In the mountains of eastern West Virginia sits Green Bank, a town of roughly 150 people where using a cell phone, running a Wi-Fi router, or operating a microwave near the town centre is not just impractical; it is against the law. Green Bank sits at the heart of the National Radio Quiet Zone, a 13,000 square mile region spanning much of eastern West Virginia and parts of Virginia, established in 1958 to protect one of the most sensitive scientific instruments in the country, the Robert C Byrd Green Bank Telescope, the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope, from the interference of ordinary modern wireless technology.
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