Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol

[Boomhauer]

I've LOTS of experience growing E. coli.

You really should clean out your refrigerator more often...

[French G.]

You know - I seem to remember hearing about something like this IIRC a year ago.  Do these 'breakthroughs' ever hit production?

May have been the guys in Australia who were making biodiesel from the algae they were growing in municipal wastewater.

I like this idea better, anything that requires Meigs Fielding Chicago is doable.

[The Annoyed Man]

Can this process be used to make booze?

I'm sure they can tinker with it some more to have it piss booze . The Real question is: Would you drink it? I mean, it's bug piss...

I don't suppose you've ever eaten honey    

I've eaten honey a few times (too sweet for me though), but honey is natural. This isn't .

[Tallpine]

honey is natural

Honey is bee spit or bee poop, I can't remember which

[The Annoyed Man]

honey is natural

Honey is bee spit or bee poop, I can't remember which

It sure is, but it's still natural. No one tinkered with the genetic make up of bees to make them produce honey. Making bugs producing alcohol otoh, would be highly unnatural and freakish .

[mfree]

If you don't mind butanol instead of ethanol (butanol's a better fuel anyways) there are already bacteria that'll produce anaerobically from cellulose.

[Scout26]

honey is natural

Honey is bee spit or bee poop, I can't remember which

It sure is, but it's still natural. No one tinkered with the genetic make up of bees to make them produce honey. Making bugs producing alcohol otoh, would be highly unnatural and freakish .

Ever hear of yeast ??

Honey is bee vomit.

Oh, and we've been tinkering with the genetic make-up on lots of stuff for a long time. IIRC, there was a Austrian Monk Gregor Mendel (??) who started the selective breeding of peas.  And other lots of folks have been selective breeding corn, roses, dogs, cattle, horses (e.g. throughbreds....), etc. to improve certain qualities and diminish undesirable qualities for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

The only thing DNA/Genetic science has done is take the sex out of it....   

[Nick1911]

Really, what we need to see is a relatively hardy microorganism which eats CO2 and sunlight, and outputs some form of oil.  Alcohol output is too expensive to separate from water.  Oil wouldn't be.  IIRC, there's some kind of algae that does this, though I don't think it was feasible for some reason.

[Tallpine]

Really, what we need to see is a relatively hardy microorganism which eats CO2 and sunlight, and outputs some form of oil.  Alcohol output is too expensive to separate from water.  Oil wouldn't be.  IIRC, there's some kind of algae that does this, though I don't think it was feasible for some reason.

How about just a microorganism that eats Chicago ?   

[The Annoyed Man]

Really, what we need to see is a relatively hardy microorganism which eats CO2 and sunlight, and outputs some form of oil.  Alcohol output is too expensive to separate from water.  Oil wouldn't be.  IIRC, there's some kind of algae that does this, though I don't think it was feasible for some reason.

How about just a microorganism that eats Chicago ?   

Wouldn't a macroorganism be way cooler?
Let's make it remote controlled. Then we can have it eat the Mayor first . Then the entire CPD .

[lupinus]

Sweet, works for me.

Doesn't need the infrastructure changes of other fuels.  Could be very viable as sounds like they can eat most anything.  And the interesting tidbit for the greenies is negative carbon output.

I like it, can I buy stock? lol

[Dntsycnt]

What if it goes airborne and turns all plant life into petroleum!?

SAVE THE CHILDREN!!SAVE THE TREES!!BAN BAN BAN!!!![/size]

[Antibubba]

Big deal--I've been turning dairy products into gas for decades.  But do I get any research grants? Nooooooo!

[LAK]

I don't suppose they can engineer them to tinkle Remy Martin.

[richyoung]

Can this process be used to make booze?

This IS how booze is made - ask anyone who's run a still...

[Silver Bullet]

How about just a microorganism that eats Chicago ? 

Are you talking about socialism ?   

[Tallpine]

How about just a microorganism that eats Chicago ? 

Are you talking about socialism ?   

No I wasn't, but now that you mention it, it appears that the germ has escaped and is threatening to eat the entire USA