Encounters with Stupidity

Have you ever stuck a CD into a microwave and hit "start"? The resulting glowing crackle disintegration of the aluminum oxide layer on the CD is very cool. However, such foolishness just scratches the surface of what can be done in one of these amazing devices. EMPTY microwave ovens can build up rather large voltages. As you know from high school or college physics, most substances (such as air) have a certain breakdown voltage, at which point the material is no longer able to act as an electrical insulator. The material becomes conductive (or rather, the conditions are such that the material is conductive). To explore the fascinating world of microwave-related feats, I wholeheartedly recommend this excellent website. Please follow this guy's safety instructions, and don't use a microwave you don't want to destroy. (Translation: use a microwave you want to destroy).

There are some valuable tips to learn from that site. The most important involves the phenomenon of the superheating of water. "Superheating" refers to a condition where a material is heated above its boiling temperature. This is a metastable condition, meaning that some minor stimuli is needed to allow the system to move from metastable to stable, accompanied by a release of energy. In the case of water in the microwave, what happens is this:

1) you put some water in a mug and into the microwave, planning to make some tea or cocoa. 2) you heat up the water reeeeeal good, but you don't see any boiling action. 3) you think "Oh well, it's been in there for five minutes, I bet it's hot enough." 4) you remove the cup from the microwave and toss in some sugar (or cocoa powder, or even a tea bag or spoon). 5) the water erupts forth in a furious boil, possibly scalding you and/or innocent bystanders.

What happened? The water was heated above 100 C (or the boiling point at the altitude of your stove depending on weather conditions and ion content of the water -- salty water boils hotter). It didn't boil because, for some reason, bubbles couldn't form. When you put the cocoa powder or sugar into the cup, a bunch of tiny bubbles formed. The water could then "boil" as liquid water turned into vapor across the bubble-water interface. This is all explained quite well on the website I recommended. Check it out.

Here is my current computer setup, with two side-by-side Samsung 213T monitors. Samsung is coming out with a new 21" model, the 214T, with better refresh time and contrast ratio. So Marcus sold me his old 213T. It's a nice setup -- I'm a fan and proponent of dual monitors. However, two 21.3"-ers is almost too much. They dominate the desktop, of course. For single-window tasks, like reading email or writing this blog, the second monitor is worthless. In fact, it's detrimental, because you have to keep track of where your program window is going to open, and move it if necessary. The productivity gains come in when doing a task like programming. Then, I can have a window with code on the left, and the input or output file on the right monitor. That is very useful. Also, it's nice to have Itunes open on the right and always visible, along with your email inbox and an Explore window. No more searching the taskbar for your programs. Of course if you're a dedicated alt-tab user (to switch between programs in Windows) then dual monitors won't be as much of a boon.

In other news, it's hot in Tucson -- hovering around 100 F when it is supposed to be topping out around 91 or 92 this time of year. My favorite Tucson weather site is the University of Arizona Atmospheric Sciences website. They don't give a forecast, or radar images, but they give data-filled graphs of temp, precip, wind and other fascinating things. The big advantage for me is that the instruments measuring this information are about 400 feet from where I sit. An accurate micro-local picture of the weather.