The Week Junior - USA (2021-11-12)

15

Science and technology

November 12, 2021 •The Week Junior

New insect-based pet foods help the Earth

M

ore than 2 billion people around

the world eat insects on a regular

basis. Now food companies in the US are

off ering that option to pets.

About 67% of US households have a

pet, and the majority of food for cats and

dogs contains meat.

While many people

are choosing plant-

based proteins to cut

meat consumption,

their pets are still

eating pork, beef, and

other meats.

Raising cows, pigs, and

chickens for food (whether for people

or pets) requires large amounts of

land, water, and electricity. Use of

these resources, as well as the animals’

poop and burps, creates greenhouse

gases (gases that remain in Earth’s

atmosphere and trap heat, causing the

planet to warm up). Researchers at the

University of California at Los Angeles

estimate that meat-eating pets in the

US create about 64 million tons of

greenhouse gases each year, the

same as 13.6 million cars.

Many insects

require little food or

water to survive and

are easy to raise in

huge numbers. They

are high in protein and

a healthy alternative

to meat. To help the

environment, big brands like

Mars and Nestle are off ering pet food

made with fl y larvae, while Jiminy’s,

an eco-friendly brand, uses crickets in

its food. Anne Carlson, the founder of

Jiminy’s, said customers often tell her,

“‘I didn’t even realize I could be fi ghting

climate change with my dog.’”

GETTY IMAGES (2); ENVIROFLIGHT; SUN ET AL./MATTER

B

abies laugh like apes before

learning to chuckle like other

people, according to a new study

done in the Netherlands. When

adult humans laugh, they inhale

silently, then make “ha-ha-ha”

sounds while exhaling. Great apes,

such as chimpanzees and bonobos,

make a “ huh-ha-huh-ha” sound as

they breathe in and out, laughing

the whole time. Researchers found

that human babies also laughed

while exhaling and inhaling.

As the babies got older, they

tended to laugh more while exhaling

and less while inhaling. To fi nd out

why, the team asked 102 people

to listen to babies laughing. The

laughter produced while exhaling

was more pleasing to the listeners.

Researchers think that babies

notice how adults react to their

laughter and learn to make it more

pleasing as they grow. The team

hopes to fi nd out if this is true for

other sounds, such as crying.

Human babies laugh like great apes

Babies laugh

di erently

than adults.

S

wedish scientists created

wood fl ooring that generates

electricity when stepped on. A

test piece of the fl ooring, about

the size of a piece of paper,

successfully lit up a light bulb

and can produce enough energy

to power small electronic

devices, like calculators.

The fl ooring is made of spruce

wood coated with silicone (a

material similar to plastic) on

one side and embedded with

nanocrystals (extremely small

crystals) on the other. The team

hopes that one piece of it will be

able to “produce a signifi cant

amount of energy.”

A wood floor that

creates electricity

Most dogs

eat food made

with meat.

FURRY

FRIENDS

One in fi ve American

households have gott

en

a dog or cat during the

Covid-19 pandemic.

The fl oor

powering

a light

Insects can be a

healthy food option.