Recently a team of researchers at Northwestern University was able to successfully conduct an experiment where they boiled water without having it bubble. It's all very scientific, but it comes down to the scientific principle that if a surface is hot enough a vapor layer forms and water never touches the material, thus getting hot without evaporating which means no bubbles as a result. I have two thoughts about this: the first one is that these people may have gone into the wrong field. Clearly they are a smart group of researchers and as such I truly believe their considerable talents could and should have been focuses elsewhere. I'm not saying water conservation isn't a problem. Humans waste far too much drinkable water and every little bit that we could save would help, but I just believe there are more pressing issues which could use the best minds working on them. If you can figure out something this complex than go into curing diseases and make yourself some real money.
My second thought is that this seems like a really bad idea. People need little warnings like this in our lives. If you walked into your house and saw a pot on the stove where the water wasn't bubbling than it would be perfectly logical for you to assume the pot is cool and it is ok to grab the handle. As you are laying in the hospital with second-degree burns on your hands I don't think your first thoughts will be to congratulate the team on their scientific breakthrough. It just reminded me of a story I read about a Japanese car maker who was able to make a transmission which seamlessly switch gears without any noise or hitch to the car's ride. Consumers hated it. They found that little hitch or change in pitch as the car transitioned to be comforting because it let them know that everything was working. Using that logic I guess sometimes bubbles in water aren't the worst thing in the world. Still, congrats on the experiment.
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