Q: Does carrying an open umbrella during a thunderstorm increase your odds of being hit by lightning?

A: As a flash travels toward the ground from a nearby cloud, it looks for the tallest object. But it is very blind as it travels, and only searches within about a 50-yard radius at the lower end of the channel, both outward and downward. It has no preconceived idea of what it will strike when it starts out in the cloud. So lightning does not look several miles away to the side during its downward travel to find a hill, a tower, building, or umbrella that is just a little taller than what is at its lower end within 50 yards.

The flash that is already going to hit nearby is the one to worry about. Within that range, you don't want to be the tallest object or attached to it. If you're holding an umbrella in an area surrounded by taller buildings, it's not so bad. But if you are already the only tall object within 50 yards, then it doesn't matter much what you are holding.

(Answered by: Ron Holle, research meteorologist, NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, Okla., Aug. 24, 1999)

As I ran home from the train during a vicious thunderstorm the other night, it occurred to me that carrying an umbrella may not be the smartest move. Glad to read that it's actually not that big a deal.

There's no doubt that the Paleo approach is a powerful meme, but as advice for regular people it's just not very practical.

Agreed - been trying (and failing) to stick to the paleo diet for more than a few weeks at a time for the past year or so. Man, it's tough.

Don't mind if I do.