Electronics: New Wave

They convey television signals through the skies and carry the voices of orbiting astronauts back to control stations on earth. They link long-distance telephone systems and bounce off high-flying aircraft, locating them for radar observers. The high-frequency radio waves—or microwaves—that perform these familiar services are now becoming even more versatile.

To keep abreast of the new wave, 215 scientists met at Stanford University last month to consider the current and future capability of microwave technology and its applications.

·HEATING. When microwaves are focused into a narrow beam and directed at substances such as water, organic solvents and salt solutions, they...