美国国家公共电台 NPR--How 'superworms' could help solve the trash crisis

How 'superworms' could help solve the trash crisis

Transcript¹

A bunch of small but hungry bugs³ might hold the key to saving the planet thanks to their uncanny ability to devour⁴ polystyrene — the material behind plastic foam⁵. These so-called "superworms" could one day help rid landfills of this waste and thus put a dent⁶ in one of the drivers of global warming.

Chris Rinke and other researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia are studying the larvae⁷ of the darkling beetle⁸ — or zophobas morio, its scientific name. They published a study in the journal Microbial Genomics earlier this month that found the bugs could survive on polystyrene alone, and in 66.7% of cases, transform into beetles⁹ on that relatively¹⁰ poor diet.

"They're really eating machines," Rinke said in an interview on NPR's Morning Edition. "Their main goal is to gain as much weight as they can to then become a pupa and a beetle. So, they're not very picky eaters."

The microbiomes in the guts¹¹ of the "superworms" allows them to survive on a plastic diet.

Scientific American/University of Queensland YouTube

In their natural environment, these so-called "superworms"' eat various types of decaying matter, such as rotten wood, leaves and even animal carcasses.

The secret lies in the guts of these "superworms," specifically their microbiomes. The scientists studied how the larvae break down some of the staggering plastic waste humans produce. The insects produce enzymes¹³ as they slice and dice¹⁴ through the white stuff.

"We could have gigantic worm farms with millions of worms and feed them polystyrene. But what scales way better, and is I would say also cheaper, is to focus on the enzymes," Rinke said.

The ultimate goal, he says, would be to synthetically¹⁶ reproduce these enzymes in a lab to recycle plastic by spreading a type of emulsion he dubs¹⁷ an "enzyme¹² cocktail¹⁸" over shredded¹⁹ plastic. Microbes could then help upcycle the material into bioplastics — which can take the form of very utilitarian²⁰ products like corn-based utensils²¹.

"Polystyrene waste, which is a rather low-value product, it goes through this biological degradation²² using the enzymes and then you can feed it to microbes to then produce something like bioplastic, which is actually a higher-value product. So then you would break the cycle" of waste, he explained.

University of Queensland researcher Chris Rinke began his journey into ways to reduce plastic after visiting a French Polynesian island that was littered with trash.

University of Queensland

But in order for a solution like this to exit the realm of science-fiction and enter reality, consumers will also need to step up to the plate by spending more on ecologically-friendly products, which would in turn help reduce plastic production.

Rinke added that plastic recycling rates are very low.

"I think the long-term vision is we use what nature can offer to help degrade the synthetic¹⁵ polymers we have made of petroleum²³ and then we slowly transition to natural polymers," he said.

For Rinke, it's also a personal journey and commitment that began with a sailing trip he took with his wife across the Pacific Ocean.

"We stopped at a beautiful uninhabited island in French Polynesia and we stayed there for a week and it was it was paradise. But if you look very carefully, you can see plastic there, right, and that kind of made it obvious that there's no escape," he recalled.

"You're on a tropical island somewhere thousands of miles away from any continent and there's plastic debris²⁴. So plastic is really everywhere. And that was one of the reasons why I wanted to look into that."

For now, he's holding out hope that what's inside the guts of this tiny bug² just might make our world a greener, better place.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

3 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 devour   

v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷

参考例句：

• Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大鱼吃小鱼。
• Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不过是一朵，终会被皱纹所吞噬。

5 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

6 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

7 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

8 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

9 beetles   

n.甲虫( beetle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Beetles bury pellets of dung and lay their eggs within them. 甲壳虫把粪粒埋起来，然后在里面产卵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This kind of beetles have hard shell. 这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

11 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 enzyme   

n.酵素，酶

参考例句：

• Above a certain temperature,the enzyme molecule will become unfolded.超过一定温度，酶分子将会展开。
• An enzyme that dissolves the fibrin of blood clots.能溶解血凝块中的纤维的酶。

13 enzymes   

n. 酶，酵素

参考例句：

• It was said that washing powders containing enzymes remove stains more efficiently. 据说加酶洗衣粉除污更有效。
• Among the enzymes which are particularly effective are pepsin, papain. 在酶当中特别有效的是胃朊酶、木瓜酶。

14 dice   

n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险

参考例句：

• They were playing dice.他们在玩掷骰子游戏。
• A dice is a cube.骰子是立方体。

15 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

16 synthetically   

adv. 综合地，合成地

参考例句：

• The time sequence model synthetically reflects trends of groundwater level. 总体来说，季节性时序模型的模拟和预测精度较高。
• You can't do It'synthetically, by just flying around and dropping in. 你不能仅靠坐着飞机到处蜻蜓点水地看看就得出一个综合印象。

17 dubs   

v.给…起绰号( dub的第三人称单数 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

18 cocktail   

n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物

参考例句：

• We invited some foreign friends for a cocktail party.我们邀请了一些外国朋友参加鸡尾酒会。
• At a cocktail party in Hollywood,I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin.在好莱坞的一次鸡尾酒会上，人家把我介绍给查理·卓别林。

19 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 utilitarian   

adj.实用的，功利的

参考例句：

• On the utilitarian side American education has outstridden the rest of the world.在实用方面美国教育已超越世界各国。
• A good cloth coat is more utilitarian than a fur one.一件优质的布外衣要比一件毛皮外衣更有用。

21 utensils   

器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物

参考例句：

• Formerly most of our household utensils were made of brass. 以前我们家庭用的器皿多数是用黄铜做的。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

22 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

23 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

24 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。