microwave

Invisibility cloaks have been around in various forms since 2006, when the first cloak based on optical metamaterials was demonstrated. The design of cloaking devices has come a long way in the past seven years, as illustrated by a simple, yet highly effective, radar cloak developed by Duke University Professor Yaroslav Urzhumov, that can be made using a hobby-level 3D printer.  Read More

For most people, experiments involving a home microwave typically don't go much further than inflating a marshmallow like a balloon or reheating leftovers in plasticware – both with messy results. For metallurgists though, microwaves are sometimes employed to efficiently process metals, which is how researchers at the University of Utah found themselves using a secondhand kitchen appliance in their lab. Their resourcefulness paid off recently, when the team discovered a method for creating solar cell material with just a few basic ingredients and an old microwave.  Read More

A new image acquired by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Planck space telescope provides an unprecedented view of the oldest light in the Universe. The image represents the most detailed mapping of cosmic microwave background (CMB) ever created and both solidifies and questions our current understanding of the Universe.  Read More

Christoph Meyl was faced with a dilemma that many espresso-lovers would relate to. His office was too far from the nearest café, the communal kitchen was shared with 600 other employees and there was no coffee machine, just a microwave. His solution – the Piamo single-serve espresso maker.  Read More

With a name and design that suggest a Space Age, Barbarella-style design, Fagor’s new Spoutnik microwave could perhaps be mistaken for a cartoon-ish UFO that landed on the kitchen counter. Its bold, fun design is about more than just looks, though – it serves a functional purpose, too.  Read More

Bread may be the staff of life, but it doesn't keep very well. Left to its own devices, a loaf will start to go moldy in a week – a fact that costs consumers and the food industry millions of dollars each year. Now, according to the BBC, a Texas-based company have developed a process that kills spores so that a loaf of bread can stay mold-free for up to 60 days.  Read More

Aside from items with a lengthy shelf life, such as candy bars and potato chips, purchasing any more substantial food from a vending machine is generally a recipe for disappointment. While devices like the pizza vending machine take a specialized approach in an attempt to improve the quality of food on offer, the shotgun approach of traditional vending machines means almost every "fresh" item ends up being anything but. But that could change at least a little bit with the EatWave, a new vending machine that stores refrigerated food and drinks and can microwave specific items before they're delivered.  Read More

This week, science fiction became science fact as a Boeing CHAMP missile knocked out a building full of electronics in the Utah desert at Hill Air Force Base. There was no explosion and no flying shrapnel. There was only the sound of the missile’s engine as it flew overhead and the sputtering of sophisticated computers crashing as they were hit by a beam of high-energy microwaves.  Read More

Now that we’re moving towards automated orange-sorting and autonomous tractors, what might be the next step in replacing human agricultural workers with machines? Well, how about robotic strawberry pickers? That’s what scientists from the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) say could be on the way, thanks to a system that is able to identify ripe strawberries in the field.  Read More