Animal Research 
1 Comment Making a Meal(worm) out of Plastic
This is pretty amazing! Researchers from Stanford raised mealworms on a diet of styrofoam. And the results?
Each worm ate about a few dozen milligrams every day, converting about half to carbon dioxide and leaving half behind as non-toxic waste.
Assuming there are no ill effects down the road for these worms or predators that eat them, the implication of this styrofoam diet are huge!
According to the EPA, Americans toss out 25,000,000,000 styrofoam cups each year, which do not break down fast or easily — and that’s just cups! But if mealworms are willing and able to lend a helping mouth (or, more accurately, the helpful bacteria in their guts that breaks down plastic), this could be a powerful solution for the world’s plastic waste.
Hungry Mealworms
Photo: Yu Yang, Stanford
Who says worms are slimy and gross?
