|
|
Article: Eating TRASH.(bugs that eat garbage could help clean up the environment)
- Article from:
- Science World
- Article date:
- April 9, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
To you it's a disgusting lump of trash--to a microbe it's bon appetit! Learn how garbage-eating bugs help clean up the environment.
What happens to the banana peel, empty cereal box, and milk carton you threw away after breakfast this morning? In many communities, garbage eventually ends up in a landfill (see "What a Dump!"). And when trash hits the dirt, it's chow time for billions of invisible organisms called microbes.
These tiny creatures abound in garbage mounds, with thousands of species in residence. Scientists think microbes may be the oldest life forms on Each. They devour just about anything that's biodegradable (materials that can be broken ...
Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:
|