GraceRandolph Posted 13 hours ago Posted 13 hours ago A scientist guides a long tube into the mouth and down to the stomach of Thing 1, a two-month-old calf that is part of a research project aiming to prevent cows from burping methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Paulo de Meo Filho, a postdoctoral researcher at University of California, Davis, is part of an ambitious experiment aiming to develop a pill to transform cow gut bacteria so it emits less or no methane. While the fossil fuel industry and some natural sources emit methane, cattle farming has become a major climate concern due to the sheer volume of the cows' emissions. "Almost half of the increase in (global) temperature that we've had so far, it's been because of methane," said Ermias Kebreab, an animal science professor at UC Davis. Methane, the second largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide, breaks down faster than CO2 but is more potent. "Methane lives in the atmosphere for about 12 years" unlike carbon dioxide which persists for centuries, Kebreab said. "If you start reducing methane now, we can actually see the effect on the temperature very quickly." Filho uses the tube to extract liquid from Thing 1's rumen—the first stomach compartment containing partially digested food. Using the rumen liquid samples, the scientists are studying the microbes that convert hydrogen into methane, which is not digested by the cow but instead burped out. A single cow will burp roughly 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of the gas annually. Full: https://phys.org/news/2024-11-scientists-miracle-pill-methane-cow.html
loveisdead9582 Posted 13 hours ago Posted 13 hours ago I'm no expert on biology but couldn't cows be fed a diet which would cut down on the amount of methane they produce? It would likely be more expensive than what the meat farms want to spend (which i'm all for) and might be better for their health? A miracle pill seems like it would allow for the big companies to still feed the cattle garbage and pump them full of vitamins right before they're about to be… harvested…
May Posted 12 hours ago Posted 12 hours ago 16 minutes ago, loveisdead9582 said: I'm no expert on biology but couldn't cows be fed a diet which would cut down on the amount of methane they produce? It would likely be more expensive than what the meat farms want to spend (which i'm all for) and might be better for their health? A miracle pill seems like it would allow for the big companies to still feed the cattle garbage and pump them full of vitamins right before they're about to be… harvested… actually this is one of the biggest news stories in the UK rn bc we're trying to do just that but conspiracy theorists are now boycotting any product that does it https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bovaer-cows-milk-boycotts-conspiracy-theorists-b2658206.html 1
loveisdead9582 Posted 11 hours ago Posted 11 hours ago 1 hour ago, May said: actually this is one of the biggest news stories in the UK rn bc we're trying to do just that but conspiracy theorists are now boycotting any product that does it https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bovaer-cows-milk-boycotts-conspiracy-theorists-b2658206.html … I highly doubt it's toxic. I just wish that the giant meat farms would have to start treating and feeding the animals better instead of just feeding them all a pill and continuing as normal. I get the science behind the pill and I definitely think that cutting down on methane gas production from such a prominent source would be a good idea. Hopefully it passes. Climate change isn't going away and cutting down on a significant source of greenhouse gasses would be a great way to start. They'd have to be mandated though otherwise it wouldn't make enough of a difference. Or maybe a tax credit…
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