table grapes

12.03.08

Smelting in a Microwave

Our scientist zaps tin and silver, shatters glass, and arcs his oven to prove a point.

By Theodore Gray Posted 09.01.2003 at 8:00 pm 2 Comments

There is an entire subculture of people who derive pleasure from putting strange things in microwave ovens, things that microwave oven manufacturers would most strenuously suggest should not be put there. In the hands of these people, table grapes produce glowing plasmas, soap bars mutate into abominable soap monsters, and compact discs incandesce. As a scientist, I'm enthralled by such phenomena (particularly the grapes), but somehow I've always found the subject a bit unsatisfying: Cool, but what is it really good for?

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READ MORE ABOUT > electric arcs, metal accents, microwave ovens, silicon carbide, table grapes

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