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In addition, it’s a way for them to avoid some forms of modern technology. Many of these people move to Green Bank and the surrounding area to avoid the digital footprint that’s so prominent in most areas of the country. The Quiet Zone is an appealing place for survivalists and those who claim to be sensitive to electromagnetic devices. That’s because these types of devices can create interference with radio astronomical observations. And those who live on the GBO site cannot use cell phones, cordless phones, Wi-Fi, microwaves, or even wireless speakers, reports resident Marilyn Creager. For example, there’s a general store in Arbovale in which customers leave sticky note messages for their friends and family on two conveyor belts, according to the New York Post. Living in a radio-quiet environment makes life in this part of the country a little different from the rest of the United States. This zone covers 13,000 square miles in Virginia and West Virginia. The Federal Communications Commission created the NRQZ in 1958 to block potentially detrimental interference at the NRAO, as well as at the U.S. Scene from the local bar where all of Green Bank's visitors meet.Ī radio telescope rises up from a boggy forest.Editorial credit: Malachi Jacobs / One of the residents with electromagnetic hypersensitivity puts together an unknown device.Įquipment in the depths of the radio telescope.Īn astronomer carefully studies new research data.Ī fake deer serves as target practice for local hunters. One of the many small houses tucked away in the Green Bank woods. But according to others the number of alien civilisations might be as high as 15 million. A conservative estimate leads to the conclusion that Earth is the only planet with intelligent life. The exact numbers you fill in strongly influence the end result of the equation. His eponymous equation, which he drew up while working and living in Green Bank, is a mathematical formula that can be used to estimate the number of intelligent life forms in the universe.Įnter the number of stars that are formed, the number of stars that have Earth-like planets, and the chance that life arises on such a planet and you should get a rough estimate of the number of extra-terrestrial life forms. The exhibition is named after the famous equation by American astronomer Frank Drake. Wired, National Geographic and the New York Times have previously written about the photo project. The exhibition The Drake Equation is the result, proving you don’t have to go into deep space to find interesting forms of life. It was this rare confluence of people that led photographers Paul Kranzler and Andrew Phelps to West Virginia to document the life in Green Bank.
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In a town of only 143, that results in a curious mixture of astronomers, sceptics and the locals who have been living in the hills self-sufficiently for generations. But the ban on Wi-Fi has also attracted a group of people with electromagnetic hypersensitivity, people who claim that mobile phones and other devices cause illness. The absence of interfering radiation has led to generations of astronomers coming to the remote town in the Appalachians. Every bit of electromagnetic radiation can influence sensitive measurements and undo precious scientific work. Using mobile phones or Wi-Fi is not allowed, because in the middle of the quiet zone stand the Green Bank Observatory, five giant radio telescopes. It covers an area almost the size of the Netherlands: the radio quiet zone in Pocahontas county, West Virginia.