Re:Mealworms can eat and biodegrade styrofoam
by Natsu on Thursday October 01, 2015 @09:19PM
(#10316012)
Yes, it's quite interesting to see how they go from whether they can eat this to whether they can survive on it.
Incidentally, I presume that was merely a slip of the tongue, but since it so often causes confusion, I should point out that mealworms aren't 'worms' (annelids), but insects (coleopterans--i.e. beetle larvae).
Re:Mealworms can eat and biodegrade styrofoam
by devy on Thursday October 01, 2015 @03:26PM
(#10313975)
Stanford's press release reads like they discovered this plastic eating mealworm like a new idea but it really wasn't. To me the new study is just a continuation of the previous discovery.
Also, there are so many Intel ISEF awarded research projects each year. But most of them seem to have gone nowhere. Rarely, some of them turned out to be very good ideas many years later. I wonder what the disconnect is.
Re:Mealworms can eat and biodegrade styrofoam
by devindotcom on Thursday October 01, 2015 @04:07PM
(#10314268)
Well, science certainly builds on itself incrementally, and the further exploration of an existing idea is no less valid a direction of study than a "new" idea. As for the ISEF stuff... well, who knows. Hopefully it gives young folks a bit of a push in the right direction, though.
I wish I had access to the full paper, though - it may be that they referenced the 2009 study but Stanford didn't think it necessary to include that in the press release - which is, after all, a press release.
The new study, however, is a controlled one that raises mealworms strictly on styrofoam and compares their health to a control generation. It's more about the fact that they can digest styrofoam continuously and with no ill effects than that they can do it at all. After all, worms that die of plastic toxicity or something after a couple days (perhaps bc the bacteria wear themselves out) aren't a very effective solution.