A bunch of small but hungry bugs might hold the key to saving the planet thanks to their uncanny ability to devour polystyrene — the material behind plastic foam. These so-called "superworms" could ...

Our planet has a plastic problem; plastic particles can be found in nearly every part of our environment, in organisms, even in the human body. Recycling plastic is not easy, for many reasons, and ...

The larvae of a common species of beetle are able to survive on a diet comprised entirely of polystyrene thanks to bacterial enzymes found in their gut, a new study finds. “Superworms are like mini ...

The plump, glossy larvae of the darkling beetle, nicknamed “superworms” perhaps because of their size, are usually content to munch on wheat bran. But a number of the two-inch-long critters recently ...

Recycling seems like a simple cure for our plastic addiction: just take the plastic we have and make it into new items. But problems abound. Current technology mostly creates plastic of a lower ...

Plastic is choking our environment. About 400 million tons of plastic waste is thrown out every year with between 75 to 199 million tons floating in oceans and endangering aquatic ecosystems, ...

Scientists assessed changes in the gut microbiome of superworms (Zophobas morio) in a new study. The University of Queensland Researchers in Australia have identified enzymes in the gut of certain ...

A snacking superworm that loves to eat polystyrene may hold the key to helping recycle plastic waste with a bacterial enzyme in its gut, researchers say. Superworms, which are not technically worms as ...

New research shows the gut of the Zophobas morio beetle larvae contains enzymes capable of breaking down the plastic, which is difficult to recycle Beetle larvae that can shred and eat polystyrene may ...