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StrikeAlert Personal Lightning Detector Gives Warning

The StrikeAlert is a lightning detector you can wear on your belt like a pager - but when this one goes off, it means that it has detected a lightning strike within forty miles.

When a strike is detected, the device lights the appropriate LED indicating distance for two minutes; it also generates different tones to indicate the distance. Unfortunately, contrary to the direction taken in so many personal, hand-held devices that make sounds, you cannot download your favorite sounds. (Let's see; 6-12 miles - Ride of the Valkyries?)

Fans of sf author John Barnes may recall his 1994 novel Mother of Storms. The monster storms of this novel are caused by the additional energy of global warming.

Find out more about Lightning Protection and of course the Lightning Rod. And more info about the StrikeAlert Personal Lightning Detector itself.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/29/2004)

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