I’ve done some more Googling and I can’t find any news articles online which talk about the cell phones in that story. Even the newspaper I read it in originally doesn’t have it on their website.
Also, the professor from IIT, Bombay giving his “expert” opinion is actually a professor at the Industrial Design Centre and specialises in Ergonomics. I’m not sure how this makes him an expert in lightning strikes, but I could be wrong?
I have grumbled in the past about crap journalism. 🙂
And then there are people like Olivia Judson (nyt) who marry crappy journalism to crappy research. Her bit on Jews, male offspring, and research is the kind that inspires murder. And I wouldn’t even have a guilty conscience after that 🙂