With large, high voltage, transmission lines, much of the energy actual travels outside the conductor. This is why if you get too close, it will arc across and zap you. I can tell you of well earthed (grounded) humans vaporizing when high voltage power has arc across several feet of air space. Beyond this distance there is an electrical potential that will not arc across the space, but that will have a marked effect. This can extend to ground level and an electrical engineer friend told me of ranchers in some of the prairie states, intentionally building houses directly under the interstate transmission lines and building an induction coil in the roof space and picking up an useful amount of electricity and running the house hold. He said that the power companies tried to stop this practise, but it is said the court told them to contain their electricity. Going further afiald, there is radiation from the transmission lines that can he detected up to several kilometres away. There is increased occurrences of Cancer and related diseases for about one point eight kilometres each side of the very large transmission lines. You will have most likely noticed distortion or disruption to you car radio when driving near these lines. Power Transformers, even the ones used in residential streets and mounted on the poles in the street, have problems. People who have one of these directly between their antenna and the local TV or Radio transmitter, may have to relocate their antenna, to get best reception. Houses close to these tend to have more cancer cases than average in the street. (This is for long term residents, living in the same house.)
Gil.
Deborah Byron wrote:
<Jane wrote: PS: to Lloyd: when I lived in Texas, I cut out a great photo of some researchers standing under a grouping of power lines, holding two fluorescent light bulbs just in their hands, and yes they were lit up. I think I saved it in my picture files.>Jane--I'd like to know more about this, specifically what kinds of power lines generate that sort of field. Thanks, Deborah
