On 12/29/2018 11:51 AM, William Gothberg wrote:
I've watched countless Youtube videos of people abusing microwaves. The
funniest one was a teenager who thought it would be a good idea to
microwave one of those chemical lights - the ones you shake and they
glow green. It exploded and got him in the eyes, followed by his father
yelling "I told you not to do that!". I fell off my chair laughing.

Do not attempt to cook raw chicken livers in a microwave.

The preheaters were 100 MHz, not microwaves, but a fluorescent tube
would light if it was in the RF cavity. This was handy so a tube was
mounted in standard fuse clips which were bolted to the aluminum walls.
It was amusing to watch old school plant electricians figuring out how a
light with no wiring worked.

We also made use of the effect by taping a fluorescent to a broomstick
and waving it around the RF cavity to see if it was leaking.

That may be another factor for high power consumer microwaves. Various
government agencies get snarly if you're inadvertently running a
microwave transmitter in the kitchen. More power, more shielding.