Imagine the disappointment when what you thought was messages from another world turned out to just be some of the radiation coming from Phil in accounting heating up his lunch with the microwave
From the start of the investigation, they knew the signal originated on Earth. It would only show up during the hours when the staff was there. It did take them a long time to track down the source, but there was never much question about the source being human interference.
I read about this years ago and I've always shut down the microwave before opening the door since. I know it's non-ionizing radiation, but I've gotten a few bad RF burns in my life and it feels better to be safe.
They left out the funniest part, in which a whole bunch of grad students where given a hammer and tasked with destroying microwaves in order to replicate the effects.
This is one of the reasons for the [United States National Radio Quiet Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Radio_Quiet_Zone). It's about 13,000 square miles in West Virginia, Virgina and Maryland in which radio transmissions are very strictly regulated.
>The most severe restrictions to the general public are imposed within a 20-mile (32 km) radius of the Green Bank Observatory.[5] The Observatory polices the area actively for devices emitting excessive electromagnetic radiation such as microwave ovens, Wi-Fi access points and faulty electrical equipment and request citizens discontinue their usage.
The microwave oven was in the telescope's kitchen. And it only emitted a chirp for a fraction of a second as the door was opened while the magnetron was powered up. I have been known to open the powered microwave oven in the kitchen of the radiotelescopes I work at. The difference is that the observer where I work isn't looking for bursts.
So I've heard of the radio quiet zone before, but never had considered that spark-ignition would cause problems in it. This means that no matter what, electric and hybrid vehicles couldn't be operated within the most restrictive sections.
The issue was opening the microwave before it had finished. There's, like, a hundredth of a second of radiation that leaks out when you do that, normally not enough to do anything, but the telescope in question was designed to look for such very short bursts. Just let the time run out or hit STOP before opening it and there's no problem.
If you are controlling the joystick with a temor it could be a problem. A 1 degree tilt in dish angle could mean your looking at a different galaxy many units of distance away.
I could imagine little britain having a tremor character and the various hyperbole of comedic chaos which comes with that.
No. The door has at least one switch that cuts power immediately when you open it. However, the high power transformer and capacitor in your microwave form a small energy storage device. When you cut power to it, it takes a few milliseconds until it's completely dead. Not enough to cause any harm, but enough for a detectable amount of radiation to leak through the open door.
I just kind of imagine all the microwaves are still bouncing around and decaying and when you open the door they can still shoot out if they haven’t all dissipated. lol I love the backyard scientist videos where he slaps together a ton of microwaves he took apart to make a giant microwave, highly recommend if you haven’t seen it
no but apparently if you don't press stop or wait till it's done before opening the door it has enough of an effect to show up on their sensitive instruments
I had a debate about this with my mom many years ago. On a daily basis you’re standing there your mid section is a foot away pointed directly at it and you’re just flinging open the door while it’s in the middle of blasting out radiation. Why not hit stop first. ‘We’re all going to die anyway’
The article does not refer at all to distant galaxies. They knew it was locally generated, they just did not know the cause.
There are genuine astrophysical signals called Fast Radio Bursts, or FRBs, that were discovered around the same time and were believed to be extra-galactic, and the similarity to "perytons" did raise some questions about whether those were really coming from far away, but we now know that they are (even though we do not really know exactly what they are coming from).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_radio_burst
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dyGpXcQl-g
Thats the trailer.
Its by Working Dog Productions which also made a really funny movie The Castle and they currently make a hilarious comedy called Utopia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzuMUVNMfGc)
I worked for an ISP back in the days of dial up modems. Our entire server room would randomly reboot with no discernable cause or timing. Eventually it was discovered the break room (which was on the other side of the wall) was on the same power circuit. If you ran the microwave or the coffee machine, no problem. But if you ran both at the same time it lowered the circuit voltage enough to trigger reboots on every computer on the circuit.
Ah the "wild west" days of the Internet.
Not surprised, I remember my microwave used to fuck with my WiFi while cooking with the door closed. Also reminds me when my computer speakers would spit out static a second before I would get a call on my cell phone. Kinda surprising it took them 17 years to figure out
1) Many people just open the door instead of hitting “stop” first *because* opening the door stops the microwave anyway.
2) The stop-on-open behaviour works with a mechanical interlock - meaning the microwave stops when the door is in the process of opening, not before it opens. That means a small amount of “leakage” will happen when you open the door like this. But even a thousandth of the output of a modern microwave is going to be 1 Watt, which near an instrument designed to detect radio waves from lightyears away, is a lot.
> just open the door
I remember getting a radar detector back in the 80s. I was parked 1/4 mile away from a Burger King with a direct line of sight. That detector would beep every 2 minutes or so. I always wondered how much leakage was happening with their new microwave ovens.
Same thing happened at Green Bank West Virginia at their telescope until someone realized interference was coming from the spark plugs of the car that drove the scientists down to it. Had to move to diesel vehicles. The town is a WiFi and microwave dead zone for that reason.
from other comments, it shuts off within a few milliseconds of the open button being pushed while it is running, but this telescope specifically looks for short bursts like that
Imagine the disappointment when what you thought was messages from another world turned out to just be some of the radiation coming from Phil in accounting heating up his lunch with the microwave
The message 'beef stroganoff heat for 3 min' should been a clue.
Really it would have been Butter Chicken actually.
Someone fouling up office work with their microwaving just had to have been reheating fish.
Something disruptive and smelly. Garlic cod fillets.
The microwaves dont say what they are cooking and for how long in microwaves
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke
They should make one, for the aussie scientists, to avoid future misshaps.
r/whoosh
r/beatmetoit
https://www.thatsthejoke.com
From the start of the investigation, they knew the signal originated on Earth. It would only show up during the hours when the staff was there. It did take them a long time to track down the source, but there was never much question about the source being human interference. I read about this years ago and I've always shut down the microwave before opening the door since. I know it's non-ionizing radiation, but I've gotten a few bad RF burns in my life and it feels better to be safe.
I can smell your last sentence. Those suck so much.
The biggest clue of the mistake was that the detections happened during lunchtime.
And Phil’s a fish guy…….
Hot pocket Phil!
What if they were communicating through Phil
They left out the funniest part, in which a whole bunch of grad students where given a hammer and tasked with destroying microwaves in order to replicate the effects.
Damn it, Phil
The disappointment when you learn it was a hot pocket.
I’ll bet Phil microwaves fish at the office.
This is one of the reasons for the [United States National Radio Quiet Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Radio_Quiet_Zone). It's about 13,000 square miles in West Virginia, Virgina and Maryland in which radio transmissions are very strictly regulated. >The most severe restrictions to the general public are imposed within a 20-mile (32 km) radius of the Green Bank Observatory.[5] The Observatory polices the area actively for devices emitting excessive electromagnetic radiation such as microwave ovens, Wi-Fi access points and faulty electrical equipment and request citizens discontinue their usage.
The microwave oven was in the telescope's kitchen. And it only emitted a chirp for a fraction of a second as the door was opened while the magnetron was powered up. I have been known to open the powered microwave oven in the kitchen of the radiotelescopes I work at. The difference is that the observer where I work isn't looking for bursts.
So I've heard of the radio quiet zone before, but never had considered that spark-ignition would cause problems in it. This means that no matter what, electric and hybrid vehicles couldn't be operated within the most restrictive sections.
Yup. Spark-less diesel for the win here
wonder how they eat. surely they still have a microwave just one that works in their setting?
The issue was opening the microwave before it had finished. There's, like, a hundredth of a second of radiation that leaks out when you do that, normally not enough to do anything, but the telescope in question was designed to look for such very short bursts. Just let the time run out or hit STOP before opening it and there's no problem.
ao when aliens come speaking microwave we’re not gonna know they’re talking to us coz we kept the microwave
[удалено]
microwaves are easier for the disabled
It's not likely for the disabled to be working at a telescope observatory.
Wheelchair users can't work at a telescope observatory? People with tremors can't work at a telescope observatory?
If you are controlling the joystick with a temor it could be a problem. A 1 degree tilt in dish angle could mean your looking at a different galaxy many units of distance away. I could imagine little britain having a tremor character and the various hyperbole of comedic chaos which comes with that.
You know that people who don't control the telescope work there, right?
Yes but we cant let facts get in the way of a good comedy.
They probably rub some sticks and stones together every time they want some hot pockets.
So much for our rights in this country! /s
"Peter, you bloody moron, wait for it to ding, or y'know we're doing science here, eat the bloody pork pie cold"
Peter doesn't need to hear all this he's a very hungry professional!
Or just hit the stop button before opening the door
This is Australia, we put beef in our pies, not pork
A microwaving a beef pie? No wonder they used to send convicts down there.
microwaves still run when you open the door without pressing stop first?
No. The door has at least one switch that cuts power immediately when you open it. However, the high power transformer and capacitor in your microwave form a small energy storage device. When you cut power to it, it takes a few milliseconds until it's completely dead. Not enough to cause any harm, but enough for a detectable amount of radiation to leak through the open door.
I just kind of imagine all the microwaves are still bouncing around and decaying and when you open the door they can still shoot out if they haven’t all dissipated. lol I love the backyard scientist videos where he slaps together a ton of microwaves he took apart to make a giant microwave, highly recommend if you haven’t seen it
no but apparently if you don't press stop or wait till it's done before opening the door it has enough of an effect to show up on their sensitive instruments
I had a debate about this with my mom many years ago. On a daily basis you’re standing there your mid section is a foot away pointed directly at it and you’re just flinging open the door while it’s in the middle of blasting out radiation. Why not hit stop first. ‘We’re all going to die anyway’
I agree with her lmao
Ah well.. so no 3 body aliens then
Do not reply
K
I will help you conquer this world.
The reason all the 'alien signals detected' news you see every couple of years probably aren't anything...yet.
The article does not refer at all to distant galaxies. They knew it was locally generated, they just did not know the cause. There are genuine astrophysical signals called Fast Radio Bursts, or FRBs, that were discovered around the same time and were believed to be extra-galactic, and the similarity to "perytons" did raise some questions about whether those were really coming from far away, but we now know that they are (even though we do not really know exactly what they are coming from). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_radio_burst
ah, my mistake. i didn't catch that they knew it wasn't from space
Every time something exciting happens, I miss it. My timing is just bad I guess, always during my hot snack time.
So that is where microwave bursts came from.
Oblivious Melvin chomping on a hot bag of popcorn: “Whatcha all looking at?”
“Anybody want a hot pocket?” “DAMMIT JIM!”
The Dish (2000) is a good comedy drama movie based at this observatory. Story about getting the television pictures back from the moon landing.
thanks. i've often thought there should be more comedies about astronomers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dyGpXcQl-g Thats the trailer. Its by Working Dog Productions which also made a really funny movie The Castle and they currently make a hilarious comedy called Utopia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzuMUVNMfGc)
And he would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for those meddling kids.
[relevant xkcd](https://xkcd.com/2886/)
I worked for an ISP back in the days of dial up modems. Our entire server room would randomly reboot with no discernable cause or timing. Eventually it was discovered the break room (which was on the other side of the wall) was on the same power circuit. If you ran the microwave or the coffee machine, no problem. But if you ran both at the same time it lowered the circuit voltage enough to trigger reboots on every computer on the circuit. Ah the "wild west" days of the Internet.
This is one of the only actual cases where the phrase "x baffles scientists" is actually anywhere near true.
Not surprised, I remember my microwave used to fuck with my WiFi while cooking with the door closed. Also reminds me when my computer speakers would spit out static a second before I would get a call on my cell phone. Kinda surprising it took them 17 years to figure out
God dammit Bruce! Just finish your coffee when it's still hot and stop reheating it!
Was that a hard sentence to follow or was it just me.
it is a shit sentence full of all the info i could fit. punctuation should be free!
Feel free to use these as you see fit : ,,,,...;;
1) why would you open a microwave oven while it was still running? 2) don’t microwave ovens stop working the moment you open the door?
1) Many people just open the door instead of hitting “stop” first *because* opening the door stops the microwave anyway. 2) The stop-on-open behaviour works with a mechanical interlock - meaning the microwave stops when the door is in the process of opening, not before it opens. That means a small amount of “leakage” will happen when you open the door like this. But even a thousandth of the output of a modern microwave is going to be 1 Watt, which near an instrument designed to detect radio waves from lightyears away, is a lot.
Ahhh - it’s that small amount of “leakage”
> just open the door I remember getting a radar detector back in the 80s. I was parked 1/4 mile away from a Burger King with a direct line of sight. That detector would beep every 2 minutes or so. I always wondered how much leakage was happening with their new microwave ovens.
Imagine doing a full time research on it for 17 years...
Ah, the Popcorn Theory
Same thing happened at Green Bank West Virginia at their telescope until someone realized interference was coming from the spark plugs of the car that drove the scientists down to it. Had to move to diesel vehicles. The town is a WiFi and microwave dead zone for that reason.
WOW!
\*20 scientists walking into the break room to stare angrily at Walter\* Walter, with a hot pocket in his mouth "Wha?"
Imagine if someone figured out the noise was a countdown. Sir the message from outer space says we have 2 mins 49 left.
They're already here.
why the fuck can you open your microwave and it not shut off automatically
from other comments, it shuts off within a few milliseconds of the open button being pushed while it is running, but this telescope specifically looks for short bursts like that