The Science of Stephen King

There are a lot of ways we try to conserve our cell phone batteries in daily life and one is used in the movie version of Cell. A character recommends putting their cell phones in the freezer in order to make the batteries last longer. Is this a good idea? According to experts, it’s not recommended. Cold temperatures can harm batteries especially if condensation occurs when bringing the cell phone or battery back to room temperature.6 To save cell phone battery, it’s best to adjust settings on your cell phone. Delete or shut down apps that use the most battery, turn off location services, and turn on the low power mode setting if available. These are good everyday tips to save some battery life but can also come in handy if you’re on the run from some creatures like the characters in this novel!

Ninety-four percent of all Americans have cell phones and combined send about six million text messages per day!8

Technology’s effects on living things is a theme in Cell that hasn’t been fully explored by experts. Since cell phones and other devices are relatively new inventions, what do we know about how these things affect us? Some things may be obvious. The more time we spend on devices, the less we may be physically active. This could ultimately affect our health, and even eyesight, but isn’t necessarily unique to technology itself. A bit more nefarious are the effects that cell phone radiation may have on living things. According to a study conducted in 2010, “the indiscriminate use of wireless technologies, particularly of cell phones, has increased the health risks among living organisms including plants. The study concludes that cell phone EMFs impair early growth of V radiata seedlings by inducing biochemical changes.”7 The effects of having a cell phone in close proximity to your brain are not yet conclusive. It is known that radiation can be harmful but the long-term effects are not likely to be understood for a long time to come.

The people in the book move a bit like zombies but even more like birds. How do birds move in the way that they do? It’s quite a sight to see when you gaze upon a large group of birds flying in the sky together and they instinctively and automatically make a quick, calculated turn. This seemingly miraculous movement had even ancient Romans believing that the gods were speaking through flocks of birds. More recent scientists speculated that birds could communicate through telepathy or a type of biological radio. Current observations with photography and computer models have learned that the movement of birds comes down to natural, quick instincts. Though not visible to the naked eye, birds follow the movement of the bird in front of them when flying in a flock. Think of it as a giant wave in a football stadium except quicker. Birds are able to pay attention to their closest six or seven neighbors in a flock and follow their movements precisely.9 This helps them to evade predators and to move in sync. Researchers agree that they don’t yet know everything about how birds move in groups but speculate that they could be using auditory or even tactile communication in order to analyze space and movement. Unlike the affected humans in Cell, birds seem a lot more intelligent!

Although Stephen King’s novel Cell may seem dated in some ways, humanity’s link to technology is certainly still relevant. If the threat of a pulse that could control much of Earth’s population became a threat, could we put our devices down? Hopefully. But if not, this book gives us an idea of how we could fight to survive if we are one of the only ones left.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Lisey’s Story

In the summer of 1999, Stephen King was walking in the rural backroads of Lovell, Maine, for a bit of fresh air and exercise. Local resident Bryan Smith drove a van on the county road, and was purportedly distracted by a dog in his backseat, when he struck King from behind, sending him fourteen feet from the pavement. King was immediately brought to a nearby hospital, and then, because of his serious injuries, airlifted to the Central Maine Hospital. This watershed moment in Stephen King’s life has forever altered his fiction. A character named “Brian Smith” appears in The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (2004), in which he is high on drugs and distracted by a dog in his vehicle. This theme also pops up in the TV series developed by King, Kingdom Hospital (2004).