Your Cell Phone Can Fry Your Brain?

[Thanks DD for pointing this video out]

I'm going to use the above youtube video in my proposed scientific critical thinking course. Watch that popcorn pop from being heated by the cell phone microwave radiation. This is, of course, a complete fabrication. You can prove that simply using your mind and thinking a bit critically.

First, the cell phones were only ringing.....do cell phones transmit microwave radiation when they ring?

Second, the microwave energy output of a cell phone is pretty low - maybe 0.1 - 1 watt at most.

Try this experiment. Put a few kernels of popcorn in your microwave oven and turn it on full blast. Let's say the average full size microwave puts out 1000 watts of microwave energy. How long does it take to pop the popcorn? More than 5 seconds I bet.

Third, the people in that video seem just a little too professional - not like a regular group of stumblebums trying something cool.

In any case, this whole cell phone microwave radiation can cook food thing was debunked a couple years ago by NYT's Paul Adams. He couldn't cook an egg using cell phones as he had been told that he could. Some Canadian skeptics also disproved this theory a couple years ago, complete with pictures.

Now this isn't to say that microwave energy is dangerous. The Raytheon Corp. has made a microwave energy transmitting weapon for crowd control. This to be used when the majority of Americans get fed up with their dysfunctional government and finally decide to revolt. It hasn't been mounted on black helicopters yet, but give them time. The LA County Sheriff can't wait to use this weapon.

But back to my point. It's important to ask questions, experiment and gather evidence prior to coming to a conclusion.