Bryan Yeaton, and this is The Weather Notebook.
Here is how our Brainstorms work: we ask you a question, and you answer it. Sounds
simple,
right? But our Brainstormer is kind of proud of his atmospheric knowledge, and gets
really
frustrated when folks get the right answer. Lately, he’s been frustrated a lot, and so
he’s
been working on a real stumper.
This month’s question deals with lightning, and static electricity in general. In fact,
those
big words I threw at you earlier are also related to lightning: Keraunophobes are
people
afraid of lightning—which should mean everyone; Brontophobes are afraid of
thunder.
Most of you have probably seen pictures of people in a lightning-prone spot with their
hair
standing on end. Unfortunately, some of these folks were killed or injured by a lightning
strike shortly after. You may also remember an experiment, maybe back in high school,
where
your teacher used a very odd-looking device to make your classmates’ hair do the
same
thing.
What our Brainstormer wants to know is what causes this to happen to your hair, and
for extra
credit, what is that crazy device called?
If you have the answer, let us know. Leave a message on our toll free phone line, at
(888)
RAIN-001. That’s (888)724-6001. Let us know your name and how to pronounce it,
plus how to get
in touch with you, along with your answer. You can also e-mail us at
questions@weathernotebook.org.
If we use your answer on the air, useful trinkets and great
karma will come your way. You can review this question at our website,
www.weathernotebook.org. Good Luck!
The Weather Notebook is funded by Subaru of America, and The National Science
Foundation.
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