(or Why you should always consult a woman, depending on how you read this)
In the middle of the 1900s, sometime in the 50s, Raytheon, a huge government and defense contractor, was experimenting with microwave transmitters to send data and signals over ranges. This caused a problem, as they noted severe signal loss after a while, and someone had to go up and clean off the tower. Dead birds mysteriously began to pile up on the towers, which worried engineering greatly.
For the longest time no one could figure out what was wrong with them, and why they were dying, until they took one down for an "autopsy". It eventually hit them. "Hey, these birds are being cooked!" So with a little convincing, people managed to form a team to experiment with microwaves to cook food. This was the beginning of Radar Ranges, as i believe they were called back then.)
So these pioneers in cooking eventually put together a prototype, and it was time to show it off to upper management. They decided they were going to start with a potato. The proud engineers put it in and set the timer with enough time to cook the potato. Ten minutes go by, everything is perfect...Twenty minutes go by, all is well... Half hour into it... BOOM! The potato ruptured in glorious fashion. Needless to say, the execs were not that impressed. Management refused to sell a box that exploded food to customers.
Dejected, one of the engineers met up with one of the first female engineers for lunch. He told her his tale of dismay. She chuckled, and with a bit of common household wisdom, her response was "Well did you poke holes in it?" |
