Re: microwave, RF heating

[John Denker <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>]

In a previous note I said:

> So, we know about
>  -- the obvious process involving the gross conductivity of water, and
>  -- spin resonance (in abnormal applied fields)
> ... but other than that, does anybody have any experimental evidence for a
> mechanism for RF absorption in ordinary biological tissue under normal
> conditions?  If so, I'd love to see the evidence.

Here's a small mystery;  perhaps somebody can help me with it.

a) In the first paragraph of
  http://www.sharp.net.au/product_sales/mwo/microfaq.htm
it says:
> One example is an egg.
> Energy penetrates to the centre, where the fatty yolk becomes hotter than
> the white and cooks first.

b) I've seen other reports that fat absorbs microwave power at least as
well as water.
c) I've seen some behavior consistent with this during ordinary cooking of
fatty foods.

On the other hand....

1) One normally thinks of fats and oils as having essentially zero
conductivity.
2) I did the following experiment:  25cc of water in one beaker, 25cc of
salad oil in another beaker, put both in microwave.  The water heated up
much faster than the oil.

Does anybody understand what is going on here?