I have a very irrational dislike of microwaves

[EeveeElectro]

I always forget to remove the fork from the food... bad times.

My weird phobia is black wine gums, or any black sweets... I dunno what it about them, the sight makes me want to scream...

 

[bmf185]

It's not concentrated light. They're microwaves, which are radio waves with a frequency of about 2.5 gigahertz. These waves are absorbed by food molecules, which causes them to vibrate on an atomic level, which is what you know as heat. Radio waves are all around you all the time, so you don't have anything to be afraid of.

Unless you grill a lot, you probably don't ever actually cook with fire (barring a flame-top stove), and I've explained the other part, so I guess cross off #3?

Just to be incredibly pedantic, the Microwaves are absorbed by water molecules, not food molecules. This then 'excites' them, creating heat. So technically any food without water in it won't cook in a microwave.

And it's a terribly inefficient way to cook, just use a damned frying pan like a real man!

http://home.howstuffworks.com/microwave1.htm

Ahem, "Radio waves in this frequency range have an interesting property: they are absorbed by water, fats and sugars. When they are absorbed they are converted directly into atomic motion -- heat."

I was being incredibly pedantic.

EDIT: Oh, and I have a totally rational fear of ostriches. They are modern day velociraptors.

 

[IactoSophos]

Damn you GCSE Science! You fail me for the last time!