[Rubén]

Rubén  asked the Naked Scientists:
   Hello, I am writing regarding this question: A glass jar is half filled with water. There is a live fish swimming in it. How can we boil the water that is inside the jar, without killing the fish?

This reminds me of an experiment I read about a few years ago (which could be a good idea for Kitchen Science). You have a jar of water and put some ice cubes in it. Then you insert a net or something that keeps the ice cubes on the bottom of the jar. You put an electric resistance (similar to what kettles use) just below the water surface and plug it to an electric socket. The water can boil while the ice cubes remain perfectly frozen.

Thanks for your programme.

Rubén

What do you think?

[Madidus_Scientia]

I'm not sure what the rules of the strange challenge are. Do you have to boil all of the water? If not, how much water do you have to boil for how long?

If you only need to boil some of the water for any time, you could just briefly dip something very hot in it.