Sheep Help Scientists Clean Up Explosives Residue
Tough Gut The bacteria in a sheep's stomach can save its life. The tansy ragwort weed kills cows, but sheep's superior bacteria break down the poison and keep their woolly host alive. iStock, Getty Images A team of scientists is feeding TNT to a flock of sheep. A. Morrie Craig, a veterinary scientist at Oregon State University, has found that the cud-chewing mammals can efficiently clean up explosives-contaminated soil, of which there are 1.3 million tons throughout the U.S. TNT and other explosives from military munitions training and the remnants of old factories remain in the ground for decades. This residue rarely poses an immediate health threat, but officials at the Department of Defense fear that it could seep into groundwater or poison plants (which has happened before). Conventional cleanup techniques, such as incinerating the soil, are expensive and time-consuming. Sheep will work for free. In 2004, Craig discovered that the...