Page 10 - The Miracle of Electricity in the Body
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INTRODUCTION:
INTRODUCTION:
OUR LIVES DEPEND
OUR LIVES DEPEND
ON ELECTRICITY
ON ELECTRICITY
ithout electricity, what would your life be like? You would
have to find a way of ascending 15 floors with no elevator
W and preventing food in your refrigerator from spoiling.
You could not watch television, warm your dinner up in
the microwave, listen to your favorite music on the stereo, quickly dry
your hair, cool down your bedroom by means of air conditioning,
brighten that room with the touch of a switch or to operate essential ma-
chines like your dishwasher, washing machine and clothes drier. At
night, your home would be dark and unsafe, and you would live de-
prived of the many time-saving technologies such as electric heaters,
kettles, table lamps, videos and computers—which all make our life so
much easier. On a larger scale, traffic, communications, transport, secu-
rity systems, workplaces, water distribution, energy production, pub-
lishing and the press, all depend on electricity as well.
During the summer of 2003, a power blackout in the USA, which af-
fected an area extending from Detroit to Chicago, was a striking exam-
ple of electricity’s vital importance. Although short-lived, it was report-
ed as a catastrophe. Newspapers ran headlines like “LIFE COMES TO A
STANDSTILL.” In the absence of electricity, traffic lights, elevators, pub-
