Parchment paper is a common tool for home bakers to keep their cookies and cakes sticking in the oven. But can you use this material in the microwave?

Anna Abalkina is a research fellow at the Institute for East European Studies at the Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

The humble paper check had a good run, but it’s all nearly dead today. Originally developed one thousand years ago in the Middle East, checks were the most widely used non-cash payment method in ...