The effects that massive oil spills have on our oceans are disastrous, but what if we could clean them up in a flash using a sponge? This far-fetched idea is actually becoming a reality as researchers at Australia’s Deakin University have developed a new sponge-like material that’s capable of absorbing oil separate from water. What’s best about the new material is that it uses boron nitride as its main building block, a non-flammable substance ideal for transporting volatile chemicals like oil. The team of researchers are now set to work with companies to produce the sponges on a larger scale so that they can be deployed to minimize the effects of future oil spills.