Since the advent of our nation's pastime, there has been a longstanding tradition of the fan who thinks it will be just HILARIOUS to jump onto a baseball diamond and get his or her 15 minutes of fame before getting tackled by security guards.
On Monday, 17-year-old Steve Consalvi decided to do just that during a Philadelphia Phillies game.
Except this time, the overzealous fan who told his dad he was looking for a "once in a lifetime experience" got a little more than he bargained for: he got Tasered. It's the first time a Taser has been used to stop a spectator who's running on the field.
The kid's OK, and now the Phillies and Philadelphia police are investigating whether the officer's use of the Taser was appropriate.
So do Tasers hurt?
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Yes, they do, but not for very long -- or at least that's how they're supposed to work.
Stun guns and Tasers, which use a compressed gas cartridge to shoot two electrodes at the intended target, work by scrambling the communication system in your body.
Imagine your body as an office, with each department in constant discussion. Your brain talks to your nerve cells, which then talk to your muscle cells and vice versa. Everything's clicking; everyone's happy
Until you get Tasered. Then the computers crash and the phone lines go down - but just for a little while.
Using a high-voltage, low amperage electrical charge, the Taser sends a lot of confusing information into the target's nervous system. That noise basically renders the target paralyzed with too many signals, none of which make any sense.
However, because the Taser operates on high volts and low amps, there's supposed to be no lasting damage. High voltage means the electrical charge can reach the target, but the low amps keep the intensity down.
A Taser typically has about 50,000 volts of electricity, while just three milliamps. By comparison, a bolt of lightning may have 300,000 volts and tens of thousands of amps. Those high amps lead to burns and lasting damage.
Amazingly, the static shock you "accidentally" gave your coworker by sliding across the carpet in your office? They can pack around 20,000 volts! And according to this article, an Australian man was able able to generate 40,000 volts of static electricity just from walking around in a nylon jacket and wool shirt!
Lucky for us, like Tasers, static electricity generates very low amps.
However, Tasers and stun guns have been lethal. According to Amnesty International, since 2001, more than 330 people in the U.S. have died after being shocked by Tasers.
To learn more about how tasers and stun guns work, click here.
Photo credit: AP Photo
To watch a clip of Discovery Channel's Mythbusters getting Tasered, click on the image below.
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