Meet the mealworm – a.k.a. the grub (or larvae) of the yellow mealworm beetle, or the darkling beetle. Tenebrio molitor for those of you scientifically inclined. Also, introduce yourself to waxworm – a.k.a. the larval stage of the Indian mealmoth, or Plodia interpunctella.
Why should you acquaint yourself with these animals?
Because according to a new study entitled “Evidence of Polyethylene Biodegradation by Bacterial Strains from the Guts of Plastic-Eating Waxworms,” they may have just started an environmental revolution.
According to the study – a cooperative venture between BeiHang University and Stanford – bacteria in the guts of certain larvae are capable of subsisting off of polyethylene, a common form of plastic (of which 80 million tons is produced annually).
Not only that, they are converting the substance into carbon dioxide, biomass and biodegradable waste.
“Polyethylene (PE) has been considered nonbiodegradable for decades,” the researchers noted, adding that the results of their study “demonstrated the presence of PE-degrading bacteria in the guts of waxworms and provided promising evidence for the biodegradation of PE in the environment.”
Amazing, isn’t it?
“The planet … is a self-correcting system,” the late George Carlin once said. “The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed. And if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn’t share our prejudice toward plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old philosophical question, ‘Why are we here?’”
“Plastic!”
LOLz.
Also, “we’ve got one word for the graduate.”
(Click to play)
20 comments
Does anyone have a secret hoard of the “Plastic Man” comic books?
Anne Bancroft: Queen Cougar + Super MILF all rolled into one.
Anne Bancroft, Richard Widmark, and Marilyn Monroe in “Don’t Bother to Knock” (1952 b&w) —
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This is one of my favorite films and the surprise to me is the realistic, gritty performance by Monroe which revealed her potential to become one the greatest actresses ………..
Thanks for the tip! I’ll have to watch it on my streaming box.
Richard Widmark. Proof, a guy doesn’t have to be good looking to be sexy.
See “The Bedford Incident” (1965) with Sidney Poitier for an interesting film…
Yes! Such a great movie. They don’t show it very often. She is really good.
last tuesday I got a top of the range Honda from earning $16020 this last four weeks and also ten-k last-month . this is definitely the coolest work I have ever done . Without any question it’s the most financially rewarding Ive had . I started this 4 months ago & practicaIIy straight away began to bring home over $97 p/h .Visit weblink to start immediately.
.fv……….
???? http://GoogleExtraPayingTopJobsNewEmploymentProjects/Get/Start/Today… ??????????????????????????????????????????
Not really…as we grow older (and hopefully mature) we see that she just played a dried up old, slut, who was so low, she slimed herself by desperately humping a kid. The misguided woman was fucked up …and needed security that whoring around provides for very unstable women…
Now, we’ve been through a couple generations of broken homes, shattered children, with dysfunctional liberals telling us selfishness is deserved, and God is dead..
You have to be a pretty weak-minded son-of-bitch yourself to still be fixated on the idea that there’s anything sexy – or super -about a woman who betrays her family, because she’s a dumbass, who an only find value as it is defined by pop culture…
I’m not surprised you have trouble separating reality from fiction.
You are a sad person. I hope someone is praying for you.
You’re a fucking liberal…your whole life is based in the myths and lies (Fiction) that the Democrat Party feeds you so that you’ll do whatever the fuck they tell you to do…
You’re such an incredibly angry person, that spends his whole day here.
Sad.
But you agree w/ my analysis…right?
I pray for Flip and GrandTango. They claim they are Christian but they have so much hatred in their hearts I am afraid it may be in name only. Perhaps God will help them see the light one day.
He will show them the light, it just happens it will be their eternal souls burning in a lake of fire that creates that light.
Talk about anything BUT….
The worms produce carbon dioxide??? That’s a greenhouse gas, isn’t it???
Doesn’t the gov’t want to lower CO2 emissions???
Will these worms cause global warming (or will they cause global cooling?)
A fine example of an environmental denialist grasping at [plastic] straws.
Will they make good fast-food hamburgers like the others?
Yes. There are certain plastics that are biodegradable. The reason why they’re not the norm is because:
1) They’ll cost too much to produce in the long-run.
2) Cronyists prefer the dangerous stuff because they’re cheap to produce and could give two fucks about the environment.