Pigeons Can Collapse Bridges, Cows Can Cause Global Warming

Some off-beat but interesting stories from the world of cows and pigeons:

» Pigeons are being partly blamed for the collapse of Minneapolis Bridge this month. Pigeon droppings contain ammonia and acids - if the dung isn't washed away, it dries out and turns into a concentrated salt. When water gets in and combines with the salt and ammonia, the reactions cause the steel to rust faster and hence become weak. [Discover News]

» Scientists are trying ways to make cows burp less to make our planet Earth cooler. That's because when cows digest their food (grass, hay, etc), they burp methane gas which is more effective at warming Earth's atmosphere than carbon dioxide is.

Globally, ruminant livestock – including cattle, goats, and buffaloes – produce about 80 million metric tons of methane a year, accounting for about 28 percent of man-made methane emissions annually. [CS Monitor]