Author: Sic

In the first study researchers found that mealworms fed only Styrofoam were just as healthy as mealworms fed the more traditional meal (bran, in this case). Each worm could eat about a pill-sized portion every day.

In the second study focused on the mealworms’ gut microbes, which are able to break down the plastic safely. The researchers were able to turn this bacteria into a film that they applied to polystyrene, a form of the same plastic used to make Styrofoam. The bacteria were also able to eat through polystyrene, but at a much slower rate than the mealworms.

http://www.popsci.com.au/science/nature/mealworms-can-happily-and-safely-eat-styrofoam,409996

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-AAGAhOaFU

more details here

http://news.sciencemag.org/chemistry/2015/09/cleaner-greener-way-store-solar-and-wind-energy?&utm_source=sciencemagazine&utm_medium=facebook-text&utm_campaign=clean_energy-90_2015-09-28

Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, researchers detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in several locations on Mars when temperatures are above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), and disappear at colder times.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-confirms-evidence-that-liquid-water-flows-on-today-s-mars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iJP7DFt6AU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FGauefqGuw

The finding demonstrates that gear mechanisms previously thought to be solely man-made have an evolutionary precedent. Scientists say this is the “first observation of mechanical gearing in a biological structure“.

http://phys.org/news/2013-09-functioning-mechanical-gears-nature.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-0xVQcfoXM

Jump to the 30 minute mark to see a remarkable demo of carbon nano tubes.

Check out the water droplet orbiting a charge knitting needle in space at the 36 second mark.