SCHOU: It took another period of time to do the correlation of the cell tower and the headaches. Less than a year later she had intense headaches and extreme fatigue. GUPTA: Diane and her husband lived in Iowa when she said a cell phone tower went up here their home.
SCHOU: There are no cell towers here, or cell phones. Now she's one the first contact points for other people considering the same. She is one of the first to move to Green Bank specifically to escape electromagnetic waves. GUPTA: Diane Schou is a bit of a trailblazer around these parts. DIANE SCHOU, GREEN BANK RESIDENT: This whole world is about electromagnetic radiation and lots of reading. It's known as electromagnetic hypersensitivity or EHS. Not being tethered to the internet or any type of wireless device is attractive to another group of people, those who say radio frequencies from wireless technology are interacting with their bodies in a negative way and making them sick. GUPTA: Driving up from the south of town, we lost cell phone reception 45 minutes away. All of that being said, this is still one of the most radio quiet areas in the world because of those protections. Your digital camera creates radio frequency interference. HOLSTINE: They can be unintentional transmitters. But as technology keeps encroaching, it's harder and harder to maintain. At the observatory, the mountains surrounding this valley help create a natural barrier. It's more like holding a low powered microwave like you use to heat your food up to your head. Nonionizing radiation doesn't strip away electrons or harm your DNA. Unlike ionizing radiation from x- rays which everyone agrees is harmful, cell phones use nonionizing radiation.
West virginia radio silence zone tv#
They are natural sources like the electric charges that built up in the atmosphere during thunderstorms, and there are manmade sources such as x-rays, TV antennas, and cell phone towers. These frequencies are invisible to the human eye. Of course that's easier said than done because electromagnetic fields exist everywhere you find electric currents.
And they are completely banned by the state of West Virginia in a 10-mile radius around the observatory. GUPTA: Transmissions using electromagnetic waves like radio and TVs are heavily restricted in the zone's 13,000 square mile radius. MIKE HOLSTINE, GREEN BANK OBSERVATORY: Man is great at creating electronic signals and electromagnetic signals that would simply overwhelm the astronomical signal that the astronomer is trying to obtain. Mike Holstine first came Green Bank as an engineer, and now helps run the observatory. I can't even wear a wireless microphone right now while I'm talking to you. In order for that telescope to function properly it has to have minimal to no interference from radio waves. This telescope and the seven others here are the reason this quiet zone exists in the first place.
In the middle of the surrounding forest, a stark white object rises from the landscape. It's peaceful, beautiful, and true to its name, very green. The last official census in 2010 lists the population of 143. It's just really quite, making it an ideal place to disconnect. National radio quiet zone - that means there no cell service, there's no Wi-Fi, there's no radio. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We're in the remote mountains of West Virginia, and we just entered America's only national radio quiet zone. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. National Radio Quiet Zone in West Virginia Profiled Sufferers from Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Describe their Symptoms.