"Why not go public and embarrass them for a change?" demanded an irate former Moscow diplomat last week. He was referring to Washington's curious reticence about the great Moscow microwave furor. Last month the U.S. confirmed that for some 15 years the Soviet Union has been beaming microwaves at the hulking nine-story U.S. embassy on Moscow's Tchaikovsky Street (TIME, Feb. 23). The purpose: to jam the sophisticated electronic monitoring devices inside and on the roof of the building. (An earlier theory, now taken less seriously, was that the microwaves were designed to activate or charge up Soviet bugs planted within the embassy.) The U.S. has also confirmed that last May the microwave dosage suddenly increased sharply.

Microwave cooking ovens were originally researched and developed by German scientists to support mobile operations during the invasion of the Soviet Union. Had they perfected electronic equipment to prepare meals on a massive scale, the Nazis could have eliminated the logistical problems connected with cooking fuels while producing edible products in far less time than they could using traditional campfires.

The Russians - who have done the most diligent research into the biological effects of microwave ovens - have outlawed their use and issued an international warning about the biological and environmental damage that can result from the use of this and similar-frequency electronic apparatus.

But drinking a coffee warmed up in a microwave will do you no harm at all - the microwave radiation does not remain in the coffee or whatever else - it's gamma radiation, it actually travels at the speed of light! - it don't hang around!