Lightning idiots strike again

The press just refuses to give up. After being slapped down a few weeks ago for printing misleading information about lightning and cellphones, they're at it again, this time with iPods:

it was just two weeks ago that doctors in London warned of the dangers of listening to an iPod or using a cell phone during a thunderstorm.

The doctors said having such devices near your head when hit by lightning can result in even more severe injuries. The metallic devices and wires could act as a conductor, causing potentially lethal internal injuries, the doctors wrote in a letter to the British Medical Journal.

Well, lightning strikes in general tend to have a deliterious effect on human health. But here's a news 'flashover' for the press--wearing a metal belt buckle, jewelry, holding a metal tool or gripping a dang 9-iron can also make you more attractive to lightning. So can standing in an open field buck naked if you're the highest object around. The advice they should be giving is pretty simple--seek shelter during thundestorms.