Despite thousands of years of scientific research and innovation, there's still so much about our planet that we don't understand.

We're constantly trying to find mutually beneficial ways to interact with the Earth so we can evolve nicely together.

And science helps us do just that.

Whether that means digging up the remains of ancient mega mammals trapped

in tar, or eating crickets, or capturing methane from cow dung, there are always researchers

on the front lines investigating how we can do better. I'm Dr. Samantha Amin and welcome to Curiosity

Weekly from Discovery. Today, we're going to get into some entomophagy. That's a very intellectual way to say,

eating insects with Allie Moore. Then we'll cover the dangers and potential solutions of cow poop.

And we're also joined by Dr. Reagan Dunn, who oversees research at the La Brea Tarpitz

and Museum in Los Angeles. And speaking of fascinating research, if there's a story

you're dying for us to cover, just let us know. Give us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts,

and tell us what kind of science you think we should be looking into next. You just might hear it

on a future episode. If you think that carbon dioxide is the main villain when it comes to climate change,

let me introduce you to its less sexy but equally hazardous cousin, methane.

It's a silent but deadly greenhouse gas escaping from dairy farms. Methane accounts for about

11% of global emissions by mass, but it's more potent than carbon dioxide

at first. In the first 20 years it spends in the atmosphere, it can trap over 80 times more heat

than the same amount of carbon dioxide. But it doesn't last as long in the atmosphere. Methane

breaks down quickly within a decade or so. Carbon dioxide, on the other hand, is like the best down sleeping bag on the market. Think mummy bag style with a hood. That's because it keeps Earth insulated for centuries or longer, making its warming effects persistent and harder to reverse. Given how much temperatures have risen in just a generation, I'd say we need to focus on both the

short and the long term. Methane has a reputation for being produced by cow farts, but in reality,

methane comes from the breakdown or decay of any organic material. About a quarter of California's

methane emissions comes from decomposing cow poop on farms.

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