HackerTube.dev

I promise this story about microwaves is interesting.

Tom Scott · 9M views · 2021-05-17 · 12:09

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

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.

On Hacker News

HN recommends it as a well-told chase of a weird fact that lands a rare interview with Lovelock at age 101.

Recommended by 9 HN people across 7 months · HN mentions 2021–2026

Topics

Documentaries & storytellingScientific method & science communicationPhysics & space (other)
Search by tags
tom scottjames lovelockcryonicsmagnetronscience historyhamsters

What people said

techdragon · 2022-07 · Strong recommendation

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 [VIDEO] but if you’re impatient the interview with lovelock about cryopreserved hamsters and his "microwave" starts here [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
radishingr · 2026-03 · Recommendation

The Tom Scott video( [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).

Read the original HN comment ↗
H8crilA · 2023-06 · Recommendation

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. [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.

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by Tom Scott, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources