Alien signal tracked to kitchen microwave

[Homer J Simpson]

http://microwaves.reviewed.com/news/astronomers-track-baffling-signal-to-kitchen-microwave?utm_source=usat&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=collab

[LordNobady]

I knew it. microwaves are not from earth.

[Jeroen3]

Microwaves are the reason the 2.4GHz band is "free" to use for everyone. Turn on your microwave with the door open and your entire neighborhood loses WiFi.

[SeanB]

Look on YT for kreosan, and you will see his way of using a microwave to cook food.

[jlmoon]

I knew it. microwaves are not from earth.

Yeah, and you should have heard what the gerbil said!   

[Blofeld]

"Inquisitive minds may ask, why were the bursts were so short? It's because they would occur when lunchers opened the microwave door before the timer went off. Since microwaves are momentarily active when you open the door in this manner, some of that electromagnetic energy would escape and get picked up by the telescope."

That's interesting to know. I did this regularly. Will stop this habit now because I would prefer the microwave to cook my food, not me.

[lowimpedance]

Microwaves are the reason the 2.4GHz band is "free" to use for everyone. Turn on your microwave with the door open and your entire neighborhood loses WiFi.

 I suggest you buy a new microwave  .

[rs20]

"Inquisitive minds may ask, why were the bursts were so short? It's because they would occur when lunchers opened the microwave door before the timer went off. Since microwaves are momentarily active when you open the door in this manner, some of that electromagnetic energy would escape and get picked up by the telescope."

That's interesting to know. I did this regularly. Will stop this habit now because I would prefer the microwave to cook my food, not me.

I would take a moment to take the microwave's power and multiply it by "a moment" to see the sort of dose* we're actually talking about, rather than immediately panicking and creating FUD. If you choose the latter, make sure you throw away your WiFi and mobile devices while you're at it, since I wouldn't be surprised if the daily microwave dose from those exceeded the momentary pulse from a microwave oven.

* Also, microwaves aren't ionizing, right? It's just a heating effect?

[corrado33]

Answer me this...

If my microwave is shielded correctly, then why do my 2.4 GHz headphones stop working when I turn the microwave on? (It's a new microwave as well.)

Microwaves won't cause any lasting damage. They just heat the water and will make you feel like you're burning for a few seconds. They were, at one point, considered for a non lethal weapon used by the military.

[SeanB]

The door seal typically will have a maximum radiated signal of under 5mW of power, 5cm from the door ( the pass fail limit of a microwave leakage detector) so, as your typical bluetooth transmitter will have a power output that is almost that, the microwave will win with it's noisy 50/60HZ modulated broadband noise whenever the receiver is getting a larger signal from this leakage than from the transmitter. Microwave passes it's level ,but it is just that the allowed leakage is more than the bluetooth transmitter power.

[amyk]

I would take a moment to take the microwave's power and multiply it by "a moment" to see the sort of dose* we're actually talking about, rather than immediately panicking and creating FUD. If you choose the latter, make sure you throw away your WiFi and mobile devices while you're at it, since I wouldn't be surprised if the daily microwave dose from those exceeded the momentary pulse from a microwave oven.

* Also, microwaves aren't ionizing, right? It's just a heating effect?

This. Also consider the inverse-square law - it's not a focused beam that will come out when it's opened.

Yes it's a heating effect; the danger is mainly to parts of the body that don't have heat receptors, like the eyes. So you'd probably maximise the risk if you were staring right at the door gap when you opened it, which is a very, very unlikely scenario. What is more likely to occur is a small strip of flesh on your hand getting heated by a near-unmeasurable few fractions of a degree... nothing compared to the heating of reaching inside and removing the contents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diathermy#Microwave

[Red Squirrel]

LOL that is pretty funny.  Any time I've troubleshooted a RF related issue in IT (usually wifi) the first thing I ask is "Does it only do it if someone is using a certain device like a microwave?".   Normally they should not cause issues though but some can be a tad leaky, and probably should be fixed or replaced.

[rolycat]

As is all too common with 'popular science' reporting, the article linked by the OP is rather disingenuous - it was always known that the 'perytons'  being detected by the Parkes telescope were terrestrial in origin, because they were wide-field emissions.

Of course, the truth doesn't make such an amusing story.

The original paper identifying their source can be found here.

[corrado33]

As is all too common with 'popular science' reporting, the article linked by the OP is rather disingenuous - it was always known that the 'perytons'  being detected by the Parkes telescope were terrestrial in origin, because they were wide-field emissions.

Of course, the truth doesn't make such an amusing story.

The original paper identifying their source can be found here.

That paper is quite a fun read, thanks for the link!