There is no cell phone reception here, no Wi-Fi, not even radio and television.
But Green Bank is not technologically backward.
The GBT is the reason why this town is electromagnetically silent.
Radio telescopes work by detecting electromagnetic waves that come from distant galaxies.
For this reason, all cell phones, Wi-Fi, radio and other communication devices are outlawed here.
Green Bank happens to be the closest community to the Green Bank Telescope.
Kids aren’t glued to the glowing screens of their mobile devices.
They actually talk to each other instead of texting.
Older residents roll down their car windows to greet each other and leave their front doors unlocked.
If they must speak to someone out of town, there are pay phones.
“So we were kinda back in time a little bit.
We hadn’t progressed to that.”
Over the last few years, many people have taken up residence in Green Bank.
These people claim to suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity, or EHSa disease not recognized by the scientific community.
Theres no grocery store, no restaurants, no hospital nearby.
But here, at least, I’m healthy.
I can do things.
I’m not in bed with a headache all the time.
Sources:Slate/NBC News/Nat Geo/WashingtonianviaPresurfer
