Far out! Article by Thibault P.

You probably don't know it, but you wake up in a Faraday cage, make your breakfast in another Faraday cage, phone a friend thanks to a Faraday cage, and drive a Faraday cage to go to work, and you use plenty of other Faraday cages during the day... But, what is a Faraday cage!?

Michael Faraday was a pioneer in the field of electromagnetic energy in the 19^th century. After studying the works of scientists such as Benjamin Franklin, he created a new theory which says that electromagnetic waves naturally flow around the surface of conductive materials, not through them as previous scientists thought. For example, if a metal box containing a mouse is placed directly in an electric current, the mouse won't be electrocuted because the electricity flows over the box.

In fact, a Faraday cage is a kind of a shield against the effects of electromagnetic energy. When a plane is struck by lightning, the metal frame becomes a Faraday cage and protects the passengers inside. The door of every microwave oven has a screen which acts as a Faraday cage in order to prevent waves from escaping outside the box. Even a concrete building reinforced with iron bars can be considered as a Faraday cage.

Nowadays, the Faraday cage principle is often used in electronic devices. Indeed, a lot of waves can disrupt these devices. It’s not very important for an MP3, but imagine the disastrous effects on electronic circuits in planes. That’s why most devices are protected by a Faraday cage called RF shields.

Faraday was a genious. Thanks to him and his amazing box, you can fly with safety, you can drive serenely, and above all you can read this article without being burned to a frazzle!