stupid anthrax q: would microwaving your snail mail help?

[Eugene Leitl]

On Sun, 14 Oct 2001, sunder wrote:

> Would it help to microwave your mail if you don't know where it came
> from and you're sure it doesn't contain an objects?  i.e. it's not a
> CD you've ordered from Amazon. :)

No. You could bake for ~2 h at 140 C though (adding warmup time depending
on volume). Or, autoclave it (2 h 120-130C).

> Do anthrax spores get cooked enough by microwaves to be killed, or are
> they too dry in spore form to be nuked?

They're too small, too dry, and the microwave is illuminated very
inhomogenously due to standing waves in the resonator.