Making cows a more eco-friendly animal 

Cows are able to get all the energy they need from plant material — such as stems and leaves of grasses and legumes — which we humans are unable to digest. They are called ruminants, which means they are animals with compartmentalized stomachs; part of their stomach (the rumen) contains microbes that ferment and break down plants into forms the animal can use for energy. 
 
While the activity in cows' rumens allows them to turn low-quality food into muscle and milk, there are losses along the way. The process of turning feed into individual molecules used for energy also produces methane gas, which escapes into the atmosphere through the cow's “burps.” In fact, researchers estimate that two to 12 percent of the energy a cow consumes is turned into methane. 
 
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with 21 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon dioxide over 100 years. It can stay in the atmosphere for about nine years before it is broken down into carbon dioxide. While there are many different sources of methane — including melting permafrost, and the production and transportation of oil, natural gas, and coal — agriculture is an important contributor. 
 
Researchers are studying ways to reduce the methane emissions of cows, to make them more environmentally friendly. They have found diet to be a major factor, and modifying it — by adding grains, fatty seeds like canola or soybeans, and even micro algae — has positive methane-reducing effects. Experiments adding certain plant compounds to the feed, as well as improving hay quality, also had positive outcomes. Other strategies on the horizon include influencing the rumen microbes' activity through biotechnology and feed additives. Breeding also shows promise for improving the cow’s ability to convert feed into energy. If a cow can make the same amount of milk with less feed, then less methane is also produced. 
 
This important research helps increase the efficiency of farms. As demand for food increases globally, it will be critical to increase the productivity of our farming systems in tandem with reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and impact on the environment.

Can life “find a way” on Mars?

In the 1993 film, Jurassic Park , the phrase “Life finds a way” neatly sums up the uncanny ability of life to evolve crazy adaptations to survive in the most unlikely of places. This is especially true for microbes: tiny organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye.  

One great example is bacteria living deep below the Earth’s surface, which survive by eating electricity! When you and I eat food, our bodies break it down, causing electrons to flow through a series of chemical reactions, creating usable energy. In “electric bacteria,” the food part of the equation is skipped entirely, allowing them to “eat” and use electrons harvested directly from rocks and minerals. This means they can thrive in inhospitable areas like mineral veins running through solid rock kilometers below the Earth’s surface.  

Or how about microbes who have managed to survive in a coma-like state on the South Pacific seafloor for 100 million years, only to be woken up? These microbes (like many others) have adapted to go into a dormant state when faced with difficult circumstances (e.g., not enough food, non-ideal temperatures, etc). Remarkably, after an incubation process, scientists were able to revive them. What makes this so incredible is the time scale! Scientists are familiar with bacteria that can go dormant for months, years, or even decades. But 100 million years?! It raises the question of just how long bacteria could actually live in that state.  

Then there’s “Conan the bacterium,” a bacteria so tough that it’s been found on the walls of nuclear reactors. It can happily survive 1,000 times the dose of radiation that would kill a human. How exactly? This bacteria is remarkably adept at repairing and copying the DNA that gets shredded by radiation. 

The pervasive, resilient, and resourceful nature of life has led scientists to speculate that life might exist in even more surprising places, on Earth and beyond. On July 30, 2020, NASA’s Perseverance rover began its trip to Mars, where it will be searching for signs of ancient life. Given that we’re still being surprised by the limits of life on Earth, it will be interesting to see if “life finds a way” elsewhere in our Solar System too.