May 23 2008
An End to Ballast Invaders
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7392072.stm
I thought this was fascinating. They’ve figured out that if you microwave ballast water, you kill everything in it, thus ending the tyrrany of Dreissena polymorpha and Mnemiopsis leidyi.
But I gotta say, as stoked as I am at this development and what it means for the integrity of ecosystems… it certainly makes me more nervous about the appliance in my galley…
Wow. How interesting! Thanks for sharing this little scientific tidbit.
Eh, that’s just because any critters in the water become selectively superheated.
You could probably boil the water over a big burner and it would have the same result, microwaving is simply faster and less energy-intensive.