Researchers at the University of Florida have discovered that microwaving can kill stuff. People have been sanitizing kitchen sponges in the dishwasher for years, but turns out the microwave may be a faster, and more effective, way to go. Nuking your sponges on high for two minutes kills and/or immobilizes (immobilizes?) 99 percent of the bacteria, including nasty ones like E. coli, viruses, and bacterial spores.

Even though the idea didn't occur to me before now, this makes total sense. We all know that heat kills germs, and the microwave is really just cooking your sponge. But after reading this I can't help but laugh -- I have this picture in my head of a bunch of scientists with white jackets and goggles huddled around a microwave with a little yellow sponge spinning around inside on the turntable.

Go science!