The BBC, pre-eminent popularizer of cow research, had this story yesterday on how scientists in Aberystwyth have shown that feeding cows garlic cuts their methane production by up to 50%. Apparently, says the almighty Beeb, "experts consider cows the single biggest source of methane -- a gas 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to global warming." Also, cows and sheep are responsible for some 30% of the UK's methane emissions.
I wonder how cows rate on the Merck Manual's flatulence scale?
The BBC has a thing with cows and airy science, as in this fabulous August 2006 story on cows that moo in regional accents. I quote:
Farmer Lloyd Green, from Glastonbury, said: "I spend a lot of time with my ones and they definitely moo with a Somerset drawl.
Also, I just learned about a new European language--new to me at least. I was filling out a media advisory form, and it asked me to check off languages I wished to receive my digests in, including Monegasque.
Apparently ethnic Monaco peoples are called Monegasque, so the term refers to both the group and the language. The official language of Monaco is French. The fact that this language still exists is, let's face it, kind of a miracle. [if it still exists and isn't a figment of the internet's hyperactive imagination.]
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