Slanted Science

Scientists down under are attempting to eradicate what is, apparently, a world-threatening problem: sheep burps.

They’re trying to breed a strain of sheep which will be less prone to oral flatulence, in the hopes of reducing their country’s contribution to greenhouse gases (in this case, methane).

We suggest that their next target should be the regulars in SlantedScience’s local bar: on the average Friday night, we must burn a hole in the ozone layer as big as Texas.

Look at that fluffy guy up there in the photo. Looks cute, right? Wrong. That evil critter is trying to kill our planet. By burping.

Despicable little bastard.

It’s a busy scientific week for our agricultural friends, this news coming just a day after our report that pigs have been used to show the importance of exposure to bacteria during childhood.

Most people are aware by now that farmed animals release a lot of methane, and that some scientists think this could be damaging to the world’s health. But what is less well known is the source of this noxious gas: for cows and sheep, the majority of methane is expelled from the front of the animal, rather than the rear. As one of the people involved in this work – the hilariously-named John Goopy – puts it:

Ninety per cent of the methane that sheep and cattle and goats produce comes from the rumen, and that’s burped out. Not much goes behind; that’s horses.

So, Goopy and the Aussie boffins have set their sights on reducing these frontal emissions by selective breeding. They have found that, while food intake determines overall methane production, there are inter-individual differences in gaseous effluvia. And how do they measure this? Well, the sheep are fed, then herded into a chamber where they are allowed to sit awhile, burping away. Sensors detect the methane production. We hope the technicians for this experiment are being paid really well.

The team hope that, by identifying and then breeding the low-emitters, they can produce a herd of sheep which are genetically predisposed to being eco-friendly. We’re sure that there are women the world over who are wishing for the human equivalent.

Don’t Hold Your Breath,  But This May Lead To: reduced methane production by the millions of cattle and sheep who produce mankind’s food. If, despite the recent leak of documents suggesting otherwise, the world is at risk of catastrophic climate change, then this may save us all.