Gigs

__________________
-
-
"It is the paramount duty of governments and of politicians to secure the wellbeing of the community under the case in the present, and not to run risks overmuch for the future" - JM Keynes

Fade Languish

I had a friend who loved blowing up eggs in microwaves. He phoned me up one day and said "Hey, can I come round and borrow your microwave? I want to pop some eggs. My mum won't let me use ours." I was like, "sure, if you clean it up after." So he came round with a carton of eggs and popped them one by one. Then he cleaned up, said thanks, and left. After that he came round regularly with eggs. I think it was the only time the microwave got used in that house.

Gigs

I actually edited out the egg, because it's very anticlimatic. One frame there's an egg there, the next there's nothing. It explodes too fast to look cool.

Arilynn

Gigs, perhaps you are the one person who can solve this persistent mystery: Whenever I reheat green beans in the microwave, they cause sparks. I pull them out as quickly as possible, but there are little scorched marks on the plate and the beans. This happens with fresh beans and frozen beans - I never eat canned green beans. I always wash them before I cook them, and they have been thoroughly cooked by the time I reheat them in the microwave.

What is causing the sparks, Oh Microwave Pryomanical Master?

Lecktor Hannibal

Oh my dear, beans beans the musical fruit; the more you eat, the more you toot. Alimentary my dear Ari, heating the beans releases the methane prematurely. What you are seeing is, prematurely en-lightened farts.



You're welcome.

Cocoanut Koala

Whatever you do, don't microwave peeps!


coco

__________________

Gigs

You asked the right person, since I'm not only a microwave burninator, I'm also a ham radio operator.

The wavelength of 2.4Ghz microwaves (which is what ovens use) is 4.7 inches.

Green beans are about 4.7 inches. It's possible that they are resonating like an antenna, causing high voltages to build up on the surface. Antennas that are half a wavelength in size will also resonate, so 2.35 inch items may well resonate too. The salt and minerals in the flesh are enough to render them somewhat conductive.

The other half of the equation comes in because green beans have pointy ends. Pointed ends increase voltage density and make arcing more likely.

I put a uncrushed empty coke can in the oven when making the above video... and nothing happened. I edited that out. The smooth edges don't allow high voltages and arcing to form. Crushing the can makes lots of sharp edges, and you get arcing.

This is why it's OK to use aluminum foil in the microwave, as long as you fold the sharp edges under. You are actually supposed to use foil in the microwave when heating up larger cuts of meat, to shield the hot spots. No one does it though.


This guy has a similar theory of a dipole antenna effect: http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...9591.Ph.r.html

Lecktor Hannibal

My theory was more amusing.

Lucifer Baphomet

Gigs...

You gotta put a bar of soap in the microwave.

Its REALLY interesting to watch

__________________

Lewis Luminos

I once tried reheating tinned potatoes (not actually in the tin at the time). After thirty seconds on full power there was a strange noise, and the inside of the oven was covered in mashed potato.

Guess I should have covered the dish.

__________________
-- Just Add Ginger -- -- Plurk -- -- last.fm -- -- flickr --

Phoenix Psaltery

You should try touching a match to a celluloid guitar pick.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly there is this charred network of fibers (I would guess it's the carbon?) in the shape of a guitar pick.

Kind of a waste of a good guitar pick, though, so I used to do it with ones that had cracked and stuff.


P2

__________________
Five59 Online Graphic Design
Phoenix's Plurk | Phoenix's Flickr| Phoenix's Rarely Updated Blog

Siobhan OFlynn

You, Lecktor Hannibal, are a very sick man.


It's your most endearing quality.



Also, Christmas Lights in the microwave are fucking awesome!

Dnate Mars

I think I know what I am doing when I get home tonight.

Malachi

I like to burn things too. You people think so small, though.

eku Zhong

try microwaving a cuttlefish.. i dare you.
the fishy part...
it blows up amazingly... squid works well too.