If you've ever wondered what life devoid of the pings of cells phones and social media notifications, radio and television, you might look to Green Bank, WV for your answer.
Green Bank is the National Radio Quiet Zone, a place where cell phone and Wi-Fi use are absolutely prohibited, with the exception of a single low-frequency channel. It's a 13,000-square-mile area that's home to Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, the world's largest fully steerable telescope and among the most powerful in the world. As it's hyper-sensitive to any frequencies, even transmitters in a digital camera, it's ban on these types of signal-transmitting electronics has earned Green Bank the title of "the quietest place in America."
"It's a huge collecting area and it's what allows us to see these incredibly small energies that we're trying to study," Karen O'Neil, who monitors the site, told NPR. "The types of energies we look at are less than the energy of a single snowflake falling on the earth."
So what kinds of people live in this signal-free mecca? Michael Holstine, a business manager for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, tells National Geographic that people who have sought out Green Bank are seeking a simpler life. Additionally, adds Seeker Stories in the video below, people who believe they suffer from a condition called electromagnetic hypersensitivity have found solace here.
Learn more about the fascinating life in the quiet zone below, and SHARE this incredible video with your friends on Facebook!
