Most of us probably think that not being able to own a cell phone would be torturous, but for the citizens of this small town, it’s actually illegal.
It’s illegal to own an electromagnetic device in this small town in Green Bank, West Virginia.
The tiny town, with a populaion of 143 people, all of whom are presumably off-the-grid, is located in the middle of the National Radio Quiet Zone.
The National Radio Quiet Zone is a section of land that takes up 13,000 square miles and rests between two radio telescopes.
The ban on tech devices was put in place by the FCC to protect the telescopes for man-made interference.
There are no cell phone towers for miles and cars that run on gasoline aren’t even allow there because of the electromagnetic waves emitted by spark plugs.
The worlds largest, steerable radio telescope can be found in Green Bank. It’s thought to be one of the strongest connections to space that we have.
The radio telescopes are extremely sensitive because their signals are very faint. Any amount of radio waves will interfere with the signal.
It seems like the perfect place to go on a vacation, if you’re desperate to unplug from the rest of the world.
