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Microwave Experiments Cause Sponge Disasters
gollum123 writes "Reports about a study that found microwave ovens can be used to sterilize kitchen sponges sent people hurrying to test the idea this week — with sometimes disastrous results. A team at the University of Florida found that two minutes in the microwave at full power could kill a range of bacteria, viruses and parasites on kitchen sponges. They described how they soaked the sponges in wastewater and then zapped them. But several experimenters evidently left out the crucial step of wetting the sponge. "Just wanted you to know that your article on microwaving sponges and scrubbers aroused my interest. However, when I put my sponge/scrubber into the microwave, it caught fire, smoked up the house, ruined my microwave, and pissed me off," one correspondent wrote in an e-mail to Reuters."
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I tried to use the technique to sterilize the cat, and that did not work very well either!
However, when I put my sponge/scrubber into the microwave, it caught fire, smoked up the house, ruined my microwave, and pissed me off,
He wasn't using one of those Sony battery-operated microwaves, was he?
Push Button, Receive Bacon
If the sponge caugth fire, the microbes are probably dead by now. Right?
Lots of smoke? Smells like burning tires? Really pissed off? These people sound like Linux users trying to get their sound cards to work.
Prepare for a Class Action Suit filed against Reuters, the Scientists who did this and news papers that carried it for the damages caused by the fires.
Out of the $100 million that will be awarded, $80 million will go the lawyers, $10 million towards court fees, etc., and the class action plaintiffs awarded a $15 coupon each that can be redeemed for a Microwave at Wal-mart.
"Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
... and in the DRM, bind them.
Simple. Ban all sponges. They are clearly dangerous.
That bloody squarepants thing should be locked up too.
It's all about expecting people to use abilities they don't have, like the ability to fly, or the ability to understand something complex they know nothing about. But just for you, I'll do a political version:
People don't understand microwaves. Expecting them to use their understanding of microwaves would be like asking President Bush to use his understanding of diplomacy.
Although the moon is smaller than the earth, it is farther away.
We Americans measure our bacteria as fractions of an inch so the sponge fires were no doubt caused when people, in their germ kill potential calculations, screwed up while converting centimeter length microwaves to inches. Honest mistake.
// MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
...for the Darwin Awards
...but definitely stupid
Sponges...............$1
Microwave.............$60
Reading the article...Free
Burning down your house because you didn't read the whole article.....NOT Priceless
- Nobody would know what RTFA meant if it didn't need to be said all the time
No it means he missed a '0'. 5 minutes cures only some forms of stupidity. 50 minutes cures all forms.
Perhaps if you can't follow all the instructions there are some things you really shouldn't be doing.
Some people put a dry synthetic object in the microwave on high for two minutes?
I don't think it's just the sponges that need sterilization...
Nah, one from bash.org is the best....
TriPod11: bush ain't THAT bad...he kinda knows what he's doin
idaredbeet08: Please, Monica Lewenski had more President in her than George Bush ever will.
http://bash.org/?706281
...
They had this on the BBC yesterday too, I think in the morning they had suggested everyone microwave their sponges and then in the evening news they had a man with a ginger mustache from ROSPA who said that he wouldn't advise microwaving sponges because there is no setting on microwaves for sponges and that he for one didn't have the faintest idea what would happen if you did microwave a sponge except that whatever it was which happened would probably be unsafe and might cause an accident.
I found it very reassuring that ROSPA ( Royal Society For The Prevention Of Accidents ) does its research so thoroughly before making announcements.
... but maybe some of the people didn't read the article :-)
I'll let your guess.
Dumbass.
You put a dry sponge into your microwave didn't you?
"Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
Ask yourself: who wants to have sex with someone who burns sponges in his microwave?
Yes, I am the one with the legendary sig.
I suspect we have a potential entry for the 2007 Darwin Awards.
--- This meme is memory intensive
When I was in college, someone took one of my coffee mugs, filled it up with Hershey's chocolate syrup, and put it in the microwave for 90 minutes. Then they left. As best as we can tell, the syrup first boiled over and filled up the bottom of the microwave. Eventually it hardened into a black crust and caught fire. That's when the fire alarm woke us up, you know -- it was three o'clock in the morning.
The microwave was ruined, and there was some damage to the cabinet. And I lost my favorite coffee mug too. But it's probably the best use for Hershey's chocolate syrup that I could think of (since it's pretty awful stuff).
$nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
There are really intelligent folks around.
*ducks*
w00t
-Al
Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
Well, actually, I got a sneak preview of the next Jean M Auel book. You will recall that Ayla has already invented flint and steel for making fire, horse riding, needles and dogs, and Jondalar has invented guns. In this new book, Jondalar invents Rock and Roll (but Ayla gets jealous and smashes his instrument when he starts "sharing Pleasures" with groupies) and Ayla invents the Courts and becomes the first lawyer. She successfully prosecutes the First Cave of the Lanzadonii for breach of patent when they start sewing with needles, and later goes on to represent a woman who cuts herself on a flint knife which was not properly labelled as sharp. Later in the book, she nearly loses a case brought by the S'Armunai Wolf Women, but the case turns around when she calls one of Jondalar's exes from the Sharamudoi as a surprise witness.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
When I first heard the experiment, I was thinking, "Finally! Eileen does not have hoard her sponges and search for sponge-worthy men!" Just zap and reuse! But these disasters are more Krameresque than Eileeny.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
None of that matters. If you don't wet the sponge, the resulting fire will kill the bacteria just fine.
"I can see it now, billboards with signs saying: "a microwave is a great way to get a tan," "a blowtorch is a great way to thaw frozen pipes," and of course "it is cool to operate power tools--in the nude! Buy Budweiser!""
A small amount of humour is a dangerous thing.
From the FAQ:
"Note that being moderated Funny doesn't help your karma."
Thus the reason that people will mod a Funny post Informative.
SYS 64738
No, just waterboarding them. That's NOT torture.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
In college I lived in a cooperative house where 50 of us shared a big industrial kitchen. Todd, a guy I was friendly with, walked in with a hot dog wrapped in foil-backed paper. He said, I can put this in the microwave, right? And I'm thinking "Um, you never heated a hot dog in the microwave? That's what they're best at!" It did not occur to me that he meant, including the foil-backed paper. Who doesn't know you can't put foil in the microwave?
So he stuck it in there and pop! the paper explodes in flame. I yelled "what are you doing!?" and he said "you said it would be fine!"
I guess in a way this was my first experience in tech support: you can never be too clear.
my karma will hurt after this post. [...]And so I say "farewell to karma..."
People who try to apply reverse-psychology on moderators should be treated with -1, Provocation.