Pop-up Timers Explained...

Last year at Thanksgiving I was driving and listening to the Martha Stewart network on Sirius.  The show was focused on turkey preparation.  Before I knew it, the discussion turned to those little red and white pop-up timers.  The host of the show advised the callers to pull it out and throw it away, "because how could it "know" when to pop up?"    Ughhhh - seriously?  Did she think it was a random event?  Caller after caller proceeded to validate her theory.  COME ON PEOPLE!!  I'm thinking that maybe these were the ones hiding in the bathroom during Science Lab.  Not me - I had my goggles on over my rose-colored gigantic glasses.  Pretty!

The pop-up timer actually works because the red plastic stick is surrounded by a spring mechanism and the end is stuck in a metal material (or wax) at the bottom of the timer.  When the temperature at the end reaches the proper temp, the metal melts, the stick is freed, and the spring forces it upward.  So, no mystery here.  Just science...