Snopes and the Cell Phone Popcorn

Woah, it's been a long time since I updated this blog! The spirit has finally moved me!

Have you seen the eMail re popping popcorn with a cell phone? I got that eMail forwarded to me yesterday. Here is a quote from it:

This is enlightening!!!! Using a cell phone is like putting your head in a microwave, eh? Check this out! And we're supposed to believe that cell phones are safe?

Click on the word 'POPCORN' below and watch.

POPCORN

If you follow that link you will see a really frightening film clip showing popcorn exploding as it sits on a table next to several working cell phones. The obvious message is "if it does this to popcorn, imagine what it is doing to your brain". Hard to believe, but film doesn't lie, right? Well, anytime you get something forwarded to you that causes your eyebrows to lift in EITHER excitement or disbelief, it is a really good idea, before you forward the item to yet another group of people, to check out - is it true or not? One of the best sites to go to to do this is Snopes at WWW.Snopes.Com

If you go to Snopes and type the three words popcorn cell phone into the Snopes search bar and click on GO, you will turn up this entry: http://www.snopes.com/science/cookegg.asp Go there and read the entry after you read the rest of this paragraph. You will find that the first part of the Snopes entry is about "cooking eggs with a cell phone", an even scarier thought. You'll find the popcorn info if you scroll down to the bottom. A couple of the movie clips there will not work because (I think) they have been removed from the site they are linked from (Youtube). The CNN link, however, does work - and there you will find the real proof. If the CNN link doesn/t work when you try it, let me know by leaving a comment on this blog entry, thanks. For convenience, I'll put the CNN link here too (you'll see a comercial first, be patient, it is short): http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2008/07/09/carroll.cellphone.popcorn.cnn

Remember now, if a forwarded eMail sounds unbelievable, it probably is - check it out in Snopes. If if sounds like something you REALLY WANT TO BELIEVE be doubly sure to check it out in Snopes.