Microwave Madness

Despite mid-episode teasers, the MythBusters refused to microwave a live poodle, and were thus unable to test the myth that a microwave can dry a wet dog.

=The Myths=

Myth # 1 - Cooked internal organs

 * The Myth - It is possible to cook one's insides by using a tanning bed too often; in a manner similar to how a microwave works.
 * Verdict - Busted
 * Notes - Tanning booths work on ultraviolet radiation, which penetrates the body from the outside in, meaning that all one would get is a sunburn. They also demonstrated that microwave ovens do not cook food from the inside out.

Myth # 2 - Microwave blow up

 * The Myth - It is possible to blow up a microwave oven by microwaving metal.
 * Verdict - Busted (with caveats)
 * Notes - Neither a spoon nor a fork had any effect. Tinfoil scrunched into balls caused a light-show with electric charges, but the microwave did not explode. Microwaving metal can possibly ruin a microwave by arcing against the inner wall, sending electricity back to the magnetron, and either destroying it or shortening its lifespan. You're actually more likely to break a microwave by not cleaning it often enough than by microwaving metals (so be sure to clean your microwave regularly).

Myth # 3 - Exploding Water

 * The Myth - If a glass of water is microwaved, removed, and an additive placed in it, it can explode due to superheating.
 * Verdict - True
 * Notes - If the water had no impurities in it at the time of superheating (for instance, distilled water), then any sort of additive placed within will make the water flash to steam and violently spray.

Myth # 4 - Super Microwave

 * The Myth - It is possible to build a super-microwave by aligning four magnetrons around a metal box.
 * Verdict - Busted (unofficially)
 * Notes - If there is a proper method to build one, the method used in the show is not it. After a glass of water was exposed to the "super microwave"'s magnetrons for thirty seconds, a thermometer found that the temperature of the water had actually dropped by two degrees Fahrenheit.

These myths were featured in the Penny Drop episode.

=References=