I am in the process of selling the family home in Missouri, and it’s just about finished. I’m selling it for about $20,000 less than my original asking price because I am selling it to my youngest niece, Isabelle.

She’s a newlywed and a young mother and, let’s be honest, I would do anything for her or any of my sister’s other kids. 

I bring it up because she recently called to thank me for dropping the price before any of my other siblings agreed to it. We spoke about the past and how I was always the “funcle” (fun uncle) and all the goofy things we did together.

But she also reminded me about the day we learned about microwaves.

You see, at my mother’s house (the one Isabelle is buying), my mom’s microwave would disrupt the Wi-Fi signal when in operation. I wasn’t aware until Izzy had pointed it out to me. She was genuinely puzzled but was content to leave the question unanswered. But Uncle Jon can’t do that.

So, we took her phone and Googled “Wi-Fi and microwaves” and got some answers. Believe it or not, Wi-Fi uses the exact same frequency as microwaves. That led us to conclude there must be some kind of seal leakage with her grandma’s microwave. So, we looked that up. The answer was yes. 

Then she expressed curiosity about the nature of microwaves and how it heats things. After all, if there was leakage, did that warm up the kitchen some? So, we looked it up and found the story of how microwaves — and their current use — were discovered.

Percy Spencer, a self-taught engineer working at Raytheon, in 1945 was testing an active cavity magnetron tube used in military radar arrays. While standing near the operating tube, he noticed that a peanut cluster candy bar in his pocket had completely melted.

“So, why didn’t he get hurt?” Izzy asked. 

We continued to dig and found that microwaves heat food and liquid by causing the water molecules to vibrate at an incredibly high rate, and the subsequent heat is produced by the friction of those molecules. So, when a cup or plate gets hot in the microwave, that’s just heat transfer.

Izzy wanted to test that, so we microwaved a paper plate for two minutes and it was perfectly cool to the touch when we took it out.

What started as a simple question yielded multiple answers and, now at the age of 22, my youngest niece still finds value in that experience. Enough value that she said she plans to do the exact same thing with her son and any other children she might have.

Though I have said it before on this page, I love the words of Walt Whitman, when he said: “Be curious, not judgmental.”

I’m curious to see where curiosity will take the next generation.