Powers conferred by lightning strikes
Cool subscription-only story up at newscientist.com right now about lightning-strike victims. Turns out it's very bad to be struck by lightning and it can give you things like severe chronic pain for the rest of your life etc etc. Remember that park ranger who got struck 7 times in 35 years wound up committing suicide, so it's obviously a trying experience. However some people manage to derive some kind of physiological powers from it all, which is what the following quote from the story is about. And this doesn't even mention some people's claims of ESP-related side-effects, which of course New Scientist wouldn't stoop to mention. At any rate this is deemed worthy of note, if not entirely anomalous.
At the conference last month, one woman recounted the time her daughter was struck by lightning. When she regained consciousness and was told that she'd been hit by lightning, she asked, "Do I have superpowers now?" While almost all people who survive lightning have more problems than powers, a handful report some unusual abilities. One woman has gained an acute sense of smell. Another claims to consistently erase the magnetic strip on hotel room keys and credit cards.
“Estimates of the average person's risk of being struck range from 1 in 5 million to 1 in 600,000.”As for Harold Deal, his lightning-induced lack of sensation came in handy when he virtually severed his finger with a snowblower - he didn't feel any pain at all and was able to go back to work the next day. And he is now almost impervious to cold. In winter, when blustery winds blow and everyone else grabs a jacket, Deal just wears a T-shirt. "It is kind of funny in a way," he recounts in a book published by the Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International group. "The folks in town call me weird Harold."
At the conference last month, one woman recounted the time her daughter was struck by lightning. When she regained consciousness and was told that she'd been hit by lightning, she asked, "Do I have superpowers now?" While almost all people who survive lightning have more problems than powers, a handful report some unusual abilities. One woman has gained an acute sense of smell. Another claims to consistently erase the magnetic strip on hotel room keys and credit cards.
“Estimates of the average person's risk of being struck range from 1 in 5 million to 1 in 600,000.”As for Harold Deal, his lightning-induced lack of sensation came in handy when he virtually severed his finger with a snowblower - he didn't feel any pain at all and was able to go back to work the next day. And he is now almost impervious to cold. In winter, when blustery winds blow and everyone else grabs a jacket, Deal just wears a T-shirt. "It is kind of funny in a way," he recounts in a book published by the Lightning Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International group. "The folks in town call me weird Harold."
posted by Jim Richardson at 3:14 PM
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