# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 268
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5343 "2025-12-30T00:14:17Z")
I like it! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5344 "2025-12-30T02:00:25Z")
Without doing any checks, I expect the ISS food warmer is more commonly known as a microwave. It might need something different than a terrestrial microwave to keep the food centered and rotating, though. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5345 "2025-12-30T02:20:11Z")
No, microwaves aren’t on the ISS - too heavy and not safe. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5346 "2025-12-30T02:32:23Z")
OK, I’ll grant that microwaves are fairly heavy, although for the ISS, they’d get rid of the heavy platter and replace it with something to keep the food centered and rotating. But how are they unsafe? I’m struggling to come up how they’re less safe in a 0g environment. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5347 "2025-12-30T02:43:03Z")
They might interfere with communications. Terrestrial microwaves are shielded, but even so, they often interfere with WiFi frequencies. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5348 "2025-12-30T02:49:44Z")
It looked more like a convection oven to me. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5349 "2025-12-30T03:01:36Z")
I read that convection ovens don’t work in zero-G, and when they [baked cookies](https://www.npr.org/2019/12/08/786039752/cookies-in-space-for-science) on the ISS in 2019, they had to rig a special oven that used conduction. But…couldn’t they use a fan to create air circulation? ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5350 "2025-12-30T05:43:30Z")
Despite the name that’s what convection ovens do. > **[Convection oven](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convection_oven)** > > A convection oven (also known as a fan-assisted oven, turbo broiler or simply a fan oven or turbo) is an oven that has fans to circulate air around food to create an evenly heated environment. In an oven without a fan, natural convection circulates hot air unevenly, so that it will be cooler at the bottom and hotter at the top than in the middle. Fan ovens cook food faster, and are also used in non-food, industrial applications. Small countertop convection ovens for household use are often Whe... ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5351 "2025-12-30T06:23:09Z")
Right, which is why I don’t understand why they say it won’t work in zero-G. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5352 "2025-12-30T12:00:53Z")
Probably unrelated but now I’m sitting here wondering if hot air rises in zero g. It doesn’t, right? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5353 "2025-12-30T12:03:41Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Probably unrelated but now I’m sitting here wondering if hot air rises in zero g. It expands in all directions. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5354 "2025-12-30T12:22:55Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I’m sitting here wondering if hot air rises in zero g There is no “up” in zero g. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5355 "2025-12-30T14:24:59Z")
There are videos of flames in zero gravity. They look nice. **[Example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQQ1OHW1_F4)**. Another **[example](https://youtu.be/CE7Nz78rkfQ?t=99)**. There is a multitude of examples. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5356 "2025-12-30T15:06:32Z")
Ha! First time I’d heard that. I shared it with a geographer colleague, and he loved it. Similarly, the average person has one testicle. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5357 "2025-12-30T19:56:31Z")
Actually, slightly less than one testicle. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5358 "2025-12-30T20:16:05Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Similarly, the average person has one testicle. Here’s a strange, similar statistic: the average person has more than one complete skeleton. Why? Because of pregnant people carrying fetuses. > [@markn\_1](#): > > Actually, slightly less than one testicle. Actually, slightly more than one, for the reason outlined in the blurred text above, plus the fact that the global population of men slightly exceeds that of women (despite the fact that women typically live longer). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5359 "2025-12-30T20:31:36Z")
The average human does have less than two legs, though. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5360 "2025-12-30T20:52:56Z")
I don’t know if I buy the argument that a pregnant woman “has” all the organs of the fetus. If I’m carrying someone on my shoulders, do I temporarily have two heads? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5361 "2025-12-30T20:56:49Z")
**[Zaphod](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaphod_Beeblebrox)**, old chap, long time no see! ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5362 "2025-12-30T20:58:22Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I don’t know if I buy the argument that a pregnant woman “has” all the organs of the fetus. If I’m carrying someone on my shoulders, do I temporarily have two heads? You could get more precise and add the qualifier “inside their body.” A pregnant woman has two complete skeletons inside her body (assuming the fetus is far along sufficiently in development), as well as two testicles (in the case of a male fetus). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=267) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=269)