DEFENDING YOUR RIGHTS, FIGHTING FOR YOU www.lawyersreadytofight.com 317-934-9725
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
156 East Market Street, 13th Floor Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Desk of John Razumich PAGE 1 Why Do We Use Christmas Trees and Ornaments? PAGE 1
The Strange Story of Parental Advisory Labels PAGE 2
You’re a Mainstay, Mr. Grinch PAGE 3 No-Bake Peanut Butter Snowballs PAGE 3 These Bugs Love Takeout Containers PAGE 4
THESE ‘SUPERWORMS’ COULD SAVE OUR PLANET Meet the Bugs With a Taste for Plastic
Hundreds of years after you die and decompose, the Styrofoam takeout containers you used for last night’s Thai food will still linger in the landfill. Scientists estimate it takes thousands of years for Styrofoam (aka polystyrene) to break down when buried under other trash. Even in direct sunlight, the process takes decades! This is a huge pollution problem — but a tiny bug may be able to solve it. On the other side of the globe, at the University of Queensland in Australia, researchers are keeping a tank full of pets that may save us all from our plastic waste: Zophobas morio , aka the “giant mealworm” or “superworm.”
experiment at the University of Queensland, told Science Daily. “The breakdown products from this reaction can then be used by other microbes to create high-value compounds such as bioplastics.” Not only did the worms in the Queensland study eat the Styrofoam, but they actually gained weight from a healthy diet of takeout containers. Their ability to digest plastic is likely thanks to the gut bacteria Dr. Rinke mentioned. If we can grow and control these bacteria, we may be able to set it loose in landfills and turn our trash into something more useful. Superworms haven’t saved us yet — in fact, we usually use the 2-inch brown bugs as food for pet lizards and birds — but it’s about time we put their true potential to work. Fortunately, scientists like Dr. Rinke are on the case.
In the wild, superworms are scavengers that will munch on anything from animals to apples. But in captivity, researchers have found another food they love: Styrofoam.
“Our team is very excited to push the science to make it happen,” he said. To see the superworms in action, head to YouTube.com and search “superworm plastic.”
“Superworms are like mini recycling plants, shredding the polystyrene with their mouths and then feeding it to the bacteria in their gut,” Dr. Chris Rinke, the leader of the superworm
4 • www.lawyersreadytofight.com
Published by Newsletter Pro • www.newsletterpro.com
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator