Surprising Study on Microwaving

colman1212

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=539103609465558&set=a.478232615552658.105331.100000977703052&type=1&theater

Was pretty shocked when I saw this. What do people reckon?!

Here is a Science fair project presented by a girl in a secondary school in Sussex . In it she took filtered water and divided it into two parts. The first part she heated to boiling in a pan on the stove, and the second part she heated to boiling in a microwave. Then after cooling she used the water to water two identical plants to see if there would be any difference in the growth between the normal boiled water and the water boiled in a microwave. She was thinking that the structure or energy of the water may be compromised by microwave. As it turned out, even she was amazed at the difference, after the experiment which was repeated by her class mates a number of times and had the same result.

It has been known for some years that the problem with microwaved anything is not the radiation people used to worry about, it's how it corrupts the DNA in the food so the body can not recognize it.

Microwaves don't work different ways on different substances. Whatever you put into the microwave suffers the same destructive process. Microwaves agitate the molecules to move faster and faster. This movement causes friction which denatures the original make-up of the substance. It results in destroyed vitamins, minerals, proteins and generates the new stuff called radiolytic compounds, things that are not found in nature.

So the body wraps it in fat cells to protect itself from the dead food or it eliminates it fast. Think of all the Mothers heating up milk in these 'Safe' appliances. What about the nurse in Canada that warmed up blood for a transfusion patient and accidentally killed him when the blood went in dead. But the makers say it's safe. But proof is in the pictures of living plants dying!!!

syklops

It doesn't mention what happened to the plants. Did they get fat?

Hanley

School project... study... facebook... science... Sounds legit bro.

I actually did the same thing, but the opposite happened. The microwaved watered plants grew big and strong and the natural one died.

It's on the internet now. So it's true. FACT.

colman1212

Maybe it's true, maybe its not. Just thought it was an interesting idea for an experiment.

Gauge

Snopes.com carried out the same experiment in a more controlled fashion and found all the plants they used grew/thrived pretty much the same as each other.

thegreatiam

Microwaves agitate the molecules to move faster and faster. This movement causes friction which denatures the original make-up of the substance.

Isnt this what all heating does? raising the temp of anything in any manner causes the molecules to move faster causing them to change and react.

Dermighty

thegreatiam wrote: »

Isnt this what all heating does? raising the temp of anything in any manner causes the molecules to move faster causing them to change and react.

Yes, the actual meaning of temperature is the amount of kinetic energy the molecules in a substance have so having them move is exactly what increasing their temperature does.

I don't think using a microwave is bad, I just prefer to cook on the cooker, I even boil water for a cup of coffee in a pot, I on't own a kettle

thegreatiam

Dermighty wrote: »

Yes, the actual meaning of temperature is the amount of kinetic energy the molecules in a substance have so having them move is exactly what increasing their temperature does.

I don't think using a microwave is bad, I just prefer to cook on the cooker, I even boil water for a cup of coffee in a pot, I on't own a kettle

I was being flippant, but thanks for backing me up ;-)

seamus

Facebook posts and legitimate science are rarely found in close proximity.

As soon as I saw "corrupts the DNA in the food" I knew there was something dodgy about it. There's a contingent of people who seem hellbent on proving that microwave ovens are mini nuclear reactors waiting to kill us all and will come up with any nonsense to try justify their claim.

rubadub

colman1212 wrote: »

Was pretty shocked when I saw this. What do people reckon?!

I'd be more shocked to see a sensible article on microwaves, the bad ones are 10 a penny.

Using boiled water on plants is not advisable as the oxygen is driven off, the roots tend to do better with oxygenated water.

I have routinely boiled up water in microwaves & pressure cookers for doing microbiology stuff which required sterilization of growth media and never noticed a difference.

A typical omission in these articles is that they rarely mention cooking times & power. I really do wish they were as miraculous as the claims make out.

syklops

Most people don't know how microwave ovens work, and you will always fear what you don't understand. I remember one guy, and engineer no less, calling security on me because I insisted on making boiled eggs in the microwave in the kitchen using tin foil.

Him:"You cant put eggs in the microwave! Or tinfoil!"
Me:"Why not?"
Him:"Because they explode! :eek:"
Me:"The eggs, not the microwave"
Him:"But tinfoil! Noooo!"

True story.

The minute you start explaining how it works, the eyes glaze over, and the default stance of technology and chemicals are bad for you floats to the service. Just like the Dihydrogen Monoxide prank in Florida.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

isn't tin foil in microwaves pretty damn dangerous...?

Oryx

First, that project seems to go back to 2006.

Second, the photos say purified water, not boiled.

syklops

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

isn't tin foil in microwaves pretty damn dangerous...?

Not if its submerged in water.

MicraBoy

Microwaves mutate water's DNA!!!

That's how Aquaman was made. True story.

colman1212

Cool. But I thought the internet didn't lie?? I feel so cheated.
Won't be so gulible next time lol

Mellor

syklops wrote: »

Not if its submerged in water.

Tinfoils normally shorts out, so I'm guessing the water stops that. All good so far.
But what's the point? Why do you even need the tin foil for? I just microwave them in a bowl. I imagine if you do it regularly you'd end up having the "how microwaves work" conversation quite often. Which would be tiring. Unless of course that is the reason in the first place.

--Kaiser--

Don't eggs in microwaves explode if you don't prick a hole in them first?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8XXSrmH91E

Interesting fact, microwaves were banned in the former USSR for some reason or other

rubadub

Mellor wrote: »

Tinfoils normally shorts out, so I'm guessing the water stops that. All good so far.
But what's the point? Why do you even need the tin foil for? I just microwave them in a bowl.

Microwaves cannot pass through metal, they bounce off it. So if you wrap an egg in tinfoil and put it in water it is just the same as boiling in a pan, it might take a little longer for the egg to conduct heat through the tinfoil though. If you put an uncovered egg in water in a microwave then the egg can still absorb microwaves and so heat up internally via normal microwaves, and get past 100C, pressurize & then explode.

If you have loads of water in the bowl and put eggs in on a low setting you might get lucky and not have an explosion. The boiling water is 100C or so, and can cool down the overheating eggs trying to go past 100C. There might not be enough energy to make the eggs explode.

You can put them on a very low power setting with plenty of water and you might be safe.

Some people will put boiling water in a bowl, then pop the eggs in to heat a little. Now take the eggs out and boil the water in the microwave. The water will have cooled due to the cold eggs & bowl. So when it is fully boiling again you open and pop the eggs in and do not turn it on again. If you have lots of water in there it will cool down slowly. The eggs can be done in 6-10mins like this. The initial preheating of the eggs also can stop them cracking when they hit boiling water.

Boiling water in a microwave can always be risky as it can go past 100C without boiling and "explode" when things are dropped into it which encourage boiling/bubbles. That is no myth.

seamus

rubadub wrote: »

Boiling water in a microwave can always be risky as it can go past 100C without boiling and "explode" when things are dropped into it which encourage boiling/bubbles. That is no myth.

Nope, it certainly is not. It's primarily down to purity and tends to occur with water which has been filtered or which has been boiled a number of times.

Water bubbles when boiling due to the impurities in it. But water which is very pure tends no to bubbles at all and just get really hot. I'm not sure what the explanation for this is - the air probably gathers around the impurities, which causes the bubbles, whereas with no impurities, no bubbles and so the water stays still.

If you subsequently drop something into the superheated water, like a spoon or a sugar cube, it violently explodes, and can cause 3rd degree burns.

Here's a short video of mythbusters proving this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_OXM4mr_i0

I would never have thought of using a microwave to boil water on its own.

rubadub

seamus wrote: »

It's primarily down to purity and tends to occur with water which has been filtered or which has been boiled a number of times.

When repeatedly boiled the gases are driven off, so it is less likely to boil as its harder for bubbles to form. So reheating cold tea or coffee is more dangerous.

To encourage bubbles you can boil in rough bowls, I have old ones with minor cracks in them. Or scuffed plastic containers. Or you can even add a little clean rough stone or broken glass to the water, labs use these, known as boiling chips
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_chip

Many pint glasses in pubs now have microetching in the bottom of them, this encourages bubbles so causes the head to last longer, you will see a steady stream of bubbles forming. I hate them as they make it go flatter quicker.

Mellor

rubadub wrote: »

Microwaves cannot pass through metal, they bounce off it. So if you wrap an egg in tinfoil and put it in water it is just the same as boiling in a pan, it might take a little longer for the egg to conduct heat through the tinfoil though.

Ah I get you. Basically you want a true boiled egg. Not a microwaved egg.
I'm coddle my eggs the night before. If I have to microwave I just crack in a bowl.

Boiling water in a microwave can always be risky as it can go past 100C without boiling and "explode" when things are dropped into it which encourage boiling/bubbles. That is no myth.

True that can happen. But only with totally purified water (ie no minerals or anything present) Which doesn't really happen to sitting around in the kitchen.

Oryx

Mellor wrote: »

True that can happen. But only with totally purified water (ie no minerals or anything present) Which doesn't really happen to sitting around in the kitchen.

Well I had a cup of microwaved water do a minor explosion in my kitchen when I put a spoon of coffee in it. Frightened the bejesus out of me and I was lucky not to get a scald.

rubadub

Mellor wrote: »

But only with totally purified water (ie no minerals or anything present)

It is surprisingly easy to do. I have done it on numerous occasions, sometimes on purpose in a more controlled way, I would take lots of safety precautions. The water was always tap water with minerals, and sometimes tap water with sugar and/or with nutrients added.

Mellor

rubadub wrote: »

It is surprisingly easy to do. I have done it on numerous occasions, sometimes on purpose in a more controlled way, I would take lots of safety precautions. The water was always tap water with minerals, and sometimes tap water with sugar and/or with nutrients added.

Really. I thought it was only lab quality stuff. Must give it a go