From: John De Armond
Newsgroups: alt.rv,rec.outdoors.rv-travel
Subject: Re: OT - Anthrax Safety Question
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 18:36:16 -0400

bill horne wrote:
>
> Ken Adams wrote:
> >
> > I am not sure about bacterium but insects are not affected by radiation or
> > microwave radiation, try it put a bug in the microwave.
> >
> > Ken
>
> Wrong. Somebody once told me a roach could survive microwaving. My test
> roach lasted less than 3 seconds. What kind of insect did you try it
> with? My roach could have come from a line that was an evolutionary dead
> end.

Roaches are extraordinarily resistant to NUCLEAR radiation.  It is
common to find roaches in hot cells and irradiation cells.  In one
experiment run by a former colleague, roaches were exposed to
massive Co-60 radiation.  The roaches finally died but not from the
radiation but instead from the ozone produced by the intense
ionization.

What is in a microwave is NOT an ionizing radiation.  It is simply
radio waves.  Until the energy density is sufficient to cause
heating, there is no biological effect and the heating effect is not
cumulative, unlike nuclear radiation.  Of course a roach will die in
the microwave - from being boiled in its own juices.

John