Microwaves

Your Microwave Is Packed With Radiation-Resistant Bacteria

A recent study examining 30 microwave ovens discovered nearly 750 different species of bacteria, some of which are considered harmful to humans.

Health Adam Kovac Aug 8

Sharp’s New Alexa-Powered Microwave Is Even More Confusing Than Amazon’s

When Amazon released a cheap microwave with built-in Alexa integration, most of us scratched our heads for a second and then quickly moved on. But now Sharp has created its own microwave powered by Amazon’s digital assistant, and somehow it’s even more confounding than the original. Unlike the $60 Amazon Basics microwave with Alexa, Sharp’s…

Tech News Sam Rutherford Dec 9

Scientists Produce Rigorous Study of Why Grapes Spark in the Microwave

A paper published Monday in a well-known science journal begins with the following sentence: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a pair of grape hemispheres exposed to intense microwave radiation will spark, igniting a plasma.” A universally acknowledged truth indeed… but what causes this microwave marvel? If you’re not familiar, putting grapes into a…

Physics & Chemistry Ryan F. Mandelbaum Feb 19

Microwave Tech Could Produce 40 TB Hard Drives in the Near Future

We’re all generating data faster than storage providers can keep up, and that problem is only going to get worse. On Friday, Western Digital announced a potential game changer that promises to expand the limits of traditional HDDs to up to 40TBs using a microwave-based write head, and the company says it will be available…

Tech News Rhett Jones Oct 13

This Microwave Oven Is the Size of a Thermos

There’s a reason the microwave oven in your kitchen is a heavy brick: it uses a magnetron and vacuum tube technology that dates back to World War II. But since then, microwave technologies have been vastly improved (see cellphone towers) and a company called Wayv in the UK is finally using them to shrink the…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski May 20

Can You Really Fix an Election by Steaming Open Absentee Ballots?

Arizona’s been in the spotlight a lot this election year, with the Department of Justice announcing today it’s investigating the too-long voting lines during the state’s primary. Then there’s the accusations of straight-up election fraud: Apparently people are tampering with vote-by-mail ballots using microwaves. Last month, a state bill was proposed to stiffen the penalties…

Tech News Alissa Walker Apr 5

These Sugar-Based Anti-Reflective Fake Moth Eyeballs Are Not for Eating

Do a quick scan of the journal Applied Physics Letters today, and you’ll find that researchers from Belarus and France have fabricated an anti-reflective coating made from sucrose and modeled after moth eyeballs. It could be manipulating microwaves one day, but right now, it’s just incredibly neat. Though we usually see them clustered around light…

Physics & Chemistry Esther Inglis-Arkell Jan 5

Watch the scary power of a microwave oven make plasma and burn things

Yowza. Here’s a crazy rigged contraption that uses microwave energy from cavity magnetron to generate plasma and burn the heck out of things faster than you can warm a Hot Pocket. We can see it squeeze out plasma in a lightbulb, shatter glass and make basically anything burn. It’s a neat exercise to show how…

Sploid Casey Chan Sep 14

Our Best View Yet of the Galaxy’s Massive Electromagnetic Loop

Scientists working with the Planck Satellite have produced a new polarization map of the Milky Way in microwaves, providing an unprecedented view of a rather dramatic electromagnetic loop discovered over a half-century ago. Above: Loop 1, marked by the dashed ellipse, is the yellow feature above centre, shading to purple, and the purple arc below…

io9 George Dvorsky Jul 6

Ingenious Infrared Microwave Shows Your Food Change Color As It Heats Up

After watching this video I feel like the best microwave I’ve ever used sucked very badly. What you see here is a concept for the Heat Map Microwave, which would have a built-in IR camera on top and a screen on the front, effectively allowing you to see exactly when your food has been heated…

Gadgets Brent Rose Feb 11

What Would Really Happen If You Put A Human In A Microwave?

The Skin Effect isn’t what it sounds like, but it can help us understand what happens to a human being when they’re exposed to different microwave frequencies. It also explains why your food comes out cold on the inside. Image by Jim Cooke, photo via Winai Tepsuttinun/Shutterstock The Skin Effect and Alternating Current Ever snipped…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jan 19

China’s New Pain Laser Makes It Feel Like Your Organs Are Boiling

Sure, it looks like somebody strapped a satellite dish to the roof of a box truck and painted it camouflage, but that doesn’t make China’s newest nonlethal weapon any easier to stomach. In fact, take a gut shot from this thing and your stomach will feel worse than a kitten in a microwave. Yet somehow,…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola Dec 11

Real Life Journalist Suing Over the Microwave Scene in American Hustle

Remember that scene in American Hustle when Jennifer Lawrence’s character sticks some metal in the microwave? It starts a fire and Lawrence’s character dismisses the entire technology, claiming that it zaps the nutrition out of food. She even has an article to back up her claim. Now the real life journalist who was quoted for…

Tech News Matt Novak Nov 4

Microwaving Light Bulbs Is Genuinely Useful (And Entertaining)

I love finding new things to put in the microwave. Say, for instance, an incandescent light bulb, which can test your microwave for a number of issues, besides just looking awesome. Even a non-functioning bulb can work, so dig out the dusty old bulbs you have at the back of the closet. First, find a…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jul 31

This Kid Took Apart a Microwave to Create an Insane (and Stupid) Weapon

So don’t take a microwave apart. Don’t. Take. A microwave. Apart. Don’t do it. Don’t! But if you were curious about what would happen if you did, these idiots have you covered. It’s as awesome as it is stupid! It is very awesome and very stupid. According to Kreosan, the crazy microwave-stick’s creators (and Darwin…

Tech News Eric Limer Jul 29

This Compact Microwave Is a Must-Have For Your Car

Designer Jake Rich has come up with a better design for the microwave that no longer requires a permanent parking spot on your kitchen counter. His Mediumwave concept has a footprint about the size of a dinner plate, and the traditional metal box form factor of microwaves of old has been improved with a removable…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Jul 8

What Actually Happens When You Put Metal in a Microwave

The rule is as simple as it is ubiquitous: don’t stick aluminum foil in the microwave if you don’t want to have to buy a new microwave. Everybody knows that, right? But, turns out, that old adage might be wrong. The advent of electric refrigeration was a revolution in American gastronomy that made a huge…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola May 6

A Microwave That Promises To Fry Your Food Without a Drop of Oil

T-fal kicked off the whole “frying foods with minimal oil” trend with its Actifry machine, but who really has room for yet another appliance on their kitchen counter—even if it promises healthier fries and wings? That’s why Samsung has introduced what it calls the Slim Fry feature on its microwaves, adding even more functionality to…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Apr 21

The Perfect Microwave Listens to Popcorn Popping So It Never Burns

Tossing a bag of popcorn in the microwave is much easier than dragging out the hot air popper, except that you have to watch it like a hawk to make sure it doesn’t burn. Alternatively, you can swap out your dated microwave for this new model from Whirlpool that actually listens to the popcorn as…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Feb 27

Do microwave ovens kill nutrients in food?

There’s a popular conception that microwave ovens zap all the good stuff in our foods, like essential vitamins and minerals. But is it true? The answer is no. And in fact, microwave ovens often retain more nutrients in our food than conventional cooking. All cooking degrades the amount of nutrients in our food, but there…

io9 George Dvorsky Oct 10

Microwaves

Your Microwave Is Packed With Radiation-Resistant Bacteria

Sharp’s New Alexa-Powered Microwave Is Even More Confusing Than Amazon’s

Scientists Produce Rigorous Study of Why Grapes Spark in the Microwave

Microwave Tech Could Produce 40 TB Hard Drives in the Near Future

This Microwave Oven Is the Size of a Thermos

Can You Really Fix an Election by Steaming Open Absentee Ballots?

These Sugar-Based Anti-Reflective Fake Moth Eyeballs Are Not for Eating

Watch the scary power of a microwave oven make plasma and burn things

Our Best View Yet of the Galaxy’s Massive Electromagnetic Loop

Ingenious Infrared Microwave Shows Your Food Change Color As It Heats Up

What Would Really Happen If You Put A Human In A Microwave?

China’s New Pain Laser Makes It Feel Like Your Organs Are Boiling

Real Life Journalist Suing Over the Microwave Scene in American Hustle

Microwaving Light Bulbs Is Genuinely Useful (And Entertaining)

This Kid Took Apart a Microwave to Create an Insane (and Stupid) Weapon

This Compact Microwave Is a Must-Have For Your Car

What Actually Happens When You Put Metal in a Microwave

A Microwave That Promises To Fry Your Food Without a Drop of Oil

The Perfect Microwave Listens to Popcorn Popping So It Never Burns

Do microwave ovens kill nutrients in food?

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