Thread: Cell Popcorn

Only because I'm a skeptic by nature:

There is a heating pad / element underneath the cloth.

Though reading some of the comments to that video make me think different

Here is another video from Japan (apparently) and they use a wooden table with no cloth.

So the mystery remains, real or fake?

One of my friends said that this was debunked on mythbusters already but I don't know.

I bet it's real. Remember Yankee put a link up a while back to the youtube video about the guy looking for a cancer cure? He used radio waves to heat meal? (Turned on a florescent light bulb just by putting it in the radio wave field. Turns out his invention also burns salt water too. I'd bet this is in the same vein. Yank, you recall the link?


*****
Here is Yankees post

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/showthread.php?t=11532&highlight=cancer

Originally Posted by Webjunky

Here is another video from Japan (apparently) and they use a wooden table with no cloth.

So the mystery remains, real or fake?

One of my friends said that this was debunked on mythbusters already but I don't know.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju5yIFu4yY8[/ame]

Thanks lighthouse, I actually hadn't realized that I forgot to put in the link.

There's no good reason for the popcorn to pop straight up into the air when it pops.
I'm certain it's a fake.

The Japanese one's fairly convincing though. I'd be interested to see what mythbusters did for it.

That's pretty sweet. I may actually try this if my boredom escalates that high one day.

It'd be convenient, though, because we don't have a microwave. Maybe, then, I could enjoy microwaved popcorn!

Time to whip out my nerdy electrical engineering side...

The thing that leads me to believe that this is fake is that the popcorn popped almost immediately. When I put popcorn in the microwave, it takes about 30-60 seconds to start popping, so for this to be real, the phones would have to be giving off many times the energy of a typical microwave.

But, in fact, while a microwave generates about 1 kilowatt, a typical cell phone generates less than 1 watt (that's two orders of magnitude less energy!).

Even with multiple phones, there's just no way the popcorn would pop that quickly.

That said, given enough time and/or enough phones, I would guess it could work...

just found this video on debunking the whole thing. The dude is never going to have kids.

[ame]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1399627/cell_phone_popcorn_hoax_revealed/[/ame]

Originally Posted by JScott

But, in fact, while a microwave generates about 1 kilowatt, a typical cell phone generates less than 1 watt (that's two orders of magnitude less energy!).

OK, let me see . . .

.25-.6 watts (typical cell phone output)
1 watt (baseline)
10 watts (1 order of magnitude)
100 watts (2 orders of magnitude)
1000 watts (3 orders of magnitude)

So a microwave has more than 3 orders of magnitude more power than a cell phone.

. . . um, right?

-Russ H.

RE: Debunking

You'll note that all of the tables have covers so that you can't see under them.

The debunking video is exactly what I would have suggested, but in all honesty, I wouldn't try it-- I have no idea about the field generated by the magnetron-- is it conical? (not very dangerous). Or is it spherical, or hemispherical? If the latter, I'm hoping the others had some type of shielding to protect their reproductive organs.

Yeesh.

-Russ H.

That would be correct. Energy working off of the power of a sine wave being exponential (1 x 10^1 then 1x10^2 and so on). What it doesn't account for however is harmonic, or in this case magnetic resonance and reenforcement. Magnetic resonance reenforcement in application would be if you took 2 or more waves of the same frequency and joined them at proper point of intersection matching resonance with the 3rd point being the focus the resulting super wave would resonate until the point of resonance of the resonating medium would fracture, or in this case pop. The popcorn in a microwave pops due to intense heat in wave patterns however no heat is needed for fractal resonance to occur thereby using far less energy. The same concept applies to champagne flute shattering or an ocean "phantom" tidal wave and even up and coming wireless power transmition. I'm not advocating I "know" this is real I'm merely stating a possible method of how to make it happen. Note though you would have to balance 2 forms of wave energy reinforcing wave patterns and magnetic resonance patterns. In this case either would be highly unlikely without pre-metered wave synchronizing.

Originally Posted by Russ H

OK, let me see . . .

.25-.6 watts (typical cell phone output)
1 watt (baseline)
10 watts (1 order of magnitude)
100 watts (2 orders of magnitude)
1000 watts (3 orders of magnitude)

So a microwave has more than 3 orders of magnitude more power than a cell phone.

. . . um, right?

Hey, what do you expect, I have an electrical engineering degree, not a math degree...

Another note about the Magnetron, if you do try this having that high of voltage and magnetics around sensitive electronics could fry their boards and possibly void all warranty. All modern electronics are very sensitive to EMR (electro-magnetic resistance) as well as static electricity.

Originally Posted by Banthaman

The popcorn in a microwave pops due to intense heat in wave patterns . . . The same concept applies to a champagne flute shattering or an ocean "phantom" tidal wave and even up and coming wireless power transmission.

Note though you would have to balance 2 forms of wave energy reinforcing wave patterns and magnetic resonance patterns. In this case either would be highly unlikely without pre-metered wave synchronizing.

I'm no science expert (I just play one on TV ), but I had always thought that microwave ovens worked because the magnetrons' outputs were specifically "tuned" to emit radar waves that caused water and fat molecules to vibrate (and the increased molecular vibration increases the temperature).

This is the reason the first microwave ovens were called Amana "Radaranges"-- they used the same technology as radar (well, US and British radar, not the Klystron-based radar used by the Germans and Japanese in WWII). But with the "Radarange", the microwave frequency output was specifically "tuned" to match the resonant frequency of water and fat molecules.

While it's true that the magnetrons are built to have a resonant cavity, frequencies are quite a bit different from the acoustic airborne harmonic resonance that can shatter a crystal glass (this I do know, my field is acoustics).

So I'm not sure if we're saying the same things, or different things. I read your post as saying all of this works b/c of resonant chambers inducing wave harmonics to constructively add onto each other, creating waves of much higher amplitude (what you call "super waves"). When what I thought was happening was simple frequency matching and resonance (no resonant chambers necessary).

-Russ H.

Originally Posted by Russ H

So I'm not sure if we're saying the same things, or different things. I read your post as saying all of this works b/c of resonant chambers inducing wave harmonics to constructively add onto each other, creating waves of much higher amplitude (what you call "super waves"). When what I thought was happening was simple frequency matching and resonance (no resonant chambers necessary).

I believe you guys agree. I think Banthaman's final comment was regarding the ideal conditions to allow cell phones to pop the corn...

One question that keeps me busy is how it is possible that the cell phones work (at least apparently they ring) while lying within the range of the strong field generated by the magnetron.

We do agree, I was just referencing Harmonics as an example only of reinforcing wave patterns to support the theory, it has nothing to do with acoustical application. electro Magnetics would simply be the application it would also take a greater deal of time for wave reenforcement to occur such as the Tacoma Narrows Bridge incident (cool video of that too). That kind of wave manipulation is pretty much an "exact science" though. Ideal conditions would consist in this application of 1. Finding the magnetic resonance of the action medium (popcorn) magnetically tuning the resonance frequency of the source medium (the fewer sources the better as magnetic tune balancing between more that 2 sources would introduce yet another complexity multiplier) and ranging the source at just the right proximity from the action medium for "perfect harmony" of all mediums with or without a chamber. Just guessing but I would have a better chance at winning the lottery 7 days in a row than making this happen.

Disclaimer: I am a network tech/engineer with a fascination of electro and quantum physics. I am by no means an expert in the field but have done some research (one of my core values coming out there). I am of the mindset however that even if it's never been done before you (I) can make it happen given legal/economical/physical/ect. laws are not broken in conception.