Images of Plastic Waste in landfills and our oceans have become so commonplace. We risk becoming immune to them, but plastic is a serious problem that wont go away on its own. More and more plastic is manufactured every year. In 2018, most went to packaging 12 percent was used for consumer products. We should all reduce our plastic consumption because sooner or later it all ends up as waste. But how can we tackle all that discarded plastic . Could tiny worms be part of the solution to this gigantic problem . Our reporter christiane power that decided to find out and made a few new friends on the way. The swarms are doing something that we almost thought was impossible. But you think reading done on the great appeal by jesting, the non digestible. Theyre even plastic. This is how they would use a piece of styrofoam in just the week. If we could harvest their super power, we could get 3 or 4 plastic trash in weeks rather than send to reach a could save. Countless animals help cleaned. Liam vironment and avoid toxic plastic incineration can pass to help solve our plastic problem. Busy busy oh yeah, yeah, i have to say that my, that night shes been getting up at the kini a molecular biologist, who in 2017 made an important discovery by not cleaning water. Maybe it was basically what they used to find that was there. But the swarms managed to eat their way out of the plastic bag. Its Something Interesting to grasp the importance of these discovery, we 1st need to understand more plastic is plastic is a mysterious material. Frankel, a science writer, author, and real plastic. In the natural world, natural substances, theyre sort of broken up by bacteria. They go back to their essential elements. Water, plastic doesnt do that. It just gets smaller and smaller are smaller, but its still essentially last chance. Why micro plastic stain the environment for same to release to the plastics resistance to book a few years, a curse. But we forget that its also part of its miracle plastics really transform the world. They really create our modern or a world that is saved by janick more color in the world that came before. For most of our history, weve built things with stuff we found in nature, rocks and metals. But theres the ward modernize and there was a growing demand for properties that already scarce natural elements processed things like raisin silk or ivory in the mid 19th century. Believe war worried that so many elements were being able to make billiard balls and theyll consider being driven into extinction. Eventually obeah, the ball manufacturer promised to reach price to whoever could find a more abundant substitute for ivory that caught the eye of an inventor named john wesley hyatt, who spent several years to bring in his workshop benchley came up with the stuff. So you avoid the plastic cage at begun. Adverts like visa celebrative in what theory they are, that it may be everything a rag doll group. We probably washable read it because they were laughed at by our 7. Noida replaced tortoise shell coral and mother nylon replaced silk and bucket like to replace the raise enough to lock people. Its funny because in the early years, plastic was seen as sort of a, some patient of nature. And today we look at it is one of the chief enemies of the natural plastic is no everywhere. Some are light and transparent like plastic bags. All those are extremely resistant, like bulletproof vests. What they all have in common is the polymer, which just basically needs their materials that are made up repeating atomic units. And i think of them as like beads on a chip. But a plastic looks like how it feels, how it behaves, all of that depends on how to put together. And the reason why plastic lasts so long in the environment is that nothing evolved to break down to stop of bombs or a key piece. Thats what we thought these warms are like, you know, they are called real war and you can actually buy them online and watch them become it cute. As you feed them with styrofoam. Its not the organisms themselves. Its the bacteria, those organisms probably produce, you know, hes a, hes a professor of biology and he knows everything about enzymes. Its exciting times for horrible places actually to face those bacteria growing on the surface of they just think that their goal is to find new bugs and bacteria. They cant, they just bust, they isolate their enzymes and then inhance and must produce them in by reactors. Obviously we cant just create your shit with these technology cant help with the plastic already in the environment. However, it could revolutionize our recycling system to really recycle something. You have to break it down to its basic elements so that you can rearrange them into something else. Because we cant break down plastic bonds, we can only recycle it once or twice before it becomes unusable. And deaths, wifeys warms can be a game changer. If you think about bio recycling, what you can do is take that and reuse it again and again, in fact, sounds like scifi, but its already underway. For example, a French Company named carpios is a radio using again signs to recycle bottles like these and not just once or twice, but inferior infinitely, if you can increase the value of the waist high in sensitising, the market move forwards my mind, collect the past in the 1st place, and instead of people actually giving money to goods, you know what im still selling to people wholl be big money to take it back again and we use it. So the technology was not scalable yet, and its still more expensive than virgin plastics. Oil and gas is really cheap. Slow down means its cheaper to make caustic remarks and gas than recycled materials. We need to get these technologies working at a much bigger scale that were currently doing in order to even make a dent. I do believe we really need some more hard so can my warms with their enzymes solve our plastic problem . I think its great if we can find things like, you know, meal worms that are, you know, the bacteria that while the last is really a design problem, its that we take acid. d and were using them all too often to make things that are trivial and under necessary and serve, you know, we are in a toxic relationship with plastic. We invented it to substitute and repel box. And now were turning to bugs to get rid of it. And i dont think we want it without glancing. I mean, you know, i like the fact that my glasses are on my face that im in the middle of the fire and spread. There are just people want to demonize plastic. The issue is very on the issue is how we break it, how we use it, you will dispose of that. And here is, well my screamy friend 7 important lesson to teach us they have adapted to leave with plastic. d we should do the same to my friend. Here we are. Go now, youre free. Go and save the war eagle. The last incidental meal worms usually used as a chicken feed or fish base. Have another surprise in store. Scientists at Stanford University already knew that various forms of plastic. Now theyve established that the worms can break down the toxic additives in plastic with no ill effects. So in theory, the mealworms could die nonplastic and then still be used just animal feed. And now we turn to another industrious creature in economic terms. Honeybees have always punched about their weight as pollinators and honey produces, they contribute around 2500000000. 00 euros a year to the German Economy and know not to mention their contribution to the natural world. Biologically speaking, there are 9 species of honeybee, most of them are native to asia. Probably the best known these days is the western honeybee, which has been spread by humans and can be found all over the world. And the next record will take a look at some subspecies of the western honeybee and explore how its genetic diversity could best be protected. And is getting a visit from agronomists. Here to the west of berlin. Mr. Big, this is the moment of truth. Lets see if i still find any drones all inclement reagan, a works for the institute for be research near. Hes come here hoping to find some rare bees. A huge problem is that bee species diversity is declining dramatically. The karni on honeybee is the one we have thats most genetically diverse. But the real gem is the european darkie, which is now very rare. Mr. Skakel is one of the few people who breeds it, and thats why were here today to get samples vegan has instituted, setting up europes 1st honeybee gene database. Its given a tradition like gene banks for cattle, pigs and sheep have been around for some time. But theres been nothing of that kind of bees anywhere in europe. Its needed because the genetic diversity of rb populations is declining fast. There are constantly new parasites as well as challenges due to climate change. We can only meet them at our bees. Genetic makeup is as diverse as the challenge is to make the database as comprehensive as possible. The scientists have been collecting samples from many b. Colonies across germany. They vary widely in terms of the properties of such as gentleness, diligence, and swarming behavior. Some types have become extremely rare. For example, the european dark until the mid 19th century, it was the most common honeybee in germany. But then it was displaced by the canio, and i may be conic up, you know, the karni omen, honey bee expanded through breeding. And it prevailed because it is also relatively gentle with a relatively low swarming tendency. So people like tim and the dark be declined. Thats gone so far that there are no more dark b. Colonies originally from germany. The only ones we have now, one or 2 percent of colonies are descended from ri, imports board of trade and all but the european doug b. Is alive and well in hot months, got as high. He had his 1st beans at the age of 10, and hes more interested in the colonies themselves than in how much money they yield. Skakel seems the duck be as part of germanys history or with over there are lots of drones. So all start collecting them in the uk of a going to carefully picks out the drones in the comb. Please leave me a couple. I have a few young queens here that i need them to mate with and this is one last drone then vega collects a few worker bees for good measure. He needs samples of drones and workers from this colony for his gene database. Another one has got out and luckily theyre being nice today that back in his lab in who are now and off in a starts to prepare the material for the database. 1st. He preserves the frozen work of bees and alcohol that way. He has a record of that typical shape to help distinguish the different beast then come the drones to mail bees. Extract under the microscope. Its High Precision work. Its a routine procedure for him, but still you have to realize that the drone always dies when it is jackie lates. It would do that if it were mating with the queen. We only do this because we really need his sperm in order to preserve his traits for the future of bees here or elsewhere. In the precious sperm is stored in liquid nitrogen at minus 196. 00 degrees celsius, a process known as cryo preservation. Later were going to examine samples of the drones. Frozen sperm, together with professor felt who heads the institute. The researchers want to know how good the quality of the sperm is. Once its defrosted. Look here, you can see that after its thought it was sperm cells, still remaining idols. The flagella can still beat strongly and indicating that its good sperm. You could inseminate a queen with it and shed be fertile. Yes, it really looks like fresh sperm. Looks really good, sees europes 1st genetic database where honeybees is just the 1st step towards a larger goal. He interfered in genetic diversity among honey bees is endangered around the world. And here in germany, they undergo a lot of selection. And that decreases the genetic diversity. But globally, the situation is even more dramatic because these selected species from germany and austria are exported around the world. That means they displace the sub species that are well adapted to the local conditions. And thats why our database is so significant. It can preserve these Genetic Resources for the future. It will take time before genetic databases for honeybees can be built up across europe or worldwide. But in germany, these research is a hoping to have filed away material from some 300 colonies by the end of 2021. Here and that gene, bank of b. Biodiversity. If outlet is red, white flag, and even if you have a science question, youd like us to answer send it in. If we featured on this show, you get a little surprise as a thank you. Can just ask youll find us on the web at d. F. W. Dot com slash science or check us out on twitter. The nutritional components in milk include lactose fats press hien, minerals, and fishermen produce it to feed their young to fend for themselves. Press humans milk remains an important source of mutual even into adult hood. That is, despite estimates that 3 quarters of the global population have difficulty digesting lactose. But a special kind of milk could be a game changer in this milk is said to be easier to digest. Dairy farmer always has a little in his morning coffee. Its known as aid to milk that he hopes to ensure the future of his business. Today is debuting his own 1000000 delivery service. Hows the feeling about the new venture . So its, well, its another step, one of several weve undertaken since 2015 to diversify away from dairy production. We have to wait and see how well its received. If customers, we dont know exactly what to expect first he visited scamps to see if theyre all in good shape. Now that hes also making deliveries, hes working on a tight schedule. Now shit is pretty standard. But its all mental cattle are not, at least not all of them. And also michelle from the outside, they all look alike. But there is a genetic difference. We havent investigated these animals yet. We still need to do a d. N. A. Test to find out which are a one and which are age 2. Its been expensive. We had to break up the herd and sell the cows that were a one. Then we bred more of them from the basic stock. Thats why the price of milk went up on the plus of different fruits produced milk with different proportions of the a one and a 2 variants of beta casein guernseys have a lot of 8 too, as do some jerseys, and some cement historian, surmise that selective breeding over the ages change the composition of milk into the argument goes is the older form. Nowadays, most european cows or anyone gets veto. We have 140. 00 cows producing 6 and a half to 7000 liters of milk a year. Thats about 22. 00 leaders a day, which run from 2, but thats only 3 quarters of the yield of the dairy cow widely found in intensive farming. But gavins cows also in young good meat, unlike their high performing industrial counterparts. Whether milk contains only are mostly a one or a 2, it all looks the same, but the difference is significant. They didnt want to see you. Its clear that theyre different. We see it ourselves. There are people with milk intolerance who buy their milk from us. And can drink it without a problem, but not the other cards. And lots of foreigners buy our milk. You know, there must be Something Different about it. But of course we can prove it scientifically. We dont have the money to do that. Kind of, you know, really love a 1. 00 and 8. 00 to denote 2 forms of the beta casein protein made up of 209. 00, amino acids. But there is one difference between them to milk. An amino acid called proline occurs in position 67. Anyone in addition to delivering, gavin has set up a little kiosk where people can buy his milk. His customers seem happy. Yes, i mean if this is a 2, milk is great, very wholesome for the children or 2, we like it a lot kind of pushed it to. Im not milk intolerant. I just feel the other kind of milk isnt is right for me. While this one is so new and really disgusted, we have visitors. Recently, i always have this milk at home because after one of them said he cant drink milk at all. If he does, he has to rush to the bathroom. I told him i had a 2 milk, you know, he tried it and it was fine. So it really seems to work financially it, i thought it was one hypothesis is that it might work in the case of milk, protein intolerance, where enzymes cannot clean the proline in a 2 milk. Whereas they can cleave the his did in, in a one milk. But this releases a protein fragment called b c m 7, which could cause gastrointestinal problems. This doesnt apply to lactose intolerance though. Since a 2 milk also contains lactose as well as other key components of a strong immune system. Thats especially important for calves the stuff gadd and wants his girls as he calls them to be as healthy as possible. Theyre fed on a diet of grass, corn and wheat before the afternoon delivery. The farmer has to process the milk and fill the bottles, which he does in his own onsite plant. Sales manager, both on audience explains that with normal milk. This is a job usually done by the dairy. I not with a chew, milk. You need another step in the goods flow chains, a whole new handling path in the logistics chain. And the large dairies arent ready for that. So we decided to do it ourselves. You need to be pioneering visionary. But there was immediate demand for saddam approximately 800. 00 households need to buy the product for it to be profitable for his visitor insurance. Advance the visuals from the personally. This was the only way we could get around Agricultural Policy and price dumping in the milk market. In that respect, its the only alternative by common from and the only way the get in family can ensure their dear a farm survives. There are no scientific studies that prove a 2. Milk is more digestible, but the market exists. You can buy it in a number of countries. Thats all for now. Thank you for joining us. For morning grossing stories about science and technology visit, our website will be back next week with a fresh edition of tomorrow today. Until then by definition airy and a pragmatist. Diplomat always gets straight to the point to go to the last cultural diplomatic in 15 minutes on t. W. And bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, bored, who . All of the morning . I cant sleep because you know, war isnt love in those wars. Small all over the news and all the rules. Theres no news. No love, no love for the wicked doesnt work, gives me a hug. Cant sleep a good sleep. The current form it is going to do no good today. Nothing would change. You know the banks and so was the language of the bank money for speaking the truth, global news that matters. G. W. Made for minds. How does a virus spread . Why do we panic . And when well all be introduced through the topics covered and the weekly radio show is called spectrum. If you would like any information on the coronavirus or any other science topic, you should really check out our podcast so you can get it wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find us at tom ford slash science. This is david lean, us live from the careers interim president , Manuel Merino steps down off the list on a week in the office. Resignation comes off to protests calling for his removal link at least 2 days. And Dozens Injured nation faces a crisis too, because its also coming up. Germany looks likely to face talk of measures to contain the spread of coronavirus. The country is in a partial lockdown already, and Angela Merkel is set to make regional leaders to discuss the why you did see