eMail Shelf Life

[cricket]

What's the average life of a "viral" email?

Today I received an email concerning the likelihood of a bursting cup of microwaved water. Just for fun, I ran it through a snopes.com check and found out that it had been circulating since (at least) 1999. A fourteen year shelf life is amazing to me!

Here's the email, if you're interested.

Quote:

This is something many of us did not know........!

Microwaving Water!

A 26-year old man decided to have a cup of coffee.

He took a cup of water and put it in the microwave to heat it up (something that he had done numerous times before).

I am not sure how long he set the timer for, but he wanted to bring the water to a boil.

When the timer shut the oven off, he removed the cup from the oven.

As he looked into the cup, he noted that the water was not boiling, but suddenly the water in the cup 'blew up' into his face.

The cup remained intact until he threw it out of his hand, but all the water had flown out into his face due to the build-up of energy.

His whole face is blistered and he has 1st and 2nd degree burns to his face which may leave scarring.

He also may have lost partial sight in his left eye.

While at the hospital, the doctor who was attending to him stated that this is a fairly common occurrence and water (alone) should never be heated in a microwave oven.

If water is heated in this manner, something should be placed in the cup to diffuse the energy such as a wooden stir stick, tea bag, etc, (nothing metal).

General Electric's Response:

Thanks for contacting us; I will be happy to assist you.

The e-mail that you received is correct.

Microwaved water and other liquids do not always bubble when they reach boiling point. They can actually get superheated and not bubble at all.

The superheated liquid will bubble up out of the cup when it is moved or when something like a spoon or tea bag is put into it.

To prevent this from happening and causing injury, do not heat any liquid for more than two minutes per cup.

After heating, let the cup stand in the microwave for thirty seconds before moving it or adding anything into it.

Here is what a local high school science teacher had to say on the matter: 'Thanks for the microwave warning. I have seen this happen before. It is caused by a phenomenon known as super heating. It can occur any time water is heated and will particularly occur if the vessel that the water is heated in is new, or when heating a small amount of water (less than half a cup).

What happens is that the water heats faster than the vapor bubbles can form.

If the cup is very new, then it is unlikely to have small surface scratches inside it that provide a place for the bubbles to form.

As the bubbles cannot form and release some of the heat that has built up, the liquid does not boil, and the liquid continues to heat up well past its boiling point.

What then usually happens is that the liquid is bumped or jarred, which is just enough of a shock to cause the bubbles to rapidly form and expel the hot liquid. The rapid formation of bubbles is also why a carbonated beverage spews when opened after having been shaken.'

If you pass this on, you could very well save someone from a lot of pain and suffering.

[Liz]

At least this one is true. I still get emails from years ago that were proven false--years ago! LOL :)

[LifeHiscost]

Thanks, Cricket, for the refresher course.I remember reading that many years ago but had forgotten it. At my age there are a lot of things of which I need to be reminded. LoL

Maybe this below is one that bears thinking over twice.

Quote:

Chocolate is a Vegetable

Other little known Chocolate facts:

Chocolate is derived from cacao beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived from either sugar CANE or sugar BEETS. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable.

To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is dairy product. So candy bars are a health food.

Chocolate-covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit; so eat as many as you want.

If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.

Problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite, and you'll eat less.

If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves. (We're testing this with other snack foods as well.)

If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a balanced diet? Don't they actually counteract each other?

Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger. Therefore, you need to eat more chocolate.

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Now, isn't that handy?

If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can't eat all your chocolate, what's wrong with you?

If not for chocolate, there would be no need for control top pantyhose. An entire garment industry would be devastated. You can't let that happen, can you?

NEWS FLASH: "Stressed" spelled backward is "desserts." So, to reverse being "stressed" . . . CHOCOLATE!!!

God cares!

[cricket]

Thanks, LHC!

I wonder if there are other emails circulating that people have stored in their e-files?

[cricket]

True, dgrimm! Maybe you have some in your files??

[joeb]

CRICKET

I guess as long as the email is not deleted I guess it will still be going around

dgrimm60

Even if you delete an email copies of it still exist. The ISP your email goes through keeps copies of them on their mail servers. That's how the government gets access to your email.

[cricket]

joeb, do you have any old "viral" emails lurking in your folders?? Wonder what we're missing?!

[joeb]

joeb, do you have any old "viral" emails lurking in your folders?? Wonder what we're missing?!

I'm not an Internet Service Provide(ISP). I'm just someone who ran a mail server for a small business for a while. That's why I know how the email system works.

[cricket]

Hmm. I didn't imply that you were. I assumed that you had a personal email account and that you might have an old "viral" email or two lying around that you might share.

[joeb]

Hmm. I didn't mean to imply that you were. I guess I just assumed that you had a personal email account and that you might have an old "viral" email or two lying around that you might share.

Oh, OK. Sorry about the misunderstanding. No, I don't have any of that kind of stuff hanging around. It's deleted as soon as it shows up. I normally don't even see that kind of stuff as my email filters delete anything like that so I don't even have to see it.

[cricket]

Yeah, me too. The ones I get are usually from one or two of my elderly friends, and the emails are recirculated. The one I shared here is no longer in my folders either. Just curious if you had any.

[Guest]

I think I'll go heat up some water to make soup with. 8 minutes ought to be enough.

[LifeHiscost]

I think I'll go heat up some water to make soup with. 8 minutes ought to be enough.

Not to mention it's off topic, don't you think that you've totally diminished the importance of the topic at hand. Excuse me, I can't hold this back any longer.

God cares!

[cricket]

The topic itself has a very limited shelf life.

[Guest]

Sorry.

The water blew up, btw. Who knew a microwave could do that?

I'll never eat soup again. :(

[LifeHiscost]

Sorry.

The water blew up, btw. Who knew a microwave could do that?

I'll never eat soup again.

Probably be hard through those scarred lips, ya think?

God cares!

[Guest]

Yep. )

[Ted Oplinger]

Certain e-mails seem to never die...when I was still working at the state lab, I would every once in a while see an e-mail appeal concerning a certain child/woman soliciting donations for a life threatening condition...and the subject had already received treatment several years ago. Same person, same disease/condition - every 2-4 years, for about 12 years.

Someone new sees it, doesn't check the dateline, and forwarded it on as a "new" concern to rally around. Then there are the email urban myths that make the rounds, and the same ol' chain letters that declare a great blessing if passed on (but something ill if ignored).....

Blessings,