An Important Warning - Boiling water explodes in a microwave cooker

This is an important warning to us all when using microwave ovens.

A 26-year old man made a decision to have a mug of coffee. He took a cup of water and put it in the microwave to heat it up ( something he had done numerous times before ). He wasn't sure how long he set the timer for, but he would have liked to bring the water to the boil. When the timer shut the stove off, he took away the cup from the stove. As he looked into the cup, he observed that the water wasn't boiling, but instantly the water in the cup "blew up" into his face. The cup stayed intact till he threw it out of his hand but all the water had flown out into his face because of the build up of energy. His entire face is burned and he has initial and second degree burns to his face that might leave scarring! He also could have lost partial sight in his left eye.

While at the surgery, the doctor who was attending to him said that this is reasonably common occurrence and water ( alone ) should not ever be heated in a microwave cooker. If water is heated in this way, something should be placed in the cup to diffuse the energy like a wooden stir stick, teabag, and so on. It is however a much safer choice to boil the water in a teakettle.

Microwaved water and other liquids don't always bubble when they reach the boiling point. They can essentially get superheated and not bubble at all. The superheated liquid will bubble up out of the cup when it is moved or when something similar to a spoon or teabag is put into it.

To stop this from taking place and causing injury, don't heat any liquid for at least 2 mins per cup. After heating, let the cup stand in the microwave for 30 seconds before moving it or adding anything into it.

But why?

What occurs is that the water heats faster than the vapor bubbles can form. If the cup is extraordinarily new then it is doubtful to have little surface scratches within it that supply a place for the bubbles to form. As the bubbles can't form and release some of the heat which has built up, the liquid does not boil, and the liquid continues to warm up well past its boiling point. What then often occurs is the liquid is bumped or jarred, which is enough of a shock to cause the bubbles to quickly form and expel the hot liquid. The quick formation of bubbles is also why a carbonated libation spews when opened after having been shaken.

WiFi in Schools is Safe. True or False?

Dr. Magda Havas simplifies the engineering behind Electro Magnetic Fields and dispels the myths of safety that have been misleadingly created by our Governments and Technology experts.

Dr. Havas is an associate professor of Environmental & Resource Studies at Trent University where she teaches and does research on the biological effects of environmental contaminants. Her research deals with the health effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic energy at the extremely low frequency range associated with electricity (60 Hertz) and at the radio frequency range commonly associated with wireless telecommunication. Dr. Havas is particularly interested in monitoring exposure of the population in urban centres to radio frequency radiation and power-frequency fields. She is the author of numerous works on the subject. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, completed Post-Doctoral research at Cornell University, and taught at the University of Toronto before going to Trent University in Peterborough, Canada.

Source: http://www.emftransformation.com/

The uses of Electromagnetic Radiation

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

In a recent post, I described to you the basics of Electromagnetic Radiation, what it is, how it differs from Electromagnetic Fields and its base uses. However, now I look back over that post, I feel I can give you far more information. So over this post I will go into greater depth on each form of Electromagnetic Radiation and how they are used in the world.

Radio waves

Radio-waves: Over the electromagnetic spectrum, the Radio-wave has the longest potential wavelength, they are mainly used for the transmission of audio/visual data, mainly to television and radios. Radio-waves are separated into four groups; Long wave, short wave, VHF, UHF.

• Long-wave Radio waves can range from anything between 1-2 Km in wavelength and are considered low frequency. Long-wave's also have several non broadcasting uses, the military of several countries use Long-wave Radio-waves to communicate with their Submarines. They are also used to help guide zed Submarines as well as other nautical and aviation vehicles with Non-directional beacons, which are transmitters placed in specific locations that pilots can use to determine their relative location. Finally, low frequency waves are used to host amateur and experimental radio stations.
• Short wave Radio waves are roughly about 100m in wavelength, and are represented by the AM frequency. These are also used for short wave radios that many hobby enthusiasts use to communicate with each other over seas.
• VHF Radio waves or Very high frequency radio waves have a wavelength of roughly two meters, the FM frequency is linked to these Radio waves. Non digital television signals are transmitted via VHF frequencies, as are land mobile stations and air traffic control towers.
• UHF Radio waves also known as Ultra high frequency waves are roughly 1 to 10 decimeters long, they are mostly used for digital communication, such as digital Television signals, wireless phones and satellite communication.

Micro waves

Microwave Radiation: Microwaves are higher frequency than radio waves, with their wavelengths being no longer than a couple of centimeters. Stars generate high amounts of Microwave radiation.
The way microwaves cook food is by making water and fat molecules vibrate at high speeds, heating the food rapidly, this is why a microwave is one of the most effective ways of cooking as it directly heats main elements of food. 

Mobile phones also utilize Microwaves as they are easily generated, and can be done so by small antenna and devices, on the other side however, Microwaves need a direct line of sight to transmit information, as well as not generating a large amount of power.

Speed cameras use Microwaves, as does Radar. By sending out bursts of microwave radiation and detecting the echos that return to determine the location of objects within the burst radius and the amount of time that it takes for the echo to return to determine the relative distance.

Infrared Radiation

Infrared Radiation: Infrared radiation is just below visible red light in the electromagnetic spectrum, which is where the name originates. Most people confuse infrared radiation as heat, whereas in truth infrared radiation is produced by any object that creates heat, from the Human body to a hot kettle. 

Many security lights use the infrared radiation given off by the human body to detect intruders or fires. Infrared radiation see the most human use in the Electromagnetic spectrum (Barring Visible light radiation), I can almost guarantee you will use it at least once before the end of the day. Remote controls use infrared radiation to communicate information to television sets and games consoles.
Remember the movie "Predator"? The way the Predator in that movie is via Infrared Radiation; all objects, living or dead give off Infrared Radiation, so it can be used to see in the dark with ease. All modern mobile phones also have inbuilt ways to utilize Infrared radiation, from transmitting short range data transfers (before the days of bluetooth) and most digital cameras in mobiles use low levels of Infrared radiation to help with image acquisition.

A version of security cameras are utilized by most law enforcement agencies to help with night time operations as it allows easy acquisition of targets moving in the dark, something that can become nigh impossible with eye sight alone.

Visible light radiation

Visible Light Radiation: Visible light is the small amount of the Electromagnetic spectrum we can view without mechanical aid. Much like Infrared Radiation, Visible light radiation is given off by any object of a certain heat, normally when it reaches a temperature that makes an object hot enough to glow. For example, the electrical current in a lightbulb causes the lamp filament to heat to roughly 3000 degrees, causing it to become white hot. An interesting note about Visible light radiation is that the color white is not considered  "Visible" as it is the combination of all Visible light and un-viewable by human eye.

Do you want to know the most obvious use for Visible light radiation? The ability to see is the chief use, obviously. Secondly, high intensity visible light radiation can also be used to create lasers, which see use in many facets of modern technology, from disc readers to military targeting devices.

Ultra Violet

Ultra Violet Radiation: The largest generator of this radiation is the sun itself, UV radiation sees a lot of commercial use. When you go into a fast food restaurant, chances are you've seen an Ultraviolet lamp to attract and kill insects, if you've gone into a Night club, you've probably seen the UV lights that cause your clothes to glow. Some bathrooms utilize ultra violet lighting to combat drug use as it becomes difficult to see veins on human skin under the effects of ultra violet lighting. 

The ink used in bank notes glows under a UV light, which is why bankers occasionally check them with ultra violet light to detect fake notes. 

Hospitals also use Ultra violet lighting to sterilize equipment and tools as it kills bacteria and microbes, in addition, if carefully monitored certain levels of Ultra violet radiation can increase the levels of Vitamin D in the body. As the Ultra violet radiation in solar rays cause the skin to darken (or tan) many use UV light beds to recreate the effects of natural sunlight and darken there skin artificially. 

X Rays

  X rays: X ray radiation waves are incredibly high frequency and carry a large amount of energy particles, able to pass through almost any surface, making them completely irreplaceable in medical science. Hospitals use X rays to permeate the body and hit an absorbent surface on the other side, leaving an imprint of the insides of the human body upon it. As bones are far denser than human tissue, a more direct imprint of the bone structure is left. 

Airports also use X rays commonly to check baggage and if needs be, passengers. This is mainly done to check for dangerous items. 

Lower energy X rays can be used to scan human tissue with as much ease as it can the bone structure. For these reasons X rays have been seeing use in medical science for years, and show no sign of changing.

Gamma Rays

Gamma Rays: Gamma rays are produced by certain radioactive substances as well as every star in the universe. Gamma rays posses the highest wavelength frequency in the Electromagnetic spectrum as well as carrying the most energy when compared to the other sources of electromagnetic radiation. Gamma rays will pass through almost any object, with lead and concrete being the only substances so far it has been shown as unable to penetrate. 

Gamma rays kill off living cells with astounding ease, making them incredibly dangerous, as well as incredibly useful to medical science. Bursts of Gamma Radiation are used to destroy cancer cells without needing to preform invasive surgery, the procedure is known as Radiotherapy and needs to be carefully monitored due to the potential leathality of Gamma rays. The radiation produced from Gamma rays is highly damaging to rapidly dividing cells, like hair follicles or cancer cells. Other uses for Gamma rays in medical science involves tracers, which means the injection, inhalation or general intake of radioactive particles in the human body, which can then be photographed, with the irradiated cells visible on the image, which can show that the body is processing the cells correctly.  

After this, I hope you will be able to see the many ways that Electromagnetic Radiation is useful to us. With all the radiation that is passing through the air right now that you were previously unaware of you may be able to view it in a more positive light. Whereas it is true that Radiation can cause illnesses, in this day and age, it's more beneficial than it is harmful.

Is an Apple really that healthy? The Radiation Damage Caused by Apple Products.

In the current day and age, almost everyone is running around with an Apple product hanging at their hip. Be it the “Brand new” iPhone, or the latest incarnation of iPod, or the top of the line iPad. Apple has been proclaiming itself the greatest innovator in the world for years, but the important question is, “How safe are their products?”

To measure the amount of ambient radiation an object produces, we need to use a RF meter, which scans a nearby area to determine how many Microwatts of radiation are being generated per square metre. For a more educated estimation of the dangers being posed by these machines, I should explain in deeper detail the danger levels related to microwatts/m2.

• Less than 0.10 microwatts/m2 provide no risk of danger, or concern as cosmic background radiation (Of which we are all affected) remains in these levels.
• 0.10-10 microwatts/m2 is of slight concern, authorities in the field of radiation recommend that sleeping areas be kept below 10 microwatts/m2 for the safety of the occupants.
• 10 – 1000 microwatts/m2  Can be considered a risk to health, with 100 microwatts/m2 falling into the average scale for living areas within a home and the proposed safety limit for Europe, levels higher than this considered hazardous to human cells.
• More than 1000 microwatts/m2 is an incredibly dangerous amount of ambient radiation, a minimum of ten times the maximum safe human limit.

With these base danger levels established, we can begin the test to see the average microwatts/m2 output of several apple products.

Apple iPhone:

The ambient Microwatts/m2 level of the iPhone being used in this test, is 14.8, placing it in an area of slight concern, not however, in immediate danger, keep in mind that this level will also be affected by the ambient Microwatts/m2 of the room. Upon turning the devices Wifi on however, the levels jumped sporadically, increasing in bursts every few seconds. At this point, the lowest level displayed was 1.092, which was periodically lower than the phones average ambient Microwatts/m2, however this low level lasted less than a few seconds before leaping up into the hundreds. Within the first few second of turning the Wifi on, the Microwatts/m2 registered at 853.0, more than 8 times the maximum safe limit! Topping off at 990.7 Microwatts/m2, the iPhone proves to be a highly dangerous device.

In call, the Microwatts/m2 will tend towards the upper scale of 1000, keeping in mind that when in call, many people will hold their phone close to their head, which can and will cause the cells in your cranial cavity to rapidly heat, causing untold damage.

Apple IPod:

Being the same device as an iPhone, simply lacking the apparatus needed to make or receive phone calls, the iPod output similar Microwatts/m2 levels. When the Wifi is switched on, the iPod began to generate dangerous amounts of radiation, causing cells nearby to heat in a similar fashion to the iPhone. However, there is a single defining factor that divides the iPod from the iPhone, location. Traditionally, the iPod spends far more time in ones pocket than the iPhone, seeming as the default setting of the iPods Wifi is ON, the device is sending out levels of Microwatts/m2 measuring in the hundreds constantly, whilst affecting the entire mid section of the carrier, ranging from the stomach to the genitals.

Apple iPad:

At the start of the test you can see the iPad is producing no ambient Radiation level, a good sign to start the test on. As the device is switched on, the Radiation level slowly increases; however, it does so within safe levels. The iPads Microwatts/m2 levels reach their highest at 33.30, far below the maximum safe levels for Human use. This does comfortably place the iPad as the safest of the three devices being used on a regular basis, which in my mind, is a surprise as I personally expected the iPad to be generating the highest ambient radiation level, but this is a good show of an uneducated guess being highly inaccurate.

After thoughts:

After running a test on each, we can safely judge in the inbuilt risks of using these devices, with each kicking a significant amount of radiation out, with the iPhone generating a truly dangerous level of ambient radiation. Whilst it is known that all phone companies, (Apple included) package each phone with a small safety leaflet that roughly states “When the device is in use, hold at least four inches from the head”. This demonstrates the company is aware of the innate risks a mobile phone produces; yet, even holding the device a few inches from the head is not enough, as the measurement “Microwatts/m2” demonstrates, these devices project Radiation waves with a radius of at least a squared meter.

In the end, I can answer the question I posed myself and you, the reader, at the beginning of this article. “Are Apple products safe?” the answer being, on the whole, No.

The iPhone product, is the most sold device that Apple produces, also making up 70% of all owned mobile phones, with roughly 2100000000 calls being made daily across the world on them. Each and every call generating dangerous levels of radiation for an average time of 3 minutes and 15 seconds each time, so it is evident the amount of damage that is being done.

My personal recommendation, if you must own an Apple product, try and keep to the iPad, as it is simply the safest of each device.

Although, to be fair to Apple, it is not just them producing mobiles and other devices that produce exceedingly dangerous levels of radiation, all mobile companies produce this cloud of radiation that is damaging us, and none of them seem to making much of an effort to minimize the radiation levels that currently plague our world.

I hope that this article has been of use and will help guide you to a slightly cleaner, Radiation free lifestyle. 

Microwave Ovens and Your Health

How Unhealthy Are Microwave Ovens?

Microwave ovens and their health implications are a highly emotive topic.  There are many myths and stories floating around the internet, some designed to placate us, other intended to shock and scare us.  But what is the truth about microwave ovens and their effects on our health?

A bit of history

Percy Spencer, an American self-taught engineer from Howland, Maine, worked at the time with the defense contractor Raytheon. He was working on an active radar set when he noticed that a Mr. Goodbar chocolate bar he had in his pocket had started to melt - the radar had melted his chocolate bar with microwaves.  In late 1945, Raytheon filed a US patent for Spencer's microwave cooking-process, but it wasn't until the mid-seventies that popularity began to grow for the RadaRange and handful of other microwaves on the market.

How do they work?

Microwave ovens heat food by bombarding it with electromagnetic radiation in the microwave spectrum causing polarized molecules in the food to rotate and build up thermal energy in a process known as dielectric heating.

Safety Concerns & Controversy

The safety of microwaves tends to center on three key areas;

1) whether microwaves deplete vitamins from food.

2) radiation concerns.

3) the effects of food storage items like certain plastics and styro foam when microwaved.

Vitamin Retention

In an article entitled, Microwave Ovens Destroy the Nutritional Value of Your Food, author Mike Adams attests that microwave ovens are responsible for many nutritional deficiencies and health problems. According to Adams, microwaved food is “dead food” and essentially nutritionally destitute. However his article doesn’t cite any sources or studies for this claim.

The Harvard Medical School, says that cooking vegetables in your microwave actually causes them to retain more vitamins than if you boil them in water. This would infer that microwaves are a more healthy cooking method than stove-top. (Although, steaming veggies is indisputably better than boiling, as the nutrients are not leached into the water.)

Radiation

According to the USDA Microwave FAQ  microwaves do not make food radioactive. “Microwave energy uses a wave length similar to television, radio waves, electric shavers and radar…. X-rays and nuclear radiation are at the other end of the spectrum and are a million times more powerful.”  Of course there is also concern that microwaves can leak radiation. However, studies show that this isn't the case and that appliances are designed to stop producing radiation once the door is opened. Quite obviously, don’t operate a microwave if the door is broken and it’s probably prudent not to stand close to the microwave whilst it is operating, as low dose microwaves have been found to effect soft tissues in the eyes and testes.

Wrappers & Containers

There are a number of containers and wrappers that shouldn't be used in microwave ovens.  The USDA has a great list of microwave safe materials.

Safe To Use:

• Any utensil labeled for microwave use.
• Heatproof glass (such as Pyrex, Anchor Hocking, etc.).
• Glass-ceramic (such as Corning Ware).
• Oven cooking bags.
• Baskets (straw and wood) for quick warm-ups of rolls or bread. Line the basket with napkins to absorb moisture from food.
• Most paper plates, towels, napkins and bags. For optimal safety use white, unprinted materials.
• Wax paper, parchment paper, heavy plastic wrap. Do not allow plastic wrap to touch food; vent it to allow a steam escape.
• Heat-susceptible packaging.

NOT Safe To Use:

• Cold storage containers: margarine tubs, cottage cheese and yogurt cartons, etc. These materials are not approved for cooking and chemicals can migrate into food.
• Brown paper bags and newspapers.
• Metal pans.
• Foam-insulated cups, bowls, plates or trays.
• China with metallic paint or trim.
• Chinese "take-out" containers with metal handles.
• Metal "twist ties" on package wrapping.
• Food completely wrapped in aluminum foil.
• Food cooked in any container or packaging that has warped or melted during heating.

Conclusion

Microwave ovens do not harm your food or indeed irradiate it!  The ovens also don’t irradiate you either, however we think it common sense not to stand right next to it while it’s cooking!

Common sense dictates you should let your food cool for a minute at least after cooking as the temperatures food reaches can be very high and very hot.

And be sure to keep you oven in good repair, and if you find the door broken, don’t try and bodge a repair, just get a new oven!