Cell Phone Popcorn? - Urban Legends
Tuesday June 10, 2008
Question of the hour: can you pop popcorn with cell phones? A YouTube video closing in on one million views this week purports to show a group of people doing just that. In the video, three phones are aimed at a few kernels of popcorn arranged in the middle of a table; the cell phone numbers are dialed; the phones ring; the corn pops instantly. There is no detectable trickery.
Trickery there must be, however, because, as a simple matter of logic, if your cell phone emits enough electromagnetic energy to pop popcorn, it should also make your head explode. When was the last time that happened to you?
Alex Boese figures there must be a heating element hidden under the table. A physics professor consulted by Wired.com concurs, suggesting there may have been some sneaky editing involved as well.
Some folks think the video -- which is actually just one of several posted in different languages at roughly the same time -- may be part of a viral marketing campaign for some as yet unknown company. Alex Boese points out that the premise is reminiscent of a widely circulated satirical piece many mistook for fact a few years ago claiming it's possible to cook an egg with a cell phone. The yolk was on them.
Update #1: The videos were indeed part of a viral marketing campaign for Cardo Systems, makers of Bluetooth headsets.
Update #2: Cardo Systems CEO Abraham Glezerman reveals how the cell phone popcorn trick was done.
Read more about it:
• Popping Popcorn with Cell Phones - YouTube video
• Cell Phones Cook Popcorn - Museum of Hoaxes
• Physicist Debunks Cellphone Popcorn Viral Videos - Wired.com
• Cell Phone Popcorn Trick Revealed - Urban Legends
• How to Cook an Egg with Your Cell Phone - Netlore Archive
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Comments
Of course there is insufficient energy to heat the kernels enough to make them pop. I see no evidence that the kernels are being heated at all. The normal electromagnetic wave travels off the sides of the antenna, not the top. What comes off the top would be a scalar wave, which is reported when interacting with other scalar waves in the microwave region to cause disassociation of water into H2 and O2. The amount of energy required for this is trivial compared with what is needed to heat a kernel, thus discussion of energy and heat is really irrelevnt to the possible physics involved.
That said, I have tried it, but could not get it to work with 3 Verizon phones.
Marshall
Looks like fun!
its obviously been proven that this can happen but here is another question is this dangerous that we all have cellphones that can potentially
give us harmful doses of radiation
In the videos it takes about 10 seconds to pop what looks like about 7 kernels. OK! So try that in a microwave oven. 10 seconds no joy! 20, 30, 60 still no pop! So is it possible for a cell phone to have more power than a microwave oven? Or conversely, is it possible for a microwave oven to less powerful than a cell phone? Then why can cell phones run on batteries and microwave ovens have to pull into the wall?
Truth is that cell phones use and emit less than one thousandth the power that of a microwave oven. So for a cell phone to cook pop corn in less than 1 tenth the time is more than 5 orders of magnitude out of the realm of possibility. This would be roughly similar to trying to pass off a basketball as a golf ball. Well with a camera that I guess is easy. Sure would like to see the club after you tee off!
this table is covered with cloth, and in japan they have a heater under them (usually). also, an infra red beam could be directed at the kernels from above
This has been proven?? Hahahahahaha! Certainly you can’t mean that YouTube video; those are never fakes! Anyway, I am very surprised that this has received the attention it has. It is simply not possible, and not really that amusing that people would fall for it! I would go with the heater under the table hypothesis.
I am so glad there are such smart people out there to debunk this. I will get a bunch of emails warning me about the dangers of cell phone use, from people who will believe what they are told. I can point here to debunk it and save some innocent but gullible people some stress!
This is far from a controlled environment for a scientific test, the most notable issue being a table covered with a tablecloth, which could conceal a heater or otherwise-gimmicked surface. Secondly, if you actually look at the inside of a microwave oven, you will find an aperture covered by opaque plastic, which is a waveguide - without that, microwaves cannot travel from their source point in sufficient strength over short distances to be effective. And, finally, as has been pointed out, even a 1200W oven takes close to 30 seconds before kernels pop, and that’s when they’re tightly packed in a bag and covered with semi-gelled butter flavoring.
This is nothing more than a clever magic trick. Scientific control would require an uncovered table, phones supplied by the researcher (not the claimant), and instrumentation to measure microwave radiation.
Lastly … cell phones emit radio-frequency, not microwave band.
First I was amazed at the alien looking into the window, now it’s the cellphone that pops popcorn. What’s next?
If this was true, there would be no 1-year or longer contracts. Nobody would live long enough to fulfill them. Nice hoax, but a hoax, indeed.
YES It’s Fake !
I found out who made these 4 little movies showing popcorn and cell phones. It’s CardoWireless ! Check their vids on youtube : http://www.youtube.com/user/CardoWireless
It’s human nature to accept claims like these as facts. They add intrigue to our lives, and fuel the conspiracy that the truth is being hidden from us.
If this was in fact true these cell phones would cook our brains. This would result in obvious, immediate consequences. We would have people driving on the road talking on their cell phone and as their brains cooked they would do dumb things and cause accidents. People would be walking around shouting into their cell phone having a private conversation. I am sure many other things would be noticeable.
Does George W. use a cell phone a lot? That would really explain some things.
The other day, like, I was talking to my BFF on the cellie and guess what? The chocolate bar in my pocket melted and, like, it wasn’t even hot outside! That’s haught!
The comments about the minimal power, the antenna power from the side and time to pop the kernel are good, but the real caveat here is the fact that the kernels pop without ever answering the calls.
When a cell phone is waiting for a call, it sends and receives short messages to and from the towers so it can be found when someone calls. The energy from these message are quite small. Even when the phone rings, no continuous carrier wave is established until sometime after the call is answered. Then would be the most likely time to pop popcorn (if the power was large enough - which it isn’t).
So as everyone with half a cell-fried brain should know - this is impossible!
This hoax may be something that should be investigated by the authorities. The only way to pop those kernels on the table is to use a heating element or a microwave source.
A heating element would have melted the table or caught the tablecloth on fire before the kernels had popped. The only other explanation is the use of a high powered microwave transmitter under the table, which would have exposed the participants to dangerous levels of radiation. The location of this device would put it close to their genitals and could have a devastating effect on the people shown and their offspring.
This behavior will cause other people to do stupid things just to become famous. Despite the novelty of the idea, this is too dangerous to be funny. I see big lawsuits coming from this.
Yes Dave! And somebody should sue Hollywood for showing Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling, right? People could get hurt trying to do the same….geeez.
Yes, the videos are fake, BUT,
66 studies have found an increased risk of brain cancer among cell phone users….
http://www.willthomasonline.net/willthomasonline/The_Evidence_Is_In.html
Yes, I have taken a physics class that has discussed cell phones in one of the labs. A cell phone does use far less power, but none the less, cell phones do use microwaves as a way to transmit data.
I agree and have heard of the studies that show tumors in areas of the brain, legs & genitals (where people keep their phones) as well as an activation of genes that progress cancers and other diseases within the body.
“Does George W. use a cell phone a lot? That would really explain some things.”
I’m sure he does-BTW, Al Gore invented the cellphone.
Dearest David,
When was the last time 3 cell phones were pointed at your or anyone elses head (triangulated) and dialed. That was a brash and meaningless statement.
Wow way to over analyse this. All you have to do is get some Adobe software, such as Photoshop, Premier, and After Effect.
HOW TO DO THIS:
Take a a picture of a peice of pop corn, and use Photoshop to cut that peice out of the picture. Transform it into a .PNG file for a high quality peice of popcorn with transparency.
Now Bring it into your Premier or After Effects software, apply motion blur to the peice of pop corn and motion tween it so it looks like it pops and moves off camera. Then cover up the table with one of the tools within the program to make it look like the seed isnt there anymore.
As you can see in the video, the pop corn leaves the screen with each pop. Giving the camera man time to throw a peice of pop corn onto the table so that it looks like he can pick it up..
Its not Science, its Art
Also how did she call 3 phones at once with one cell phone?
Plus did anyone notice every peice of pop corn flew away from the camera. Kind of like the camera man was throwing it.
Popcorn no, but it can cook an egg in the shell, one cell on iether side, that is true, do a story on that ? also for the many who stick thier heads in the sand every time stories like this appear, try doing a search on cell phone health danges what does the UK, France, Germany and the latest Japan have in common ? all came out with warnings on kids using cell phones ! better pay attention !
Could do this with some lasers just out of camera range. There are several affordable units out now that are small, portable, and produce enough heat to light a match from afar. BTW, the egg thing never happened. Not saying cell phones are safe, but they can’t cook food, boil water, or prevent frostbite. Bluetooth however, can erase short term memory. Film at eleven.
Brain expert warns of huge rise in tumours and calls on industry to take
immediate steps to reduce radiation
By Geoffrey Lean, The Independent news
Sunday, 30 March 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/mobile-phones-more-dangerous-than-smoking-802602.html
Mobile phones could kill far more people than smoking or asbestos, a study by an
award-winning cancer expert has concluded. He says people should avoid using
them wherever possible and that governments and the mobile phone industry must
take “immediate steps” to reduce exposure to their radiation.
Oh my GOD!
People actually thought this was possible?
I know a story that is more than 2000 years old and is as unbelievable as this hoax ,but is told over and over again .Nothing has changed since early Man .And the internet is full of stupidity it is a reflection of human kind .And the most stupid thing is that this hoax was made by a company that sells blue tooth earphones .Advertising the new religion?
I think they worked out how long it takes to pop in a microwave oven then took it out say 30 secs before. That gave them time to set up the trick. The video starts right as the guy puts them on the table.
Food keeps cooking for a while once you take it out of the oven.
Okay, I have a question. How come all of these people have multiple cell phones? I mean, if there are 4 people in that room, why are there 8 cell phones?
just curious.
My thought is that there could have been something coating the popcorn in the process of a catalytic reaction that generates the heat to make the kernels pop. I don’t really know if there is something, that in such a small quantity, could produce enough heat to carry it off . . . maybe in combination with the under the table heat source.
I just had another thought. This is a promotion for genetically modified popcorn that pops at body temperature, so a person can have some in their pocket (less bulk), reach in, grab some, hold it tight in the hand, and viola, you have a handy snack to carry with you.
Obviously there is a microwave source under the table. Wouldn’t be too terribly harmful to the people near the table due to inverse square law.
John McCain, On the other hand, was not born on US soil and therefore is not a natural citizen. Hmmmm
Sweet!
This is obviously the same technology that Star Trek used in their phaser guns.
Have any of you idiots actaully read the article you are commenting on? This is fake! It was a viral ad for bluetooth technology. This isn’t possible in any stretch of the imagination. Man people are stupid!
#4, Greg said, ” 10 seconds no joy! 20, 30, 60 still no pop!”
Maybe it was female popcorn?
The popcorn was previously popped and they digitally removed the unpopped popcorn to make it look like it is popping.. Only in the name of ADVERTISING.. Not science.. We are all gullable, even I was tempted to try it.. But then to find out it was a gimmic to advertise Bluetooth technology..
If you want harmful rays that can fry your head and give you cancer, stand out in the midday sun for a little while.
Hey, that would explain these speaker phone people with their arms outstretched yelling at their cell phones. Sunstroke!
In the interview with the head of the company that created this viral advertising campaign the guy says they never meant for this to scare people. They meant for this to be a funny ad. I say BS! I can see a couple of kids doing this as a prank but our companies and businesses need to show responsibility in their advertising. I think this company should get slapped with a hefty fine that gets donated to cell phone health research. I cant believe the cell phone industry is very happy with them either!
Yeah, its fake… but for some reason people can’t turn themselves away.
There are lots of funny spoofs out there too…
This one uses Yoga…
Hide a Magnetron from a microwave (caution, dangerous) under the table, re-connect it to the microwave, set the timer, place the corn and some various cell phones around and wait.
try it! and then write another post. mark panama.
It does too work. I just did it.
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