How are maggots like waves in an ocean? How are they like puppies? In this fascinating Macroscope video from Science Friday, The Very Hungry Maggot, we meet David Hu, a mechanical engineering professor who’s studying how black soldier fly larvae consume food… a lot of food: Up to twice their body mass in food per day. From SciFri:
Hu’s lab is not a creepy, crawling maggot madhouse without purpose. These efficient, feasting creatures can be harnessed for our own benefit: breaking down waste.
A third of the food in restaurants and homes is thrown in the trash, which can sometimes end up as pollution. Maggots raised in bulk at fly larva farms dine on restaurant, consumer, and home food waste—and can eat 100 tons in a day. These maggots are then fed to chickens and fish for a high protein diet.
But how are maggots like puppies or like waves in an ocean? Watch the video to learn more.
Then watch these next: Inside the Compost Cycle: Turning waste to nutrient-rich soil, The Surprising Places We Waste Energy, Entomophagy: Why eating insects makes sense, and a Maggot to Fly Time Lapse Transformation.
Bonus: Watch videos about fluid dynamics and food chains.
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