While most of North America is overrun by technology, there is at least one town in the United States where you can fully escape technology and enjoy true peace and quiet.
Green Bank, West Virginia is a 13,000 square mile patch of countryside with only about 143 residents. It falls within the National Radio Quiet Zone, an area which by law can have absolutely no radio waves. This means that the people who choose to live here must give up the gadgets like cell phone, wireless Internet router and cable television, that the rest of us take for granted.
Green Bank is part of the US Radio Quiet Zone, where wireless is banned across 13,000 sq miles (33,000 sq km) to prevent transmissions interfering with a number of radio telescopes in the area. The largest is owned by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and enables scientists to listen to low-level signals from different places in the universe.
One Green Bank resident, Diane Schou, was desperate to get away from the world of wireless technology after she began to experience side effects from what she believed to be too much exposure to the electromagnetic fields typically created by mobile phones, wi-fi and other electronic equipment. "Living here allows me to be more of a normal person. I can be outdoors. I don't have to stay hidden in a Faraday Cage. I can see the sunrise, I can see the stars at night, and I can be in the rain." In Green Bank, Diane says she can now go to church, parties and ironically, she can finally socialize again.
The technology restriction began in the 1950's when the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, or GBT, was built. It's the world's largest fully steerable telescope and one of the biggest movable objects on our planet. Any device that generates electromagnetic radiation in the area can mess with the telescope's data collection, so scientists in the area use some of our world's most advanced instruments and yet they can't heat up their lunch in a microwave.
Most of the people who live in Pocohantas County, the area about 4 hours outside of our nation's capital, chose to live this quieter life and be part of something bigger than themselves. So, next time you freak out about leaving your cell phone at home or your internet crashing, think of the people in Green Bank who would rather watch the sun set than play Angry Birds. We just might be able to learn a thing or two from their lifestyle!
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The Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope is protected from radio wave interference by federal and state laws.
A telephone booth sits on a road leading to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, since cellular service around the area is nonexistent.
The National Radio Quiet Zone is about a 10 mile radius in Pocahantas County, West Virginia.
Many people move to Green Bank to embrace the quiet lifestyle. Diane Schou left her home in Iowa to avoid electromagnetic radiation, which she believes caused her terrible migraines.
Green Bank is home to about 143 residents. Locals jokingly refer to the telescope as the "Great Big Thing", since the dish alone can hold an entire football field.
