In Videos: Cell Phone Popcorn Hoax: How It Actually Worked
You can finally get some sleep tonight. Someone figured out how those popcorn kernels were mysteriously popping without a nearby microwave. Oh wait, there was a microwave involved! The magnetron, or the power-generator inside the machine, was hiding underneath the table.
According to the video's step-by-step instructions, the process seems fairly simple: just dismember the microwave, connect a few extension cords and hook up that magnetron. BUT WE DO NOT ENDORSE TRYING THIS AT HOME. Watch the video after the jump.
Cell Phone Popcorn Hoax: How It Actually Worked
[via metacafe]
1. Open the back of your microwave.
2. Take off the magnetron.
3. Connect extension wire on magnetron.
4. Connect original wires in microwave.
5. Hide the magnetron under the table.
6. Hide the microwave far away from the magnetron.
7. Set the timer to 30 seconds...
8. Watch as friends go nuts!
Previously
Wired Debunks Popcorn Popping Cell Phone Trick
The Original Popcorn Popping Cell Phone Videos
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9 Comments:
Well now I want to see if placing the magnetron in an open room has any health risks associated to it.
variaas at 2:59PM on 06/19/08
I had a cousin who was electrocuted when disassembling a microwave. Although it was unplugged, some component of the appliance had enough stored energy to fry him.
To death.
It's not worth it, y'all.
eatstkv at 3:09PM on 06/19/08
who cares?
suburbangourmet at 3:47PM on 06/19/08
@suburbangourmet: The videos were watched literally millions of times on YouTube. Perhaps people might be interested in how the hoax was achieved?
Raphael at 4:08PM on 06/19/08
i tried this method and it work for me.And my brain does'nt pop out.If doing correctly this method work good.
shara jr at 4:14PM on 06/19/08
@Raphael
Nope.
suburbangourmet at 4:15PM on 06/19/08
@suburbangourmet: Obviously you cared enough to watch it AND leave comments...people don't listen to you at work do they?
adkim at 4:32PM on 06/19/08
Look. This story has been beat to death... Quit flogging a dead horse already. geeze.
suburbangourmet at 4:59PM on 06/19/08
@suburbangourmet: This is one of those stories, like Robert Irvine, that really intrigued us and kept developing. Is it important in the grand scheme of things? No? Is it interesting to us at Serious Eats? Yes. We saw the initial videos, wondered if it was real, then learned about the hoax, etc. We figured that if we were interested in it, other people would be too. So we followed it to its end, which this post would seem to be. It's just one small component of what we do here. If every post today were about the cell-phone popcorn, then that would be annoying, but a post here and there about it doesn't seem so bad to me.
Adam Kuban at 6:12PM on 06/19/08