Tom Scott investigates the claim that the microwave was invented to heat hamsters, and interviews James Lovelock about freezing and microwave-thawing hamsters in the 1950s. It traces early magnetron uses beyond radar.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN recommends it as a well-told chase of a weird fact that lands a rare interview with Lovelock at age 101.
“The whole story is worth a watch since Tom Scott does an admirable job of explaining”HN comment, 2022
“The whole story is worth a watch since Tom Scott does an admirable job of explaining”
Tom Scott chases a weird fact and lands an amazing Lovelock interview.
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Despite everything else he accomplished in his quite storied professional career as one of the last independent scientists... Including his work on the Viking mars landers! link To me he will always be the man who invented his own microwave to thaw frozen hamsters. The whole story is worth a watch since Tom Scott does an admirable job of explaining how he went digging up a weird fact expecting to debunk it only to wind up recording an amazing interview with James Lovelock this video but if you’re impatient the interview with lovelock about cryopreserved hamsters and his "microwave" starts here this video
RecommendsbroofJun 2021
“There was a really interesting video about how microwaves were first used to test this”
Explains how microwaves were first used to thaw frozen animals.
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They already studied this. It sometimes worked with small animals like mice, but fails as organisms get larger. There was a really interesting video about how microwaves were first used to test this: this video
Recommends_Algernon_May 2022
“Edit to add an interesting related video”
Related video about thawing frozen animals with microwaves.
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That's purely a size thing iirc. Lot quicker to get enough heat into a mouse to thaw it, than a human. Edit to add an interesting related video: this video
RecommendsbambaxJul 2022
“features a nice interview with Lovelock”
Features an interview with Lovelock about microwave ovens.
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This Tom Scott's video from last year about microwave ovens features a nice interview with Lovelock: this video
RecommendsmabboOct 2022
“Tom Scott interviewed him last year in a really wonderful video about microwaves.”
Wonderful video interviewing a remarkably coherent 100-year-old Lovelock.
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Tom Scott interviewed him last year in a really wonderful video about microwaves. this video > I found an article that said "The microwave was invented to heat hamsters humanely in 1950s experiments." And I thought, no it wasn't. ...was it? At over 100 years old, the man was remarkably coherent and healthy. Quite sad to hear he's passed now.
RecommendszeristorFeb 2023
“Tom Scott’s video on Microwaves, in which James Lovelock is interviewed”
Tom Scott's microwave video with a Lovelock interview.
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This where I can post Tom Scott’s video on Microwaves, in which James Lovelock is interviewed: this video Spoiler warning, well you wouldn’t watch it if I didn’t tell you would you.
RecommendscynwoodyFeb 2023
“Tom Scott is one talented YouTuber.”
Microwaving frozen hamsters back to life, with Lovelock interviewed at 101.
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Yes, Tom Scott is one talented YouTuber. See, for example, his video on microwaving frozen hamsters back to life[0], in which he interviews the 101-year-old J. E. Lovelock, the scientist who did the work back in the fifties. [0] this video
RecommendsH8crilAJun 2023
“Tom Scott made a great video about it”
Covers the man who thawed frozen small animals with microwaves.
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Tom Scott made a great video about it, he even got to the guy who started using microwaves for thawing entire small animals. Before microwaves (diathermic heating) they would use a hot piece of metal, like a large spoon. this video And yes, you can unfreeze a rock solid rat, then see it walk around. This is why cryogenics was hyped so much, because it sort of works on small animals.
RecommendsradishingrMar 2026
“did a pretty good summary of the Percy Spencer microwave”
Summarizes Percy Spencer's oven and Lovelock's small microwave for cryorevival.
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The Tom Scott video( this video ) did a pretty good summary of the Percy Spencer microwave (a giant commercial oven) and the later parallel development by J. E. Lovelock of a small microwave to reheat small mammals for experiments with cryorevival (replacing lamps and hot paddles).
Cites itantiSingularityOct 2021
“microwaving frozen mice was one of the very first non-radar applications of the microwave magnetron.”
Covers microwaving frozen mice as an early magnetron application.
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Oddly enough, microwaving frozen mice was one of the very first non-radar applications of the microwave magnetron. this video
Cites itjodrellblankMar 2022
“includes a brief interview with James Lovelock last year at age 101”
Includes an interview with James Lovelock about reanimating frozen hamsters.
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> " I kind of doubt an independent inventor could bring this to market with today's startup climate. " Especially the kind of inventor who created microwaves for experiments with reanimating frozen hamsters, cough James Lovelock. (Tom Scott's video "I promise this story about microwaves is interesting" which includes a brief interview with James Lovelock last year at age 101 - this video )
Cites itcroteDec 2022
Cited as source for 1950s rodent freezing and microwave reanimation.
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In the 1950s scientists were freezing small rodents and reanimating them using a primitive microwave. [0] If vitrifying and reviving a single rodent organ is the state-of-the-art 70 years later, I am not exactly impressed by their progress. [0]: this video
Cites itjodrellblankOct 2023
Microwave invented to revive frozen hamsters humanely.
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> " But this would have been the 1950s(?), so I'd assume they empirically determined a balance of functionality + technical feasibility for water, called it a lunch, and went to have five martinis in a practical fashion. " Or maybe they just wanted to revive frozen hamsters more humanely: "I promise this story about microwaves is interesting." by Tom Scott, about scientist James Lovelock - this video
Cites itKhelavasterMay 2024
“Lovelock was quick-freezing and microwave-thawing entire living hamsters in the mid 1900s.”
Lovelock froze and microwave-thawed whole hamsters.
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Lovelock was quick-freezing and microwave-thawing entire living hamsters in the mid 1900s. If it works on a whole hamster brain, it probably works in a sliver of human brain tissue. this video
Cites itpeterfireflyJun 2024
“A hamster is an acceptable size.”
Cites the video line about hamster size alongside a research paper.
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this video "A hamster is an acceptable size." link "Studies on golden hamsters during cooling to and rewarming from body temperatures below 0° C. III. Biophysical aspects and general discussion"
Cites itjessekvJul 2024
“Actually, this has been done. Although that size seems to be about the limit.”
Shows small mammals have been revived from freezing.
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> even revive a mouse Actually, this has been done. Although that size seems to be about the limit. this video
Cites itthrow0101dOct 2024
“Tom Scott has a video on microwaves where he interviews James Lovelock about the frozen hamsters”
Interviews Lovelock about the frozen hamsters.
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Tom Scott has a video on microwaves where he interviews James Lovelock about the frozen hamsters: * this video Lovelock passed away a year later (in 2022): * link
Cites itthrow0101dOct 2024
“Mentions the Tom Scott video where he interview Lovelock”
Tom Scott interviews Lovelock about reanimating cryogenically frozen hamsters.
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> A history of microwave ovens without mention of reanimating cryogenically frozen hamsters? There is: > 1954: James Lovelock et al. reanimated cryogenically-frozen hamsters using an ad-hoc microwave oven. Mentions the Tom Scott video where he interview Lovelock (who passed a year later, in 2022): * this video
Cites itblue_pantsNov 2024
“And there's a Tom Scott's interview with James Lovelock”
Interview with Lovelock on freezing and reviving hamsters.
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From link "In the mid-1950s, Lovelock experimented with the cryopreservation of rodents, determining that hamsters could be frozen and revived successfully.[14] Hamsters were frozen with 60% of the water in the brain crystallised into ice with no adverse effects recorded. Other organs were shown to be susceptible to damage.[15]" And there's a Tom Scott's interview with James Lovelock: this video
Cites itpaulodayDec 2024Full comment
Someone wrote the following comment then deleted it. I spent 30 minutes on my response and wanted to post it anyway. Apologies if the original comment was deleted by a mod, I hope this is OK to post. ---QUOTE--- My "test" for video generation turning movie making on its head is when a model can add the missing Tom Bombadil chapters to Peter Jackson's LOTR movies. Probably 20 - 30 minutes of HD, aesthetically synced, scripted etc with minimal editing after a detailed prompt and source material. Qualifier - the AI just has to follow the book script, third party tools ok to use for lip syncing and audio :) I said 5 years away last year. Feels like it might be more like 1 - 2 years. What do you think? ---END QUOTE--- My response: I think we're getting into diminishing returns territory with this AI stuff. These video/image generators are impressive but they don't "understand" physical reality and probably never will without a breakthrough. You can see this in the demo videos, the best looking ones are glorified still images and the worst are whenever something physical happens, like the lemon being picked up or the guy eating cereal. These examples may get better, but I really doubt they'll ever look like real unaltered camera footage without adding an understanding of how our physical reality works into the model somehow. For the script generation, Fellowship of the Ring is not a movie script and requires serious interpretation and planning to be converted into one. Especially i
