posted by
Fnord666
on Wednesday April 26 2017, @01:21AM
from the butterflies-with-plastic-wings dept.
from the butterflies-with-plastic-wings dept.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39694553
Researchers at Cambridge University have discovered that the larvae of the moth, which eats wax in bee hives, can also degrade plastic.
Experiments show the insect can break down the chemical bonds of plastic in a similar way to digesting beeswax.
[...] caterpillars of the moth (Galleria mellonella) can make holes in a plastic bag in under an hour.
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(17)30231-2
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Plastic-Eating Caterpillars Can Degrade Polyethylene
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by Fluffeh on Wednesday April 26 2017, @02:10AM (5 children)
Dr Bombelli and colleague Federica Bertocchini of the Spanish National Research Council have patented the discovery.
While at the same time:
They think microbes in the caterpillar - as well as the insect itself - might play a role in breaking down plastic.
How exactly does someone patent "We found something, think this might be happening, so we own all of it - though we're not sure what 'it' is yet"?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 26 2017, @02:34AM (1 child)
It's not just wax worms eating plastic. It's wax worms eating plastic on a computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 26 2017, @01:54PM
And wax worms eating your credit cards.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 26 2017, @02:48AM
How exactly does someone patent "We found something, think this might be happening, so we own all of it - though we're not sure what 'it' is yet"?
Patented trolling method: calling you a nigger. I dunno what "nigger" means but it seems to offend somehow so I'm gonna patent it as an effective method of trolling. Dumb Nigger!
(Score: 2) by lx on Wednesday April 26 2017, @07:34AM
Must be a thing with Italians working for Spanish institutuions [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 26 2017, @07:52AM
Dr Bombelli and colleague Federica Bertocchini of the Spanish National Research Council have patented the discovery.
After reading the same thing yesterday (and the research paper) I went looking if people are growing these worms for some reason... apparently they are grown as food for reptiles and birds. There were even methods described culturing them... including comments on NOT using "thin walled plastic containers", as they eat through them. I wonder if this patent will really hold in court, due to this prior art (and novelty of their "invention").