Imagine making plans with your friends — by walking to their house to talk in person.
That’s the norm at Green Bank, West Virginia, where its 143 residents can’t rely on their cellphones or tablets to connect with friends and loved ones because all wireless devices are forbidden.
Located within a 13,000-square mile area known as the National Radio Quiet Zone, Green Bank houses the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which operates the world’s largest radio telescope.
“It’s the study of the natural radio emissions that are coming from bodies in space,” explained Michael Holstine, the observatory’s business manager.
Standing 485-feet tall and weighing nearly 17-million pounds, the telescope is so large that a college football stadium could fit inside the dish. It’s also incredibly sensitive to electronic interference and, Holstine said, so powerful that it could pick up “the energy given off by a single snowflake hitting the ground.”
Aired on The Today Show. See more at: http://www.today.com/health/town-lives-without-cell-phones-wi-fi-meet-green-bank-t69911