Hi, we're here from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes.

I'm Cody Gough.

And I'm Ashley Hamer.

Today you learn about why there's no such thing as a reverse microwave for cooling.

You'll also learn about how you can tell whether a life

hack is worth trying from today's guest, author Joseph Regal. Let's set us for some

curiosity. You can pop something in the microwave to heat it up pretty quickly,

but there's no such thing as a reverse

microwave for cooling something off, and you're about to learn about the science behind why you probably

won't be seeing one anytime soon.

First, let's talk regular microwaves.

When you pop in a bag of frozen veggies and press the start button,

the microwave sends a specific frequency of radio waves to excite the water molecules in your food. Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation.

That's an umbrella term that includes visible light, infrared, and x-rays,

all of which are a form of energy.

Energy excites molecules, and excited molecules are hotter.

But there's no frequency of radio waves that can calm molecules down to make them colder.

Got all that?

Good, because here's where things get a little

complicated. Those excited molecules aren't just hotter. They're also in a state of

higher entropy. Entropy is basically a scientific measurement of disorder and according to the second law of

thermodynamics, any process in a closed system progresses toward increasing disorder.

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