Cool New Product

I just heard on the radio that scientists have created a reverse microwave.  That is, a device that can chill things at speeds similar to a microwave.  At least I'm hoping they have: The only online references I can find are at food sites and local radio, newspapers and TV stations that aren't usually the media outlets of record.  You'd think technology sites would be all over this, but they don't seem to have reported it.  And there's no mention of it on Wikipedia, so it doesn't exist.  But then, neither does this blog, so I'm going to assume the reverse microwave exists.

And that's great, because I've wanted one of these for a while.  I had always assumed that it would violate some of the laws of thermodynamics, so I had given up hope.  It's being billed as a great alternative way of cooling drinks, since it would take less energy than keeping drinks cool continuously in a fridge.  But that's not why I wanted it: I wanted it to cool hot food.  In particular, food that's too hot because it came out of a microwave.

And that's the device I'm going to wish for now: a combination microwave/reverse-microwave.  You can use the microwave function to heat the food, and if it turns out to be too hot, you just use the reverse microwave function to cool it.  Of course, if the reverse-microwave function is as unpredictable as modern microwaves, you may end up overdoing it and making it cooler than you'd like.  So you'll have to use the heating and cooling back and forth, trying to zero-in on your ideal temperature.  You'll finally have food that's at the right temperature, and the only cost is using twice the power.  Thanks science!