A WINTER's night. Wind whistles around chimney pots, rattles
windows and sends flurries of snow spiralling down the street.
Stepping inside, you switch on the heating system. Immediately,
your cheeks and legs begin to tingle, then the rest of your
body. Within seconds you can feel the heat flowing into your
cold, aching limbs. But there's not a radiator or fan heater in
sight. And while you're warming up nicely, the walls, furniture
and even the air in your house remain icy cold. So what's going
on? Welcome to the world of microwave heating, where your living
room is a giant version of the microwave cooker in your kitchen.
Switch it on and microwaves begin to excite water molecules in
your body raising its temperature. Believe it or not, microwave
heating is the subject of serious research in the US. American
researchers have built microwave-heated rooms and even tested
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